Too Good To Pass Up

Tackle adventures in comfort with the Hyundai Santa Fe

- Stephen Smith

One of my favourite pastimes (or should I say, pass-times) is tackling mountain passes, be they on tar, gravel or something a little rougher. Here in South Africa we’re blessed with many of these to choose from. In fact, the village of Rhodes in the Eastern Cape has even made some of these passes part of its tourism route, and they’re drives to enjoy.

Recently, a few friends and I headed off for a weekend away in the mountains in this region, far from the pressures of work and family. The rustic cabin we were staying in was close to civilisation as the crow flies, but the track climbed straight up, winding along the side of a mountain with views of Lesotho in the distance. The handful of kilometres to get there from Rhodes takes half an hour, or perhaps a little less if you lack vehicular empathy.

Transporting three of us and our pile of gear up this pass was the Hyundai Santa Fe R2.2 Premium – the South Korean car company’s largest SUV, designed to carry seven occupants in comfort to destinations far away.