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LEBOMBO 4X4 ECO TRAIL – KRUGER NATIONAL PARK (KNP)

By Adriaan & Sandra Odendaal

Background

The first question for a holiday for us is where we want to go. We wanted to visit Germany, but at the last moment decided to bail out due to the soccer world cup. So, on 23 April we changed our minds and we had to do it rather quickly as our annual holiday was planned for May/June. We decided to try our luck and do something different in the Kruger. Yes, I will admit, we are Kruger Junkies! On 24 April we arrived at the reservation offices for SANPARKS at Groenkloof and amazingly there was a group cancellation for the Lebombo 4x4 eco trail starting on 14 May. Just one small catch: I can ONLY do a booking if I have 3 confirmed vehicles and that offer stands only until the morning of 2 May. I immediately made a provisional booking and arriving back at the office, immediately send out an invite to the overlander forum and to the club that I belong to. Within 2 days we had 2 confirmed bookings, one from each, so thanks guys. It leaves us with 2 weeks to do the planning and I still wanted to get some things done on my Cruiser.

Day 00

On Friday, 12 May we left Pretoria at about 19h00 the evening. (I still had to work that day and we were too excited to go to bed and leave at 2 the following morning) One of the first major observations was that the newly installed Firestone Air Springs – it made a HUGE difference on the Cruiser – for the better. We first had a laugh at the petrol station when we ask the petrol attended for the air pump as we wanted to use it on the bumper… I drive an FJ62 Toyota Land Cruiser and you will recall from our trip in 2005 that its rear end was sagging heavily when loaded. The air springs addressed that problem and made road handling a breeze. We know Nelspruit fairly well and thought don’t worry, there is always place in the Hotel Formula 1- especially out of season. Arriving just before midnight in Nelspruit we discovered that Hotel Formula 1 was fully booked. Luckily they directed us to the “Road Lodge” the cheaper option of City Lodge and we were very satisfied with the accommodation and will in all likelihood use that also next time.

Day 0

We arrived a day earlier in the KNP as we wanted to get in the right mind set of being back in the KNP before we start the Lebombo 4x4 eco trail. Being an ECO trail we had an expectation that the emphasis will not be on animals but on nature. We first had coffee at Afsaal picnic spot, then had some quite time at “Renoster pan” where we relaxed for a while whilst being treated of actually seeing a rhino at the “rhino pan”. Strange how nature comes to you if you sometimes sit still… We had a light lunch at Skukuza, and then headed to Lower Sabie where we opted to stay in the “cheaper” bungalows as we did not want to pack the camping kit the following morning and race to Crocodile Bridge. We had a lovely buffet dinner at the Lower Sabie restaurant that night and will highly recommend it. (It seems like the troubles of the restaurants are now sorted…)

Day 1 – The day the 4x4 trail starts

We woke up early as I like to be one of the first vehicles leaving the camp when the gate opens in the morning. We decided to have coffee and rusks (beskuit) at Sunset dam, just outside the camp. It was full moon the previous night, so we had the amazing sight of seeing the moon shadow in the water of the Sunset dam.

With all this taking photos of the moon I accidentally spilled some coffee over me, so we decided to go back to camp to clean myself. As we left the gates for a second time, we got wild dogs galloping down the road. Suddenly, they pick up speed and at the blink of an eye they scattered into the bush. A kill was on.

Moments later an Impala came running for its life over the road, with some wild dogs not to far behind. First left over the road, then right, we were so excited and were prepared to be late for the start of the 4x4 trail if we could witness this. Sadly they disappeared into the bush and did not come back. We travelled to Crocodile Bridge with adrenalin still pumping in our veins. We arrived in time to do some last minute shopping - ice for the cooler box and fuel. We were the first vehicle to be there. First Pieter and his friends – Gary, Marius and his Father Oom Schalk, all the way from the Cape, and later Glen and his wife Linda arrived. Much later the rangers arrived – Buks (trail leader) and Neels (Neels is the ranger for Crocidile bridge). The introductions were done and we were given 2 way radio’s. We left Crocodile Bridge only at 10:20 (a bit late in my personal opinion.) The first section of the road is on the normal gravel road that the public could drive on as well.

We then took the gravel road that is part of a concession area and we were informed how the concessions work. Along the way we saw some lovely yellow flowers and we inquired what their names were - ApiesPeul.

Slowly we start to climb the Lebombo mountain. At a viewpoint where we could actually see the border post between RSA and Mozambique we dropped the pressures on our tires and for the first time we engaged 4x4.

For a long portion of the rest of the day it was up-hill, down-hill, all along the fence. (We later found out that the actual 4x4 is about ½ mile to the left of the fence, but since Neels is the game ranger of the area, we travelled along the fence – free patrolling….) (The majority of the trail is along the fence on the old “Sisal road” that is all on the Lebombo mountain range.)

I was a bit concerned that the strange noise from the gearbox of the cruiser was still there when put under stress, so it made our travel more stressful the first day as we were concerned that if this worsens we will not be able to finish the trail. I later learned how to drive the vehicle in such a way not to get that awful noise – It will definitely go back to Bailies once we were back from holiday. In the afternoon we arrived at the first viewpoint stop on the 4x4 section. A breathtaking view of the Sabie river and the dam on the Mozambican side that was build by the Italians.

(There are rumours that they still want to raise the dam wall by 3 meters as it was never finished, but this will have an impact on the KNP side…) Finally we left the fence and started our way more to the inland of the KNP. We crossed the Sabie river and some careful driving was required as there were some deep holes where the wheels could easily sink into. Not to far from the river crossing our group hit some bad luck - The Colt had a puncture. The rocks had claimed its first victim and a nasty tore in the tire meant that the tire had to be replaced as it could not be fixed. As fate had it, the stop was right next to a rhino toilet and the ranger could actually share his knowledge of showing us that this toilet is both being used by a white and a black rhino. Finally some eco experience! The impact was that we had to race to Lower Sabie as we still had to travel some 18km to our over night stop. It was at this stop that Glen has advised the ranger that they are not going to continue on this trail. He thought it would be more relaxed and is not prepared to drive (chase) the whole day and most of it along the fence. (In hind sight a fair call, but an expensive call as it is non refundable…) We arrived at Lower Sabie at around 16h00, had a quick shower, some more ice, fire wood and a quick top up on the petrol as the next 2 days we do not visit a camp.(Close to the Lower Sabie camp we saw the vultures in the air and knew the wild dogs were successful.) We left again at around 16h30 and arrived at our first over night stop at 17h30 – Mitini camp site.

It gave us just enough time to erect our tents before the sun fully said its last goodbye. During that night around the campfire I expressed my concern that this is NOT an eco trail. If it was not for the flat tyre we would have hardly stopped and would learn very little about the eco systems of the area. A promise was made by the ranger that not to worry, that the rest of the trail is a lot more informative. We felt very privileged to sleep in the open veldt in the KNP, knowing that the south has more wild animals than the rest of the park. During that night, once we were all asleep, our camp was indeed visited by a Hyena.

Some more pictures taken along day –1

Day 2

We woke up early as it was agreed with the ranger that we will leave at 7. We gathered around 6:45 and Buks advised us on the route that we will travel today and warned us that it is 140km long. (The longest stretch of this trail in a single day.) Not far from the camp we stopped and the guides showed us some interesting spiders and explained us some more on the world of spiders. ( Goue Wawiel spinnekop en die TuinWeb Spinnkekop)

That was more like it! We travelled further and this time the trail was not just along the fence. We stopped again to view if we could spot some rhinos and learn some more about the trees in the southern part of the park. (We did not spot the rhino’s but from the feedback from a fellow camper that we later met, they saw plenty of rhinos in that area on their trip.) \

We did however stop to witness what was the first time for me a bidspringkaan/hottenstosgod “foam bag” (skuimsakkie) and how the eggs are laid in it. What was another unforgettable moment was the brunch near the Nwanetsi river. As it is autumn, Buks showed us the “Berg Mahoni” at the hill next to the picnic spot. What is interesting about this tree is that the “peule” opens up like a banana. These rangers really know the felt very well and we are thankful for the knowledge and experience.

Later on during the day we had to step on the petrol peddle again - It was if we were in the Dakar rally. At the breathtaking viewpoint of the Nwanetsi river, I jokingly referred to that the rangers, as they were driving a Nissan was “Geniel de Villiers”, me in Toyota was “Surch Damseaux”, and Pieter in the Colt was “Sarel van der Merwe”. (The race against time was bothering us…) .

It It seems that the racing joke had an impact as we stopped again. We saw some beetles that do not roll away the elephant dung but actually lay their eggs in the dung. The rangers also pointed out the vomiting bush close to the beetles.

At around 15h00 we arrived at a river crossing and we all took a breather of the long drive. As this was the only full day where we do not visit any camp, most of the men decided to have a quick bath in the river. What an experience!

As we travelled we were also informed about the ecological changes of the veldt and that there is currently research going on in the park to re-classify some of the park ecological maps as these “rock formation” were not previously considered.

We arrived again at the camp site at around 17h00 – Pumbe Campsite with its lovely Koedoebessie trees. Again just in time to erect our tents before the sun sets just after 17:30. I must be honest, I don’t know how the groups are managing it in June/July when it is already dark at 17h00. Something to consider if you plan to do this trip….

Some other photies of the day…

Day 3

Woke up again at 5h00 in the morning. My body could feel that we did some heavy driving the previous day…. Again we left just before 7. Buks took us to an old game rangers post - Man, I would pay millions to stay there. Back on the normal route again, we saw some lion spoor in the sand.

A couple of kilometres further we visited some of the natural water pans. As we arrived there we were privileged enough to witness two elephants drinking water. What a sight, and NO other traffic jams. Just a pity that we had to move on so soon so quickly again, as today was another scorcher of 120km of travelling.

We now had a change in the landscape and we were informed about the giant lakes that used to be here millions of millions years ago. The reason why they say it was lakes was due to the amount of flat pebbles and not so much round pebbles. On turning over one of the rocks we came across a scorpion. I am beginning to get a better understanding of the ecological impact of the Kruger. You could almost imagine the giant lakes that used to be here.

We went in land again and reached the normal gravel road that took us to Elephants rest camp. Again we had to put foot to the peddle as we lost time watching the elephants. We reached Elephants camp at about 11:20 and we had a quick top up on fuel, a shower and actually some time for a quick burger at the restaurant. (Pieter had another puncture, this time a slow leak and was quickly fixed at Elephants camp.) We left at about 12:20 and travelled on the normal gravel road on the road to Letaba. We reached the view point where Buks shared with us that just around the corner is where the Elephants and the Letaba rivers meet.

Shortly after we left the view point we took the 4x4 route again. We hit some “turf” and Elephants made it some interesting 4x4 driving as they made plenty of deep holes. What was fascinating was the fact that in the middle of nowhere was some “hides” where the SANDF was protecting the border. You almost did not notice it until you are on them. The rangers tried to took us on the recommended 4x4 route, but due to the late rains and the fact that we had to do a recovery as the turf was still wet, we had no choice but to return to the fence again. (A familiar sight by now, but one that Sandra was glad to see as she was not looking forward to see recoveries or removing trees in the road for the rest of the day…)

We reached a gate in the fence where the trucks went trough to Mozambique to release the animals as part of the greater Frontier park. This is also the first time we noticed the armour plated crickets, “Koringkrieke” which are common in the northern part of the park. The Frontier park enlarged the KNP by some 20,000 hectares. The good thing is that some animals are indeed staying in the new area and we saw some buffalo on the other side of the fence.

The reason for the slow expansion of the frontier park is that the Mozambican side had to proof that nature conservation plans are in place and being followed in the greater frontier park. Unfortunately due to lack of funds and various other reasons the expansion of the frontier park has been slow, but is shows good practise on the KNP management side that the park is not just expanded for the sake of being expanded, but with nature conservation in mind. Just after 15h00 we reached the new border post that was recently opened - Giriyondo Border Post. What was amazing was the fact that some Baobab trees were planted at the border post and that it actually survived the replanting process.

We were advised that the 4x4 trail that takes us through the wet-lands is still flooded which implied that we again had to stay for the afternoon drive along the fence. The more difficult part was that the road was recently scrapped and there were a lot more dust. This implied that the travel distance between the vehicles was a lot further. Late the afternoon we reached another awe-inspiring viewpoint. What a sight! This is why you pay lots of money to see nature at its best. (Oh, and before I forget, somewhere along the way the fence wires were removed. Only the railway droppers are still a reminder of the fence between RSA and Mozambique.

We arrived at camp Shilowa at around 17h15, Buks knows his timing, although it meant some accelerated driving at some instances. Another 9 hour day with almost 6 hours of driving! This is one of the best overnight camps with its lovely trees, the Tamboti and “Appelblaar” trees. That night the “manne” wanted to “kuier” a bit and Sandra and I opted to stay on the side. That night we were again visited by Hyena.

Some more photies of the day…

Day 4

Alarm at 05h00, an all too familiar call, but one we are used to by now. As we were breaking up camp, we could here an elephant close by. Suddenly we could see the big loner elephant bull and it was noticeable that he was agitated. The rangers immediately grabbed their guns and started to make some noise in attempt to scare the elephant bull off. He turned away, but a couple of meters on he decided to do a mock charge again. Luckily he stopped and then turned around and disappeared into the thick bushes. A really scary moment, the elephant was no more than 15 meters away from us, luckily with a steep riverbed still to be crossed as well.

A short morning drive and we went for a short walk to where the Shilowa tribe used to stay. We were informed that the king was on the highest portion of the mountain and rank determined how close to the king you live and how high up on the mountain – it reminds me about the “corporate ladder”.

After this short excursion on foot, we hit the road again. Clear evidence on the late rains was visible that some of the previous groups had some “fun” in the turf and some deep tracks were made which made driving a little bit challenging. We reached a point where I would rate about the only point in the trail where some real 4x4 driving was required as it was a steep climb with some loose rocks. Once concurred we reached a giant Baobab tree on the Mozambican side. Time for a quick leg stretch, and a little further we were shown the historical gate where Anton Rupert and Madiba released the first elephants as part of the greater frontier park. (It was these animals that found there way again back into the KNP)

We reached the Shingwedzi river just in time for a nice brunch and cooling of your feet in the water again. I would love to have more of these breaks! Whilst on the brunch, Buks showed us one of the main reasons why the Mopani trees are so low in this area. (We had time for a nice brunch whilst enjoying the bird life next to the river.)

We left for Shingwedzi camp and some real 4x4 driving was required due to the turf still being wet at certain places and some clear evidence is already there on the impact of the 4x4 driving on the ecological system of that area. What made some interesting driving was that a herd of elephants walked the road as well in the rainy season so their feet made some holes in the turf road so it was a bit of a bumpy ride for quite a few kilometres. At one section where the turf was still very wet, we had to take a short detour. We reached Shingwedzi camp at about lunch time and we could hit the showers, top up the fuel and purchased some ice again. After this refresher we were on the road again. Strangely on the short tar road that we travelled we could see plenty of animals and the group from Cape Town really enjoyed this section of the trail as they were desperate to see some 4-legged animals as well. Once on the 4x4 section again, we saw a giant elephant bull. We reached Thomson’s old house, “’n ou buitepos” in the afternoon and some interesting facts about this person was shared whilst we were there. We were also shown the assegai grass and how it comes to life when water is poured over it.

We were told that if we push on a little bit we could setup camp and go for sundowners at the Langtoon dam. We reached camp (Ndzopfuri) at about 16h00 and we took the 15km to Langtoon dam for a breath taking sunset. (This dam is not accessible at all to any normal visitors visiting the KNP, but interestingly enough, it is shown on the Garmin Map.) That night we all had a last braai together as it was our last night in the open veldt. Most of the people were however tired and it was only Pieter and myself who sat around the camp fire until the last firewood was burnt up.

Day 5

What can I say? If the Odendaals go on holiday it is bound to rain at least one day. Before the alarm went of at 5 we were woken up by the rumbling of the clouds. We were hoping that the rain would stay away until we have packed up everything, but nature had its own way. This morning we broke up camp in record time and by 6 o clock the Odendaals were ready for the road. The rain was soft and luckily we were under a giant Mopani tree with dense leaves so our belongings did not get much water. Today was the shortest route of the tour of only about 60km so would could, finally, take a relaxing drive. For Sandra the highlight of the 4x4 was seeing the “kuifkop tarentale” (A rare sight in the KNP.) We also saw some commando ants crossing the road and were glad we were not in their way.

We also crossed the levubu valley and saw the Cahora Basa power lines. We also inquired about the old “sisal” plant that the old SANDF planted as a protection against Mozambique’s trying to enter RSA. From that perspective it was effective but ecologically it was a disaster as animals started to eat the plants and the sisal started to appear all over the park!

We reached the Pafuri border post, but just before that viewed the old recruitment offices were Mozambicans were recruited to come and work in the South African mines.

I felt extremely privileged to drive through the fever tree forest. We reached an old pump house where the various flood levels, over the years, were marked on the wall, some dating back as far as 1958’s -a true memento in the park. (The flood level of Feb 2000 was so high that a special sign had to be made as the whole pump house was under water. The sign is on the pole right at the top.)

We reached the “true” Crooks corner signalling the end of the 4x4 section of the trail. We took a leisurely drive to the Pafuri picnic spot where we handed in our two way radios and said our good byes. (Unfortunately Buks took the last photo and is not on the last picture..) We left for Punda Maria where we had a nice relaxing swim in the new swimming pool facilities and where we started the rest of our tour as normal campers back to the South of KNP again. We are glad we have done it at least once.

Shall we do it again? I doubt that, perhaps if they made it 6 days and we can talk about price as well…

THANK YOU to Buks and Neels, the rangers on this trip, they are extremely knowledgeable and experienced and it was not their fault that they had to push on every time to be at the camping site before sunset. They are good ambassadors for the KNP and we could discuss quite a number of things around the campfire at night that changed some of my perceptions about the park. We will continue to be Kruger Junkies and perhaps our next trip will involve some walks in the park.

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