May ended up being an excellent month to spend ten days traveling around Vancouver Island. Lucked out with weather, and crowds of people were not to be found. Covered a lot of ground – click on the image below to view pics from the trip on Flickr.
Category: Travel
Sodwana Bay to Royal Natal NP
Full day of driving today as we travel from Sodwana Bay (north of St. Lucia on the map) south along the coast towards Durban before cutting across towards the Drakensberg mountains. We’ll be spending two nights in Royal Natal and one in Golden Gate Highlands NP, hiking in the mountains during the days. Just now nearing the point on the drive where we veer west, away from the coast. A beach has been selected for one last swim in the Indian Ocean.
Sodwana Bay
Four hundred fifty kilometers of driving yesterday took us from Swaziland to the northwestern coast of South Africa, to the relatively remote area of Sodwana Bay. According to our guide book, the reefs here are second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Neither Chris nor I are dive certified, so we’re doing a guided resort dive. Just finished the pool practice and will be heading out to the reefs soon.
Swaziland
Spent two nights in northwest Swaziland, in in area of highveld, with rolling mountains and valleys covered with grasslands and forest plantations. Great day-hike in Malolotja Nature Reserve to the top of the highest waterfall in Swaziland and a swim in the series of pools above the 100 meter dropoff. Saw herds of zebra, bontebok, eland, a troop of about 30 baboons traversing the opposite slope, and only two other people who were leaving just as we arrived to start the hike. The high elevations provided a break from the heat; though it was still warm during the day, the evenings were nice and temperate. Left Phophonyane Lodge this morning and drove to the city of Manzini, where we walked around first in the street market and then in the mall. Spent the early afternoon driving through the hot, spacious savannas of the southeast towards the Lavumisa/Golela border back into South Africa. Today’s destination is Sodwana Bay on the Elephant Coast, south of Mozambique.
Driving to Swaziland
On the first day of our driving tour, we took a wrong turn in the mountains heading over a dirt road pass to Swaziland, fairly quickly corrected course, but then realized we would miss the 4pm border crossing closing time. Took the road less traveled heading to another crossing a few hours south and ended up passing through beautiful mountains and valleys, with smiling people everywhere and gorgeous scenery. Passed several soccer games, young boys flying kites in the setting sun by the side of the road, workers walking home, cows and monkeys and goats, and miraculously managed to not damage our tiny VW Polo on the rough dirt roads.
Arrived at the border just before dark, misunderstood directions from a border guard and ended up driving through a small housing settlement rather than parking the car, much to everyone’s amusement. Another 45 minutes drive back north in Swaziland brought us to Phophonyane Falls Nature Reserve where we made our way through a dark, quiet forest to what seems at night like an African fairy wonderland of lit trails through the woods, tents and our beehive hut. We’ll be here two nights.
Selati wildlife
A list of wildlife seen at Selati: elephant, rhino, lions, leopard, baboon, vervet monkey, zebra, giraffe, caracal, genet, African wild cat, bushbaby, spring hare, jackal, honey badger, mongoose, hyrax, warthog, ostrich, wildebeest, bontebok, springbok, impala, waterbuck, duiker, nyala, bushbuck, eland, kudu, sable, steenbok, klirspringer.
Twilight
It’s deep twilight now and dozens of bats are swooping over our heads. The most spectacular orange, round moon just rose. We can’t really see the lions anymore, but we can hear them, along with a symphony of birds.
Selati Game Reserve
Selati Game Reserve, approximately 66,000 acres of land west of Kruger National Park, is a partnership between 11 families who combined their properties – mostly land that had previously been used for farming or ranching. We’re staying at the home of our hosts, Rob and Judy Snaddon, along with a handful of other guests. The daily routine is to wake up in the five o’clock hour and head out to look for wildlife by six. We climb into a modified Land Cruiser that has four rows of open air stadium-style seating, and drive the many single lane dirt roads that wind through the property. Because of the elephants, rhinos and big cats, it’s too dangerous to walk without a guide with a firearm. (The living compound is surrounded by electrified fence.) We return for lunch and co afternoon nap during the hot hours of the day, and then head back out just before sunset for several more hours. The scope and grandeur of the landscape has been difficult to capture in photos.
Evening at Selati
It’s three days into autumn here, there’s a full moon tonight, and there will be a lunar eclipse in a few hours. We’ve been out game watching for several hours now – no luck with the lions tonight though we were very close. A giraffe just stepped into the road, illuminated in our headlights and handheld spotlights, less than 20 feet from us. Four or five others were visible in the trees nearby.
South Africa Travel Map (updated)
Leaving tomorrow for the Selati Game Reserve in the northeast. Flying from Cape Town through Johannesburg to Neslruit, where our gracious hosts will pick us up for the drive north.
We’ve been fleshing out our driving tour and making some reservations for accommodations. Looking forward to spending time in both Lesotho and Swaziland, as well as a day or two on the Indian Ocean coast north of Durban.