Putting Dargle on the map

Published Aug 14, 2015

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MPHATHI NXUMALO

A KwaZulu-Natal youngster is proving old school is cool as he travels 24 000km from Dargle in KwaZulu-Natal to Dargle in Ireland in a never-say-die 1964 Alfa Romeo.

Jethro Bronner, from the Dargle Valley in the Midlands, who has been on the road for a month-and-half, said despite malaria scares, travelling on bandit-infested highways and having to deal with corrupt traffic officials, the trip had “been a blast”.

He hopes to arrive at the Dargle River in County Wicklow, Ireland, next year.

The 22-year-old said while studying journalism he had decided to travel. “But I didn’t want to travel in an ordinary way... I wanted to travel in a way that was challenging and exciting. And I thought that seeing Africa from behind the wheel of an old car was a pretty good way to do that.”

 

It all began when he finished school and his parents gave him money to buy a car.

“I had an ordinary budget and could buy a second-hand Citi Golf with the money,” he told the Daily News. But instead of buying a VW hatchback, he came across the 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT, an abandoned restoration project.

After patiently fixing it for two-and-a-half years the car was finally ready to roll, and Old Faithful has since proved reliable: “It went all the way to Kenya and not even a flat tyre,” he said.

Bronner’s mother, Carlene, said the family were not surprised he had chosen to drive through the continent.

She said she had told Jethro and his twin, Joel: “... you are not allowed to get to 50 without having explored your dreams.”

She did have some worries about the dangers her son would face, including on the “Bandits’ Highway” in Kenya.

But so far, so good.

“Along border posts cops were interested in the car. It actually took him long to go past some of the border posts because of the officials who were curious,” she said. She said he kept contact with her by sending, at least, one SMS a day and weekly calls.

The trip has had its highs and lows for Jethro.

He counts one of the highs as his first few days when he arrived in Tanzania’s capital Dar es Salaam.

“I arrived in Dar es Salaam two days before the end of Ramadaan, and the triple public holiday and the party that followed will for ever be a high for me… There were 20 000 people on the beach. I don’t think it could ever be repeated.”

After the party, he said he spent a few days recollecting what happened that night and to find his car keys, “which, I’m sure, are at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, or buried in the sand in Dar es Salaam”, he said.

There have been lows, too.

“A low point of the trip was falling ill in Tanzania and having to camp in the wild because I couldn’t drive any more. I thought I had malaria and was sure I was going to die in the middle of nowhere, alone.”

The next morning he was still sick and couldn’t eat. He had to add constant rain and corrupt policemen to his list of woes.

“I was stopped and asked for bribes four times in 11km on that day.”

In Kenya he was waiting to get a visa to drive through Ethiopia but could not get one. He left his car in Nairobi and flew back to South Africa to get the visa from the Ethiopian Embassy. Once he has obtained it, he plans to resume his trip from where he left off.

His trip across the continent has also taught him to value South Africa’s achievements.

“South Africa, contrary to the beliefs of most people, actually functions very well. Once you’ve faced the traffic of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, Johannesburg is a dream. Once you’ve dealt with the traffic fascists of Tanzania, you’ll want to hug our traffic cops. So really, I think South Africans ought to complain a little less.

“I did feel, travelling north and seeing the troubles of other African nations, that South Africans should count their blessings, but most of all learn from their neighbours.”

He said if South Africans would learn from Africa’s problems, “we could continue to be prosperous”. And that many of the continent’s problems are avoidable.

 

He plans to reach Dargle Ireland on February 4, next year.

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