Local explores best camping spots online

A Parkrand musician and driving instructor is also the driving force behind an online tourism promotion project aimed at discovering and exploring the best camping sites across the length and breadth of South Africa.

Charl Barnard, who is known for years of music gigs and charity events in Boksburg, launched the Two Dam Fools series on YouTube with his business partner last year.

The team has already posted five episodes on the online channel covering four provinces with a sixth episode – at a fifth province destination – set for release in early September.

“Initially, the focus was specifically on resort sites located at dams – hence the title – which also highlighted the importance of our water resources in our extremely water-scarce country,” explained Barnard, who is running the project with Gqeberha-based journalist, Brett Adkins.

The co-presenters go by the monikers, ‘Challa’ and ‘Slukker’, respectively.

“But after posting our first episodes, we quickly realised by the response from many camping resorts that here was a need to spread our net further and travel to a broader range of outdoor camping destinations – be it conventional camping, glamping, caravaning or holiday cabin formats.”

The Two Dam Fools assignments have already taken the team to Hartbeespoort Dam in North West, resorts in the Drakensberg and Midlands in KwaZulu-Natal, Hogsback in the Eastern Cape and a pocket of the Vaal Dam in Gauteng in which Barnard was joined by his 13-year-old son, Blake, and wife, Morna, to highlight the family-friendly value of the venue.

“The presentation style is just as much about having fun as it is about providing information so we don’t stick to any formal script which makes it all very unpredictable for our audience, as well as for ourselves,” quipped Barnard.

That could include anything from canoeing escapades and exhilarating canopy tours to learning to fish, dodging snakes in a river, and discovering where to find the biggest T-bone steaks for a braai that they have ever encountered.

“At the same time, we provide as much relevant info as possible – about the accommodation options, ablutions, leisure facilities, sports activities, catering supplies and the nearby attractions including spots like flea markets, eateries and pubs.”

When it comes to the technical side of filming, editing and backing music, the duo have been assisted by a range of extra crew members depending on where they happen to be travelling, with Barnard himself becoming quite tech-savvy in the process, he admitted.

“Once I managed to master the editing process, I found myself getting pretty creative and inventive with it,” he added with a chuckle.

“We also close each episode with a friendly challenge between Slukker and myself – I write and sing a song with guitar dedicated to that particular spot, while Slukker imparts a bit of philosophy about what we have learnt on the journey.”

Local Boksburg hospitality and catering businesses, Bennigan’s Restaurant and The Meaty Place, have also provided sponsorship in the form of some supply hampers.

You can find the first five episodes of the series on YouTube by searching Two Dam Fools episodes one through to five.

“And of course, if you enjoy, please ‘like’ and ‘subscribe’ – that’s our best reward. We appreciate it,” Barnard said.

Episode six, to be posted up next, sees Two Dam Fools visit Limpopo and the Olifantsriver where they encounter crocodiles just to add to the mix.

“We would love as much feedback as possible, so we appeal to our followers to suggest destinations they feel are the best places to camp in South Africa. We have such a diverse, magnificent land and we need to show it off,” Barnard concluded.

For more information, contact twodamfools1@gmail.com

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