Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Expedition team back home after 21 days of Adventure

Three very special Mahindra Pik Up Karoo models recently returned to Gauteng to a welcoming crowd of fans, enthusiasts and Mahindra team members.

Article by: Mahindra

The vehicles arrived home after completing an arduous journey of rough and tumble terrain through South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho. On the route, the team of adventurers showcased the best that the Mahindra Pik Up has to offer and introduced fans to the new Pik Up Karoo flagship models.

Wherever the road may lead.

The Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Expedition departed from Mahindra South Africa’s Head Office in Centurion, Gauteng, on Monday 15 August.

Since leaving Centurion, the expedition has covered over 8,580 kilometres that included endless miles of the toughest off-road tracks and trails in the three countries.

“In June, we launched these made-for-purpose adventure bakkies with a promise to Unleash the Explorer in You. To prove this, we sent these flagship bakkies to the most challenging terrains across Southern Africa. After an epic 21-day adventure, the team returned safely home with their three Pik Up models, all showing no signs of failure during the entire trip.

“Today, I can confidently say to you that the Mahindra Pik Up Karoo, is tough, reliable and now more capable,” says Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.

The bakkies travelled through Southern Africa and were tracked on Mahindra’s social channels.

To add an element of fun and expectation for fans following the adventure dubbed the Pik Up Karoo Expedition, Mahindra hid the details of the route in a series of clues.

The team members followed these clues to navigate their expedition through the extremely corrugated back trails of the Kalahari, the sand dunes of the Namib desert, the treacherous tracks of the Richtersveld, to the plush and friendly environment of the Cape Wine Route, before turning back north to Gauteng via Lesotho and the many adventure trails in KwaZulu-Natal.

“It feels like we have squeezed a lifetime of adventure into the past three weeks,” says Hardy de Kock, the expedition leader.

“We travelled to Upington and followed clues through the unforgiving corrugated and heavily rutted back trails of the Kalahari, and then crossed the border into Namibia. From tiny villages like Koës and Askham, to Giants Playground, from Windhoek to Swakopmund, across the Namib desert, Namibia was an amazing experience for the team.”

They then made their way back into South Africa and took on challenges through the beautiful yet treacherous and unforgiving Richtersveld and the Namaqua Eco Trails. They were also able to capture the flower spectacle in the glorious landscape of the Namaqualand.

On the return leg home, the team took on the iconic Sani Pass and enjoyed the Drakensberg vistas from the roof of Africa, drove through the rolling mountain grasslands of Lesotho and captured the majestic sunsets in the Golden gate.

Karoo Dusk, Dawn and Storm.

Hardy and his team, which consists of fellow adventurers, Peter King, Jaco du Plessis and Chantal Burger, the only female team member, piloted the new Mahindra Karoo Dusk, Karoo Storm and Karoo Dawn on their epic adventure.

These three very special new bakkies were first revealed in July this year when Mahindra inaugurated its new brand promise to “Unleash The Explorer In You”.

Each bakkie takes its design cues from the beautiful and untamed Karoo desert and each one offers a unique combination of lifestyle and performance accessories that make them ready for whatever adventure the owner might be planning. This makes the Karoo Dawn, Dusk and Storm the perfect lifestyle bakkies to make good on the new brand promise.

“The new flagship bakkies are all equipped with a unique, heavy-duty suspension with special 16-inch hardened off-road-ready alloy rims and off-road-biased tyres with a more aggressive tread pattern.

“Add to that the custom-designed approach and departure bumpers with recovery points, our shift-on-the-fly 4×4 system with auto-locking rear differential (Mechanical Locking Differential or MLD) and you have a lifestyle bakkie that can take on everything that Africa can throw at it,” says Rajesh.

Says Hardy: “We were blown away by the vehicles’ performance. The heavy-duty suspension was put to work on multiple terrains and didn’t disappoint. The challenges were all absorbed with ease. Even driving up the toughest mountains, the handling still felt very comfortable. Driving along off-road trails felt like a breeze in these bakkies!”

“What also surprised me was that we had no failures on the vehicles – this is unheard-off in such a long trip. They are incredible. I was so overwhelmed by this vehicle, that I requested to purchase the vehicle I drove.”

The Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Dusk, Karoo Dawn and Karoo Storm are available as a standard offering from the Mahindra stable of Authentic Bakkies.