THERE is something about extended stays in wild and wonderful places that teach us the art of living in the present, of savouring each moment, singly and completely, without being distracted by moments past or still to come.
For this reason, it is only after returning from a bout of tent travelling that I combine my memories to form an overall impression of what I have experienced.
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My husband, Bill, and I have recently done an extensive walkabout filled with magical moments and amazing experiences, starting with a relaxing week in the Drakensberg, then a frenetic weekend in Gauteng. After that we spent three glorious weeks exploring Kruger National Park from the bottom to the top and back down again.
Linked together, our individual Kruger experiences give us a fairly detailed picture of what South Africa’s world famous game reserve is all about – and the picture is amazing. From an environmental point of view it is, of course, a great and humbling privilege to spend quality time in such a world-renowned, well-conserved, bio-diverse wilderness.
The birding and game viewing were phenomenal and even on quieter days the ever-changing scenery, topography, geographical features and almost pristine natural vegetation kept us totally absorbed.
From a tourism point of view, the park is nothing short of miraculous. As we’ve come to expect from all SANparks game reserves the roads, rest camps, picnic sites and other infrastructure are world class and are amazingly well maintained.
Also, Kruger’s excellent booking system and wonderful facilities make it incredibly tourist-friendly and easy to access. Even the ‘pup-tent and single pot brigade’, usually-foreign tourists in little rental cars with the flimsiest of tents and almost no camping equipment, are able to experience Kruger in relative comfort.
The rest camps and picnic sites even offer boiling water on tap!
What really is impressive is how this huge juggernaut of a tourist attraction deals so easily with thousands of visitors from all over the world every day. Its well-trained, friendly and efficient staff members make sure that Kruger constantly purrs along like a well-oiled machine. Perhaps they are its biggest assets. Not only do they keep everything running smoothly but they offer their excellent service with friendly, welcoming smiles. From the cleaners, the park shop staff and gate security personnel to the reception and administration staff, absolutely everyone we met was just so nice!
Kruger is such a big, beautiful, well-run slab of conserved wilderness but before we take a virtual drive through Malelane Gate to begin our virtual explorations of it, let’s stop on the way there and linger for a while in the beautiful Champagne Valley.
Having access to a cottage there, we have grown to love this scenic central part of our great Drakensberg range of mountains. Spending a quiet, undemanding week there was the perfect way to recharge our batteries after what had been a rather hectic time on the home-front.
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Our previous visit to the valley had been in winter so it was lovely to see the mountains in their emerald green summer finery. They were looking stunning. While we spent many hours on the cottage veranda, enjoying the pretty garden, admiring the mountain scenery, catching up on some good reading and checking out the garden birds, we were no slouches when it came to a bit of physical exercise.
The Champagne Valley, including the Monks Cowl area, offers a great choice of delightful walks to suit both the physically fit and the not-so-fit. We did a different walk every day, setting out early to beat the fierce summer heat and the rain that often arrived in the afternoons and evenings.
The Drakensberg Sun offers various walks in its ground. We did the gentle, half-hour around-the-dam stroll a couple of times, enjoyed a three-hour walk that took in the hotel’s Fern Forest and Blue Grotto routes and we puffed our way uphill to the top of Bergview estate to enjoy the panoramic views and to complete the three-hour Ellis Hike.
On one of our lazier days we enjoyed doing the undemanding Monk’s Cowl Sterkspruit Walk, which takes about an hour, but we also exerted ourselves and did a five-hour Monk’s Cowl walk to Nandi Falls via the Hlatikhulu forest. Starting with a steep uphill section it is a rather demanding route. It was a lovely walk, though, and well worth the effort. However, we didn’t stir much from our comfy veranda retreat that afternoon.
On the Saturday we were in the valley, we did the Winterton parkrun, one of South Africa’s loveliest 5km free timed runs organised every Saturday morning under the auspices of the global parkrun organisation. We did this parkrun last year on a frosty winter day so it was fun to do it on a warm, balmy morning, with amur falcons and swallows hovering overhead.
We also ate well, up there in mountain country, and were particularly good customers of the excellent local bakery and cheese shop. The valley and its surrounds offer all sorts of specialist food stores, coffee shops, good eateries and even a brewery that produces craft beer, which we sampled, one golden summer evening.
The highlight of our stay, however, proved to be a visit to the Falcon Ridge Bird of Prey Centre to take in one of the excellent daily raptor shows. Many of the avian stars have been nursed back to health at the centre and while some regain their freedom when ready to fly free again, others have suffered such serious injuries that they would not be able to fend for themselves should they be released. One of the permanent residents is a talkative, charismatic fish eagle. It was originally admitted to the centre with a minor injury and was released back into the wild after it had been nursed back to health. Sadly, not long after its release, it had to be brought back to the centre. It had been shot in the shoulder, sustaining a wound so serious that it would never be able to be released again.
The raptor show was spectacular and incredibly informative. As a keen birder I found it fascinating and I really did learn so much about our feathered ‘warriors of the sky’. I heartily recommend a visit to the centre.
By the end of our seven-day mountain idyll we were totally destressed and ready to face the next part of our holiday, a weekend visit to Gauteng, South Africa’s frenetic, vibrant power house. What a contrast it proved to be.
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