Olifants Wilderness Trail, Kruger National Park

Young leopard near Orpen. It was stalking impala. The rams were snorting at it and mobbing it.

The African bush has been calling for a while, so we packed up and headed 2000 km north-east for Kruger and our favourite means of really experiencing the bush: wilderness walking trails. Our first trail was the Olifants Wilderness Trail, one of Kruger’s seven and one of two that we had not walked as yet. Olifants opened in November 1979, a little over a year after the first wilderness trail, Wolhuter - which is named after a legendary ranger – did.

Olifants trails camp is situated on a bluff on the southern bank of the Olifants River (see the Google Earth track below) a little over 8 kms from the Mozambique border and Limpopo National Park. The thatched huts – 4 for 8 guests – have recently been rebuilt and are a good deal larger than the originals, but the camp still commands great views of the river below and the Lebombo mountains to the east.

Over two days of bliss with trails rangers Aaron and Michael we walked two morning circuits into the bush south and west of the camp, covering 10.9 and 10.6 km respectively, and on the second evening strolled out to the Olifants and Letaba confluence, just before the new river becomes the Rio Elefantes that thunders into the gorge through the Lebombos. It was on the confluence walk that we witnessed the strange behaviour of a young elephant descending the far bank to the river – it was dragging its hind legs flat behind it while walking down on its forelegs, appearing to use the dragging legs as brakes down the steep slope. Maybe it’s not so unusual, but it was a first time for me.

View Larger Map
Or download the kmz file of the Olifants and Machampane Trails’ tracks

I have written elsewhere about the “wilderness trail experience”, so I won’t bore you again with what it means to us. However, three phenomena got me thinking about humans’ impacts on these wild places, whether the impacts are proximate and direct, or influenced by consumptive behaviour on the other side of the world.  Firstly, Olifants is renowned for its concentrations of crocodiles where its banks would be “carpeted” with crocs, according to Aaron, but you are hard-pressed to spot one these days. In recent years there has been a massive die-off and although research has revealed no definitive cause, it is widely speculated that pollution from upstream industrial and agricultural activities is behind it.

Poached rhino's foot

Secondly, Aaron guided us to the site of a recent rhino poaching incident (see Google Earth track). Judging by the state of its teeth, it was an animal in the prime of its life. An ugly, jagged hole in its skull reveals how the horn was hacked out. One hundred and twenty-six rhino have been massacred in Kruger so far this year (333 in 2010) to fuel the demand from China, and lately Vietnam where rhino horn is being touted as a cure for cancer. Since the deployment of troops in Kruger (which I have always thought of as a brilliant idea, as is deploying our navy to protect our fisheries) the killing has gone from 40 in March, through 30 and 15 in April and May respectively, to 2 in June. Of course, the ultimate solution involves destroying Asian demand in some way, but protecting the remnants of the species with everything that we have is the least we can do in the interim.

Aaron claims that whereas he usually saw about 15 rhino on the trail in the course of a month, he might only see 1 in a week now. In one particularly tragic month, they lost 9 rhino. But at least we saw ample dung evidence of white and black rhino on the walks. Everybody is a suspect and it appears that syndicates pose as tourists these days – which may explain the increased security around unattended vehicles at the rest camps.

On an evening game drive we came across a stick of soldiers – “Recces” according to Aaron, but I am not so sure. The effect of military operations on the trail is that all movement by trailists east of the access road in the interesting folds of the Lebombo, has been suspended. Twenty poachers have been shot and killed in Kruger apparently and later at Machampane the talk around the campfire was about how many local Shangaan know someone who has been shot and are keenly aware of the dangers of poaching. This could just be bush legend of course…

At the confluence of the Olifants & Letaba

While the sources of the previously described impacts emanate from outside the park, the exciting and rare sighting of sable near Machampane Camp as we drove back to Kruger reminded me of the effects of management on the greater Kruger ecosystem. A recent report on the 50-50 TV show explained how artificial waterholes and dams have allowed water-dependent species like impala, wildebeest and zebra to become somewhat ubiquitous at the expense of rarer species such as roan and sable. Kruger is consequently gradually decommissioning artificial waterholes in order to recreate a more diverse mosaic of habitat. I suppose this partially explains why I saw sable near Machampane because Limpopo NP does not have dams and boreholes. In future we hope to see sable and roan more frequently on the Kruger side.

Machampane Wilderness Camp, Limpopo National Park, Mozambique

After Olifants we headed for Machampane, which is located only 25 km due north of Olifants trails camp on a tributary of the Rio dos Elefantes, but which requires a drive of some 80km and a border-crossing at Giriyondo. This was our third visit to Machampane which is a special place for us because of its remoteness, silence and location on a deep pool. Unfortunately, it seems to be often used as an overnight stop for 4×4 travellers on the way to and from the Mozambique coast. Unfortunate – because it is a great destination in and of itself and you have to spend a few days there to get a sense of the place. Whereas the Kruger trails are long enough for you to get that I-could-get-used-to-this feeling but short enough to ensure that you will be back (the “perfect product” in my book), Machampane allows you to determine the length of your own stay.

A previous visit is described here. If you compare the length of the trail tracks previously with those above, you will see that our walks were relatively short this time – unfortunately.

Or go to the photo album

Some sources and reading on rhino poaching:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2075283,00.html

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/07/23/south-africas-rhino-slaughter-rages-on/

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-21-soldiers-lie-in-wait-for-kruger-rhino-poachers

Related posts:

1. Machampane Wilderness Trail Limpopo National Park, Mozambique: September 2007 Circles in the Bush...
2. The thing about African wilderness trails Walking on a wilderness trail is the only way to...
3. Nyalaland Wilderness Trail Northern Kruger Park: July 1999 The Nyalaland was our first...

You can download the Google Earth track of our Baviaanskloof journey, with geo-tagged photos, or view it in the 3-D map below:

Since the hike, black rhinos have been introduced into the reserve east of Geelhoutbos and this camp was being refurbished. The mega-reserve interpretation centre at the eastern end of the kloof should be worth a visit, but had been damaged by fire when we were there. The mega-reserve is taking shape and to quote the Wilderness Foundation:

The Baviaanskloof area is one of three areas in the Cape Floral Kingdom (CFK) that have been identified for mega-reserve status (an area of > 400 000 ha in extent) by the strategic bioregional conservation initiative, Cape Action for People and the Environment (C.A.P.E).

The rationale of the C.A.P.E proposal to establish mega-reserves in the Cape Floral Kingdom is founded on the need to adequately provide for the conservation of ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. A mega-reserve is the name that has been used to describe such a landscape-wide conservation intervention.

www.flickr.com

The highlights of this trip were camping under a threatening sky at an almost deserted Rooihoek, and staying in Just-for-Two cottage at Matjiesfontein. Matjiesfontein is owned by an enterprising young couple who have turned the farm into a retreat and a venue for eco-building courses and other activities. Through their Another Way Trust, they are empowering the local community by helping to establish sustainable, rural community-driven enterprises in bee-keeping and tourism, amongst others.

A tourism project that caught my eye was the Carnivore Camera Trails Project which proposes to establish day hikes to remote, motion-triggered research cameras that will be used by conservation authorities to record the movements of various carnivorous species, including the elusive and persecuted Baviaanskloof leopards. The project will finance the cameras and establish a community tourism business centred around guiding, trail maintenance and accommodation.

www.flickr.com

www.flickr.com

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Book through ecoAfrica.com:

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Having eaten and drunk our way across Botswana and Zimbabwe, never having to lift a finger, we were quite keen to do something physical. The famous Lower Zambezi canoe safari (with Canoeing Safaris of Kariba) had been something I had wanted to do for years. And I was not disappointed: this was a great adventure experience, not least because of the ever-present danger of hippos and crocs. In fact, the Zambezi could be described as something of a hippo obstacle course.

Extending the military metaphor, day one’s paddle from Chirundu to our first island camp was like “basics” (boot camp to non-South Africans) – 23km in an afternoon (sunset at 18h00), with single paddles on a wide and sluggish Zambezi. Pretty tough if you’re unused to paddling, or if you have been leading a sedentary existence like we had for a week.

Our first camp on a sand island was opposite a hunting camp on the Zimbabwe shore. Its only significance in this narrative is that it ran a diesel generator for a couple of hours, which tends to detract a bit from the wilderness experience… The group was pretty tired and reflective, contemplating another 3 days of hard paddling. What had we let ourselves in for?

Marion and I were surprised to discover that we were the oldest. We have sort of got used to being the youngest usually, but this was a sign that the years are catching up. The lead guide was Fisher, tall and lean, and who takes his responsibilities very seriously, and rightly so. The assistant guide, Kingsley, always has a ready smile and a witty word. Both these guys worked hard, kept us well-fed, and above all – safe. Stay close in a line astern, watch the lead guide, obey instructions, let the hippos have the deep water…

Jen and Chuck were from Indiana and Richard and Helen from London. And then there was Doug, mid-thirties retiree from Canada, with an alternative lifestyle and an alternative outlook on life. (At the time of writing Doug is still somewhere in Africa in alternative travel mode). Evenings under the stars around a candle (no fires allowed) were reserved for deep philosophical discussions, which given our different backgrounds, were rather stimulating.

10 July, midday: “I am writing this, stretched out on a mattress under a thorn tree on an island at the Rukomechi confluence in Mana Pools National Park. About 100m away, across a shallow sand bar is a pod of hippo, intermittently snorting and grunting. On the Zambian shore the escarpment is close. On the Zimbabwean bank a lone elephant drinks from the river…now I see four. So peaceful.” Such was the pattern after day one: early morning start, breakfast on an island, lunch and siesta on another island, easy paddle to the next campsite – on an island.

We got really close to three bull elephants on the Zambian bank. One mock charged while I was trying to shoot. The result: much manoeuvring and no photo.

The approach to our island camp at Vundu was tricky. We had to thread our way inshore of about 5 hippos, coming to within metres of them. This required delicate co-ordination between paddlers while adjusting for the vagaries of the current. The hippo-spotting technique of the guides is interesting: proceed slowly, tap on the canoe’s hull twice and watch for the ears and eyes that inevitably surface as the owner attempts to locate the source of the noise.

The channels around Vundu are deep, the bank sloping rapidly away into dark depths where one could easily imagine reptile eyes coldly calculating the odds of a successful ambush. The guides’ warnings of not to approach the water after dark were taken seriously. Apparently, last year a customer disregarded this advice and took a croc in the chest. He survived thanks to the selfless actions of a guide.Unlike the first day, the rest of this safari was very leisurely with generous time to relax and relatively short distances to paddle each day. After leaving Vundu we dodged hippo all morning before landing on Trichilia Island, so named because of the massive Natal Mahogany trees (Trichilia emetica) that form a mighty green canopy over the island. We spent a wonderful siesta here, idly watching elephant, hippo and various antelope in the distance.

Although both sides of the river are national park, there are many camps on the Zambian side, and motorboats are allowed in Zambian waters. The lack of regulation is unfortunate.A few times we would drift up to massive crocs sunning themselves on the sandbanks, only for them to slip silently into the water, and disconcertingly, under our canoe, never to be seen again. Zambezi crocs are large with a yellowish colouring.

Our next camp, on Devil Thorn Island, was shared with a lone elephant bull and a buffalo. Both disappeared by last light. Fueled by some swigs from Doug’s jug of Scud, a local Kariba brew with the lumpy consistency, texture and smell of vomit, which he had lovingly conserved on the trip, we launched into a long debate about ethics and economy. (Scud was apparently launched onto the market during the time of the Gulf War…)

A mellow, short paddle took us to Mana Pools’ Nyamepi Camp and the take out. But not before a wonderful, last close encounter with a lone bull elephant who made our day by trumpeting and shattering a few nerves as we drifted almost under his tusks.

And so like all good things, our canoe safari ended.

Doug continued with Kingsley and Fisher to Kanyemba. Here is an extract from an email sent from Malawi some weeks later: “We had crazy discussions and saw at least 3000 hippos, 1000 crocs and 6-8 elephants all in the river (the guide had a big gun!). We survived but unfortunately we saw a local dude who didn’t – he had been bitten in the face and chest by a hippo and was floating in the river when we came across him…not ideal.”

High adventure indeed…

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