Our journey began with a gentle 500 km (300 mile) drive to
the other side of Beaufort West to try out a new overnight stopping place - Travalia
Lodge. It did us proud, even placing our
frozen food items in their walk in freezers. Next day we continued on to one of
our favourite national parks – Mokala outside Kimberley. It specialises in
preserving endangered species so there are sable antelope, roan antelope and
rhino easily seen. However there are no large predators or elephants but there
is so much else that you really don’t miss them.
Our first puncture of the holiday occurred whilst parked
outside the reception area of the park, giving Christopher the practice in
wheel changing he was shortly going to need. The repair of the tyre required a
100km round trip outside the park.
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| Roan antelope - an endangered animal |
Two nights at Mokala was followed by a stay at Marakele.
This is a National Park far removed from civilisation and with few amenities.
We had a safari tent which was comfortable and reasonably well equipped but
also plagued by bugs and 5 cm centipedes who fought us gallantly to not just
share the outside area but the inside as well. Marakele has an impressive list
of animals in the park but seeing them is another matter. After two days hard
game viewing we had a pitiful list of birds and animals. It does have a lovely
drive to an amazing viewpoint but it is not enough to tempt us back I am
afraid.
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| Two rhino, one of the rare sightings in Marakele |
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| African wattle trees show off their beautiful spring colours |
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| The scenery in Marakele |
Next stop was the Kruger National Park the Big Daddy of
parks in South Africa and the one everyone visits. It is the size of Wales and
has many camps, bush camps and if you can afford it luxury camps. We couldn’t -
so it was a return to the regular camps starting right up in the far north of
both the Kruger Park and South Africa. This was our most northern point in out
journey.
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| Pafuri Gate into the Kruger Park |
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| Mockford Cottage which is much more comfortable than in looks! |
We arrived at Pafuri Border camp close to gate shutting
time. Mockford Cottage is an extremely comfortable house for two people fully
equipped. The small camp has 3 houses and a swimming pool but the main benefit
is it’s close proximity to Pafuri picnic site, one of my favourite places
though why is hard to say. The whole strip of land along the Luvuhu River is
tropical and charming with tantalising glimpses of the river. The birds are
amazing and there is a constant array of animals coming to drink and splash in the
water. We called in briefly to the picnic site twice but it is a place to
linger not drop in on. We will be back!
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| The beautiful Luvuhu River |
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| Tame nyala at Pafuri picnic site |
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| A rather handsome male nyala |
200 km further south (maximum speed limit 50kph plus time
added for any animals stops), we arrived at Letaba but our time here was dominated
by punctures. Letaba is a lovely camp set on the banks of the Letaba River.
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| Tame bush buck at Letaba camp |
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| Our hut at Letaba |
Our
hut suffered from the usual problems of poor cleaning, maintenance and missing
equipment. Our first day as we were trying out some of the riverside drives, it
became apparent we had a puncture. Driving on the wheel was not an option so
Christopher changed the wheel as quickly as possible in the baking heat,
perspiration dripping off him. I stood guard watching for the buffalo and hippo
which we had seen not that far away. (It should be noted that alighting from
your vehicle in the bush is illegal).
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| Male kudu |
We were assured that Emergency Road Services would repair
the puncture which they did and our repairer was adamant that the tyre would be
fine despite an interesting bulge in the wall. Of course 10 km outside camp in
just about the same spot, the tyre went again. We tried driving back to camp on
it but everything was getting very hot, there was an interesting smell of
burning rubber, so another quick wheel change by my intrepid husband.
This time the wrecked tyre needed to be replaced and as all
the tyres were wearing thin we drove to Phalaborwa, another round trip of 100
km, and had them replaced. Afterwards we treated ourselves to a nice lunch at a
hotel just outside the park and then drove back to relax the rest of the day in
the pleasant surroundings of the camp.
The drive from Letaba to Satara was relatively short but all
day thunder rumbled and lightning flashed and we had a little rain. The
temperature peaked at 39 degrees and that night the much needed rain
arrived.
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| Family Ground hornbill |
Our last full day started cool and overcast after the
night’s rain. There was little game to be seen but we did spot a family of 5
ground hornbills. We stopped briefly at Tshhokwane Trading Post (once a tea room)
which has been modernised into a cross between a coffee shop and the
fashionable South African bush kitchen.
Our journey continued south and what was most gratifying was
the lush greenness that 18 months earlier on our previous visit had been nothing
but barren drought afflicted bush. There was water, browsing and grazing and
from a lookout we could see herds of wildebeest and zebra grazing happily.
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| White shouldered kite |
Our stop for breakfast at Lower Sabie was bit of a culture
shock hitting Mugg and Bean and Sky news after 10 days away from such
luxuries. Back along the Lower Sabie
road to Skukuza we were entertained by a quarrelsome baboon troop feasting on
the new leaves of a large tree. Skukuza is now almost a tourist destination in
its own right and was packed with well over 20 safari vehicles on a lunch break
as well as coaches and cars.
The final leg of our journey to Pretoriouskop was a grand
finale for our Kruger Park week. First of all we saw a pair of klipspringers
quickly followed by two groups of rhino, our first in the park and then, having
been told that cheetah were still by the road, we went to find them. Two
cheetah were indeed by the side of the road but having rested long enough, they
stood up and walked down the road for quite a way leading an ever increasing
parade of vehicles behind them. If that was not enough after leaving the
cheetahs to their fan club we came across a very young hyena eating a bit of
road kill. He was all by himself which was not good news. He was too young to be unsupervised.
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| Buffalo |
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| Klipspringer |
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| One of the cheetahs leading a parade of vehicles |
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| Baby hyena |
Our last night at Pretoriouskop was very chilly and we were
glad not be braaing so we could eat indoors.
We left early the next day for a 600 km drive to Golden Gate
National Park on the northern Drakensberg. As we neared our destination, we
could see snowy peaks in the distance. The park is renowned for its spectacular
views and colourful rock formations. However being in the mountains the
temperature was dropping all the time. By nightfall it was decidedly chilly outside
but unfortunately also inside our hotel room. Despite electric blankets we both
had a cold night’s sleep.
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| Beautiful rock formations at Golden Gate National Park |
Our journey south continued to the southern Drakensberg
which border Lesotho. Snowy mountains towered over lesser peaks as we neared
our destination at the foot of the Sani Pass. Our lodge overlooked some
beautiful trout fishing lakes with eland, springbok, blesbok and zebra
wandering by. It was a wonderful place to relax after some hard driving.
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| Our comfortable lodge |
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| Zebra wandering by |
The Sani Pass from South Africa into Lesotho has been on my
bucket list for some time but the road is no place for a sedan car so we booked
a 4 x 4 tour. The road over the pass zigzags to 2874m or 9340 feet. It boasts
being the highest road in Africa and third highest in the world. Surrounding
peaks rise to over 3400 m or 11000 feet. Nearer the top the potholed track
deteriorates and the zigzags and hairpin bends increase till finally you emerge
at the Lesotho border. Formalities are minimal and once through the border the
road transforms into one of the best roads we drove on in our entire trip. Lesotho
however is a desperately poor country, known as the roof of the world and the
spectacular views of the pass gave way to a bleak and fairly flat landscape.
The road took us about 6 km to a small poor village where
the locals enjoy the benefits of tourism and foreign currency through opening
their huts and selling overpriced curios as well as singing and dancing in a
desultory fashion.
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| Half way up the Sani Pass |
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| Lesotho hut |
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| Lesotho border |
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| The road zigzagging up the pass |
Back at the lodge we enjoyed the last night before heading
off to East London. The first part of the journey was uneventful but when we
joined the N2, one of South Africa’s major roads our nerves were shredded.
Forget 4 or 6 lane highways, for the most part this is a two lane road with
occasionally a third lane to help cars overtake the huge lorries that thunder
along it. Double white lines, speed limits and sharp bends are all ignored in
the race to get to the front. Vehicles with an eye watering disregard for
anyone’s safety overtook in any situation. We also made the mistake of
travelling through Mthatha, surely one of the dirtiest, crowded and thoroughly
unpleasant places we have ever had the misfortune to visit.
Our nerves were in tatters by the time we reached Morgan Bay
and the delightful, family run hotel right on the beach. Dinner was lovely as
was the extensive breakfast and this is surely a place to return to.
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| Morgan Bay Hotel right on the beach |
Next day was meant to be a shorter drive with an opportunity
to explore East London and the surrounding coast but the infection I had been
battling took a turn for the worse and I was shivering and shaking uncontrollably.
By the time we reached Port Alfred, what I believe is a charming seaside town
with a marina, I took to my bed with a hot water bottle. Port Alfred will also
have to wait for another visit.
We were now on the final leg of the road trip. We took a
long but easy drive through the Eastern Cape around Port Elizabeth and
Jeffrey’s Bay before crossing over into the all too obvious civilisation of the
Western Cape. Here there are petrol stations with clean facilities, plenty of farm
stalls and stopping places and a general air of care and attention.
Our final stop was at our all time favourite B & B in
Swellendam where we have stayed on several occasions. The rooms are well planned,
decorated and clean and there is a beautiful garden and pool. This left a short
run next day to Fish Hoek to unload our filthy car, get the washing machine
running and sleep in our own bed.
This road trip was not the easy one we enjoyed in 2013 but
we learned much and the one things that was constant was the warmth and
helpfulness of the South Africans we met. We are so thankful too to God for
looking after us through all sorts of trails and difficulties and overall we
marvelled again at the beauty of our second home.
