I’m barely 50 kilometers out of town, the sun still new in the sky, when I head for the cooler box on the back seat. My mouth already watering as I find the tupperware containing leathery skinned, salty, cold pork sausages. Coffee is poured steaming into cups balanced precariously between knees. A chorus of yums fills the car as bran and banana muffins are washed down with hot, sweet caffeine.
As soon as I begin planning a road trip, I can’t wait to start planning the list of padkos. Cold chicken drumsticks, wholesome cherry tomatoes, Wheatsworth crackers and cheese with the left over pork sausages are always at the top of my list. Sometimes it is soft fresh rolls with a skirt of crisp lettuce, slices of smoky ham and cheddar cheese and a layer of sweet chilli mayonnaise that beckon long before noon. Easy to eat in one hand, ‘padkos’ requirement number one.
The sun is only just glaring down through the windscreen and a lingering biltong saltiness is topped off by ice cold colddrinks. Rustling from within the ‘Senties’ packet provides the sweet musky after taste for when the road starts to feel long. The burst of sugar from ripe naartjies refreshes as the sun’s shadow lengthens beside us. The peeled skin permeates the car, more effectively than any air freshner, but not as robustly as the opening of the hard boiled egg container.
Whether you are a stop-and-shop or pack the night before type, padkos’is one of the greatest elements of a roadtrip. In fact I think it might be the determiner of a great road trip. Heck, I actually plan ‘padkos’ even when I go for a short drive into town.
So as I begin planning our camping trip to Addo, help me out by sharing your padkos favourites below!
Getaway readers’ padkos favourites
Brennan Williams – Biltong
Ian van Kraayenburg – Mom’s old favourite. Drum sticks, little meat balls, small sandwiches and a flask of coffee.
Delicia Van Rooyen – Meatballs!
Carl Gerber – Wimpy breakfast.
Mariska Phillips – Biltong
Linda Anne Gnirck – Cheese sarmies – fresh white bread only 🙂
Shaleen Pooran – Sandwiches, dried fruit, water, biltong
Teresa Visser – The famous hard boiled egg … I know it smells terrible and causes loads of laughs…but when I see a hard boiled egg I think “road trip” !
Mogau Lamola – Chicken Licken hotwings, lots of Red Bull and Water
Claudette Carter – I make pizza muffins
Brianna Williams – Water and biltong!!
Wendy Southworth – Boerie rolls
Niki Crank – Vetkoek & mince, chip sarmies, biltong
Anna-Marie Engelbrecht – Droe wors. Jaffels with curry mince.
Justin Patrick Brogan – Cold Egg mayonaise samies, yum
Maphiwe Ndaba – Biltong and tuna sammies!
Norman Parker – Wors cooked on manifold of engine !
Sam Slembrouck – Chip sandwiches or rolls! Lots of chips, with butter and HAS to be white bread!
Lindy Stewart Ferreira – Flasks of coffee – especially for the long distance driver, rusks, biltong (of course), dried mango and then THE bacon and peanut butter sandwiches!!
Kimberley Germiquet – Biltong, dried guava rolls, chicken mayo sarmies and salt&vinegar chips for car sickness 🙂
Lee Takasago Anything Proudly South African! (Edible of course)
