Punda Maria, Kruger Park’s spirited old lady

The most compelling reason to visit Punda Maria, Kruger Park’s northernmost camp, lies even further north: Pafuri. Offering 100 000 hectares of riverine forest, sandveld, koppies, flood plains and endless horizons etched with iconic baobabs, Pafuri beguiles. Game may be more plentiful to the south, but Pafuri’s birds draw ornithologists from all over the world and its trees, giant and ancient, are knockouts. Says Pafuri section ranger Sandra Basson, rhapsodic about the place’s beauty: ‘God lives here.’

Punda Maria, one of the oldest camps in the park, makes a fine base from which to explore Pafuri and south towards Shingwedzi. Founded in 1933 by Captain JJ Coetzer as a tented camp, Punda was originally called ‘Punda Milia’, a Swahili reference to the herds of local zebra. Coetzer renamed it ‘Punda Maria’ after his wife, who was allegedly fond of black and white striped clothing.

The pole, mud and grass-roofed huts built in 1934 still house visitors today, along with seven attractive bush tents with wrap-around wooden decks. With just 77 beds, Punda is relatively intimate. The tents are first prize: tucked away in the trees, shareable with genets and bushbabies.

‘This camp is Kruger’s best-kept secret,’ says restaurant manager George Lohmann. ‘People love it here because it’s still the bush.’

Accessed via Punda Maria gate, Punda Maria camp is a small, welcoming island surrounded by thick vegetation. The views are limited from within the camp, but drive a few kilometres and you’ll be rewarded with lovely ever-changing vistas: hippos and crocs in the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers; the eerie yellow- green glow of the Fever Tree Forest; the dramatic sandstone cliffs of several local gorges; the ubiquitous trees – nyalaberry, ironwood and giant fig – that make you feel as if you’re in fairyland.

Start exploring, perhaps, from within the camp: a half-hour bird-watching walk on the Flycatcher Trail (starts across from the bush tents). Then drive the Mahonie Loop (left as you exit the camp) to search for the Big Five (rhinos are scarce) and many kinds of antelope. To venture further afield, into Pafuri, you can sign up at Punda for the three-day Nyalaland Trail or visit Thulamela, the World Heritage Site that once hosted an ancient kingdom, its people related to the civilizations at Great Zimbabwe.

Named after the antelope common to Pafuri (it’s the best place in the park to see them), the Nyalaland Trail is the public’s only access to the wild up there. The guided trail happens twice a week and Punda Maria duty manager Themba Mnisi heartily recommends it. ‘From a base camp 42 kilometres north of here and near the Luvuvhu River, you do walks every day,’ he enthuses. ‘You see Lanner Gorge – it’s the only way to see it – you have your own hut, you eat around the campfire every night… Lots of stories told around those fires!’

To the northeast of the trail base camp lies Thulamela, the rocky remains of a 13th-century citadel once occupied by a Venda kingdom. It was burned down by the Venda themselves in 1640, when the settlement was overwrought by tsetse fly and drought. A World Heritage Site, Thulamela – meaning ‘place of birth’ in Vha- Venda – sits on a plateau overlooking the forests and rivers, surrounded by majestic baobabs and other trees in whose shade the royals held their kgotlas. The extensive packed-stone walls, built around 1500 and now being dismantled by baboons, attest to a once-thriving community there.

The site feels ancient, and no wonder – humans lived there as long as 1,5-million years ago. The Bushmen dwelled there roughly 100 000 years ago. Then 2 000 years ago the first Nguni people moved in and the Thulamela people arrived from Zimbabwe around 1200 AD. Former Pafuri section ranger Flip Nel ‘discovered’ the Thulamela ruins back in 1983, says guide Eric Maluleke, and excavations began in 1991.

‘People outside knew the ruins were here, but they were afraid to come,’ says Eric. ‘It was overgrown, it felt like trespassing. But the Makahane royal family has filed a claim to get it back. They come once a year and put snuff and African beer here for their ancestors.’

In addition to the perimeter walls and those delineating the separate quarters (the king’s face west), there’s a workshop where clay pots were made and spears sharpened and, according to the place’s name, the maternity ward where women gave birth.

Thulamela finds have included gold amulets, ostrich egg beads, glass beads and cowrie shells from India, porcelain from China, hunting spears, a double iron gong and two royal skeletons.

‘Queen Losha’ and ‘King Ingwe’ were unearthed in 1996; DNA testing showed that she was a local queen buried around 1600 and he, a king from outside Thulamela, nearly 200 years earlier. Their tiny graves on top of the plateau seem almost insignificant. But don’t underestimate the spirit of the place … stand close to King Ingwe’s grave near the edge of the cliff, where the leopard appeared as they excavated his skeleton (hence his name). In the dry, still heat, looking down on the old elephant path to Shingwedzi below, or out across the trees to the river and even further west, you can imagine living there centuries ago.

Other spots in Pafuri to visit include Crooks’ Corner, the former haunt of gun-runners, ivory poachers and other scoundrels, where the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers meet at the intersection of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique; Pafuri Picnic Spot, where Frank, a bird expert, can fill you in on the Pel’s fishing owls, saddle-billed storks, carmine bee-eaters and numerous other birds; and Pafuri Camp, a private concession on the river bank – a beautiful, secluded enclave run by the Makuleke community and reasonably priced compared to other luxury lodges.

Back at Punda Maria after a day’s outing, you can swim in the generous pool and later dine by candlelight under the tree canopy at the camp restaurant. Judging from the guestbook, it’s one of the most popular eateries in Kruger, a throwback to the 1930s when the camp first opened, with guests dining under the stars. Wrote one happy family from Stellenbosch: ‘Punda is die beste! Die kos, die wyn, die omgewing, die 15 leeus wat ons vandag gesien het!’ (Punda is the best! the food, the wine, the environment, the 15 lions we saw today!)

A band of Australians voiced the common sentiment that Punda is far, but well worth the journey: ‘Roses are red/violets are blue/we came from Australia/ to have dinner with you. Best steak ever!’