THE icy wind was howling as we drove the scenic route from Newcastle to Spioenkop after completing the Grey Goose parkrun .
We were planning to set up camp and spend the last day and night of our mountain meander at this delightful Ezemvelo game reserve. It looked like it we were in for another cold camping experience, though. However, as we arrived the wind dropped completely and the rest of the day was sunny and lovely and warm.
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Spioenkop Game Reserve, set around Spioenkop Dam, is a great little reserve, offering interesting game viewing and birding, as well as lovely scenic drives.
It isn’t grand in the sense of our wild and wonderful Kruger National Park and its ilk but it is an absolutely delightful little piece of wilderness, a narrow strip of rolling thornveld, typical of the northern KwaZulu-Natal landscape, set around the sparkling dam, with lovely views of the nearby mountainous terrain.
Spioenkop Mountain stands guard over this pretty patch of thorn savannah and lush valley bushveld. Campers can set up their tents at the edge of the dam from where they can also enjoy the view of the Drakensberg Mountains.
The dam offers visitors opportunities for all sorts of water-related activity but, it being winter, the water-sport enthusiasts were staying at home and we had the reserve almost to ourselves.
Of course, the peaceful reserve is a short step away from the mountain of the same name that was the scene of one of the Anglo Boer War’s bloodier battles.
The infamous Battle of Spioenkop took place in 1900 and the British suffered one of their worst defeats of that period.
The Battlefield is accessible by road and the 360 degree view from the summit can only be described as spectacular. A visit to the site is interesting but the reserve is a far more gentle experience.
The last time we had visited the reserve it had been summer, when the sweet thorns (Acacia karroo), the dominant trees in the spioenkop area, had been covered in their bright yellow pompom flowers.
Now the sweet thorns and the paperback acacias (Acacia Sieberana) were preparing for their long winter sleep. Their foliage was still pretty green, for that time of year and, while the grass was bronzing over it was still quite green in places.
We did miss the large flocks of amur falcons that, in summer , are so noticeable in and around the reserve.
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We set up camp, then spent a couple of happy hours exploring the reserve. As usual we were impressed with the scenery, the birding and the game viewing.
It is always good to see big herds of eland, those huge, ghostly, rather mystical antelope that feature so much in San rock art. There were also plenty of impala, red hartebeest, zebra,giraffe and even a couple of jackal.
The birding was great in the reserve – and just as good in camp – and there was always quite an assortment of game strolling around the camp boundaries at any one time.
Unfortunately we had only one day to spare for our Spioenkop visit and you really need more time to appreciate this lesser-known KwaZulu-Natal gem.
However, as we packed up and left the next morning we were pleased to know that we would soon be back in the area – this time with our Australian family.
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