Kosi Bay 2016 tour

[Asjas]

Okay so after alot of requests it time to also post a trip report on our Northen KZN Trip back in 2016.
Ready at 7am we set off to the local filling station with the rush of adventure pouring through our vains, fuel filled up tires and oil checked we hit the road down to Natal..
You see at this time bosvark was still equipped with a petrol 4y engine, this engine had a habbit of consuming more fuel than your avarage toyota landcruiser.
Anyway we hit the road quite early that morning and headed east into the sunrise, surprisingly we didnt have much mist at all which is usable a lot around that time of the year. On we went to Bethal into Ermelo and down to Piet Retief. Here we took a quick stop to fill up Bosvark again and also to take a quick breakfast break. Soon we were back on the road again and in no time we found ourselfs transversing through the mountain pass into pongola. Hereafter we passed the Jozini dam that stretches for many a kilometer next to the N2 on the lefthand side. This is also the normal road that you follow to sodwana kosibay and St Lusia.
We here at Ross outdoor'slike to go off the beaten path. This resulted in a "short left" as the South African's call it.
<<<Jozini, This was our turnoff from the N2 and we headed into the small town of Jozini with its vegi street market busy in full swing.
After carefully making our way through the crowds in the street we headed down to the
Dam wall. This was a colossal dam wall.. Not very long but definitely very high, this spectacular scene had us out of our vehicles and admiring this great feat of engeneering holding back millions of leters of water. With a few photos taken it was time to head north again.
Ndumo Game reserve was our destination for the next 2 days. And it sat right in the corner of Natal beween Swaziland and Mozambique.
So we headed North on this narrow bumpybtar road.. No fences or road markings or any sign of civilization and only dry scruby bushlands to both sides of us. a True sence of adventure set in. This hours drive felt very long and kinda gave the sence of one beconing lost.
Slowly small holdings and plots af cultural farms started to appear and we eventually reached the small town of Ndumo. With some directions from a local mother and her boy we were heading straight to the gates of Ndumo Nature Reserve.
Finally we arrived! By this time it was late into the afternoon and probably around 4pm already. Afyer we booked in we headed down to the campsite. Quickly we pitched the tents had a fore going for a braai.. With one of the best sunsets to date the day and its long drive came to an end.
DAY 2 Ndumo.
We were all up early and just in time to catch the bright sunrise to the east. Breakfast and a cup of coffee soon followed and we once again were ready for the day ahead of us.
As the morning air started to heat up.. Lets say around 9 am. We packed away all the consumables and goods monkey's cant keep away from, jumped in the fourbies (4x4's)and headed into the reserve for our day of safari.
Exploring we found a vulture Restaurant where all the dead animals of the park gets left for the vultures to eat and recycle back into the earth.
Followed by this was the magical scene of the yellow fever trees next to the riverbed with the reeds and wildebees underneath them.
One on the most relaxing spots for sure.
We went up and down and a cross all the backroads and paths the resort had to offer..
One more point of particular interest was the long drop on the river bank about 12m up facing out towards Mozambique. No doors or anything. Just a comfortable seat, you and mother nature.
We spotted allot of wildebeest, giraffe and duikers for the day. With a wide arrange of exotic birdlife..
As the Golden glow set to the west we headed back to camp started the campfire and listened to the beautiful african soundtrack created by birds and critters with the crackling sound of firewood in the foreground...
NUDMO a place well worth visiting.
Day 3 we will be packing up camp. Have some encounters in Thembe elephant park and head down to kosibay campsite

[Asjas]

Ndume at our backs as the convey heads east to the coast ini the fresh moring sun..
Lekker breakfast later and packed. We headed out to kosibay. For 2 more days of camping. But before we just ruch there. It one once more time to refuel the vehicles at a local small petrol station followed to a detour into Thembe Elephant park.
After geting a map and some sort of general exploration of the park we set of for the self drive in this unique natural park laying on the border between Kzn and Mozambique.
It quickly became clear that this was near the coast and far north in KZN as we suddenly founf ourself in these deep white sand spoors. Haha its was infack so deep one could simply just leave the steering wheel and the vehicle's will stay in the croves and follow the tracks kinda like a Rollercoaster or a train track.
Branches, sticks and leaves littered over the tracks it was more dan apparent that this was indeed and an elephant park. We saw a few small criters, Many huge bugs and eventually came around to actually spotting some elephants. This spotting was a large male tusker.... One of the parks bigger alphas. And with luck as we came around the corner in this soft spoor track Mr Jumbo was waiting in the middle of it kicking up sand and flaping his ears. Clearly not inpresed with our arrival. We backed up as quick as chaoticly possible. Haha soft sand sudden movement and panicked drivers. What a combo... One houres surprised before he Mr Jumbo actually gave us a clearing to pass. And soon we will be out the park and back on our way heading east.
With the noon sun sitting high and proud we rolled along the narrow blacktop towards what we had all imagined of kosi bay.
For me this was one of the most memorable moments driving in convoy through this desolated sand dune and grass lands with a fern here and there accompanied by a small hut every few hundred meters or so. Truly only a sigh that a nature loving person will enjoy.
Commotion.. More vehicles, Telephone poles.
We were starting to approach civilization again.
With the road becoming more hilly and huts everyware we soon realized that we entered the outskirts of Kosi bay...
Yet again fresh fruit and veg markets all over the place. Locals walking around and the fresh scent of the ocean in the air we headed over to a small shop and boughy some supplies.
With the help of a local shepherd he pointed us into the right direction to campsite.
Around this time it was probably 2-3pm in the afternoon. We confirmed our reservations and set up camp. Supper was had and the days events enjoyed around fire..
As the new day broke we sat around a bit and took in all the beauty kosi bay had to offer. We had a discussion and with the great weather we had at the time it was agreed apon that we will head down to the bay mouth for the day.
At the Gate it Cleary states 4x4s ONLY. And what a fun yet brutal little road it is we took down to the bay. Here we saw the age old tradition of the local fishermen using sticks to form cages/nets to trap the fish in the bay and what a sublime place this was.
We stopped our vehicles at the bay. 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 lekker lunch on the beach and enjoyed some snorkling on the shallow reefs.
The tide has been sneaking in this whole time...
So 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. HAHA we all laughed as we needed to cross. Most of the newly flooded bay was about waist deep and we actually had a few spots we had to wade neck deep or swim through.
Back in the vehicles. Camera and cellphone checks all equipment fine and safe we headed to camp. But not before buying some fresh produce on our way home from one of the
Roadside vegie stands...
What an remarkable place Kosi bay is! And Far exeeded any of our expectations...

[Asjas]

Day 5.
Its 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 studding 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. So we followed the directions and kept 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.
Soon we found the Police station and The wide A7076 Gravel road heading south. This was quite an exiting 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 now electricity.
Anyway we headed down this road a few kilometers and passed through a abandoned boom gate, one of many which you will get while traveling in South Africa. 800 Meters to the left we got of the main road and entered the vast maze of "tweespoor paatjies" 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.
Not even 3 min down this tracks a Toyota Landcruiser 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 hole new ball game and we took it slow initially. Soon we were popping up and down the dunes looking like True professionals.
Bam!! Suddenly Pieter slammed on his brakes in the Nissan and came to a grinding halt in front of me, 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 his face was total 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 had tends to be quite careless and told him to relax I will take the lead and guide us.
I decided we will follow the simple rule that we are on the east coast with a massive coastal dune on our left side , so simple idea was keep the dune on our left then we are heading south and keep close to the dune as the campsite was also really close to the beach. 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 passes was going slow as you couldn't drive fast without being wreck less 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 a Feeling of pure bliss!
I was up early as I wanted to see the sunrise crest over the ocean and it was truly a sight to behold.
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 lekker steak and egg breakie made up of last nights leftovers. after our customary chit chat in the morning we grabbed some sunscreen and towels and headed down the 200 wooden steps 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 we went out and explored the regions around lake Sibayi stopped and supported a local Spaza shop and baought a few snacks. As per usual we ended the day around a campfire talking about the days sightings....

[Asjas]

Stronger breeze than normal, a low silver lining over the horizon far towards the east as the sun rises over the horizon. Could this be a sign of possible bad weather as i take a sip of java out of my tin cup standing on the beach.....
When i arrived back at camp most were already up and slowly building steam to pack up camp and head out to Sodwanna bay what would be the start of our day 7 and 8 expedition.
After cleaning up the camp a bit we went and cleaned ourselves a bit with the gas powered showers available at the only ablution block the campsite offers.
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 friendly 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 left 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 "Its 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 bare 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 as 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 a fire fighting helicopter dropped a few thousand liters of whitish grey paint over them and on the top these 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 refreshes this incredible sight in my mind.
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 traveled 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.
The next moment I regain 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 slow 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 2 guards at the boom gate dressed in dark camo greens, one of them holding a clipboard patiently awaiting our arrival.
"Where did you come from?" The one guard askes surprisingly polite. We Quickly reply and brief him on our journey and our heading, cooperatively we help him capture some details like ID numbers contact details and vehicle specifics 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.
By this time we really started to make up lost time as the road widened to almost 8 meters and was freshly scraped. 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 bought back at KosiBay and we still had sufficient fuel until we had to leave to Mkuze.
The camp at Sodwana is huge, 140+ campsites if memory serves. So this also meant we spend more than a 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 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. 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 sight seeing, nearby a lighthouse stood tall sticking it head out behind a 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 above the coral reefs.
The whole place was crawling with activity and we decided on a lunch at the takeaway. 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 lekker big fire that night and had plenty of reflecting on our recent journey 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 chill will we shaking his mothers dress while she is having a conversation with someone and wants her attention.
I also found myself tightly snuggled up against my 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 building 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 head "AI OKAY". In 5 min I was up and sitting next to my amazing mother having coffee listening to the snoring of Pieter.
I always had an unexplainable 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.
We had a few moments that the rain softly came down throughout the day, but not the less it was still a day great spent.
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 a 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 a discussion on who likes what and what they want to eat. The waiter went of 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 hot from the insides out ready for the cold nights sleep ahead.
Please check in next time when we cover the last part of our amazing Northern KZN trip at Mukuze before heading back home.

[Asjas]

Patch, patch the sun came out as we said goodbye to Sodwana in our rearview 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, Its also one of the few game reserves that promises to provide quite a big diversity of animals.
About 30min along our route since we got off the R22 i spot a big patch of Fever trees, one of my personal favorite tree species as they stand tall and bright with the dull dry veld behind them.
Some time latter 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, its so freshly laid that you can still smell the tar hanging in the air as the now hot sun bakes the blacktop. Suddenly this 10 ton truck was behind us looking extremely eager to pass us, "Why is there a Construction truck in the Reserve?" I call out on the handheld radio 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.
Checked in at reception we 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 min later 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 hoped in the vehicles and headed out on a game drive. Soon we found the reason for the trucks, they were busy with development of the park and was busy laying tar road on all the main tracks in the reserve.
Back from our drive we started preparations for supper and also started a nice campfire as 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 natural game animal.
Then it came! The laughter from nothing else but a pack of hyena's not far away at all. Us humans have been living in houses and safe for many many a decade, but still instinctively the sound of a predator in its natural habitats sends shivers down a persons back.
The laughter continued deep into the night, and i can say without shame that i slept very lightly that night.
Its our last open day before we head home.
Coffee as usual, paired with some ouma rusks was the prefered 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 in 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 we quickly drove around the signs 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 that sight as it was purely amazing. 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,
We still had a few more roads to go drive in the reserve and headed out again...
Later the afternoon we came across a birding hide.. we sat there for a few minutes in awe of this giant eagle we spotted. Then 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 a 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 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 packed.
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. After A few really hairy situations we turned left onto the N2 from this muddy road and headed back home.

[Asjas]

Our trip back in 2016 it is written as expienced and really hope you can live yourself into the story. Enjoy.

[iandvl]

Great trip report of an area I do not get out to frequently enough.

Thanks.

[Hedgehog]

I need to get to that area again ASAP

It's been 15 years now.
Probably going to be such a disappointment, compared to then.