Kick Ass weekend at Kyleu

[Mad Manny]

I turn the big LX in a couple of days, so Tanya & I decided to go camping.
On MartinDJ's recommendation we booked in at Kyleu Lodge in Dinokeng.
Believe it or not, I've only been to this side of Dinokeng once before - a Bridgestone Challenge event was held there.
I've been to the other, crapper side, plenty when the 4x4 Action Group had a Club Home Base there for a few years (Iquana).

Anyhoo I packed up, hitched up & left home in Honeydew just after 12:10 on Friday.
Got to Tanya in Equestria at 13:10 (thanks to loadshedding down Lynnwood road).

From Tanya's it was 45 mins & R50 in (two) tolls to Dinokeng.
A bit if a queue to take tickets at the Tau gate & then a bit of a queue at the Kyleu gate as 5 campers arrived at the same time.

Kyleu has various sites & chalets. But there are 7 campsites in the 'unfenced' side, 5 have private ablutions & 2 have no ablutions (but are otherwise the nicest). * see Martin's correction below...

I chose site #7 - it's the most private one, further away from the others.

We spent a few minutes deciding which way the trailer should face (the dilemma of choosing between having the sun on the kitchen vs the sun baking you out of bed).
We decided on the default 'face north' layout & set up.

We did a full set up, tables out, awning erected, chair out, solar connected, bed made etc. in 50 minutes, taking it easy at it was 32*C.
Then we cracked a few beers/ciders.

The ablutions are very basic, but very quaint & well thought out... and spotless..

Kyelu gives you a bag of wood a day - we were given 3 & I had brought one.
They also give you a bag of ice, but I asked if it could be delivered on Saturday rather - a mistake as it never arrived.
The cost for 2 nights for 2 was only R920

There are two braais - a larger one & the old washing machine drum one. Neither are adjustable.

A guy pitched on a Quad bakkie thing & fitted a freshly charged gate motor battery to run the bathroom lights.
Hot watrer is from a gas geyser. There is no electricity (which I prefer - it keeps the Kakavaanians away)

We made a fire, did two Sirloin steaks - unfortunately I over did them a tad - but that made the fat awesome!
I cocked up the garlic breads (over cooked them). Tammy made an awesome salad.

By 21:00 we were showered (Tanya had a cold shower as she did not realise you need to crank the hot to get the gas to kick in then just control with the cold) & in bed.
I was overtired (hard week) so sleep came quickl....
The only negative is the Friday night libations of the Hammenskraal locals reverberating over Dinokeng.

[Martin de Jager]

Manny,
looks like you enjoyed your stay.
we normally book no 3, but no.7 seems to be thpe favourite. Just some correction, the camp have 5fenced in stands, all with ablutions, in the un-fenced camp, you have 10 stands all with ablutions, below by the river you have four un-serviced stands, no ablutions.
This is purely the least stressed out setup within the Dinokeng, if you want to unwind then you have arrived.

[Mad Manny]

Saturday morining we were up faily early, had coffee, showered, & headed out.
Having never been there before we were a bit lost, but we managed to find the 'Mall' and the Red Shack where we paid the Self Drive Fee & the Conservation fee etc. R455
We now had a map book & were in business!
We headed off on a game drive.
Didn't see the big 5 but did see many buck, giraffes etc.
We also saw a Hippo (Tanya had bought me Binoculars for my birthday, so I could see the Hippo - he was far away & largely submerged)

We decided to head out & do the the red (4x4 Only) route (most extreme). It's a grade I. We came across a family of 5 in an Audi Q1 or Q2 (they all look the same to me).
This twat thought a Q could go offroad - NO Audi can go offroad. So he was stuck. I asked him to go forward - he said he couldn't (there was no reason why not).
So I told him to reverse back so he could turn round (he was blocking the road) - He reversed - I think he thought I was going to guide him out.
What got me is the 5 of them were just sitting in the car - we saw them from the bottom of the hill.
I dunno if he was going to sit there for ever?
Anyway as soon as he moved back I could slip past & we were on our way.
If there are clear signs saying 4x4 only - don't take your Audi-badged Polo Cross there. Fool!

We went past the Arlington Brewery - it was full & pumping.

There was very little to see on the 4x4 section so we headed back, stopping at a picnic spot on the way back.

We got back in the late afternoon - they had cleaned the braai & dropped off ANOTHER bag of wood!

Our bag of ice was never delivered so I made a plan - I had a big block of ice (made in an ice cream container), so I broke pieces off & tanya & I had a Pink Gin with Pink Tonic.
Then we had another, and another and another.
I stated the fire, we had another few gins, I braai'd lekker beef sosaties from Fresh House Market, the veggies were perfect.

We then noticed we'd klapped the entire bottle of gin!

Another early night - the nights were lovely & cool. Awesome nights sleep! (except for a mozzie who nailed my ear, I smacked him flat - and the Doeff Doeff from the locals in the distance)...

[Mad Manny]

Sunday we were up early - the rising sun was worrying me.
We made coffee & packed up early.
Tanya & I always do a proper pack up so the trailer leaves camp ready for the next outing.
We don't do a 'Chuck it in - we'll sort it out at home' type pack up.
The only exception is the bedding is stripped & thrown in the washing.
That gets washed at home & brought on the next trip.

It was nearly 10:00 by the time we were packed, hitched up & showered.

On the way out Peter stopped us & asked for feedback, I told him the toilet is a bit loose & the cistern setting is a bit high meaning a small amount of water trickles into the toilet constantly.
He said they'd fix it.
I never mentioned the ice.

On our way out we stopped at Twin Towers for breakfast. It was OK.

Overall a lekker little break.
Tanya & I had a great time.
My new Solar panels worked a bomb.
Kyleu was great.

The only negatives were the game sightings (no big 5) & the Locals clearly having money to party (due to the economic boom or thanks to SASSA).
Pity they didn't get loadshod.

BTW: While I was away my area had loadshedding 4 times! So glad I wasn't home!

[Mad Manny]

Some pics....

Gawie at the Kyleu entrance


All set up...


The trailer & the ablutions...


Eric, the Giraffe...


Gawie proving that real men can drink pink drinks...


The wear & tear of 59 year's & 362 days of hard life...


Gawie cooling off...


Some buck thing - he just stood there looking at us (dunno why photo is lying over)...


The guy at number 5 had a very nice rig...

[Martin de Jager]

Manny, something to keep in mind, Dinokeng was proclaimed only in 1997, "The reserve is the only wildlife sanctuary in Gauteng that offers Big five game free walks and is available for visitors to explore. It covers an area of approximately 21,000 hectares. Its name, Dinokeng, is derived from the language of the baTswana and baPedi people, and is translated as “a place of rivers”."
We have stayed outside the reserve, we have stayed in Willem's rus, Koedoes's rus, Chikwalo and Kylue (3x).
We have been on day visits many times, its so close for a day outing. Because we know the place well, we know where to look for the animals. Rhino plenty, Lion, Buffalo, Cheetah, Eland, Kudu, Rooihrtbees, Duiker, Rooibok, Zebra, Wildebeest, Jackal, Martial Eagle, fish Eagle, Brown Eagle, Hawks, Goliath Crane, A Cape Vulture, to many to recall.
This is truly a jewel close to home. The photos attached was from our latest visit.

[Bugger]

Glad you enjoying your G&Ts Luke I do my Jameson

[iandvl]

Thanks for the write-up. Looks / sounds fantastic. Kyleu has been on my radar for quite a while now. I guess I should just make a plan.

On a side note: we've just acquired an offroad trailer (I'll write up about that soon), so I guess I need to arrange a weekend sometime to test everything. Perhaps this is a good option.

A second side note: I love Dinokeng and have camped at various places there. Lodged there too (I've got a good friend with a few lodges in the Northern section of the park). The only downside to Dinokeng is the gumba-gumba you hear from Hammanskraal every night.

[Erin]

We camped in the unfenced area in July. It was moercold. There's a small pride of lion (3 or 4) that seem to hang around in the area - I've seen a few photos on FB, where they been in the camp. We were also lucky to see a white rhino, and calf. The main road from the brewery back to Kyleu has some of the worst corrugations I've seen for a long time (or did when we were there).

All-in-all, it's a flippen nice place for a quick weekend getaway, and they do go out of their way to make sure you're comfortable (we got our ice).