Read about Ron & Viv's journey so far through Africa - LOE trip Mid to Late March 2007.
South Africa
Mozambique
Botswana
AFRICA TRIPMid to Late March 2007
LOE - Legendary Outback Africa Expedition
Meeting up with our friends and business partners, Macca and Karen, and Bertus in Pretoria at the Farm Inn (see www.farminn.co.za ) we prepared to head out on the inaugural LOE Africa trip. This 16-day guided trip – Bertus being the local guide - was to take in Itala Nature Reserve, southern Mozambique, Kruger NP, Kubi Island in the Makgadikgadi Pans region, Moremi in the Okavango Delta and then south through the Kalahari Desert.
East to Ponta do Ouro and Kruger
The drive east to Itala NR was long and tedious and we didn't arrive at the park until sunset, with the drive to camp being done in the dark. Still the Doornkraal Campsite (GPS 26°48'07”S 32°53'23”E) was quite good – unfenced but with flush toilets and a shower as well as a couple of sinks and good water. The camp is surrounded by high steep hills and is very pleasant situated just above a flowing stream, where we took a dip to cool off as it was quite muggy and warm.
We had a pleasant drive back to the main gate next morning and we saw quite a few animals – giraffe, wilderbeast, a group of tessebe (which the park is well known for), black-backed jackal (3 on a dead young wilderbeast), warthogs, a solitary eland, some groups of zebra and a single mob of impala. A few people saw rhino and buffalo but we weren't that lucky.
From there we headed to Pongola and on to Kosi Bay (GPS 26°57'33”S 32°49'38”E). The camping area is situated 100 metres from the water's edge of the third of the three lakes that make up the Kosi Bay lake system. This lake, being the furtherest from the sea, is the freshest and reeds line the bank. Hippos can be found here (2 small pods) while crocs and sharks also inhabit the waters.
Into Mozambique
Next day after a cultural experience in the local village we headed to the SA/Mozambique border . The South Africa side was rather informal while the Mozambique side was little more than a couple of tin sheds outside the wire enclosure for the SA border buildings. Once we got through, which only took an hour for the 12 vehicles, the road which had been quite good bitumen, turned to a very soft sandy track.
In fact, there was three or more sandy tracks to choose from – we took the most westerly one and headed for the small village of Ponta Malongane along sandy tracks that crossed grass covered dunes, the interdunal valleys being subject to flooding and the central pans – some of which still had water in them – were surrounded by dense green scrub and palms. The village of of Ponta Malongane i s nothing more than a cluster of grass huts and stalls and bars which are set up to cater for the adventurous tourists who come up from South Africa to this magical area.
The Campismo Ninho is located on a small patch of land on the steep hills above the beach and Indian Ocean. The individual campsites are tucked into the scrub just back from the drop to the beach. The bar and restaurant has the best outlook of the whole place with grand views of the coast south to Ponta do Ouro.
Most of our crew went with Bertus into Ponta do Ouro to buy some seafood at the market and to enjoy a bit of the local colour and culture in this out of the way spot that is fast becoming an adventure tourist haven – it even boasts a dive centre!
On our way north we got to the village of Salamanga and checked out what is the oldest Hindu temple in Mozambique – built in 1908 and just part of the varied cultures found in southern Africa!
The town of Bela Vista was quite big and like most was all hussle and bussle around the shops and stalls. Down at the river crossing it was a great village scene, goats being led to water, women washing clothing and themselves, kids were swimming and playing, while a couple of men were washing or just tending their cattle which were nearby. It was a very colourful scene!
The next couple of days we spent in Kruger NP – staying one night at Berg-en-dal and the next night at Balule, which is a top little camping area. Some of the people in our group had a range of fantastic animal sightings which included lion, leopard, wild dog, white rhino, elephant, buffalo, along with a heap of antelopes. Once again Kruger had not disappointed!
Into Botswana
West to Kubi Island and Moremi
Crossing into Botswana we pushed on through a mix of tribal land and larger farms and game ranches to Letihakane which has a monster mine on its southern outskirts.
The road changed to dirt just afterwards and continued that way to the village to Mmatshumo . This is a small dusty village with a few stores and council building/work shops in the ‘centre' of town and a few traditional houses scattered in no particular order around the centre. We swerved right and headed out a few km to find ourselves on the Mosu road. Backtracked to the town and asked the lady on the steps of the Post Office the right way to Kubu Island. The dirt road beside the PO heading north was the route to take – although it was obviously not the only one as it had no tracks of our party on it.
There were tracks everywhere and while there are a couple of signs along the way but it is an easy area to get very confused. Tracked north-westerly before swinging north east to find ourselves at a vet gate where we then headed along the edge of some pans and crossed a large area of flat dry pan towards a high point, which turned out to be our destination – Kubu Island .
Kubu Island is located on the eastern edge of the large Sua Pan, which is one of the big pans of the Makgadikgadi Pans area of central Botswana. The island is rocky and is dotted with boabs and has a number of archaeological sites as well as sites sacred to the San people.
Once in Maun, where we headed next day, we stayed at the well set-up Audi Camp (ph: +267 6860 599 ( http://www.okavangocamp.com/audi-camp.htm), which is about 13km north of the centre of town.
Got to North Camp in the Moremi Game Reserve after a drive that didn't show too many animals. The bridge at North Gate is a beauty, made from local timber, which have been wired together and stretching for over 100 metres across the waterway, which was only about 5 metres wide at this time of the year.
Had a huge problem with monkeys and the occasional baboon in the late afternoon as well as in the morning.
A leopard - seen at the camp a 100 metres from us - created mayhem amongst the baboons later that evening. Later that night we were raided by a large solitary spotted hyena. He pulled a food box off a table and wasn't easy to drive away, giving his wicked little laugh as he reluctantly withdrew!
Headed for Xugana Lodge and saw a range of animals including hippos down at the Hippo Pool and a mob of 150 elephants crossing the road amongst us. Down at the boat station we enjoyed a 3-hour boat trip through and amongst the channels of the delta. This was most enjoyable but not many animals were sighted – we didn't even see a hippo.
From there we headed to the Third Bridge camping area and this drive was a beauty following some of the fainter back tracks to the camp. A GPS comes in real hand and the tracks in Moremi haven't changed much since we were last here 16 years ago while most of the buildings have only seen a bit of a paint in the intervening years.
We had to dodge around a bit during our short 4x4 jaunt because of a couple of deep stretches of water but it was fabulous country to drive through with thickly treed areas and large areas of cleared grass lands. We saw a big group of elephants, a few red Lechewe, as well as the occasional giraffe, and mobs of impala.
We had another raid by a group of spotted hyenas during the night – the camping areas in Moremi, like most in the Botswana parks, are not fenced so anything can come in … and does!
South through the Kalahari
A couple of days later we were in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve camping near Xade. The sandy tracks that cut through the park and which can be a real terror, had been made quite a bit easier by rain during the first night. We were surprised though at the thickness of the bushveld vegetation and it wasn't until we crossed into the adjoining Kutse Game Reserve that we had more open country with grassy pans and more animals. By all accounts, there are a lot more open areas and animals in the northern part of the park in the Deception Pan area.
From Kutse we passed through a couple of villages and headed to Gaberone, crossing the border back into South Africa with other than a cursory inspection of the vehicles at the South African side. Our LOE Africa trip ended back at the Farm Inn and while everyone else flew back home to Aussie, we prepared for the next phase of our trip, which is to take us south to Cape Agulhas – the southern most point of the African continent.
Return to main Trip diary page
FOR MORE PICS - SEE PICTURE GALLERY PAGE ON SOUTH AFRICA & MOZAMBIQUE
Ron & Viv with 'Anthony' the cheetah at Farminn. He was quite friendly and purred a lot.
There are a myriad of sandy tracks through this section of Mozambique.
This man was busy making thatch on the side of the road in Mozambique.
While we didn't see as much as everybody else in Kruger (we were always down the back of the convoy), we did see this Wild Dog trotting quickly along the road. A rare sighting!
Ron missed an '80km' sign and was booked for speeding. The policeman was very friendly and only too happy to take the 160 pula fine and write him out a receipt.
The road out to Kubu Island crosses a large pan, only passable in dry conditions.
The entrance into the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana - wild camping!
Our mate Macca keeps a lookout for predators during our trip through the Kalahari, while Fred fixes a tyre.
