...Fast forward almost a full year it was now winter in the southern hemisphere. That meant
it got cold, really cold in our home town Secunda with average daily temperatures around
17 degrees Celsius and as low as -10 on some nights. The year already started out to be
quite exiting with me and my girlfriend getting engaged in April, I also just started some
extensive modifications on my Suzuki 4x4. Sitting home being cold and with a few days
leave to spare it was decided that we should go on another tour, but where to? A few
days passed and we finally decided to head north towards Limpopo Province. Our plan
was to do a circle loop up to Magoebaskloof and back home again. Those areas are still
quite hot during our winter months and had beautiful clear skies as winter meant dry
season.
Considering the Suzuki4x4 was in about 8296 pieces and it wouldn’t have been
practical to go on a 1400km journey with a sensitive race car we had no choice but to jam
all our camping gear into our tiny Toyota Aygo. Two days at Swadini Spa resort, two days
in magoebaskloof and three days at Sondela nature reserve was booked. The next week I
completed in the world Aygo packing Tetris championship
. And I must say it took quitesome crafting skills fitting all that camping gear and 7 days’ worth of food and supplies in that
tiny hatchback. With our wedding only 9 months out it wasn’t feasible or financially
advisable to book into fancy lodges or chalets. Thus we opted for regular old school
camping. All this happened on very short notice and no one could get leave in time to join
us. So it seemed we will be having a little pre-honeymoon if I can put it that way.
The Morning of yet another trip was upon us, so without hesitation we jumped in the little
“Kalahari Ferrari” (Aygo’s christened name after this very trip). Heavy mist is also quite a
common occurrence in the Highveld during the winter months, this meant we could leave
super early before sunrise as visibility would have been near non-existent. Around 8:30 Am
the mist started to clear and we set of on our journey. Our first destination was going to
be Swadini lodge that was quite a stretch away, 428kilometers to be exact. Still being
fresh after a goodnights rest and pumped up on excitement this didn’t bothers as much as
we made our way north. The road up to Dullstream was quite uneventful as we just
cruised along the N4 Highway weaving in and out of traffic, things only started to get
exiting and interesting as we headed into the mountain ranges. Dullstroom is one of the
greater gems along the panorama route heading towards the Lowveld. Established in
1883 by Co Dutchman Wolterus Du, Dullstream is a tourism hub that features many a
curios shop. The town was actually completely destroyed during the second Boer war and
only two buildings survived the war, surprisingly the settlers returned after the war and
slowly rebuilt this town that is probably one of the biggest attraction spots in the Province
today. Not being in any sort of rush we probably spent the better half of 2 hours in this
incredible town before heading north again. We passed through Lydenburg that also has
allot of rich history and kept heading north towards Swadini. About Halfway between
Lydenburg and Swadini Resort after pulling every rally move in the book avoiding
potholes there lays this ancient cave system and we just had to go and have a look! It’s
called the Echo Caves. It has a small museum and a guided tour through the larger areas
in the cave.
The caves were opened in 1959 as a tourist attraction is considered one of the oldest cave
systems on earth. Entering the premises I immediately noticed some amarula fruits on the
ground and introduced Christelle to this indigenous fruit. They have a very sweet flavours
with a slight bit of acidity to them. Splat! A lama nails me right in the face as I try and
get its attention through the fence. “Discussing” I thought as I stood at the counter waiting
on the guide thinking back at this foul beast. We had a blast exploring inside the cave
system and got some really deep information on the history within this ancient cave
system. It was already quite late in the afternoon when we got out and we had to pick up
the pace to make it to Swadini Resort. Before I could stop myself I found myself pulled
over next to the road and walking straight into a Small trading post. A few hundred
Rands later and with arms full of jams and honey jars we were back on our way. Finally we
made it to Swadini, pitched our tent and made our way towards the restaurant.
first day… The Milky Way shone bright in the clear night sky as we drifted along the
footpath back to our tent.
Groaning and with a slight headache we woke up… You just never know with wine. There
wasn’t much time to hang around either as we had plans to head over to the Hoedspruit
endangered species shelter, luckily for us it was only a 20 min drive. I have been at this
place many years ago and figured my fiancé would enjoy seeing all the wildlife they had
in the sanctuary. We got paired up with a wonderful guide that took us on a safari
through the sanctuary. She was well informed and it was clear that she had allot of
interest in nature. We learned so much about the several species of endangered animals.
It was rather interesting to see how intelligent honey badgers are as they kept on using all
sorts of ticks to try and escape their enclosure, the guide even told us they escape on
average one a week no matter how hard they try. Innovative little buggers I tell you! After
making a small donation to the sanctuary we headed towards town to visit one of the art
galleries. The skills someone needs to paint some of those wildlife scenes are just mind
blowing. The midday heat was catching up with us and we headed back to Swadini.
Feeling energized again after eating lunch we went for a short stroll along the river.
Swadini is in a gorge of the Greater Blyde Rivier canyon next to the river, upstream of this
river is a dam wall that holds back millions of litres of water forming the Blyde river
canyon lake. And you know what. They had a boat cruise available and we just couldn’t
resist making a booking. As 3PM arrived we were busy boarding this barge that they used
to make guided tours on the lake.
Quite a few interesting facts came up. It is one of the
larger canyons on earth and unlike the Grand Canyon in the US it’s a “green Canyon”
lined with tropical bush and undergrowth, it also features the second highest Tufa
waterfall on earth approximately 200m high. OH boy and what a creepy waterfall this
was. It looks exactly like a gaint face poking out of the side of this canyon with crying
eyes. It really looks like something from King Kong’s skull island. It was a worthwhile boat
ride and we enjoyed every bit of it. Heading down the canyon on our way back to camp
we saw a few bush buck as they jolted across the road in front of us. “Braai tyd is lekker
tyd” I told my fiancé as I threw a few more logs on the campfire, she was very chatty
about all the creatures we saw at the sanctuary and didn’t even notice her food getting
cold as she talked the night away.
Day 3 was upon us and I had a surprise I wanted to show my fiancé, it was also the day
that we needed to travel to Magoebaskloof. But first we had to make two little detours.
First on the list was to go check out this snake and reptile park we located on one of the
local maps we found in the Koisk. It was pretty cool and had all sorts of exotic snakes and
even a rare dwarf Congo crocodile. Just as we were about to leave the curios shop this
blazing red parrot came bolting out from under one of the tables and nearly caused my
fiancé to do a backflip. Detour two, Clinton Ras was one of my friends I met on Facebook
and we actually established a massive Suzuki 4x4 community together over the years. He is
quite a character and till this day we are still good friends, you see Hoedspruit was his
hometown where he grew up. Hoedspruit is also situated very close to the Kruger national
park. Clinton is one of those Wild West cowboy characters you would read about in a
good Western, he grew up in a sister reserve To the Kruger National park. This guy would
walk around unarmed in his khaki and vellies with lions resting under a tree in the back
yard. Anyway i was in the area and thought I might as well go say hello to a good ol
friend of mine. We took a detour towards Palaborwa on Grietjies reserve where he lived
and just caught up with each other for an hour or so before the fiancé and I got on the
road towards her “surprise”.
Little did I know that it would have been a surprise for me to?
The intended surprise was to go and visit one of the biggest Boabab trees In south Africa
that was located about midway between Hoedspruit and Magoebaskloof. As we arrived I
was almost more excited than she was. And then as we entered the property my heart just
sunk. The trees own weight caused it to collapse in on itself leaving just the mass of wood
and branches laying on the ground, the tree was still very much alive it just didn’t stand
tall anymore.
that’s centuries old still living its best live after taking a literal fall and at the same time it
Never going to stand tall again. Being hot some berry ice-cream was ordered before we
“fall in die pad” as I would say.
Driving along R71 road my phone suddenly rang. I looked down and saw it is my brother,
swiftly I ask my fiancé to answer it on my behalf. Come to find out after a brisk
conversation over the phone that Louwrens my brother had three days of approved leave
available and wanted to join in on the fun we were having.
My fiancé then politely told him that I will give him a call back one we are of the road. The R71 leads straight into
Tzaneen which is quite a large town fuelled by all the agriculture in the surrounding
areas. And by the looks of things it needed to be a pay day as the place was lit. When
you roll into Tzaneen all around you will see farms full of nut trees as well as a large
number of different tropical fruits like citrus, mango and bananas. Dazed by all the noise
and activity we had no intention to stop in town and quickly pulled into a local fill up
station to grab some ice for the cooler box. Closely simulating the swift speed and
precision used by a Formula 1 team. We had a reservation for two nights of camping at
Eden’s gate wedding venue, I figured we might see what it was like as will still didn’t have
any real plans or venue for the wedding by then and hey camping was allowed. Smack
dead in the centre of Wolkberg wilderness area we found ourselves surrounded by tall
mountains and forest as we chucked our last few pieces of gear in our pitched tent. It was
astonishingly beautiful like picture from the Alaskan wilderness without any cold or snow. I
soon noticed they had small ponds and allowed fishing, if only I had some gear to cast for
the elusive monster Bass this area is also very well known for. Signal was weak and I
searched all over the place to have a few bars on my mobile device, eventually I reached
a spot overlooking the estate and some signal was available whereby I the proceeded to
call Louwrens. Giving him a full briefing on the trip report and the plans for what was still
laying ahead we came to an agreement that they will join us at Sondela for the last three
nights of the Trip. I hiked back down camp and met up with my fiancé and we checked
out the rest of the venue while hanging out with the estate owners. Camp macaroni and
Cheese is a messy affair but at the end was well worth it. Feeling quite tired after a hot
day we called it a night that evening and went to bed early.
Brdoooorrrr!!! “Was that lightning?!” My fiancé asks me as we go stunned from our deep
sleep. “I don’t think so I replied” as there was no rain forecasted for weeks and obviously
no lightning. We anxiously laid there in bed waiting for the next “lightning” bang to come,
it never did and we eventually slumbered back to sleep. Waking up the next morning and
leaving the tent there was this layers of light mist rolling down the mountains around us
with the bright African sun behind it. This formed these bands of sterling silver clouds that
effortlessly moved down the valley as the wind ever so slightly nudged them along. Till
this day I have never seen anything like it again. The day soon heated up causing the the
mist leaving us with clear skies again. I was enjoying some coffee and rusks while studying
a map for activities to do the day. Christelle tapped me on the shoulder and asked why
there are lights up in the trees on the ridge of the mountain. She immediately got my
attention and I told her that is where the mountain pass runs, but I couldn’t recall seeing
lights at that location the night before. It was really far out and we needed to get
creative, the digital camera had quite an impressive zoom. So we used the camera and to
our shock when we zoomed in on the lights we noticed that it’s a truck that went of the
pass into the forest below. I then realised the loud boom we heard last night was a truck
breaking through the barrier as it came to a crashing halt. When I was on my way get my
phone to call some sort of authority to help my fiancé calmly told me she can already see
emergency vehicles up on the pass through the tree line. We spent a good hour or so
witnessing the clean-up operation through her camera making turns like small children. In
that same timeframe I also took note of a few places of interest on the map and planned
our route for the day.
We had four main spots to go check out for the day. First one was a waterfall nearby, the
second one was the Tzaneen dam followed by Ebenezer Lake and finally the sleepy town
of Heanertsburg which has a similar vibe as Dullstroom. Leaving the estate you have a
very steep gravel track making its way up to the pass where the accident occurred it is
bumpy and high centred that caused the Aygo to bottom out a few times. Once we
reached the tarred mountain pass we had to make our way down it a few kilometres
where we could then turn left on a gravel track heading to Debengeni Waterfall. Driving
along this gravel road in our tiny hatchback it was clear that no maintenance has been
done on this trail in some time. So we just had to forge along bumping and scraping the
pour little cars belly as we made our way to the water fall. Finally reaching the waterfall
we went for a hike down to the pools below the waterfall. This was a very interesting
waterfall it wasn’t vertical and more like one insanely large rock slab sloped at about a
20deg angle. Many signs indicated that no one was allowed to walk, sit or slide down this
waterfall as it could result in serious injury or death. Moving over a series of wooden
bridges to the other side of the pool we found a memorial stone with the details of a
deceased child that had an accident at the waterfall and subsequently died. It is always
sad to see these when you stumble upon them. A few more minutes were spent taking
photos and doing sightseeing before we headed back to the car. Next up we bumped and
rattled our way back to the tar road and made a short-left onto it. Tzaneen dam was
located two minutes down the road. It still had allot of water in it considering we had a
dry year with minimal rain. Nothing much more happened around the dam and the area
was a tad sketchy so we jumped back in our now christened Toyota hatchback called the
Kalahari Ferrari due to being swift and surviving the horrible gravel road we just drove
on. We now made our way back up this incredibly steep pass requiring all the power this
little Ferrari of ours had, this is the same pass the truck had its accident on last night and
we were heading that way. We arrived on the scene and a wrecker was busy pulling out
the destroyed truck stuck in the trees below, the way the marks laid on the road and the
angle of wrecked truck gave a good indication of what might have happened. It seemed
as if it came around the corner to fast and capsized onto its side before sliding of the
road and into the trees below. The clean-up crew opened the road minutes after we
arrived and we proceeded to make our way down the other side of the pass to Ebenezer
Lake. And what would you know… more gravel roads. At least this time they were in a
much condition and actually well maintained, maybe due to all the logging being done in
the area. These gravel roads swung around the back of the Lake where we had the
opportunity to see all the beautiful houses lining the far bank of Lake. By my estimations
it looked to be about 60% full and some kids were having a blast on their jet skis on the
far side of the lake. Next on the list was Heanertsburg Town not far from the lake and
unfortunately it was a public holiday and most shops were closed with only one coffee
shop being open, but I can say it is a very neat little down and really has a vibrant yet
antique look to it.
Seeing all this lake waters with its crystal clear water made me think back about those
trophy Bass I saw in the ponds back at the campsite. Seeing as there was still plenty of
daytime left I suggested we go back into Tzaneen and go look for a Tackle shop that
might be open on this public holiday. Weirdly Christelle agreed and we headed back into
town. After getting severely lost the only open place we could find was the mall, but I was
still determined to go back and catch some fish. Browsing through the shops and enjoying
our ice creams I noticed the arts and crafts shop and couldn’t resist my inner creativity,
“What if I made my own lures?” I remarked. So then with few bucks spent and a bag full
of vibrant and fluffy stuff we headed back to camp. Back at camp we started to create
the ugliest lures that looked more like supper sized fly fishing bugs. Not our best work by
a long stretch! And you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, it did not work when we finally
went and tested them with some string and our makeshift fishing poles. Whom would have
thought? Sitting here writing this Tale I am pretty sure I still have that bag full of fluff
and glitter hiding somewhere in a cupboard. While we on the topic of fishing, you
remember how I mentioned that I hate fishing due to my Younger years as a child, well
technically I still do hate “that” kind of fishing my Father used to do. I only target Game
fish and absolutely love it. Anyway my fiancé was well entertained with me trying all sorts
of tricks to try and get the attention of them fishes. That night we opted for some Braai
grilled chicken and a curry bean salad before getting shut eye for the night.
The time to leave the land of silver mist has come and the drive from Magoebaskloof
west and then back down south to Sondela was going to be a doozy covering close to
300km’s. But I like to make driving fun and my little brother left home about 30 minutes
before my camping gear was packed away. That meant he also had around 300km’s to
drive to Sondela basically heading there from the opposite direction. The race was On!
But first I needed to get all our gear in the car before we can go any ware. After a quick
refuel and the ever so popular garage pie it was time to make our way through the
homelands of Moriah which had a strict speed limit of 80km/h. I just can’t stress it enough
how diverse this country is. Within 40minutes from leaving Magoebaskloof I found myself
in dry thorny bushveld with not a mountain insight. In my opinion the true Africa is The
Bushveld in the northern Provinces. This is where my heart belongs and the first place I
open on any map when I start planning for my next trip. That dry hard bush just has a
sense of tranquillity to it stretching north in this flat plane as far as the eye can see.
With Moriah behind us and about 2 hours of driving left we were making strong progress
until 20 odd km’s before Polokwane where it seemed like the whole highway was flipped
upside down by construction workers and only one open lane was now available for the
masses, this was also marked down to 80km/h. Every 10 minutes along the road they had
roadblocks or speed traps. I did not even think Polokwane had so much law enforcement
vehicles. In due time we made our way through Polokwane and was now back on the N1
heading due south. Christelle called my brother whom at the time was also on the N1
heading due north with his slightly modified golfie. By the sounds of it he seemed to be 30
Min closer to Sondela than we were. Law enforcement was still present on the highway
and when the opportunity arose, you know a quick X5 Bmw or Mercedes heading
southbound at 140km/h .The little Kalahari Ferrari was eager to sneakily get in behind
one of the faster large vehicles to hide. This made driving much more exhilarating. With
around 15min to go we received a call from Louwrens saying he is only 10 min from
Sondela. My heart was racing! Just before turning onto the slipway I saw that green golf
of his disappear behind the barrier of the oncoming traffic’s slipway. He just passed me
before I had the opportunity to cut him off. Sondela is a mere 500meter down the road
from the junction my brother so cocky just passed me while giving me the royal send-off
wave. It was so close but ultimately I lost.
We stopped at the gate at Sondela and I greeted him with a proper handshake while my
fiancé and brothers girlfriend checked in at the reception.
After discussing a few campsites we finally chose one of our liking near the pool with a
private ablution block. Camp went up and we proceeded to make our way to the
entertainment area near the restaurant where we ordered some beverages and potato
chips for lunch. With all my focus on our racing saga it slipped my mind that I was
supposed to buy some fire wood along the road. There was no wood available at
Sondela’s shop that day, and the lady’s being entertained with the farm animals around
Louwrens and I headed into town. It is just a stone throw away from Sondela. Next to the
road we found some really cheap wood for sale by an elderly gentleman and bought six
bags before heading back to Sondela. We found the lady’s back at camp busy enjoying
an afternoon nap Louwrens and I just gave each other this glare and we both turned
around and joined in on the snooze fest. Waking up after an afternoon nap like that one
sure does feel lazy. Just chilling around campsite we ended up playing the 30 Seconds
card game which is always hilariously fun. It is also an excellent group activity to pass
some time when one is bored. As night-time set in it was time to get the fire going…
You see that Cheap wood was still quite wet and caused allot of eye burning with all the
smoke it produced when burning, weirdly enough once the fire was hot it would make
good coals for cooking on. Louwrens and myself prepared a chunky piece of steak and
wacked it on the grill then leaving it to sizzle while trying to show everyone how to work
out true south using the southern cross in the clear moonlit sky. Much later after a superb
steak and proper braai brootjies the complimentary coffee brewed straight on the fire
was enjoyed as time to crawl in for the night came.
Louwrens was the first one up probably due to still being in routine from work, where I on
the other hand forgotten all about time and how it functioned. With a few coals still
smouldering he quickly had a small fire going although a bit smoky and slammed my still
new looking aluminium kettle into the fire to get his needs fulfilled with a cup of coffee.
Everyone was soon up due to all the commotion. All of us went with the trusted favourite
rusks and coffee and I think Martie my brother girlfriend had muesli with yogurt that day.
Hot topic of the day was what activity we will be doing today it balanced between a
game drive on an open topped safari vehicle. Or a self-drive on quadbikes. You know
which one we chose. Ready for the day after giving the body its daily maintenance and
checks we headed up to reception to book our game drive, our booking was for 10:30 so
be headed to the restaurant not fully satisfied with the rusk or muesli and ordered a farm
style special breakfast. It was a very well prepared meal that left us all satisfied. Louwrens
and I fooled around it this colossal treehouse build for children, you know boys and toys. It
was close to 10:30 and we made our way towards the Quad bike storage unit where we
test fitted our safety gear. The guide arrived and gave one look at us and knew game
viewing was the last thing we came here to do. After a brisk drivers briefing we were all
ready to go. If you didn’t notice by now my brother and myself are very completive with
each other that meant the battle was on. And oh boy did that guide understand us to the
core and we almost got gapped by him! But unfortunately just as I left my quad bike
experienced some mechanical difficulties and refused to shift out of low gear. I jumped on
a spare quad and we were ready to go again. We had great fun on the Quads and there
was a lot of chaos. I can’t fully recall but one of the quads had a mechanical failure again
and we ended up sharing one quad, I actually think it was Louwrens quad that failed
later. In any way it was brilliant and we all went back to camp in one piece. With the
drama on the bikes we took an hour longer to finish the route and only came back in the
recreational area around 14:00. We opted to spent some time in the pools as we were
blazing hot after out little endeavour, played some pool games before chilling under a
large fig tree where Christelle proceeded to talk our ears off with all the wonderful things
she has seen thus far and how much she enjoyed it. It was a day great day.
On our way back to camp we passed at the shop and bought a few small sampling shots
of a locally produced Mampoer (moonshine) made in the area. I tell you what some of
those samples can be sent straight to NASA as an alternative to rocket fuel. We also
stocked up on chips and snacks before heading back to our campsite for the night. Full
after dinner we headed to the boma and made a big fire while some campers joined us to
mingle a bit around the firepit.
Again my Kettle ended up on the fire the next morning, and after that it was clear that it
would never be the same again. It was coated in this thick black tar like substance caused
by all the wood gas produced when burning wet wood. To this day where ever I camp and
I see my black kettle I think back of this trip. One of the rangers came around that
morning with a snake in his hand no more than 25centimeters long while we stood around
sipping on our hot coffee. It was quite fascinating as he explained it as being a false
adder that was non-venomous and used its appearance to mimic a Puff adder, thus
protecting it from predators. He explained how to identify the difference, but all I thought
in my head was I don’t want to be that close to any adder to try and identify if it’s a
venomous or not. Beacon with scrambled eggs with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms was
being prepared for breakfast. Nothing like the smell of beacon hanging around in the
campsite.
It was our last full day for this tour and we did not want to rush it. We spent some time
again in the small pool located in the middle of the campsite and booked a late
afternoon game drive on the safari vehicle. Seeing as the game drive was only in the
afternoon it was set in stone to go into town a mere 15kms away and have lunch at the
steakhouse in the nearby mall. You see we needed to head into town anyway for all the
goods needed for our potjie we were planning. The time for our game drive came around
and we slowly made our way up to reception where the vehicle waited for us. We headed
out into the reserve and straight away saw a very defensive mother warthog with her 5
piglets, did you know the tusks of warthog are used more for digging than self-defence.
Further down the road we came across a herd of Bles-bok grazing in the dry winter veld
with a few Eland far behind them. The guide gave allot of information regarding the
Plant species around explaining how certain trees can be used to locate underwater river
tables and others that has medical properties and even the best leaves to use in case you
have a unexpected number two coming and need some white gold. A heard of hardegat
Wildebeest also held us up for a while refusing to let us pass as our game drive came to
an end.
I do very much enjoy it when I am on these game drives and the guides take pride in
their work while they are passionate about nature. As the golden eye of Africa made its
way closer and closer to the horizon the time has come to pull out that cast iron Potjie. If
you are not South African it’s hard to explain that this is the heart and soul of any
Afrikaaner. It is the holy grail of Afrikaans cuisine. And one can simply not call any tour
complete without spending the last day or night making Potjie Kos. With the Pot well
heated the oil and onions going in we knew it was now officially the end of yet another
Epic Adventure. Reflecting on our trip as we enjoyed our hot and fulfilling dinner it was
guaranteed that we would have a good night’s rest.
Packing up all our equipment and gear that hot morning we felt quite hot and took a
quick “GOEF” in the small pool by the campsite before hitting the 300km road back
home. Checking out at reception went smooth and soon we were cruising down the N1
heading in a southbound direction. With me leading and Louwrens following closely
behind. Suddenly everyone in front of us slammed on their brakes as we came over this
crest. All hell broke loose with tires screeching, horns beeping away and dust everywhere.
Now keeping in mind that the Kalahari-Ferrari is a modern hatch with quite good brakes
and handling my instinctive move was to slam on the brakes and pull off the road to the
right as I knew my Brother was practically tailgating me at that moment and he had an
older era Golf pulling a fully loaded trailer that required a far greater distance to come
to a standstill. Him also being open minded also pulled off on the grass after safely
coming to the stop as this was a very dangerous spot where no one could see any of
chaos they were about to drive into coming over this crest. You see a flatbed truck
hauling some thick steel plates blew out a tire mere moments before we came over that
crest causing the truck to lose control and roll over onto its side blocking the 3 lane
highway completely.
Luckily there was no further accidents and no injuries caused by this and in a matter of
minutes the highway was backed up as far as the eye could see. A patrolling officer
quickly assessed the scene as he arrived and determined no one had serious injuries so he
started to control traffic letting everyone pass on the right shoulder of the road to get
traffic moving again. And just like that a wonderful holiday could have come to a tragic
end. Back on the road about 40minutes later we stopped at an Ultra 1 stop garage and
had Steers burgers for lunch before filling up our cars and heading home.
RossOutdoorAdventures