Well Its been a hot minute since i have actually been on the forum. Anyway Il use this tread to post all our stories as i go along with them. I can even make every Trip/story a Thread on its own. Anyway Here we go!
Ready at 7am we set off to the local filling station with the rush of adventure pouringthrough our veins, fuel filled up, tires aired up and oil checked we hit the road down toNatal.You see at this time Bosvark (Suzuki4x4) was still equipped with a petrol 4y engine andthis engine had bad habit of consuming more fuel than your average Toyota land cruiser.Anyway we hit the road quite early that morning and headed east towards theglimmering sunrise, surprisingly we didn’t have much mist at all which is usually a lotaround that time of the year. With good pace we made our way through Bethal followedby Ermelo and up to Piet Retief. Here we took a quick stop to fill up Bosvark again, andalso to take a quick breakfast break. To my shock as I walked out of the shop I noticedthat Bosvark only had four out of its 6 lug nuts on each wheel. Loaded with all thecamping gear it was best practice to see if I can’t find an open spare shop that might sellme the required lug nuts. After some searching it was determined that Piet Retief will notbe able help as no one had stock of the specific nuts needed. Soon we were back on theroad again and in no time we found ourselves traversing through the mountain pass intoPongola. Pongola was a haze of traffic and local market activity and I couldn’t see onespare shop from the road, I figured I have done 300 or so kilometres already and if I justkeep to 100km/h the wheels should stay on. Hereafter we made our way the Jozini damthat stretches for many a kilometre next to the N2 on the left hand side of the highway.This is also the normal road that you follow to Sodwana, Kosi-Bay and St Lucia.The road leading to Ndumo headed north which meant we had to get of the highway andfollow a rural road north, this resulted in a "short left" as our South African's like to call it.Jozini, this was our turnoff from the N2 and we headed into the small town of Jozini withits vibrant local street market buzzing with early morning in activity.After carefully making our way through the crowds in the street we headed down to theDam wall. This was a colossal dam wall! Not very long but definitely very high, thisspectacular scene had us out of our vehicles and admiring this great feat of engineeringholding back millions of liters of water. With a few photos taken and some technicalengineering theories discussed it was time to head north again.Ndumo Game reserve was our designated campsite for the next 2 days.
It sat right inthe upper corner of Natal between Swaziland and Mozambique.Heading North on this narrow bumpy tar road there was no fences or road markings orany sign of civilization, only dry scrubby bushlands to both sides of us. A True sense ofadventure set in. Driving like this hour on hour does kind of give you the feeling that youare getting lost.Slowly small holdings and plots of cultural farms started to appear and we eventuallyreached the small town of Ndumo. With some directions from a local villager and her boywe were heading straight to the gates of Ndumo Nature Reserve.Finally we arrived! By this time it was late into the afternoon and probably close 4pmalready. After we signed in it was time to head towards the campsite. Quickly we pitchedthe tents and had a fire going for a braai. With one of most spectacular sunsets to date,
the day and its long drive came to a peaceful end.We were all up early the next morning and just in time to catch the bright sunrise heatingup the sand from the east. Breakfast and a cup of coffee soon followed and we onceagain we were ready for the day that laid ahead of us. As the morning air started to heatup, let’s say around 9 am somewhere. We packed away all the food, snacks and goodswhere monkeys can’t get to it. After jumping in our fourbies (4x4's) we headed into thereserve to do a game drive for the day. Exploring the trail we soon found a vultureRestaurant where all the animals carcases of the park gets left for the vultures to ,it ispart of the South African project to sustain the vultures that’s slowly becoming extinct.Latter on we go greeted by this magical scene of all the yellow fever trees next to ariverbed with the roots flowing in all directions and wildebeest standing underneath thesespectacular trees.
This vivid image will forever be planted in my memories. At anothersection of the park we got out of the fourbies and took a footpath heading towards theriver, it was kind of overgrown. So sort of animal was moving in the brush nearby and mymother freaked out thinking it might be a hippo ambushing her.
We spent the rest of theday driving up and down the park and taking all the backroads and paths the park hadto offer. One more point of particular interest was the long drop on the river bank thatwas about 12m high facing out north towards Mozambique. No doors or anything, just acomfortable seat. Giving you all the time with Mother Nature.
We spotted allot of wildebeest, giraffe and duikers for the day. With a wide range ofexotic birdlife available in the area. As the Golden glow set to the west we headed backto camp started the campfire and listened to the beautiful African soundtrack created bybirds and critters with the crackling sound of firewood in the foreground...
Ndumo a placewell worth visiting.
Lekker breakfast later and completely packed up. We headed out to Kosi-Bay. For 2more nights of camping. With Ndume now at our backs as our 1 and a half car convey heads east to thecoast in the clear morning sun. It was once more time to refuel the vehicles at a localsmall petrol station followed to by a quick detour into Thembe Elephant Park. Afteracquiring a map and some sort of general exploration of the park we set of on a selfdrive safari in this unique natural park laying on the border between KwaZulu-Natal andMozambique.
It quickly became clear that this was near the coast and far north in KZN as we suddenlyfound our self in these deep white sand spoors (ruts). It was infact so deep one couldsimply just leave the steering wheel and the vehicles will stay in the ruts and follow thetrack, kind of like a Rollercoaster or an inverted train track. This led to some interestingdriving moments. Branches, sticks and leaves littered over the tracks it was more than apparent that thiswas indeed an elephant park. We saw a few small critters and many huge bugs andeventually came around to actually spotting some elephant. This encounter was a largemale tusker.... One of the parks bigger bulls. And with luck as we came around the cornerin this soft spoor track Mr Jumbo was waiting in the middle of it flinging up sand andflapping his ears in aggression. Clearly not impressed with our arrival. Now you mustkeep in mind that this soft white sand was very loose and in actual fact we had almost notraction. In front of me this massive animal closely resembling the giant dinosaur’s fromyesteryear. And behind me my dad in his SUV unaware of what’s happening due to thebush obscuring his sight of view. The more I back up the closer he moves to me trying tosee what the commotion is all about. At this stage the 2-way radios we used also didn’tseem to connect to each other. It was pure panic in that little Suzuki 4x4 of mine. Just inthe nick of time Pieter spotted the beast and backed up, which in turn gave me space todo one of my most impressive reverses to date with all the soft sand shooting up past mywindows as I gave the loud pedal all she had. This commotion also irritated Mr Dumboand it took almost 20min for him to relax and walk of into the bush. This then gave us aclearing to pass. Not a mere 400meters from there Bosvark started to overheat. I hadsome wiring issues at Ndumo also causing the electrical fan on the radiator to stopworking, knowing the cause I bolted out of the little 4x4 yanked open the bonnet andquickly snapped in a new fuse before jumping back in the cab. It was time to get out ofthis park!
That is one of the scariest moments I experienced yet and for only that reason Thembe Elephant Park will never see me again.
With the sun sitting high and proud we rolled along the narrow blacktop towards what wehad all imagined of Kosi-Bay. For me this was one of the most memorable moments of the trip driving in convoy through this desolated sand dune and grass lands with a fern here andthere accompanied by a small hut every few hundred meters or so. Truly only a sigh thatharmonizes human and nature into a painting of art. Telephone poles started to appear,the houses got more and more and vehicles started to pop up in front of us followed by afew humongous speedbumps. We were starting to approach civilization again. With theroads becoming hillier and huts everywhere we soon realized that we entered the outskirtsof Kosi-Bay...
Yet again street markets with fresh produce was all over the place. Localswalking around and the fresh misty scent of the ocean in the air had us all hyped up forcamp. We headed over to a small shop and bough some supplies while toping up thevehicles fuel tanks as our next 4 days would be driving completely of grid without anysupplies along the route. With the help of a local shepherd we got pointed into the rightdirection towards our campsite. Around this time it was probably 2-3pm in the afternoon.We confirmed our reservations and signed into the campsite. Picking a Spot a Kosi-Baycampsite is so difficult, it’s like having an all you can eat buffet but only a spoon to plateup in.
What I’m trying to say is the sites are out of this world with sights that you might onlyever see in a tropical movie! We excitingly set up camp just to go down and chillat the lagoon as we just couldn’t resist the beauty.
That night we all laughed around thefire about our encounter with Mr Dumbo.If you have never camped in a tent or slept outside near a beach I highly recommend youadd it to your bucket list. You see in the dead silent that night drags along with it you canclearly hear the magnificent power of the waves as they crash down on the sandy beachesand the true power the ocean holds. Standing with my bare feet in the cold morningsand while the sun heats up my face with its glaring rays gave me a feeling of pure bliss the following morning.Filled with some rusks and the complimentary coffee it was time to start the day. Andconsidering it was a bright warm day with great weather, it was agreed upon that we willhead down to the lagoon mouth for the day for some sun bathing and snorkeling. A shortdrive through town and we were at the gate giving access to the lagoon. It clearly states4x4s ONLY.
And what a fun yet brutal little road! It is Sand track rolls down some overgrown sand dunes and over several creeks and puddles. I almost ended up concussed hanging out of the window admiring as much as my little human brain can absorb when I hit a rut and Smacked my head on the B pillar. So much fun, Not! Anyways along this track we saw the age old tradition of the local fishermen using sticks to form cages/net to trap the fish in the bay. I was in fact shocked to discover years later that each “Trap/kraal” is Family owned and past down every generation and some as old as700years!
What a sublime place this was. We stopped our vehicles at the bay parking. And lucky for us it was low tide as the only way to reach the beach was to actually cross over the mouth in the bay. At this time it was just about knee depth. We had a great lunch on the beach and enjoyed some snorkeling in the shallow reefs that line the coast on low tide. The tide has been sneaking in this hole time...We soon realized we were being trapped on the beach, we quickly packed up and headed back to the vehicles. The crossing was now an additional 100m of water wide, we all chuckled as we needed to cross this body of water. Most of the flooded bay was about waist deep and we actually had a few spots we had to wade neck deep or swim through. It can't be an adventure if you can plan every last bit of it, adapt, overcome and conquer. Back in the vehicles I quickly did camera and cell phone checks if all equipment was still dry and safe before heading back to camp.
On the way back and in the Spirit of Africa I stopped at roadside market and bought some fresh vegetables for a local villager. Those street markets are so much fun. Please remember next time when you see one to stop and support the locals. What a remarkable place Kosi bay is! And by far exceeded any of our expectations. Till this day still my No:1 favorited campsite on planet earth…
It’s a sunny Day as we start with a cup of java, pack up camp and get the vehicles loaded. With the cool breeze of the ocean less than a 1000meters away and one of the most exiting days of the trip yet awaiting us we are quickly ready to head out to the next campsite. This day will indeed have its fair share of surprises... If we only knew. So after studying a map of the local area and asking general direction from the crew at the booking office we were set to head out towards Mabibi. Our best efforts was made to follow the directions and keep to the south side of the town while heading west toward the police station, this is where the A7076 starts and apparently runs down towards Sodwana with Mabibi campsite somewhere in between. Soon we found the Police station and the "wide” A7076 Gravel road heading south indicating we are on track. This was quite an exciting day as for the next Four days all our travels will be exclusively off road and on dune roads. Also Mabibi was our first wild camp where you basically only have water but no electricity. Anyway we headed down this road about 12kilometres and passed through an abandoned boom gate, one of many which you will get while traveling in South Africa.
800Meters to the left we got of the main road and entered the vast maze of "tweespoorpaatjies" that this whole area up to Lake Sibayi is covered in, to explain it best is to imagine driving on the scribbled page of a toddlers drawing roads. Not even 3 min down this tracks a Toyota Land cruiser comes barreling out behind a bush and nearly collides with our two vehicle convoy . As our heart rate recovers and the dust settles almost simultaneously we regain focus and start heading down the crinkly-roads trying to maintain a SSE heading. Now look we are from the "platteland" as they say and this type of sand driving was a whole new ball game and we took it slow initially. Soon we were popping up and down the dunes looking like the professionals in Dubai. Look If you ever thinking of doing overlanding in a Suzuki 4x4 especially the older Sj410 models please be aware that on bumpy rutted sand dunes being in an old Oil barrel rolling down it will probably be more comfortable.
Bam!! Suddenly Pieter slammed on his brakes in the Nissan ahead of me and came to a grinding halt, I instantly jump on to the 2-way radio and all I could hear was mumbling. "garmin... garmin.... waar heen NOU!!!??". Before i could even answer he jumped out of the Nissan and on his face was nothing but frustration. I soon followed suit and joined him to see what all the fuzz was about. Back then allot changed on our local roads and the Garmin was quite outdated. So basically it said we reached our destination but we were dead center in the middle of nowhere. With him being a very jumpy person this had him really upset. I on the other hand tend to be quite careless and told him to relax I will take the lead and guide us.
It was decided we will follow the simple idea that we are on the east coast with a massive coastal dune on our left side while heading south, so simple idea was keep the dune on our left while we are heading south and keep as close to the dune as possible. The campsite was also really close to the beach on one of these coastal dunes. This method really worked well and we kept trekking south along this dune. And what a joy it was driving in and out of this grasslands and low-lying tropical scrubs. Most of this was quite thick sand and by 2pm our pace was quite slow as you couldn't drive fast without being reckless as anyone can come around the sharp corners on these narrow bush tracks. At around 3:30 pm we tied up back onto the A7076. Minutes later we arrived in the rural town of Mabibi and followed the boards all the way down to campsite that clearly showed what tracks one should follow. Booked in and ready to set up camp we went and took a walk around looking for the best camp site to accommodate our needs. Before we could even realize the tents were up, cold beers was opened and the campfire crackling away as the darkness folded in around us...The night had beautiful stars as far as the eye could see there was no lights in the campgrounds as it is an off grid campsite, in the near distance you can hear the giant waves crash down on the beach, the moon sitting low and beaming its white light through the branches of the trees around us! I was up early as I wanted to catch a few photos of the sun cresting over the ocean at sunrise and it was truly a sight to behold. I made my way up what felt like million wooden steps.
Back at camp I fired up the gas Kettle and soothed everyone awake with the smell of my coffee early in the morning. We settled for a “local is lekker” steak and egg brekie made up of last night’s leftover braai. After our customary chit chat in the morning we grabbed some sunscreen and towels and headed down the Million wooden steps going down this colossal sand dune. We spend most of the morning into midday on the beach talking to locals and enjoying what nature could offer us.
After a lazy nap caused by being exhausted ascending those steps we went out and explored the regions around lake Sibayi.
Supported a local Spaza shop and bought a few snacks. Then I took Pieter for a drive in the Suzuki, I have never in my life heard a grown adult complain that much. But in actual fact NO! The manager by Thonga beach lodge 20min later still holds the World Record for complaining! Let me explain why. You see I kind of have this tradition/habit that once I’m in an area I like to explore and check out other lodges and campsites around. So the entrance to this 5 star beach lodge next to Mabibi site had this notice that I might have “misread”. It clearly stated “NO Unauthorized entry beach lodge residents ONLY!”. Meh whatever, so I headed down there anyway. The road lead to the top of the massive dune with the million steps just on Lodges side of the Territory here I was friendlily greeted by a security that opened a narrow boom gate for us. The Suzuki made its way down this steep dune road covered in logs for traction, and boy did all hell break out once we reached the bottom of this dune.
This woman comes flying out of reception, giving me all sorts of lip not even letting me get a change to tell her the security let me through, like Wow I can’t describe it in words. I just apologized and headed out of there as fast as I could before she calls the UK military. We had a good laugh back up out of the lodge.
Stronger breeze than normal, a low silver lining over the horizon far towards the east on the ocean as the sun rises over behind it all. Could this be a sign of possible bad weather as i take a sip of Kofee out of my tin cup standing on the SJ? At camp everyone was already up and slowly building steam to pack up camp and head out to Sodwana bay what would be day 7 of our expedition. After cleaning up the camp a bit we went and refreshed ourselves with the gas heated showers available at the only ablution block the campsite had. In no time we greeted the friendly staff at Mabibi and started to head south once again via the maze of tracks we so confidently conquered 2 days prior. I quickly stopped at the little spaza shop and got a few snacks just to support the locals one last time, we then passed a small primary school and experienced the joy of the little ones as they jumped up and down and screamed with excitement as our 4X4's passed by. We got greeted so friendlily by all the locals as we passed their huts and little houses, occasionally waiting 10 min for a lazy cow to stand up out of the track and drift away into the grassy veld.
The next 2 hours went by in a very similar fashion. Soon we arrived at a narrow stretch of road with the endless lake to our right and this humungous coastal dune to our left, with almost just this single track splitting them from each other. All in I thought to myself "It’s probably just this 150m wide piece of sandy earth splitting the great Indian Ocean and the colossal endless lake from each other. WOW!".
This thought barely faded in my mind and then the stench hit! And it hit so hard i had to stop and figure out where this foul smell came from. Out of the vehicles, we started to scout around us and soon found the source of this incredible stench. Birds! The Great White Pelican. What a sight to behold, to the east this mass of trees looked like afire fighting helicopter dropped a few thousand liters of whitish grey paint over them and on the top these trees, big nests with the Pelicans siting high and proud. As you probably figured by now it wasn't paint.... and it wasn't nice smelling either. It was really something none of us has ever seen before and the smell of rotten fish always reminds me of this incredible sight.
A few kilometers further the landmass started to widen up again and we were soon greeted again by the endless tracks spreading in all directions. By now the rules was simple head south and stay as close to the shore as you can. We travelled down our selected path and passed a few homesteads doted across the grassy rolling hills, in this region it really feels like you are going nowhere slowly. At this point my now wife wanted to drive a bit. So we stopped and changed seating positions. We made it a mere kilometer down this sand track when in all her awe with the wild roaming cows around us she managed to lose focus and hit the only small tree in the veld. Luckily for us we were going slowly due to the cows. Fearing for my life I took the drivers position again. The cows are cool though. The next moment when after regaining focus, we are on a well maintained gravel road that's seems to be straight like an arrow, over the next crest and the road is littered with freshly cut branches and leaves up until the next crest, we instinctively slowed down a bit and start
with our theory's over the handheld radios... over the next crest is clearly makes sense. To the left of the road is 11 foot electric fence and a quite large estate overlooking a big pond surrounded by palm trees and neatly cut grass similar to what can be found on a golf course? "We should be close to Sodwana by now" I comment over the radio. By this time the electric fence is on both sides of the road guiding us down this cattle crush to the closed boom gate awaiting us a mere 400m ahead of the leading vehicle.
I can see 2guards at the boom gate dressed in dark camo greens, one of them holding a clipboard patiently awaiting our arrival. The other one armed with some sort of assault rifle. "Where did you come from?" The one guard askes surprisingly polite. We quickly reply and briefed him on our journey and our heading, cooperatively we help him capture some details like ID numbers contact details and vehicle specific's as he logs them down on his clipboard. He gives a nod to the other guard and then opens the boom gate and gives us a kind salute as we drive past and head down to Sodwana. Perhaps park rangers or antipoaching unit? I was in no position to ask. By this time we really started to make up lost time as the road widened to almost 8 meters wide and was freshly grated. For the first time in a few days we were able to travel at 80km/h and within 20 odd minutes we were in Sowdana surrounded by diving vehicles, fishermen, local pedestrians next to the road and the famous Taxi known every ware in South Africa.
It was decided that we will head straight down to camp as we still had allot of fresh produce that we acquired back at Kosi-Bay and we still had sufficient fuel until we had to leave to Mkuze. The camp at Sodwana is huge, 140+ campsites if memory serves.(now we know about the neater/spacious private camps) So this also meant we spend more than an hour looking for the "Perfect" spot to set up. With many beautiful campsites far and wide we opted for a less than mediocre campsite that at least had decent shade and was close to the gate, beach and the ablution blocks.
Monkeys soon stormed our new Fort and gave Pieter a lot of his youth back aiming for them with his "ketty" and shooting at them with peanuts. Yeah a catch 22 ey. The sun was towering above us and the wind starting to howl over the tree tops as we made our way down to the beach for some sightseeing, nearby a lighthouse stood tall sticking it head out behind an overgrown dune. At the beach it was really busy as they had a small take away building overlooking the whole beach, scuba divers all around us busy with training or simulation and a few craft out at sea anchored above the coral reefs. The whole place was crawling with activity and we decided on a lunch at the take-away.
After lunch we took a stroll and ended up spending money at a surf shop buying some souvenirs as this was the only real "normal" place we have been since we left Secunda almost a week ago. The rest of the afternoon was spend around the beach and campsite wandering around and taking in the surroundings. As dawn approached so did the cold wind and cloudy weather. We made a cozy big fire that night and had plenty of reflecting on our recent journey while sitting around the campfire. By now day 8. Days were exactly that, just a new fresh day the dear Lord gave us, i had no idea what day it was and barely even remembered how many days we were out and about.
Today was different though, the wind was shaking at my tent in a similar fashion a child will be shaking his mother’s dress while she is having a conversation with someone and wants her attention. I also found myself tightly snuggled up against my now wife and a blanket over us, it was cold. Most nights thus far the blanked was just for bluff and to make the tent look more at home. Except for the windy howls it was dead quite around us and I decided to sleep in a bit. Around 9am I heard a tent zip open and the gas stove start up for what can only be someone planning a glorious coffee, before i could stop myself i yelled from my tent "EK SOEK OOK!". A semi mumble could be heard and then i heard "AI OKAY". In 5 min I was up and sitting next to my amazing mother having coffee and listening to the snoring of Pieter. I always had an explainable love for cold weather while I'm out in the bush, it just releases the inner calm within and makes me appreciate nature so much more. As we all got up way latter than usual there was no breakfast but rather a brunch. After digging deep in our bags we were all wearing our jackets and decided to drive around town and go have a look at all the attractions that was up on offer, we visited some arts and crafts shops had a look at a few lodges along the road. There was a few moments that the rain softly came down throughout the day, but not the less it was still a day greatly spent. <<Me mom
With the flash of the lighthouse as its beam of light swung over the campsite and back across the Indian ocean we were busy dressing up in our "Mooi-mooi's" as i like to call it. After being neatly dressed we headed out to the far south side of the camp where Mseni Restaurant was located. This turned out to be quite a well placed restaurant with a 2nd story area and an outside eating deck, being a windy and cold night we opted to stay inside but chose the top floor as we had a beautiful view over the ocean and could also see the lighthouse in all its glory. The waiter came around, we ordered our drinks and started to mingle a bit about who likes what and what everyone wanted to eat. The waiter went and got the beverages while we still had a hot debate on the food we wanted, mostly due to self-uncertainty as everything on the menu looked more than appetizing. By the time he returned we were pretty sorted and knew what to order. Orders went out and soon we had our meals in front of us with spicy dips next to them, fresh lemons in the plates and the aroma of freshly grilled fish hanging around. A few Hours passed, the waiter was generously tipped and we headed back to camp feeling warm from the insides out, ready for the cold nights sleep ahead.
Patch, patch the sun came through the clouds as we said goodbye to Sodwana in our rear-view mirrors with the wind tugging at our vehicles ever so slightly. "Fill her up." I asked the gas station attendant for the 3rd time on this trip. Always amazing how friendly people are in a less well-off community's compared to those in the big city i think to myself while the attendee filled up the Suzuki and washed my windscreen. Our time at the coast has abruptly came to an end and it was time to head back inland to our last and final destination of this marvelous journey of ours.
Back on the road the frustrations slowly started to build up again as we dodge and swerve out of the way for wreck-less drivers. Luckily it is short lived as we turn off of the R22 eighty or so odd minutes after leaving Sodwana. You would be surprised by the diversity northern KZN has to offer, from dry bushveld to grassy savannas and lush tropical beaches all within 2 hours drive from one another. Mkuze lays just south east of Jozini dam in a mountainous region, it’s also one of the few game reserves that promises to provide quite a big diversity of animals including predators like leopard and hyena. About 30min along our route since we got off the R22 i spot a big patch of Fever trees, one of my personal and favorite tree species as they stand tall and bright with the dull dry veld behind them.
Sometime later we arrive at the main gate to Mkuze game park, nothing really exiting happened on our way here and the weather just started to clear up a bit. With our
permits in hand we head into the park and follow a very smooth brand new tarmac road, it’s so freshly laid that you can still smell the tar hanging in the air as the now hot sunbakes the blacktop. Suddenly this 10 ton tipper truck is behind us looking extremely eager to pass us, "Why is there a Construction truck in the Reserve?" I call out on the handheld so we can slow down and make way for this truck to pass us. After the truck passed we went back to a slow cruise and scouted the dry veld for any animals roaming around in the winter veld. Checking in at reception it’s time for us to take a quick lunch next to our vehicles and make our way to camp that's located in the far northern territory of the reserve. Roughly 40 minutes after setting of again we get at camp and find a nice spot next to the fence overlooking a large part of the ravine next to the camp. With the camp set up we didn't want to waste any time so hopped in the vehicles and headed out on a game drive. Soon we found the reason for the trucks, they are busy with development of the park and were busy laying down asphalt roads on all the main tracks in the reserve.
Back from our drive we started preparations for supper and also started a nice camp fires it started to get cool again. On our drive we spotted many tortoises and quite a large range of buck. The Sun is now well tucked behind the horizon and we are only left with the soothing crackling of our camp fire. As we sat around the fire we suddenly heard noises near the fence, around 50 meters was my guess. Maybe a buck or some other form of game animal. Then it came! The laughter from nothing else but a pack of hyena's not to far away at all. We humans have been living in houses and safe for many a decade, but still instinctively the sound of a predator in its natural habitats sends shivers down a person’s spine. The laughter continued deep into the night, and i can say without shame that i slept very lightly that night. It’s our last Full day before we head home. Coffee as usual, paired with some Ouma rusks was the preferred breakfast on this day. We were up quite early as we still had a large area of the reserve to do and also had a few hides to visit at the waterholes. With lunch packed into the coolers we set of for the day looking for game. We yet again found allot of tortoises on the roads and also some giraffes eating leaves from the thorny trees.
Later we reached an area to the south western side of the reserve that was marked wetland on the map. These Roads were obviously closed due to construction work. But curiosity got to us and seeing as it was a weekend there was no workers around. Sneakily we quickly drove around the signs “no entry” and were well on our way. The wetlands were flooded due to some recent rain in the area. Any Artist would have loved to draw a painting from that sight as it was something out of this world. With the cloud coverage in the back ground followed with this pan full to the brim, bright green reeds lining the pan And these huge yellow fever trees in the foreground, picture perfect. Mid-day approached so we headed down to one of the hides to see if we could get some animals around the watering hole. At the watering hole there was a few baboons fooling around and playing, as well as pair of Zebra's drinking from the pond to our left something was moving far in the dense bush. We soon discovered it was a large heard of wildebeest maybe 30 odd or more all rushing and playfully kicking into the air as they came for a drink. The place was crawling with activity, we even had the chance to see a rhino come for a sip.
There was still a few more roads to go drive in the reserve and we headed out again. Later the afternoon we came across a birding hide. It was quite still as we sat there for a few minutes. Then this eagle arrived, I was in awe of this giant eagle we spotted with claws big enough to easily grab a small dog. Then another Mr lonely Dumbo decided to come and get his daily sunblock treatment and plastered his back in mud and dust, where after he happily disappeared back into the bush again. We headed back to camp and finished off our last evening with one delicious pot of "potjie kos" and had a great nights rest. We are heading home today. But Mother Nature threw us an odd ball. Rain, a lot of it to be honest. As quick as we could, we packed up our tents inventory and piled it into the vehicles. We knew the tens were soaking wet and will have to be dried out at home later again. So we braved the elements and packed up the tents as neatly as the situation allowed for. All while it poured down on us. Packed and ready to leave we do our final chicken parade around camp making sure we didn't forget anything in our rush to get going. On our way out we used the northern gate situated near the camp. As we left thereserve we were back on a gravel road that shortly turned into a muddy dangerousmountain pass weaving through the hillsides back to Jozini town. With a few really hairysituations avoided we turned right onto the N2 from this muddy road and headed backhome.This tour was done back in 2016 by Pieter (Dad figure) and his wife Anna and Armandt(story teller) and his Girlfriend Christelle and will forever be one of the Best one’s we havedone. Until next time.ROSS OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Last edited by Suzukitrucker; 2024/08/16 at 07:51 PM.
There was still a few more roads to go drive in the reserve and we headed out again. Later the afternoon we came across a birding hide. It was quite still as we sat there for a few minutes. Then this eagle arrived, I was in awe of this giant eagle we spotted with claws big enough to easily grab a small dog. Then another Mr lonely Dumbo decided to come and get his daily sunblock treatment and plastered his back in mud and dust, where after he happily disappeared back into the bush again. We headed back to camp and finished off our last evening with one delicious pot of "potjie kos" and had a great nights rest. We are heading home today. But Mother Nature threw us an odd ball. Rain, a lot of it to be honest.
As quick as we could, we packed up our tents inventory and piled it into the vehicles. We knew the tens were soaking wet and will have to be dried out at home later again. So we braved the elements and packed up the tents as neatly as the situation allowed for. All while it poured down on us. Packed and ready to leave we do our final chicken parade around camp making sure we didn't forget anything in our rush to get going. On our way out we used the northern gate situated near the camp. As we left the reserve we were back on a gravel road that shortly turned into a muddy dangerous mountain pass weaving through the hillsides back to Jozini town. With a few really hairy situations avoided we turned right onto the N2 from this muddy road and headed back home. This tour was done back in 2016 by Pieter (Dad figure) and his wife Anna and Armandt(story teller) and his Girlfriend Christelle and will forever be one of the Best one’s we have done. Until next time.
ROSS OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Sorry I had to spilt it due to the amount of foto's.
Last edited by Suzukitrucker; 2024/08/16 at 07:55 PM.
Reply With Quote. As our heart rate recovers and the dust settles almost simultaneously we regain focus and start heading down the crinkly-roads trying to maintain a SSE heading. Now look we are from the "platteland" as they say and this type of sand driving was a whole new ball game and we took it slow initially. Soon we were popping up and down the dunes looking like the professionals in Dubai. Look If you ever thinking of doing overlanding in a Suzuki 4x4 especially the older Sj410 models please be aware that on bumpy rutted sand dunes being in an old Oil barrel rolling down it will probably be more comfortable.
. You see I kind of have this tradition/habit that once I’m in an area I like to explore and check out other lodges and campsites around. So the entrance to this 5 star beach lodge next to Mabibi site had this notice that I might have “misread”. It clearly stated “NO Unauthorized entry beach lodge residents ONLY!”. Meh whatever, so I headed down there anyway. The road lead to the top of the massive dune with the million steps just on Lodges side of the Territory here I was friendlily greeted by a security that opened a narrow boom gate for us. The Suzuki made its way down this steep dune road covered in logs for traction, and boy did all hell break out once we reached the bottom of this dune.
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