Our thirst raged as we hiked up Tatasberg. An agglomeration of granite boulders piled on top of one other, this iconic peak looks like the fortress of a monster banished to the desert. My friend Gareth and I soon realised we didn’t have enough water. A human can require several litres every hour, especially when hiking in hot, dry conditions – and if there are two overriding characteristics of the Richtersveld, it’s heat and drought.

At the southern end of the Namib, it’s the only true desert region in South Africa. Temperatures during summer often hit 50 degrees Celsius and ultraviolet radiation is higher than most places on Earth. Rainfall can be as low as 40 millimetres a year, while evaporation reaches 3 000 millimetres annually. We were there in winter, but even so there are only two kinds of daytime temperature: hot and very hot.

As I reached the top of the narrow peak, my thirst disappeared momentarily, forced out of my mind by the views. Around us in all directions stretched range upon range of mountains, sharp teeth silhouetted against a metallic sky. Some of these foreboding massifs are two billion years old, half the age of Earth. Interspersed between them are sand valleys several kilometres wide, a barren canvas on which nothing moves except the slow creeping of the mountain’s shadows.

To the north of the river was |Ai-|Ais National Park of Namibia, now part of the cross-border conservation area that includes the Fish River Canyon, one of the largest on Earth. To the south lay Richtersveld National Park and the Richtersveld Community Conservancy, the core of South Africa’s eighth World Heritage Site, declared for its unique cultural and botanical assets.

Far below, the Orange River ran like a cool vein through the gorges on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. In the Richtersveld, it sustains a narrow line of green acacia trees on its banks, the only bright colour in the hegemony of beige and black geology.

Few people

Unsurprisingly there were no signs of people, but I knew there were a few campsites along the river where 4x4ers were setting up. No doubt the adventurous visitors were cooling off in the water.

We had stayed at several of the sites: De Hoop, Richtersberg, Potjiespram and Tatasberg wilderness camps. Further into the mountains was Kokerboomkloof, a campsite surrounded by granite boulders and a colony of quiver trees.

I also knew there would be a few Nama shepherds, the last nomadic people in the country. On our way into the park, we had met Joseph Obies sitting in the shade of a scraggly shepherd’s tree, his dorper goats grazing nearby.

He looked at us through the smoke of his cigarette, then glanced at our 4×4, trailer and all our gear. Archaeological remains show that Joseph’s ancestors have lived here for at least four thousand years, continuously moving their livestock and living in portable reed huts. They own the land, but lease it to SanParks for conservation purposes. Visitors are often surprised to see goats grazing inside the park, not realising the Nama shepherds are entitled to do so.

But even the desert-adapted Nama are few and far between. The Richtersveld is effectively devoid of people, with no more than a hundred-odd people in 6 000 square kilometres of largely impenetrable territory.

Standing on top of Tatasberg, a hallucinogenic heat shimmered in the air and the silence hummed in my ears. Wilderness in South Africa can take on many forms but, for me, the Richtersveld defines it better than any other. Although it’s intimidating, it’s also humbling and awe-inspiring. The region has affected many other people similarly, including Dr Graham Williamson, who probably knows it better than anyone else.

‘It’s almost impossible to convey in words the profound experience of the overwhelming presence of wilderness which suffuses and saturates the senses,’ he wrote in his book, Richtersveld – The Enchanted Wilderness. ‘The impression is of a harsh, cruel, arid lunar-landscape but it emanates a beauty of unusual intensity.’

Now based in Cape Town, Graham and his wife Francoise lived at the coastal town of Oranjemund for more than 20 years. During the week he worked as a dentist for local diamond mines; on weekends, he morphed into a pioneering naturalist and botanical expert. The indefatigable couple explored the mountains and valleys on foot, and their love and respect for the area grew.

Remarkable animals and plants

As Graham explained to me after my hike at Tatasberg, an array of plants and animals survive and even thrive here despite the desert conditions. Snakes, beetles and geckos endure by burrowing deep into the sand or hiding in rock cracks, often emerging only at night to feed.

Some chameleons have a nasal gland which rids the body of excess salt, and frogs and toads, such as the mysterious Namaqua caco froglet (Cacosternum namaquense), hibernate in cracks or soft clay during times of drought. When rare rain arrives, the amphibians emerge with an urge to make up for lost time by copulating all night.

‘A deafening cacophony attracts females,’ Graham said. ‘On one such night in June 1986, after the best rains in living memory, Francoise and I experienced a frog symphony so loud that it prevented sleep.’

He’s seen black-backed jackal drinking sea water to quench their thirst, with no negative effects, but large mammals are uncommon because of the climate, and even the hardy gemsbok is limited in number. Klipspringer, springbok and Hartmann’s mountain zebra can be seen. The largest predators are leopard and caracal, which survive on small rodents and the odd bird.

Scorpions are common, including the venomous Parabuthus granulatus, while one of the world’s most poisonous spiders – Sicarius testaceus – and snakes such as the dangerous Cape cobra (Naja nivea) occur. (Keep your shoes on at night, and don’t sleep on the ground). But it’s the plants which make the Richtersveld famous, and which intrigue Graham most of all. As part of the succulent Karoo, a biome with 5 000 plant species of which more than half are found nowhere else, the area is a global botanical hotspot and one of only two worldwide that is entirely arid (the other is the Horn of Africa).

‘Some plants can lower their leaf temperatures below normal metabolic rate and encourage condensation on the outer surface. Others have spoon-shaped leaves which capture condensation and fog. Some have hairs on the leaves which serve as water traps, while others develop large amounts of reddish, orange and even black pigment to protect against excessive solar radiation.’

Graham and Francoise discovered several new species of plants and were instrumental in the rediscovery of the spectacular Amaryllis paradisicola, a species found only in Paradyskloof in the west of the park.

Most obvious among the plants which grow in this region are the unmistakable quiver trees, standing like guards over the landscape and named because the Bushmen once used the branches for hunting arrows.

The three species of quiver trees – or kokerboom – grow just a centimetre or two every year, yet can live for more than 200 years. Their pale bark is cool to touch, reflecting the sun, while the hard, succulent leaves and stem can store several litres of water. Porcupines and other rodents gnaw on the trunks for moisture, yellow flowers provide nectar for sunbirds, and the branches are perches for raptors in a landscape otherwise devoid of trees.

Beautiful but dangerous

As wondrous as the Richtersveld is, there’s a hard, sharp edge which the unprepared will encounter. On the hike up Tatasberg, Gareth and I had stopped to admire a quiver tree to honour the stately plant that grows happily where logic says it shouldn’t, but we wasted no time on the way back down. We’d drunk every last drop of our water, and while the plants and animals of the Richtersveld have adapted to desert conditions, we were far from our natural biome.

Out here, with no cellphone communication and at least a four-hour drive over rocky mountains to the park’s office at Sendelingsdrif, the possibility of death was all too clear.

By the time we had reached my Ford Everest, our eyes had started to dry out, and it seemed as if someone had poured sawdust down our throats. But we had made it. We downed a bottle of cold Coke from the vehicle’s fridge, and soon felt better.

That night the air temperature dropped to the mid-twenties, and we celebrated our day’s adventure with a braai and a beer under cosmic light. A chorus of cicadas played out their nocturnal symphony against a backdrop of rushing river water.

As we admired the ancient mountains shining in the moonlight, we became aware that we wouldn’t be on Earth much longer than a geological blink of an eye. So we cracked another cold beer, sat back and stared at the stars without a worry in the world. Our thirst for wilderness had been quenched in the Richtersveld.

Top tips for Richtersveld

• The 220-odd kilometres of tracks are either rock or sand and only fully self-sufficient, highclearance 4x4s are allowed into the park. Take at least two spare tyres, a tyre repair kit, a high-lift jack, tow-rope and spare fuel.
• Take enough water, food and medical supplies for the whole trip. You can drink from the Orange River, but take purification tablets just in case.
• There’s no cellphone reception; consider hiring a satellite phone.
• It’s illegal to collect the little firewood there is in the park. Take gas to cook on, or stock up on wood at Port Nolloth or Springbok beforehand.
• Fit a dual-battery system to power a portable fridge to keep food and drinks cold.
• There are lots of scorpions, so don’t sleep on the ground. Take fold-up camping stretchers or fit a rooftop tent.
• Pack a small ultraviolet light for spotting scorpions at night. A reference book on snakes and scorpions makes for informative reading.
• Off-road trailers are excellent for longer trips, but some of the rocky passes are narrow, so don’t take large, bulky trailers.
• Distances between campsites seem short on the map, but can take several hours to drive because of the terrain. Pack a GPS and mapping software such as Tracks4Africa.
• Don’t forget rubbish bags. You are required to remove all your rubbish as there are no bins.

Getting to Richtersveld National Park

Richtersveld National Park, part of |Ai- |Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, lies in the far northwestern corner of South Africa on the Namibian border. The entrance is at Sendelingsdrif (open daily from 06h00 to 20h00). The quickest route is to drive from Steinkopf on the N7, 100 kilometres along the R382 to Port Nolloth. Then drive north to Alexander Bay. The road to this point is tarred, but it’s gravel from here to Sendelingsdrif.

An alternative route is to turn right off the R382 after about 50 kilometres to Eksteenfontein or Lekkersing, then on to Sendelingsdrif. These are bad gravel roads and the journey will take longer.

Visitors can also enter the park from Namibia, by using the pont (it can carry two fully loaded 4x4s on each crossing). It’s open daily from 08h00 to 16h00, but closes when water levels are high.

Where to stay in Richtersveld National Park

Sendelingsdrif Rest Camp has 10 fully equipped self-catering units with electricity (from R665 a night for two people) on the banks of the Orange River with a communal pool, but the adjacent mining village can be noisy. Tatasberg (near the river), Gannakouriep and Hakkiesdoring camps (both inland) have simple tented self-catering chalets, each with a basic kitchen, shower and toilet (from R660 a night for two people).

There are no demarcated camping sites at Potjiespram, De Hoop, Richtersberg and Kokerboomkloof, so you find your own spot to pitch camp. During summer, it’s best to camp at the three on the river, while Kokerboomkloof inland is better during the cooler winter months (there’s no water at Kokerboomkloof, so visitors must bring enough to drink and cook). Costs from R180 a site a night for two people (additional adults pay R62, maximum six people).

For accommodation outside of the park, see the Northern Cape section of Places to Stay.

Contact details for Richtersveld National Park

Tel 012-428-9111 (central reservations) or 027-831-1506 (park office), email reservations@sanparks.org, www.sanparks.org.

It’s lunchtime on a humid Friday in summer. A cross section of the city’s inhabitants is sitting inside a panel beater’s workshop, surrounded by faded Manchester United posters. Smells of oil and petrol intermingle with a stronger aroma of spices and curry. Cops in uniform, suited businessmen and blue-collar workers are all engaged in the same thing: scoffing steaming mutton bunny chows while sweating profusely and downing two-litre Cokes.

This is Gounden’s, a legendary institution that’s been serving Durban’s favourite bunnies for more than a decade. Behind the stove is Mrs Gounden, who cooks up the famous mutton bunnies six days a week, serving up to 900 of them on a busy day. Her secret to curry success? A home-made spice mix of chilli, turmeric, pepper, coriander and cumin. It was the first stop on a quest with photographer Russell Smith to find Durban’s best curry. Armed with a high tolerance to chilli (and Rennie antacid tablets), we were guided by the suggestions of locals, who are fiercely proud of their curries and vociferous about their favourite spots. Our mission took us across the city and along its outskirts, and included visits to a lotus-shaped temple, a 24-hour takeaway frequented by models and policemen, and promenade stalls selling the sweet, masala-dusted pineapple wedges at sunset.

The dish around which we based our search was the bunny chow, the king of Durban curries. Cheap and filling, this street food has earned its place as a national dish. It’s made from a quarter-or half-loaf of white bread, which is hollowed-out and filled with curry. Using the scooped-out bread as a spoon, it’s usually eaten accompanied by an ice-cold Coca-Cola, a necessity to combat the fiery combination of curry heat and the humid climate (the combo is fondly known as a bunny and a wash-down).

Just about every Indian restaurant has some version of the bunny: they’re round and massive and come with an ocean view at Impulse by the Sea, in miniature form at House of Curries, stuffed with trotters and tripe at Britannia Hotel’s Capsicum Restaurant, and vegetarian friendly with paneer (cottage cheese) at Little Gujarat. Still, the clear favourite is mutton, and most Durbanites vote for Gounden’s hearty and spicy bunny, loaded with thick chunks of meat.

There are as many legends about the bunny’s origin as there are masalas. The uniquely South African dish is said to be named after banias, traders from the Indian state of Gujarat who emigrated to Durban, and ‘chow’, the slang word for food. Some claim it was invented for Indian golf caddies who ate lunch on the course, while another theory has it that Indian labourers on sugar-cane farms used hollowed-out bread as lunchboxes for curry leftovers. Each bunny we ate was accompanied by yet another theory.

Our bunny investigations led us to the canteen-style Patel’s Vegetarian Refreshment Room in downtown Durban, where 500 meat-free bunnies are served daily. The original owner, Ranchod Rama Patel, opened the restaurant nearly 100 years ago, and the story goes that he invented the bunny chow as a takeaway for poor patrons who had no bowls. Manager Affie Moodley, who has worked at the restaurant for 30 years, was pretty certain of this. ‘We take pride in our work,’ he proclaimed as he dished out my mixed veg and broad bean bunny with a scoop of extra curry. ‘This food comes from our hearts.’

It’s easy to see why this restaurant has been going for so long, and is still so popular. At R12 a bunny you may not expect to taste a lot of cooking love, but my bunny was scrumptious – subtly spiced, not oily and full of veg. Whether this is indeed the birthplace of the bunny is up for debate, but it’s certainly a great spot for affordable, tasty food.

At the end of the week, we’d eaten our bodyweight in curry and it was near impossible to choose the best. The task was as daunting as tackling a super-sized lamb vindaloo without a soothing glass of milk. Each place we’d visited had its highlight, whether it was a melt-in-the-mouth mutton paneer, a fresh, soft and tearable bunny loaf, or particularly piquant mango atchar. Most of the restaurants had been around for decades, were family-owned, had generations-old recipes and dishes with personal histories and bucketloads of character.

Instead of being exclusive, I’ve drawn up a list of a dozen places that encompass the best bunnies in town, as well as the tastiest rotis, briyanis (fragrant rice dishes made with vegetables or meat) and dosas. Each forms part of a fantastically rich culinary tradition that’s developed over 150 years and is as much a part of South African national identity as braais and boerewors.

12 of Durban’s best curry restaurants

Where to stay in Durban

The Concierge Boutique Bungalows

The Concierge Boutique Bungalows is arguably Durban’s hippest place to stay. The 12 colour-themed rooms have designer furniture and incredibly comfortable beds and using the shower was like being under a waterfall. I loved the quirky sausage dog theme throughout the hotel, as well as extra touches such as the stylish African-print dressing gowns and free Wi-Fi. Centrally located, the Concierge is a short walk from all the action on trendy Florida Road and a 10-minute drive from the beach, yet it’s off any main roads so the rooms are quiet. Breakfast is served at the Freedom Café, housed in brightly painted converted shipping containers and includes unusual dishes such as creamed rice with vanilla and peaches, or bacon-and-egg rosti. B&B costs from R850 a person sharing. Tel 031-309-4453, email info@the-concierge.co.za, www.the-concierge.co.za.

The Benjamin

If you want to be right in the thick of it, stay at the Benjamin, a few steps away from the bars and restaurants of Florida Road. Housed in an historic Victorian building, it has 43 rooms, but retains the sense of a small and personal B&B, with helpful, friendly staff and a cosy, quiet lounge. Rooms are airy and simply decorated in an English country style, and there’s a sunny courtyard with a swimming pool, which is heaven on humid days. B&B costs from R890 a person a double room a night. Tel 031-303-4233, email info@benjamin.co.za, www.benjamin.co.za.

Photography by Russell Smith.

It was early winter when I visited Golden Gate Highlands National Park. A full moon ascended in the mauve sky above Brandwag, the most famous and photogenic of the park’s sandstone cliffs, which shine like burnished gold at sunset to give the park its name.

‘Golden Gate is a great park to visit at any time of year,’ former park manager Johan Taljaard told me. ‘It may be relatively small – just more than 300 square kilometres – but it’s one of the most beautiful national parks.’

After travelling for more than a year, documenting South Africa’s most special protected areas, I agreed with Johan, who had worked in the park since 2001 before retiring at the end of 2012.

Just north of uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, it’s also the nation’s highest national park, lying between 1 892 and 2 829 metres above sea level. The park’s scenery is easily enjoyed and visitors can drive either of the two loop roads, but if you have more time, head out on foot or on the back of a horse.

‘We have about 80 horses,’ Johan explained. ‘They’re the only effective mode of transport for rangers to patrol the inaccessible hills and valleys.’

While rangers use the horses to apprehend poachers, fix fences, and sometimes rescue lost hikers during winter snowstorms, guests are accompanied by experienced Basotho horsemen. ‘It’s possible to go almost anywhere on horseback,’ Johan emphasised, including to the remote caves and shelters used by early man who spent their summers up in the highlands, hunting eland, before moving with the wildlife to the coastal regions during winter.

The caves also sheltered early Afrikaner families, who escaped from the English during the Anglo Boer War, preferring the wilderness to the disease and filth of the English prisoner-of-war and concentration camps.

I wanted to see one of these fabled eyries for myself, so I met horse guides Jim Mkhondo, Eric Makubo and Lawrence Mononela at the stables. Cathedral Cave was our destination, about an hour’s ride away.

Jim passed me the reins of Boesman, an experienced stallion who carried himself with the aplomb of a Boer steed. We saddled up and cantered alongside a herd of red hartebeest, silhouetted against a cobalt blue sky. They allowed us to get within a hundred metres, before sniffing our human smell and bolting off behind the grassy ridge.

As the valley narrowed, the gorge loomed ahead, and we had to dismount. After a 20-minute walk, we came to Cathedral Cave – about 50 metres wide and 250 metres long.

‘It’s not really a cave,’ Jim explained, pointing to the impressive cavern, ‘more of a massive sandstone overhang. An ancient river carved out the rock, and although the stream hardly flows now in winter, there’s always a trickle of water.’

We rested in the shade and tinkles of water echoed like a xylophone as drops fell into a small pool below. In summer, Jim told me, a stream flows down into the amphitheatre from above, the fine mist throwing up psychedelic rainbows against the sunlight. Remote and hidden, I could imagine how Cathedral Cave made an ideal place to hide from the British troops, who burnt most of the grasslands below as part of the ruthless scorched-earth strategy.

Grasslands and water

These hills and valleys that saved the Afrikaner families are still of strategic importance and, according to ecologist Marna Herbst, the wetlands and marshes of the grasslands in the Maloti-Drakensberg region provide more than 30 per cent of the country’s fresh water.

Golden Gate receives between 700 and 2 000 millimetres of rain every year, and falls within one of the few places in the country where annual precipitation exceeds evaporation. ‘It also forms part of the watershed between the Orange and Vaal rivers, so it has an important role to play in South Africa’s economic and social well-being,’ Marna said.

Golden Gate is the only national park conserving grassland, once one of the largest biomes in South Africa, covering a quarter of the country. This has been reduced to small pockets by farming and urban sprawl.

Golden Gate is the largest of these pockets, and is a critical component of the country’s conservation strategy. There are more than 50 species of grass in the park, including red Themeda triandra, a highly nutritious grass for grazing antelope and an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. Much of the grasses outside the park have been lost forever because of overgrazing and erosion.

Valuable habitat

South African grasslands, in general, contain more than just grass. On average, only one in six plant species is a grass. There are more than 3 300 plant species across South Africa’s grasslands, including lilies, orchids, aloes, red hot pokers and watsonias.

Almost half of the country’s endemic mammals are found in this biome, while 10 globally threatened bird species can be seen flying overhead. The vulture restaurant on the Oribi Loop road is a good place to spot the endangered bearded vulture, of which there are less than 100 pairs in Southern Africa. The grass owl and bald ibis are two other red-listed species in the park.

The vulnerable sungazer lizard (Cordylus giganteus), a remarkable reptile that hibernates underground for four months during winter, is found only in the grasslands of South Africa. Black-backed jackal is the park’s main predator, and while Marna believes leopard occurs, there’s no dangerous wildlife such as lion or buffalo.

‘That’s what I love about this park,’ she said, ‘you can just go walking or riding into the grasslands without worrying and you have the whole place to yourself.’

Golden Gate’s famous eggs

In 1977, Wits University palaeontologist James Kitching discovered seven fossilised eggs in the park. At the time, there was no technology to extricate the tiny embryonic bones, so the eggs lay in a slab of stone for years until they were sent to Canada in 2000.

Today, American palaeontologist Jonah Choiniere is studying the fossils of the park and surrounding region, and he put the Golden Gate eggs into context.

The small eggs – about 10 centimetres long – come from the herbivore Massospondylus carinatus. From a hatchling, it would have grown into an animal about four metres long, with a horizontal neck, thick tail, short forelimbs and long back legs. ‘These are the oldest-known dinosaur embryos on Earth, dating back 200 million years,’ said Choiniere.

Even more profoundly, the hatchlings don’t have teeth. ‘This suggests the babies required parental care of some kind for some time after emerging from the egg. If this interpretation is correct, it’s the oldest known indication of parental care in the fossil record.’

In terms of palaeontology, Choiniere explained, Golden Gate is one of the world’s most valuable protected areas and these eggs are among the most important fossil discoveries.

Getting to Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Golden Gate Highlands National Park in the eastern Free State lies on the public R712 road, about 20 kilometres east of Clarens. From Bloemfontein, take the N1 north and turn right at Winburg onto the N5 to Bethlehem. Then take the R712 to Clarens and head east to the park. From Johannesburg, head east on the N3 to Durban, but turn west at Warden onto the R714 to Bethlehem. The park gates remain open all day and night.

Where to stay at Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Basotho Cultural Village Rest Camp in the east of the park has 24 rondavels. From R65 for two people.

Glen Reenen Rest Camp has a campsite (from R165 a site) and several rondavels and cottages (from R690 for two people), all fully equipped for self-catering. Tel 058-255-0909

Golden Gate Hotel has luxury rooms (from R995 for two people) and conference facilities, while the adjacent 34 chalets are better suited to families and tourists (from R910 for two people). The upgraded hotel is surprisingly congruent with the mountainous location and looks out over Brandwag, the most famous of the sandstone cliffs. Tel 058-255-1000.

Noordt Brabant Guest House. To the west of the hotel an old farmhouse has been renovated and sleeps six people, with kitchen, lounge, dining room and a beautiful sunny stoep. Costs R1 190 for four people.

Highlands Mountain Retreat has the best views of the lot. On a mountain ridge at the top of a steep road, eight fully equipped, self-catering log cabins look east over the park towards the basalt peaks of the Drakensberg. From R1 110 for two people.

Do this at Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Golden Gate’s quintessential activity is horse riding. A one-hour guided ride is R100 a person or R155 for two hours. Full-moon rides are offered on request. The two-day Rhebok Hiking Trail costs R135 a person. It traverses the park’s wilder areas and accommodation is in a basic hut.

Getting around Golden Gate Highlands National Park

The park has a limited network of roads, but two tarred loops ensure that visitors get to see some of it as well as a variety of animals. The 4,2-kilometre Oribi Loop in the northwest looks north and east towards the Drakensberg. The 6,7-kilometre Blesbok Loop on the southern side of the R712 gives great views of the high plateau into Lesotho, with good chances to see herds of eland, grey rhebok and red hartebeest and, if you’re lucky, the tiny oribi.

Useful contacts for Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Email goldengate@sanparks.org, www.sanparks.org.

Gathered over 15 years of exploring Kgalagadi, these tips are the sort of advice you won’t find in a guide book. They’ll expose you to the best the South African side of the park has to offer and prepare you to make the most of the region’s extremes. Use an insider’s advice to make your next trip to the park as memorable as possible.

Making a booking for Kgalagadi

1. Accommodation fills up months in advance, so book early. You may have to book a full year ahead to get space in wilderness camps such as Urikaruus and Grootkolk.

2. Camps are set very far apart and road conditions make travelling difficult. Because of this it makes sense to book camps in some sort of logical, circular order, rather than criss-crossing the reserve back and forth. The road to Bitterpan is a one-way running west, so stay at Nossob the night before and somewhere along the Auob riverbed the night after a visit to this wilderness camp.

3. To make your trip worthwhile you need to spend at least a week in the park. Stay at fewer camps for longer rather than trying to experience every camp for only a night each.

4. Cancellations are common. If you weren’t able to book every camp in the order you’d hoped to, keep calling SANParks’ central reservations office (tel 012-428- 9111) leading up to your trip to enquire about openings.

En route to Kgalagadi

5. Take along all your food supplies. The small shops at each of the three main camps stock very limited groceries and are expensive. Wickens Vleismark at 4 Kowen Street in Upington, the closest town to the popular Twee Rivieren Gate, is a great butcher. Order in advance and your meat will be vacuum packed and frozen, ready for collection. Tel 054-331-2267.

6. If you’re stopping overnight on your way to the park, book somewhere as close as possible to the park entrance. If you’re not sleeping over, book your first night at Twee Rivieren Rest Camp as you might not reach the camps deeper into the park before their gates close.

7. If you’re struggling to choose one of Upington’s countless guest houses, look no further than Libby’s Lodge. This comfortable, three-star stop offers seven spacious double rooms with en-suite bathrooms and air conditioning, as well as three self-catering family units (each sleeps three or four). Tel 054-332-2661 or 082- 924-7605, www.wheretostay.co.za/libbyslodge.

8. If you’d like to experience the wilderness of the Kalahari Desert without the constraints of national park rules, spend a night or two at Kalahari Trails Nature Reserve, 37 kilometres south of Twee Rivieren, on the way to or from Kgalagadi. Here you have the luxury of exploring 3 500 hectares of dunes on foot on your own or with a guide (owner Professor Anne Rasa is an expert tracker of everything from tok-tokkie beetles to pangolins). Tel 054-511-0900 or 072-277-2377, www.kalaharitrails.co.za.

Roads in Kgalagadi

9. You’ll get by on the park’s roads with a town car, but for the ultimate experience I recommend a 4×4. It will handle the road conditions best and the extra height provides better visibility.

10. Deflate tyres to 1,5 bar to make driving over the corrugated roads more comfortable. Limit further corrugation by driving in 4×4.

11. Expect to cover about 25 kilometres an hour on average and even less if you stop frequently to view and photograph animals. Give yourself ample time to get from point A to point B and stick to the speed limit of 50 kilometres an hour.

Camps in Kgalagadi

12. Twee Rivieren Rest Camp is best for families. It has a well-stocked shop (with treats such as ice cream), a swimming pool and, later this year, a new information centre where guides present informative slideshows about the park and its wildlife during school holidays.

13. There’s no better place to camp than at Nossob. Its campsite is shady and attracts more birds than any other rest camp in the park.

14. Josias and Antoinette Beukes of Grabouw enjoy the raised units at Urikaruus Wilderness Camp, which offer great views over a waterhole that attracts plenty of predators. ‘During our last stay we saw eight lions, four cheetahs and six spotted hyenas here.’ It’s arguably the best-located camp in the park. It’s a comfortable two-and-a-half-hour drive from the entrance at Twee Rivieren, the surroundings are known for predator sightings and, from the camp, you can drive in two directions along the Auob riverbed (north and south).

15. If you plan to drive up the Auob riverbed from Twee Rivieren early in the morning, don’t waste time by driving too slowly over the southernmost dune road. There’s usually little to see here. Rather get to Houmoed Waterhole when the sun is still low and the animals more active.

16. Mata-Mata Rest Camp visitors are allowed to walk across to Sitzas farm stall on the Namibian side without a passport. Just a stone’s throw from the border, you can buy all sorts from home-made fudge and crunchies to sundried tomatoes and various chutneys, but the real drawcard is the fresh and affordable meat and delicious droëwors.

17. It’s worthwhile spending some time in Nossob’s hide, which overlooks a small man-made waterhole, at night and again early in the morning before the gates open. Lions are frequently seen drinking here and there’s usually a spotted eagle-owl and a black-backed jackal or two hunting insects attracted by the floodlight.

18. Don’t leave your shoes outside at night if you’re camping in Nossob or Mata-Mata. Black-backed jackals won’t think twice before carrying them away.

19. Kieliekrankie Wilderness Camp’s biggest advantage is its location. Drive 10 minutes west to the Auob riverbed and 30 minutes east to the Nossob riverbed.

20. Leopard and brown hyena visit Grootkolk’s waterhole with remarkable frequency, especially early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Instead of going out on a game drive, get comfortable on the veranda with binoculars in hand.

21. Climb to the top of the tower at the back of Bitterpan camp just before sunset for one of the best views in the park. Take along a pair of binoculars and your camera.

22. Kalahari Tented Camp offers visitors a luxurious yet affordable self-catering option. The tents – with Bedouin-style covers, adjoining kitchens and spacious braai areas overlooking the riverbed – are some of the best facilities in the park. It’s also the only wilderness camp with a swimming pool.

23. Don’t expect to see much game around Gharagab, which is deep into the dunes where game densities are even lower than in the riverbeds. Rather drive up to this remote wilderness camp to enjoy the peace, quiet and isolation of the far northern dune fields of the park.

Conquering the cold in Kgalagadi

24. Amanda, Louw, Dewald and Werner Engelbrecht of Melkbosstrand reckon the secret to staving off the cold is to dress warmly before the chill sets in and to wear layers. ‘Also make sure the bottom layer is the one you’re going to sleep in. If you’re still cold, open the Jägermeister,’ said Louw.

25. Wash your vehicle’s windows at night before it gets too cold. Spraying them down first thing in the morning at sub-zero temperatures will result in a layer of ice covering it and, believe me, it doesn’t come off easily.

26. Keep a small pot of Ingram’s Camphor Cream in the cubbyhole. The Kalahari air is very dry, so a twice-daily dose of cream on your hands, arms and legs will keep the cracks away. I use Camphor Cream so often I’ve come to associate its distinctive smell with Kgalagadi game drives.

27. Elmien Turner and De Jongh and Cecile van Zyl of Lambert’s Bay had this tip for campers: ‘Heat a firebrick in the coals, then wrap it in newspaper before slipping it into a sleeve made from an old towel. It works like a hot water bottle, but doesn’t cool down as quickly.’

28. Boil water at night (it’s quickest on the fire) and put it in a thermos flask. The next morning, it will take just a few minutes to reboil before you head out on a game drive.

29. Taking on the Kgalagadi winter without some sort of head warmer is a bad idea. A Polar Buff provides enough warmth during the day and when you sleep, but you’ll need a proper woolly beanie for freezing evenings around the campfire. In winter I wear my Von Zipper skiing beanie – that’s how cold it gets!

Finding game in Kgalagadi

30. Read through the sightings books (each room in the wilderness camps has one) to determine game-viewing trends around camp. You may find that a specific cheetah mother and her three cubs are often seen on a certain stretch of road nearby, or that leopards come down to drink at the waterhole shortly after sunset. The more you know about the region’s game movements, the better your chances of seeing them. Don’t forget to record your sightings.

31. Don’t expect to see water-dependant species such as zebra, buffalo, waterbuck or elephant in the dry Kalahari. There are also no rhinos in the park.

32. You’ll be amazed with what you see if you drive slowly and look carefully between the rocks, broken tree branches and tufts of grass. Small predators such as slender mongoose, caracal and African wild cat are easily overlooked if you don’t pay attention.

33. Because the game density is much lower than in Kruger, you’re unlikely to see lion and cheetah around every corner. You have to work for sightings by sitting patiently at a waterhole or covering a great deal of ground early in the morning or late in the afternoon. No matter where you’re staying, vary these two tactics from day to day to give yourself the best chance of spotting predators.

34. Leopard, lion and cheetah often look for prey from elevated positions. Instead of limiting your search to the riverbeds, carefully scan the dune slopes and calcrete ridges too.

35. Listen out for the warning calls of red hartebeest, wildebeest and especially springbok. When a herd spots a predator, individuals usually group together tightly, all facing the same direction (towards the culprit), and make it known that they have spotted the enemy by giving loud snorts.

36. Give yourself a good chance of seeing a brown hyena by parking at Houmoed Waterhole at the southern tip of the Auob riverbed in the late afternoon. They often drink there at dusk.

37. Professional photographer and Kgalagadi expert Hannes Lochner says it’s all about knowing where to look. ‘If you want to see a leopard in Kgalagadi, check the sightings board in Twee Rivieren for recent sightings in the southern Auob riverbed. Then use a pair of binoculars to carefully inspect the ridges, caves and large trees early in the morning or late in the afternoon.’ Hannes’s new book, The Dark Side of the Kalahari, will be out in July this year (R550, www.hanneslochner.com).

38. Cape foxes den in the ground and give birth in October and November. Ask one of the guides in camp to direct you to the nearest den site and visit early in the morning to see pups playing outside.

39. Mischievous Kgalagadi lions have been known to damage tyres by biting or slashing through them with razor-sharp claws. Don’t allow curious lions to get close to your vehicle. Rather pull off slowly and stop further away.

Birding in Kgalagadi

40. The park is known for its high raptor numbers. Make identification of these and other birds easy by downloading the Roberts VII Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa application. It has a comprehensive set of pictures and photographs for each species (compatible with Apple and Android and costs R579,99).

41. Most waterholes attract sandgrouse, doves and a variety of finches, canaries and sparrows early in the morning. However, raptors such as bateleurs, secretary birds and tawny eagles prefer to drink in the middle of the day.

42. Southern white-faced and African scops-owls are commonly seen in Nossob and can easily be viewed and photographed during the day.

Photography in Kgalagadi

43. Keen amateur photographer Geoff Miles of Pretoria says a 600 mm fixed lens is great for raptor photography. ‘But not everyone can afford to buy such an expensive piece of camera equipment. Rather rent one and split the cost between a group of friends.’

44. There’s a great variety of birds and animals to photograph in the main camps. Lie on your stomach near a tap to capture eye-level images of yellow canaries, red-headed and scaly-feathered finches and white-browed sparrow-weavers, among others. If you stay very still, the resident ground squirrels and yellow mongooses will be obliging models. However, resist the temptation of feeding them to lure them closer.

45. The cold, dry winter months provide the best light for photography. Many animals head into the warmer dunes, but the waterholes along the riverbeds still attract everything from springbok and red hartebeest to caracals and blackmaned lions. Some of the most productive waterholes are Dalkeith, Samevloeiing, Cubitje Quap and Polentswa. Pick one and sit there for the whole day.

46. Kgalagadi is the perfect place to take star-trail photographs on a new moon or at least to try to. You’ll need a wide-angle lens, tripod and cable release. Learn how to set up the shot at http://tiny.cc/startrailphotography.

47. Go Yamagata of Japan named Sitzas as his favourite waterhole. ‘It’s less than 10 kilometres from Mata- Mata and has excellent afternoon light for photography.’

Nossob 4×4 Eco-Trail in Kgalagadi

48. The Nossob 4×4 Eco-Trail is a four-day guided trail through the Kalahari dunes, parallel to the Nossob riverbed between Twee Rivieren and Nossob Camps. Trail guide Robert Wylde explains you can drive it in two directions. ‘North to south is a bit easier because you have gentler dunes to cross.’ He adds that while a low-range vehicle is a prerequisite, the trail wasn’t designed to test your vehicle’s off-road capabilities, but rather to explore and appreciate the ever-changing scenery. Each of the three nights is spent at a different unfenced wilderness campsite with only a bucket shower and long drop.

49. Ideally, book the trail as a group of friends (minimum two vehicles, maximum five, excluding the guide) because for four days you camp together, cook together and talk over two-way radios to one another.

50. Carry at least one bag of firewood for each vehicle per day, enough drinking, cooking and shower water for three nights, as well as a compressor and pressure gauge to manage tyre pressure.

Take a look at our Kgalagadi travel packages.

In 24 years of exploration, Getaway has seen and photographed the best of South Africa. But, with a plethora of spectacular destinations across a vast and varied landscape, compiling a list of the country’s top photographic spots is no easy task. So, we called in the help of some of SA’s leading photographers to find the best of the best, those places where you’re guaranteed to find outstanding spectacles to capture through your lens.

Better yet, the pros have revealed their tips and techniques to help you get the iconic shots as well as some unexpected perspectives of the deserts of the Kgalagadi, the stormy Atlantic coast, the majestic Drakensberg and beyond. Grab your camera, dust off your suitcase and make a point of visiting our 10 favourite photo destinations in South Africa.

Blyde River Canyon, Mpumalanga

Best for: Breathtaking panoramas.

Getting the ultimate shot: A short walk from Forever Resort Blyde Canyon takes you to the edge with astounding views of one of the only large canyons in the world covered in dense foliage. To create a panorama, hold the camera in portrait orientation and switch to manual to get an even exposure across the images. Take up to five shots, making sure they overlap by a third of the frame. Include the sunrise and use an aperture of f16 or smaller for a sunburst effect.

Alternative shots: The public viewing point about two kilometres from the resort offers a different angle. The only downside is the gate times don’t cater for sunrise and sunsets.

Essential equipment: A good pair of walking shoes and software such as Adobe Photoshop to stitch together panoramas.

When to go: The Blyde River Canyon is majestic at any time of day or year, but the longer twilight periods and subtly changing colours of autumn add something different to images.

For more information: www.foreverblydecanyon.co.za and kruger2canyons.com.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape

Best for: Distinctive wildlife photos.

Getting the ultimate shot: In this vast, semi-arid savannah, the Kalahari’s black-maned lions can often be found in the shadows of a tree. It’s a scene that frequently produces dull photos, but with a little patience and a lot of afternoon breeze, there’s a chance to capture a powerful, story-telling image that portrays the lions’ behaviour and struggles (in this case, against a porcupine) in bleak surroundings.

Alternative shots: Summer afternoon thunderstorms create dramatic lighting conditions and add incredible mood to this harsh environment. Resist the temptation to head back to camp and look for interesting wide-angle compositions of the landscape. However, it’s sometimes more productive to spend a morning in camp than to chase after lions. For example, the squirrels here have become accustomed to people, which allows for great low-angle close-ups.

Essential equipment: If there’s one place in South Africa where sand will attack your equipment, it’s Kgalagadi. Protective casings and a cleaning kit will come in handy.

When to go: September to December is considered the best time as peak summer temperatures reach up to 40° Celsius and winter nights are very cold. If you want to visit during school holidays, book early because campsites fill up quickly.

For more information: www.sanparks.org.

The Amphitheatre, KwaZulu-Natal

Best for: Dramatic Drakensberg landscapes.

Getting the ultimate shot: Shoot in the early morning, with first light falling onto the highest peaks and a few clouds scattered overhead. This soft light allows for longer exposure times that will blur the water’s movement.

Alternative shots: Shoot in portrait orientation, include a person in the frame to add a sense of scale, shoot star trails at night or play with panoramas. The dam near reception in Royal Natal National Park’s Mahai Camp has a great view of the Amphitheatre and often superb reflections too. Any of the hikes in the Drakensberg offer breathtaking vistas.

Essential equipment: A tripod is needed for long exposures and a polarising filter reduces glare off the water and saturates the sky and vegetation. Good hiking shoes are recommended.

When to go: Summer is far more photogenic with strong-flowing rivers and green landscapes. In winter, there’s a possibility of capturing the mountains draped in snow.

For more information: www.drakensberg.org.za. Find a place to stay at accommodation.getaway.co.za.

Cederberg’s wolfberg arch, Western Cape

Best for: Captivating night skies.

Getting the ultimate shot: To create a star-trail image, set up the camera while there’s enough light to focus and compose the photo, bearing in mind the stars will rotate around the southernmost point (use the Southern Cross or a compass to determine this). Set the ISO low (less than 400, depending on the camera model) to reduce noise, or grain, on the image. Wait until the stars twinkle to release your shutter for between 20 and 100 minutes, depending on how much star rotation you want. Then make yourself a cup of coffee and be patient.

Alternative shots: The Cederberg is littered with interesting rock spires and shapes. Most notable are the Maltese Cross, Lot’s Wife and Window Rocks and the bushman paintings at Stadsaal Caves are also worth checking out.

Essential equipment: A tripod, cable release and compass are vital for extra-long star-trail exposures. Take full hiking gear and enough water, as there’s no water on the mountain. Two permits are required to camp at Wolfberg Arch. Contact CapeNature, tel 0861-227-362-887 (costs R150 a person a day) and Dwarsrivier, tel 027-482-2825 (costs R100 a person a day).

When to go: Autumn and spring are generally the best times, as temperatures soar during summer. Ideally, go when there’s no moon to get the best night skies. Visit www.kwathabeng.co.za to check moonrise times.

For more information: www.capenature.co.za.

Kommetjie, Cape Peninsula

Best for: Moody sunset seascapes.

Getting the ultimate shot: Clouds can make or break sunset seascape shots; too much cloud cover could block the sunlight and too little results in lacklustre images. When the weather looks favourable, head down to the coast early to find your desired composition (find a prominent subject such an interesting rock) and set up before the sun dips below the horizon. You’ll be able to use longer shutter speeds that result in ‘misty’ water in these low-light conditions.

Alternative shots: Apart from changing compositions to include various foregrounds, weather conditions and times of the year will affect the light and result in very different images.

Essential equipment: A tripod to steady the camera for long exposures and graduated neutral-density filters to balance the light between the sky and the foreground.

When to go: Sunsets can be admired from anywhere along the western seaboard during Cape Town’s long, beautiful summer evenings. Winter is great for moody skies and equally moody seas, which create dramatic photographs.

For more information: www.capetown.travel. Find a place to stay at accommodation.getaway.co.za.

Niewoudtville, Northern Cape

Best for: Colourful West Coast flowers.

Getting the ultimate shot: The key here is creativity and an eye for detail in seemingly endless fields of wild flowers. Lie on the ground and photograph from an ant’s perspective to make viewers feel as if they’re among the flowers, rather than just looking at them. Also look for lines, shapes and textures among the colours. For a beautiful, out-of-focus splash of colour, experiment with positioning your camera with a flower between the lens and the in-focus subject. A longer lens will work well here, as it exaggerates the shallow depth of field.

Alternative shots: Go wild, think outside of the box and just have fun. Get up high, shoot with the sun in the frame, zoom out while using a slow shutter speed to create a streaky blur or use your children as models.

Essential equipment: A macro lens is vital for closer focusing distances between the subject and your lens. Pack antihistamine tablets if you suffer from hayfever.

When to go: The flowers are best in August and September.

For more information: www.nieuwoudtville.com.

Sabi Sands Game Reserve, Greater Kruger Area

Best for: Intimate big cat photos.

Getting the ultimate shot: The big cats in the private reserve are usually quite relaxed and this, combined with the chance to go off-road, create excellent opportunities to get up close. The royal blue or golden orange sky just after sunset provides a perfect background for leopards lounging in trees. Ask the guides to shine a soft spotlight on them for a balanced exposure.

Alternative shots: Try a few shots without a spotlight, especially if the background is not cluttered with branches and leaves. You may have to underexpose slightly to create a strong silhouette.

Essential equipment: A 70 mm to 400 mm lens range will cover most situations. An f2.8 or f4 lens is a huge bonus if you’re shooting in the low light of dawn and dusk or under spotlight (which you can do easily thanks to the absence of gate times). Most importantly, take a beanbag or other support to keep the lens steady.

When to go: The reserve is beautiful in all seasons, but game viewing is best between May and October when the grass is shorter and days are warm and dry.

For more information: www.sabisands.co.za.

Marievale Bird Sanctuary, Gauteng

Best for: Brilliant bird images.

Getting the ultimate shot: Great bird photos are dynamic – usually of birds in flight. If you want to try something different at Marievale, walk away from the hides and into the grasslands to capture pin-tailed whydahs, long-tailed widowbirds, yellow bishops and many other species. Start with a simple, out-of-focus background, so position yourself accordingly and pre-set your camera. Go for a wide aperture, a fast shutter speed of more than 1/1000 sec, a high burst mode and a servo focusing mode that tracks with the subject. You’ll also need a keen eye to anticipate the action and bucket loads of patience.

Alternative shots: Beautifully coloured malachite kingfishers frequent the perches in front of the popular Hadeda Hide (arrive early as seating is limited to six). Try the Duiker Hide for capturing terns or the Shelduck Hide on the opposite side of the dam for an afternoon shoot. Look for birds interacting with one another, feeding on insects or splashing in the water. Also play with longer exposures to create motion blur.

Essential equipment: A long lens, from 200 mm to 600 mm, is mandatory to fill the frame with small birds which are far away. A camera with fast frame rate will capture that perfectly timed pose and you’ll need a memory card with lots of space.

When to go: Marievale is great throughout the year, but early mornings offer the best light and a chance to capture birds fishing for their breakfast.

For more information: www.nigel.co.za/marievale.

Tankwa Karoo National Park, Namaqualand

Best for: Expansive Karoo landscapes.

Getting the ultimate shot: Capturing vast, open spaces isn’t easy. Start by finding an elevated perch and pay specific attention to composition by adding a prominent subject as a focal point. If that’s a person, always take a few shots of them in different positions. Often it’s only afterwards that you really see which photos work. Soft, side lighting creates interesting shadows and allows you to balance the exposure between white clouds and darker land.

Alternative shots: Adjust where the horizon line lies in the frame or include stretches of streaky clouds in the vast sky. Find a strong subject to anchor the image. Another great exercise is to photograph the same scene at different times of day to see how the changing light affects the mood.

Essential equipment: A wide-angle lens (anything less than a 24 mm using a full-frame sensor) with a polariser to saturate the blue sky and a tripod for self-portraits with a timer.

When to go: Any time of the year is fine, but late summer offers dramatic cloud formations that bring images to life and spring is when the flowers are at their best.

For more information: www.sanparks.org.

Your garden

Best for: The beauty of the ordinary.

Getting the ultimate shot: You don’t need to travel to the far reaches of the country to shoot beautiful images such as this one of a Natal tree frog. It was side-lit by a torch to add shadows and create depth and a flash was used to illuminate the raindrops, which created magnificent bokeh (the aesthetic quality of the blur caused by the lens in out-of-focus areas of an image). Be careful that unnatural objects such as a wall or hosepipe don’t creep into frame.

Alternative shots: Find subjects that you enjoy; after all, photography should be fun, creative and unintimidating. Photograph your family, pets, bugs, birds, braais and whatever other wild and wonderful things tickle your fancy. Use this space to experiment.

Essential equipment: There’s a saying that cameras don’t take good pictures, people do. While tripods, filters, flashes and special lenses can help in certain situations, don’t let it hold you back if you’re without the gear. When shooting in your garden, any camera will do.

When to go: Year-round (with time away for a holiday, of course).

Put yourself in school teacher Jerry van Graan’s shoes. It’s New Year’s Day 1933 and you have just discovered the richest treasure in Southern Africa. Several kilograms of ancient golden jewellery and ornaments lie at your feet. You have two choices: keep it for yourself or hand it over to experts for preservation.

Here, in a remote corner of South Africa on the border of Botswana and Zimbabwe, herds of elephant wander through mopani woodland and between baobab trees. And near the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers is Mapungubwe Hill, the site of an ancient kingdom.

The disappearance of its people in AD 1300 was shrouded in mystery. Over time, fact merged with myth and no-one was quite sure which was which. For six centuries the local Venda, Tswana, Shona and Sotho people kept well away from the hill.

‘To them, it had always been taboo, a place of dread,’ wrote historian Leo Fouché in 1934. ‘They would not so much as point at it and when it was discussed with them they kept their backs turned carefully towards it. To climb it meant certain death.’

Most European settlers stayed away from the area because of its intense heat, frequent droughts and poor soils, but a few knew of Mapungubwe’s reputed riches, and in 1933 Van Graan and some friends decided to explore the area.

Setting off one summer’s day, they underestimated the heat and stopped to ask a local man at a kraal for water. The man – known only as Mowena – offered them cool water from a ceramic bowl. Van Graan quickly realised the bowl was unlike anything he’d seen. He asked Mowena where he’d found it.

It had come from a place called Mapungubwe, Mowena replied, a place where kings are buried. Take us to this place, Van Graan urged. Mowena refused. The group returned a few months later, again urging for directions to the secret location. Again, the old man refused. Instead, Van Graan persuaded one of Mowena’s young sons to act as a guide.

On approaching the hill, the boy shivered with fright and wouldn’t go any closer, but he pointed out a narrow cleft on one of the cliffs, which Van Graan and his friends climbed. Their digging at this spot unearthed several shallow graves, one of which contained a golden treasure of more than 20 000 beads, a sceptre, a vessel and several totems including a rhino, a feline and a bovine, each about 15 centimetres long and about five centimetres high.

It was high-quality gold, 92 per cent pure. The group decided to collect as much of it as possible, split it equally among themselves and take it home. However, Van Graan’s guilty conscience soon kicked in and within days he’d sent a few small pieces of gold along with a telegram to Leo Fouché, his former history professor at the University of Pretoria. By doing so, he set in motion the beginnings of the archaeological study of Mapungubwe. Fouché and Van Graan persuaded the others to hand over their gold to university researchers and the government bought the land on which the hill was situated to ensure its protection.

On 8 April 1933, the Illustrated London News ran a front-page article announcing ‘a remarkable discovery in the Transvaal, a grave of unknown origin, containing much gold work found on the summit of natural rock stronghold in a wild region’.

After six centuries, Mapungubwe’s famous treasure had been revealed. In the following decades archaeologists discovered several thousand more artefacts across 400 sites in the region.

Fast forward seven centuries

Present-day visitors to what is now Mapungubwe National Park can stand on top of the hill, and admire the same views as Van Graan and his friends.

‘Three of these were royal graves,’ ranger Cedric Sethlako explained after we’d climbed the 30-metre hill at the same cleft in the rock. Around us were 27 graves (near the original sites Van Graan discovered) where the skeletal remains had been re-buried after several years of being studied in university laboratories.

‘These contained all the gold, nine kilograms of it. One of [the graves] was a man’s, and two were [of] women. They wore the gold as symbols of power and most probably believed it had magical properties.’

The ruling elite would have lived on top of the hill, while about 4 000 people lived around the base.

Cedric explained that Mapungubwe’s empire began in AD 1200 and was the last of a series of regional empires, which had their origins around AD 900. These communities grew increasingly wealthy by trading gold and elephant ivory for glass beads, Chinese porcelain, cowrie shells and other exotic products.

‘Local traders followed the Limpopo River to the coast at Sofala in Mozambique, where they met up with Swahili and Arab traders who sailed their dhows on the monsoon winds.’

Having bartered their goods, the Mapungubweans would make the 500- kilometre return journey to their home farmlands at the confluence of the rivers.

Nowadays, the Limpopo River flows strongly only in summer, but climatologists believe the rainfall in AD 1200 was higher and there was enough water all year round. The Mapungubweans planted sorghum and millet in the alluvial soils, while their cattle grazed among the wildlife (archaeologists have discovered extensive evidence of a big cattle kraal at Leokwe, which is now the site of the park’s beautiful rest camp north of the main gate).

Then, abruptly, everyone disappeared. After just 70 years, Mapungubwe dissolved in AD 1290 and thousands of people migrated northwards across the Limpopo River to places such as Great Zimbabwe near Masvingo, or eastwards to Thulamela in presentday northern Kruger National Park.

‘[The cause of the migration] was most probably a combination of a shift in political power and drought,’ Cedric said. ‘Rainfall dropped considerably, the crops died and the cattle couldn’t survive. This area has always had a variable climate, situated between the arid Kalahari and moist eastern Lowveld of South Africa.’

Meaning of Mapungubwe

This lost kingdom remained hidden for hundreds of years until archaeologists from University of Pretoria started excavating after Van Graan’s discovery in 1933. The national park was declared in 1998, and Mapungubwe was proclaimed as a cultural World Heritage Site in 2003.

‘As South Africans, we ought to be very proud of Mapungubwe,’ said archaeological chief curator Sian Tiley- Nel of the University of Pretoria, which still manages the extensive collection on behalf of the country.

‘Mapungubwe was the first formal, wealthy, hierarchical Iron Age society in the region. It was, and still is, the richest and largest gold collection ever discovered in Southern Africa. Mapungubwe is equivalent in global significance to the Great Wall of China or the Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci.’

Now, the sacred site is at the centre of the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, a 5 000-square-kilometre cross-border initiative that aims to protect this landscape and its cultural significance from destructive development. It includes the 300-square-kilometre national park in South Africa and Botswana’s Tuli Block.

Wild animals can move freely from one country to another, as they did for thousands of years, and although the plateau above the Limpopo River comprises dry mopani woodland, the broad river beds are lined with riverine forest, lush and full of life; it’s a good birding area and reputed for sightings of Pel’s Fishing owl.

Impressive tree species such as fever (Acacia xanthophloea), ana (Faidherbia albida), cluster fig (Ficus sycomorus) and nyala (Xanthocercis zambesiaca) grow on the alluvial soils – one of the largest nyala trees in the country grows between tents five and six at the park’s Limpopo Forest Tented Camp near the river – but today this forest is no longer in a pristine state. The extraction of water upstream and downstream from the Limpopo River by farms and mines has reduced winter flows to a trickle and elephant herds have damaged trees by uprooting or ring-barking them.

Interspersed within the transfrontier conservation area along the river are several irrigated farms. On the Zimbabwean side, cattle compete with wildlife for grazing and people sometimes cross the dry riverbed into the national park in search of a better life.

Mapungubwe is still visited by treasure seekers, but they bring earth movers instead of spades. Coal and diamond mines operate within close proximity of the wildlife, baobab trees and heritage sites.

Despite several years of opposition from conservationists, farmers and archaeologists, the opencast Vele Coal Mine has carved out mopani woodland near the park’s eastern border.

‘The long-term effects of mining near the World Heritage Site are certainly not only detrimental to the environment, but also puts the cultural heritage at great risk,’ explained Tiley-Nel.

The opencast Venetia Diamond Mine to the south is one of the country’s richest. Its storage dam lies in the national park, drawing water from the Limpopo, and piping it underground to the mine. (It’s important to note that the owners of this mine, De Beers, founded the 36 000-hectare Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve, which is part of the transfrontier conservation area.)

The magic of Mapungubwe

Despite these challenges, Mapungubwe is unique and offers a sense of place that is not easily matched elsewhere. Perhaps it’s the sacred spirits of an ancient civilisation or the thousands of Khoisan rock paintings, some dating back 15 000 years to a time when early humans made their home here, long before people from central Africa arrived in AD 200.

Wherever it comes from, this ethereal atmosphere is best experienced at the four viewing decks above the Limpopo Valley. Here, visitors are treated to some of the finest views in the country, looking out over the confluence of the rivers and into Botswana and Zimbabwe.

At sunset one day, as a thunderstorm rumbled across the horizon, I was alone at the lookout decks, taking photographs. A silence descended just as the sun said goodbye and the earth turned to face the dusk. A breeding herd of 100 elephants crossed the dry riverbed like ants on Africa’s massive tapestry. I quickly took a few photographs, then gazed at the phantasmagorical panorama.

I wasn’t the first person to be captivated by scenes like these. Back in the 1930s, when statesman Jan Smuts was pressing for the proclamation of Dongola Wildlife Sanctuary (the precursor to Mapungubwe National Park), he met severe opposition from farmers who wanted more land to graze their cattle. He spoke eloquently of the greater perspective.

‘I look forward to the time when the rage of destruction will have disappeared, when the senseless slaughter of the wild fauna will be as criminal and contrary to public opinion as cruelty to humans, and when those who love the wilds, their shy denizens and intimate ways will come from all parts of the Earth to find peace and refreshment in Africa,’ Smuts said.

‘Africa, in spite of all chance, will still remain Africa, and its most distinctive features among the continents will continue to be its untamed wilderness, its aloofness and solitude and its mysterious, eerie brooding spirit. Why destroy this?’

What does ‘Mapungubwe’ mean?
The name was first mentioned by Mowena, the local man whose son showed Van Graan the location of the hill. No-one knows for sure the meaning, explained archaeologist Sian Tiley-Nel. ‘Because there are no written historical records from that era, we don’t know what language the people spoke, although it was probably an ancient form of Shona, Sotho or Venda. Today, there’s no exact equivalent term in any of those languages.’

There are three possible meanings: ‘place of jackals’ from pungubye (Sotho) and pungwhe (TshiVenda); ‘place of venerated stone’ from the Shona suffix -bwe, which means venerated stone; or ‘place where molten rock flowed’ in the Lemba language, referring to iron and gold smelting.

Getting to Mapungubwe National Park

Mapungubwe lies in the far north of South Africa at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers at the border between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. From Johannesburg, travel about 500 kilometres north on the N1 to Musina, then turn left on the R572 and continue for about 68 kilometres to the main gate.

Mapungubwe National Park gate times

The main gate is open from 06h00 to 18h00 (April to August) and 06h00 to 18h30 (September to March).

Where to stay at Mapungubwe National Park

Leokwe Camp offers several two- and four-bed self-catering chalets, each with a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom and outside shower, a large stoep and a braai area. From R940 a unit a night.

Limpopo Forest Tented Camp comprises eight self-catering safari tents in the deep shade of nyala trees. Each is fully equipped with a kitchen, outside braai area and bathroom and costs from R885 a two-sleeper tent a night.

Mazhou Campsite has 10 sites, communal ablutions and a kitchen. From R185 a site for two people (R65 an additional adult, maximum six people).

Book out the luxurious, self-catering Tshugulu Lodge which sleeps 12 in six bedrooms, with en-suite bathrooms, and has a swimming pool. From R2 735 a night for four people (R546 an additional adult, maximum 12 people).

Vhembe Wilderness Camp in the east of the reserve is just a few minutes’ drive from the Limpopo River, and is spectacularly located on a ridge overlooking a small valley. From R1 145 a night (for four people). Additional adults pay R314 and kids R157.

What to do at Mapungubwe National Park

Two-hour guided walks of Mapungubwe Hill leave every morning at 07h00 and 10h00 and cost R160 a person. Three-hour morning drives leave at 06h00 and cost R290 a person, while sunset and night drives cost R190 a person. The recently opened interpretive centre near the main gate provides an excellent overview of Mapungubwe. Here visitors can see the iconic gold rhino, as well as thousands of glass beads, ceramic pots and other artefacts. Guided tours are conducted every morning. The centre is open between 08h00 and 16h00 and entry costs R40 for adults and R20 for children.

Useful contacts for Mapungubwe National Park

Tel 012-428-9111 (central reservations), email reservations@sanparks.org, www.sanparks.org.

Colossal, immense or ginormous are appropriate adjectives to describe an elephant. Weighing up to 7 000 kilograms and measuring four metres at its front shoulder, an African bull elephant can eat 300 kilograms of plant matter and drink around 200 litres of water every day. Some of the largest tusks – their upper incisor teeth – weigh more than 75 kilograms each, which is equivalent to that of an average man. Elephants are very, very big.

But these statistics and adjectives don’t fully prepare you for a close encounter with Earth’s largest land animal. Wild elephants command attention and respect like no other creature and, in Addo Elephant National Park, just 40 kilometres northeast of Port Elizabeth, there’s every chance of getting near to them.

My first meeting with Addo’s elephants was more like a roadblock. I turned a corner in my car, and a breeding herd of 20-odd individuals was walking determinedly up the road towards me. Hemmed in on either side by the bush and from the back by another vehicle, I couldn’t go anywhere. I leaned out of my window to take a few photos and, as they came closer, I had no choice but to surrender meekly to their indisputable authority, pulling my camera back in. They passed within centimetres, the matriarch giving me a sideways glance as if to say ‘driver’s licence, please,’ before moving on.

The next day, I was with guide Martin Bronkhorst from Gorah Elephant Camp, a beautiful private lodge in the east of the park where I’d been staying. A lone bull was pulling up grass, still damp from recent rains. Martin slowed the Landy and stopped a few metres away. The bull stopped feeding and ambled over to us, standing alongside the vehicle. An elephantine eclipse blocked out the sun. His tusk almost scraped the bonnet. ‘He seems to be enjoying our company,’ Martin whispered. ‘I hope he is,’ I replied softly.

After a few minutes of not doing anything in particular, the bull obviously decided he needed to be somewhere else. He waved his trunk at us before sauntering off down the road as if on his way to another appointment.

‘Incredible, hey?’ Martin smiled. We agreed that neither of us had felt unduly threatened during our silent meeting with Mr Elephant. He had treated us with consideration and respect.

‘The Addo elephants are very friendly,’ he explained. ‘And that’s something of a miracle, considering everything they’ve been through.’

Forgive and forget
If the saying that an elephant never forgets is true, then the elephants of Addo must be very forgiving. Several million African elephants roamed the continent during the early 1700s and the South African population was an estimated 100 000, many of which would have ranged across the south-eastern Cape where Addo lies today.

The slaughter began when the Europeans arrived 400 years ago. The last elephant in Cape Town was shot in 1652 and hunters moved steadily up the east coast. By 1918, there were no more than 140 elephants near Addo, down from several thousand just a century before. Here the animals hid away in the dense spekboom, a rubbery, near-impenetrable succulent bush that grows, coincidentally, to the height of an elephant.

Surrounded by citrus farmers, the elephants had nowhere to go and the orange orchards proved too juicy for them to ignore. At night they’d emerge from the thickets and raid the crops. Soon farmers were petitioning government to kill all the elephants and a hunter, Major PJ Pretorius, was employed by the Administrator of the Cape Colony. Between 1919 and 1920, he shot about 114 elephants with his .475 Jeffries double-barrelled rifle and captured two calves to be sold to Boswell’s Circus. On one occasion, he maimed an elephant with a shot through its spinal column, then climbed onto its back and shot it through the head. In another hunt, he shot 22 elephants in just a few minutes. At the end of the macabre year, just 16 elephants remained.

The public finally woke up to the tragedy, but it took another decade before authorities acknowledged the need to save the last of the Cape’s elephants. Addo Elephant National Park was proclaimed in 1931 and the few remaining elephants had to be chased into its boundaries from surrounding areas with firecrackers, shotguns and bonfires. However, the park wasn’t fenced and the elephants wandered back into the surrounding orchards, where they came into conflict with farmers, further reducing their numbers to 11.

Another 23 years passed before warden Graham Armstrong developed a unique fencing system of railway sleepers and Otis lift cables unbreakable by elephants. In 1954, about 20 square kilometres of land was fenced and finally, after four centuries of hunting, the remaining elephants were safe from people and their guns. Still, for several decades, the elephants feared or hated anything that looked or smelt like a human. During the day, they would hide away in the spekboom or chase people and overturn cars when they could. They clearly hadn’t forgotten the years of hunting and persecution.

The big and the small
Today, however, it seems as if the elephants have forgiven us. More than 650 elephants roam the park, mingling peacefully beside the vehicles of about 140 000 tourists a year.

‘This is undoubtedly Addo’s most famous success story,’ park manager Norman Johnson explained. ‘It’s why the park was proclaimed, to save these elephants from local extinction, and even though they’re still wild animals, they’ve become very habituated to people and vehicles.

‘The elephants now are so successful they’re becoming a nice problem. At some stage we’ll need to look at controlling the population, but for now we won’t use culling as an option. We’ll either move elephants into new parts of the park, or we’ll look at using contraceptives in certain sectors of the elephant population.’

‘Addo was all about elephants at first, but today it’s about conserving the biomes and their animal and plant species,’ said Norman.

The park has grown considerably since proclamation and today the terrestrial part covers 1 800 square kilometres, with a long-term target of 2 600. It stretches roughly 150 kilometres end to end across diverse ecosystems; five of South Africa’s nine biomes are found in Addo, namely Nama Karoo, fynbos, Albany thicket, forest and Indian Ocean coastal belt.

Key conservation concerns include the endemic flightless dung beetle (Circellium bacchus, which is crucial for recycling nutrients from dung into the soil), black rhino and Cape buffalo, which barely survived the hunting of the 1800s and is one of the few disease- free populations in South Africa.

Then there’s the remarkable thicket biome, an endemic yet threatened type of vegetation in South Africa. The predominant plant is spekboom, which forms the basis of Addo’s highly productive ecosystem. ‘Spekboom is amazing,’ said conservation manager John Adendorff. ‘Besides its medicinal values and ability to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, it’s able to sustain high concentrations of animals, including elephants.’

The reason for Addo’s high elephant density – about 2,8 elephants per square kilometre – is simple: they love spekboom. It’s full of water, has a high protein and vitamin content and, unlike many savanna trees or bushes, it grows back readily after being browsed. Even just breaking off a stem and leaving it on the ground can result in the growth of a new plant. The more elephants eat spekboom, the better it grows.

It’s not just elephants that thrive on it. During the day, black rhino use it to hide away and 60 per cent of the Addo buffalo’s diet is made up of spekboom (elsewhere buffalo tend to graze grass elsewhere in Africa). Several antelope species, including a thriving kudu population, also browse on the plant.

All these herbivores make for happy predators and lion and spotted hyena are doing well after reintroductions into the park. From just six lions introduced from Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Addo’s population reached 22 before some were relocated to other reserves; and from eight individuals brought in from Kruger, its spotted hyena numbers have climbed to 20.

‘In the beginning, the lion’s speciality was buffalo. At one stage there were two males which killed buffalo almost exclusively; they could take out up to 12 buffalo in one month. And the hyenas are definitely not scavengers; they hunt kudu successfully,’ John said. ‘At some point, predators can seriously affect herbivore numbers so, like all protected areas, we have to keep a balance so gave away some lion.’

Lions now concentrate on species such as red hartebeest, kudu, eland and ostrich while buffalo have developed successful defensive strategies by forming larger herds and staying out of the thick bush.

Addo’s other sections
Most of the big wildlife is in the Main Section, where the spekboom thicket occurs and the park’s biggest rest camp lies. Located between the N2 national highway and the public R342 road in the north, this is where most visitors start their stay at Addo before exploring the other sections to the north or south.

Sections are separated by fences or public roads and John, who has worked here for 20 years, thinks some of the lesser-known areas are more beautiful than Addo’s main wildlife section. ‘The mountains of Zuurberg are my favourite. They’re one of the oldest wilderness areas in Africa, declared in 1896; it’s untouched and wild and the only way to explore is by hiking or on horseback.’

To the northwest, in the rain shadow of the mountains, is the arid Darlington Section, where black rhino munch on spiky euphorbia plants and Darlington Dam gives relief from the intense summer heat. From there, 4x4ers can tackle a day trail over the mountains into the adjacent Kabouga Section in the south. Some of the best views in the park are on offer here, while forested kloofs shelter remote, isolated populations of Knysna turaco and the Sundays River provides a home for the few hippos that Addo protects.

In the far south, the coastal Woody Cape Section’s lush temperate forest abuts the Alexandria dune field, the largest in the southern hemisphere. The beautiful two-day hiking trail in this section is a must-do.

There are plans to develop an extensive 120-square-kilometre marine conservation area adjacent to the coastal section and incorporating the protected offshore St Croix and Bird islands, which are home to critical populations of endemic African penguins and Cape Gannets.

‘That’s our biggest challenge at the moment,’ John admitted. ‘Both penguins and gannets are in a gloomy situation. There were 10 000 pairs of penguins 15 years ago on St Croix; today there are no more than 7 000 and that’s the largest breeding colony in the world.’

Declining fish stocks and global warming are seen as the main culprits, both of which are out of direct control of John and his team.

‘We do as much as we can. We have teams actively looking after the birds. Kelp gulls and seals are stopped from eating the eggs and chicks and if we see a penguin that is sick or injured, we’ll intervene and rehabilitate it. We have to because, unless things change drastically, African penguins could be extinct in 20 years.’

Symbol of hope
Despite this, John remains optimistic that conservation authorities will win the day. The creation of the proposed marine protected area will secure some of the fish stocks for penguins and provide sanctuary to a host of other marine species.

It would be a fitting finale to Addo’s growth from a small patch of spekboom created to save elephants, to a 2 000-square-kilometre conservation area protecting species as diverse as dung beetles and black rhino, cycads and yellowwood trees, great white sharks and southern-right whales.

I asked John whether elephants will be seen on the coast of Addo again, as they did 400 years ago. Today, they’re restricted from doing so by the N2 national highway.

‘It’s unlikely,’ John pondered, ‘but, you know, in the United States of America I have seen bridges built over highways to allow wildlife to cross. Maybe someone, some day will have the money and courage to do that here.’

Imagine that! A herd of elephant crossing over a bridge above the traffic of the N2, making their way down to a beach at the southern end of Africa to dip their toes in the salty water and commune with whales.

It remains just a dream, but for now the kings and queens of Addo seem more than happy.

Getting to Addo Elephant National Park

There are two main access points to Addo: the gate near the main rest camp and Matyholweni Gate in the south. The most accessible route from Port Elizabeth to the main gate is to drive east on the N2 before turning north onto the N10. Take the R342 west for 23 kilometres until you see the sign to Addo. To access Matyholweni Gate, take the N2 east from Port Elizabeth, then turn left at the sign to Addo just after crossing the Sundays River near Colchester.

Addo Elephant National Park gates and operating hours

The main entrance is open from 07h00 to 19h00 and Matyholweni Gate opens between 07h00 and 17h00. There is a daily fee of R40 an adult and R20 a child. Wild Card holders enter free.

What to do in Addo Elephant National Park

Guided game drives cost from R240 a person, a hop-on guide in your own vehicle costs R180 a vehicle and horse trails are from R168 a person. The Bedrogfontein 4×4 Trail in the Kabouga Section costs R380 a vehicle. The two-day Alexandria Hiking Trail is R230 a person.

Where to stay in Addo Elephant National Park

Addo Rest Camp is the largest camp and offers self-catering campsites (R190 a site), safari tents (R485 for two people), forest cabins (R640 for two people), chalets (R745 for two people), cottages (R1 045 for two), rondavels (R1 045 for two people) and guest houses (R2 985 for four people).

The much quieter and more remote Matyholweni Camp in the south offers 15 self-catering chalets. From R960 for two people.

For the more adventurous, the small, fenced Spekboom Tented Camp has five tents on decks with communal ablutions and cooking area. Costs R595 for two people.

Narina Bush Camp in the Zuurberg Section along the Wit River on the southern slopes of the mountains, is basic with four two-man tents. Costs R990 for the camp.

The stone, self-catering Kabouga Cottage can be accessed by 4×4 only and sleeps six people in two bedrooms. From R405 a night for the first two people.

Mvubu Campsite with six stands is also in this section and you need a high ground-clearance vehicle. From R100 a night for the first two people.

Darlington Dam Cottage sleeps six people and costs R405 for first two people.

For forest lovers, the rustic Langebos Hikers’ Huts (in the Woody Cape section in the far south) are superb; this is where the Alexandria Hiking Trail starts.

The luxurious five-star Gorah Elephant Camp is one of a few private lodges in Addo, and is probably the best for game viewing as it’s the only one within the main wildlife section. Unlike most of Addo which is covered in dense spekboom, Gorah is surrounded by open grasslands (a result of old farming practices) and so provides plenty of food for grazers such as zebra and red hartebeest, which in turn attract predators such as lion and hyena. Guests at the unfenced camp are often treated to sightings of lion and black rhino, which come in the evening to drink from a small natural pool at the edge of the manor house stoep. Eleven luxury safari tents with bathrooms are linked by wooden boardwalks to the restored manor house, where gourmet meals are served. From R3 995 a person a night, including all meals, teas, non-alcoholic beverages and activities. Tel 044-501-1111, email res@hunterhotels.com, www.hunterhotels.com.

Addo Elephant National Park contact details

Tel 012-428-9111, email reservations@sanparks.org, www.sanparks.org.

My first Northern Cape encounter occurred 20 years ago, just after I matriculated. A nightmarish two-day bus trip from Cape Town ended at 8 South African Army Infantry Battalion in Upington. I wasn’t alone, as more than 1 000 other men standing on the parade ground had endured a similar ordeal. I wanted out of this hellishly hot hole and a week later (after a successful officer’s course selection) I was back on a bus heading south to Oudtshoorn. I vowed then and there that the Northern Cape would never see this soutie again.

But I have since returned at least 30 times. I’ve paddled the Orange River, slept next to the cold Atlantic Ocean in an old divers’ cottage at Noup and run the Augrabies Extreme Marathon. With each trip, I fall deeper in love with this hot, dry and adventurous region. Oh, and did I mention the vineyards?

The Northern Cape is among the most underrated tourist areas of our country. As a 4×4 destination, it might not have mud but it has rivers (mostly of the dry type), rocks, red Kalahari sand, fascinating wildlife and plenty of uninhabited space.

In this list of my favourite 4×4 trails in the Northern Cape, I’ve tried to include a little of everything. Some trails can be done in a Toyota Rav, while for others you’ll need low-range or diff-lock. Start your engines and engage 4×4!

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park 4×4 trails

To get from the southern entrance of this cross-border reserve at Twee Rivieren to the most northwestern corner at Union’s End will easily take a day. This is just the South African section of the massive park – if you have a 4×4 it becomes even bigger.

The 4×4 routes here cater for everyone: they’re guided or self-drive, long or short and accommodation includes fenced or unfenced campsites and comfortable wilderness chalets. Just 11 kilometres from the southern entrance along the road to Nossob lies the first 4×4 trail, the 13-kilometre Leeuwdril Loop. While park officials recommend a tyre pressure of 1.6 bars on the gravel roads, I say go even lower to about 1 bar on this trail that takes you over a series of dunes. It’s a good introduction to what to expect from the 4×4 routes in the park and all makes of 4×4 should be able to comfortably complete it. The trail can only be driven from east to west, so don’t expect any oncoming traffic unless someone is going the wrong way.

If you want a guided multi-day wilderness experience, I strongly recommend the three-night, four-day Nossob 4×4 Eco-Trail. In even months, it starts at Twee Rivieren and at Nossob in odd months. The trail follows a sandy private road to the west of the main road, so you won’t see any other tourists along the way. You have to be completely self-sufficient; only long-drop toilets, bucket showers and cement braais are available. You’ll need to take along water for the shower as well as wood, a grid and meat for the fire.

Two of the unfenced wilderness camps – Gharagab and Bitterpan – enjoy pretty high occupancy rates and are reachable only by 4×4. These off-the-beaten-track camps have units made from natural materials, which offer all the comforts of a regular chalet such as kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, fridge and utensils. The faraway Gharagab is my favourite because of its remote location and the good animal sightings it offers. While having a braai outside the chalet, I saw an adult leopard come down to the waterhole and some lions moved in not long after sunset, announcing their arrival with loud roars.

Just north of Nossob Rest Camp, you can head into the Botswana section of the park and do either the 257-kilometre Polentswa Wilderness Trail or the 191-kilometre Kaa Game Viewing Trail. Game here isn’t as plentiful as on the South African side of the park and I prefer to head east from Nossob on the 4×4 track to Bosobogolo Pan, which forms part of Mabuasehube. This 170-kilometre trail can be travelled in both directions, but don’t attempt it in one day; stop over at the Matopi campsite. The great thing about this campsite is that you couldn’t be further away from civilisation. No fences or fancy facilities; just you and the Kalahari bushveld. This is lion country and it’s not uncommon for a pride to wander through the camp, so you need to be vigilant. If you have youngsters in your group they need to be briefed regarding safety and bush etiquette.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate (guided or self-guided)
Length: Shortest trail is 13 km, the longest takes four days.
GPS: S26° 28’ 33”, E20° 36’ 46” (Twee Rivieren entrance)
Trail costs: Nossob 4×4 Eco-Trail costs R2 180 a vehicle, including camping. Leeuwdril costs R180 a vehicle.
Tip: Trails need to be booked in advance.
Getting there: Take the R360 north from Upington towards Askham for 250 km.
Where to stay: Various accommodation options from unfenced wild camping to chalets are available throughout the park. Camping is from R195 a site a night and selfcatering is from R665 a two-sleeper unit a night. There is a daily conservation fee of R50 an adult and R25 a child (free to Wild Card holders).
Contact: Tel 054-561-2000, www.sanparks.org (South Africa). Tel +267-686-0444, email dwnp@gov.bw (Botswana).

Namaqua Eco-Trail

Tracing the length of the Orange River from Pella, a little town with a big yellow church, to where it flows into the cold Atlantic Ocean between Alexander Bay and Oranjemund, this trail can be divided into two stages. The first 328-kilometre stage stretches from Pella to the Vioolsdrift border post and has three beautiful, informal campsites on the riverbank, each with nothing more than a big tree to camp under.

My favourite is the site at Groot Melkboom – in the three times I’ve camped there I’ve always been alone. Another good campsite is Kamgab; you have to take a 20-kilometre detour along the dry Kamgab River snaking through an impressive kloof to get there. This is one of the few times you might want to engage low-range.

The trail starts with Charlie’s Pass from Pella to the river. Once the road moves from the river, you’ll see Klein Pella, the largest date farm in the southern hemisphere. Just before Vioolsdrift, there’s a turn-off called the Road to Hell. Don’t take it unless you’re experienced, in convoy and fancy a very technical drive; it’s a rough, rocky road and takes several hours to get to the river.

The second half is 284 kilometres long and goes from the border post to the river mouth. It turns away from the Orange River as it rounds the southern end of |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. There are three campsites on this section: Spitskloof, Tierhoek and Bakkrans (they’re not next to the river). There are some good view points and mountain tracks along the way, the best of which is Kristalberg Loop. You’ll eventually reach a T-junction where you can turn right to Richtersveld or left towards Alexander Bay, where the trail ends.

Difficulty: Easy (self-drive)
Length: 328 km (section one) and 284 km (section two)
GPS: S29° 02’ 00”, E19° 09’ 20” (Pella)
Trail costs: R150 a vehicle a section, including all camping along the way.
Tip: Take along a fishing rod as campsites on the first section are all next to the river.
Getting there: The turn-off to Pella is about 25 km west of Pofadder on the N14. From here, it’s another 10 km to the town itself where the trails starts.
Contact: Tel 027-712-8035/6 or 027-718-2986 (Namaqua Tourism office in Springbok). Search for 4×4 trails on www.northerncape.org.za

Riemvasmaak 4×4 trails

The town of Riemvasmaak was the first piece of land in South Africa to be returned to its original and rightful owners when the ANC came to power in 1994. Of more interest to me is the area surrounding the town, which hosts three 4×4 trails varying in length and difficulty.

Deurspring Trail is the longest at 71 kilometres, while Perdepoort (part of which lies on the Deurspring trail) is 48 kilometres. The shortest, but toughest is the Molopo Trail; it’s 41 kilometres long and you have to take care on the long rocky descent to the river.

There are almost 20 campsites on the three rocky trails, all of which are marked on a map available from the tourism office in town. Sadly, most of the campsites are overgrown and in need of TLC, so I recommend camping along the Orange River; there aren’t any facilities, but who needs them in such a dramatic riverside setting? I based myself at the kitted-out chalets at the hot springs. They’re just a few kilometres from town and have electricity, bedding, kitchen utensils and an outside braai area. Once the sun had set, I lay in warm water with a cold beer in hand; it was just me and millions of stars as company.

If you have a full day at your disposal, you’ll be able to drive all three trails, but I suggest you take your time and do them over two days. If you’re inexperienced, don’t do the Molopo Trail as there are alternative and easier routes to the river. I deflated my tyres to 1.5 bars because of the rocks; you don’t want them too flat as this could expose your sidewalls to cuts, but you also don’t want them so hard that the ride becomes uncomfortable.

Be sure to stop at the signposted rock art on the Perdepoort Trail and the rock formations at On Kai on the Deurspring Trail. Other popular activities in the area include mountain biking and hiking.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate, except for some sections of the Molopo Trail (self-drive)
Length: 41 km (Molopo), 48 km (Perdepoort) and 71 km (Deurspring)
GPS: S28° 27’ 09”, E20° 18’ 53” (start of all three trails)
Trail costs: R150 a vehicle a day, including camping.
Tip: Pack comfortable shoes for the hikes on offer.
Getting there: Cross the Orange River at Kakamas and follow the signs to Riemvasmaak.
Where to stay: A four-sleeper chalet at the hot springs costs from R375 a night. Khamkirri, which lies between Riemvasmaak and Kakamas, has camping, rustic permanent tents and self-catering river chalets and offers paddling trips on the river (cell 082-790-1309, email info@khamkirri.co.za, www.khamkirri.co.za).
Contact: Tel 054-431-0945, cell 083-873-7715 (Riemvasmaak Tourism)

Augrabies National Park 4×4 trails

Most visits here consist of a hasty run to see the falls and grab a bite at the restaurant before heading off to some more exciting Northern Cape location. This is a big mistake. Rather take your 4×4 and explore all the gravel trails in the park (there are no official trails).

I’ve seen many disappointed tourists who’ve headed onto a scenic drive in a sedan, only to turn back after less than a kilometre or two because of the water crossings. However, the route is anything but hardcore 4×4 driving; any make of 4×4 can do it. Once you’ve successfully done the short water crossing just after the entrance to the greater part of the park, it’s nothing more than gravel travel but what a beautiful drive.

Don’t underestimate the interior of this park – the landscape is ever-changing, from lunar-type rock formations at Moon Rock to vast open expanses at the windmill near Volstruiswater – and you can easily spend a whole day exploring it. A round trip on the gravel roads to the Af en Toe picnic site is just short of 100 kilometres with lots to see along the way.

There are also many beautiful places to see the canyon and river on the route; I like Echo Corner, which is a seven-kilometre detour off the main road. Here, you can clamber down to the river. Watching the sunrise at Swartrante is another memorable moment; the gravel drive is worth it just to see the rocks change colour. The deeper you explore these gravel trails, the worse they become, but even without maintenance they’re pretty tame.

Difficulty: Easy (self-drive)
Length: A round trip is just shy of 100 km
GPS: S28° 35’ 38”, E20° 20’ 16” (entrance to game area )
Trail costs: There’s no charge for any of these roads.
Tip: A tripod is useful when photographing the falls at sunrise and sunset.
Getting there: The turn-off to the park lies about 100 km west of Upington on the N14.
Where to stay: Two- and four-sleeper chalets cost from R760 a night, while camping from R180 a site a night. There is a daily conservation fee of R30 an adult and R15 a child (free to Wild Card holders).
Contact: Tel 054-452-9205, www.sanparks.org

Loch Maree 4×4 trails

You can’t go to the Northern Cape and not 4×4 on the red sand dunes. The working sheep and cattle farm of Loch Maree (named by a Scottish surveyor in the late 1800s) is one place where you can do exactly that. There’s also a 1 000-hectare reserve which is home to giraffe, springbok, zebra, hartebeest, ostrich, duiker and steenbok on the property.

About 90 kilometres south of Kgalagadi and 200 kilometres north of Upington, the farm is owned by Johann and Retha Staedler, who gave us enough farm bread, biltong and droewors to feed a small refugee camp.

Deflate your tyres before starting the well-signposted, 50-kilometre trail – the info booklet said 1.6 bar but you could go even lower to around 1 bar to make things easier. The route starts with a meander across the farm, but the cattle and gates are soon left behind and the red dunes begin. Gentle at first, they quickly increase in height and the climbs become more technical.

Just before the salt pan is an impossible dune – I didn’t manage it and took the chicken run instead. The pan is 13 kilometres in circumference and you have to drive around it before heading into the game area. Stop for sundowners at the viewing platform near the start of this section.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate (self-drive)
Length: 50 km
GPS: S27° 06’ 58”, E20° 29’ 52” (reception)
Trail costs: R100 a vehicle
Tip: Call beforehand to order beef biltong from the Staedlers.
Getting there: From Askham, head west on the R31 for 30 km and follow the signs.
Where to stay: The bush camp in the open veld costs R60 a person a night and the field camp has a lapa with a kitchen and indoor braai and three fully kitted chalets for R80 a person a night. DB&B in the farmhouse is R650 a person a night.
Contact: Cell 082-492-3469, email lochmaree@absamail.co.za

Dinky’s Dunes 4×4 trails

Some may argue that the small town of Pofadder is worth nothing more than a pee and a pie stop, but I love it. In fact, I once stayed over in the Pofadder Hotel just for the hell of it (yes, I was the only guest in attendance that night but it was a Sunday).

You have to go through Pofadder as you race along the N14 to or from the Richtersveld, Kgalagadi or Riemvasmaak, but have you ever wondered what lies before the tar? Well, just after passing through Pofadder and to the north of the national road lies Dinky’s Dunes, a large sheep farm with two 25-kilometre 4×4 trails. If you’re in a small group of five or less vehicles as I was, you can do both trails on one day. The first is nothing more than a scenic drive along the dune tops, but to get there you have to lower tyre pressure to 0.8 bar. What I love about this route is that it offers those classic Kalahari vistas over and over again, red dunes as far as the eye can see, broken only by the odd shepherd’s tree.

As this is a working farm, you’ll pass through a sheep-filled kraal and this made me wonder what it’s like living in the middle of nowhere. As a city slicker, I was jealous of the isolated existence here.

Those who want a more serious sand-driving challenge can do the second trail too. The dunes are higher and the driving far more technical. To make it even harder, you have to avoid white plastic poles sunk into the sand on the way up. I did the trail on a windy and rainy day and climbing wasn’t pleasant.

The trail has a campsite in a quarry. While most of the trails might have been of the red-sand variety I had to negotiate a rocky track to get in and out of the campsite. It’s not visible from the N14, so no-one will even know you’re there. I spent a cold, windswept night there, but by the morning the storm had lifted and I was greeted by sunshine.

Difficulty: Easy, moderate and tough (guided)
Length: Two routes of 25 km each
GPS: S29° 00’ 13”, E19° 41’ 20” (N14 turn-off)
Trail costs: R150 a vehicle.
Tip: The quarry can get cold and windy during the winter or if stormy so bring along a decent sleeping bag, enough wood and some Old Brown Sherry.
Getting there: From Pofadder, take the N14 northeast. You’ll find the turn-off about 30 km down this road.
Where to stay: The quarry campsite has cement decks for tents, showers, flush toilets and braai areas for R50 a person a night.
Contact: Cell 083-399-0891, email dinky4x4@webmail.co.za

First there’s the smell, then the sound and, finally, you see them. Skipper William Brink from West Coast National Park was guiding the rubber duck across the swell. We were headed to Malgas Island, several kilometres offshore from the town of Langebaan, where about 30 000 pairs of Cape gannets nest, breed, squabble … and poo. William positioned the boat alongside the jetty, I looked at him, and he just laughed. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it after a while.’ As a marine ranger for the park, he’s been to the island countless times before, but this was my first visit to what appeared to be the avian equivalent of a mental asylum. The squawking and squabbling was deafening, drowning out the sound of the outboard motors. Malgas. Even the Afrikaans name for Cape gannets had a hint of madness to it. (One of the derivations of the name comes from the early Dutch sailors who called them mal gans or ‘mad geese’.)

Despite their seemingly crazy behaviour, Cape gannets are among the most impressive birds of the southern oceans, flying for several hundred kilometres over the ocean every day to look for schools of sardine fish.

I hopped off the boat and started taking photos, but wasn’t sure where to point my camera. At any one time, hundreds of birds were taking off from their nests and flying over our heads. Others flew in low, coming in to land, wings spread wide. This was organised chaos of the highest order.

Surrounded by the birds, I found it hard to believe that Cape gannets are endangered. As ornithologist Peter Ryan later explained, there are only six colonies remaining: three in Namibia and three in South Africa. ‘The overfishing of sardines in Namibia has greatly reduced numbers at those colonies,’ he said, ‘while in South Africa most of the sardines seem to have shifted eastwards, away from the West Coast, towards the Southern Cape. So whatever fishing does take place here is disproportionately high, meaning there’s less food for the gannets on Malgas.’ In recent decades, the number of gannets here has reduced by half from about 60 000 breeding pairs.

I walked slowly up to the edge of the colony, and the nesting birds seemed unperturbed by my presence. I was struck by their beautiful colouring and elegant postures and, despite the deafening noise and reeking stench, the more time I spent on the island, the longer I wanted to stay.

Hidden treasures revealed
From the R27 road, there’s little to hint at the beauty that lies hidden away. Visitors who enter at the park’s southern entrance encounter seemingly monotonous, wind-battered strandveld fynbos, but the full splendour becomes clear as soon as you drive over the ridge.

Spread out below is the 15-kilometre-long emerald Langebaan Lagoon, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by the narrow Postberg Peninsula, which extends north towards Saldanha Bay. Further out to sea are six islands: Schaapen, Jutten, Meeu, Vondeling, Marcus and Malgas, all of which form part of a marine protected area, along with the lagoon and Sixteen Mile Beach on the outer shore.

And it’s not just Cape gannets on Malgas which rely on the park for survival. Langebaan Lagoon comprises a third of all salt marshes in the country and is crucial to the survival of another charismatic bird, the curlew sandpiper. Every summer, several thousand of these small waders make an astonishing migration from Siberia, flying halfway around the world to the lagoon.

‘The park is one of the few places in the region where they can fatten up with food to start the long journey back to the Arctic Circle,’ explained Peter.

Birders can make use of several excellent hides to see these and other migrants, such as the grey plover, bar-tailed godwit, sanderling, ruddy turnstone and red knot. During winter, when most migrant waders leave to go north again, there are several thousand flamingos and the park is home to one of the country’s largest populations of the vulnerable black harrier, an acrobatic raptor that hovers low above the fynbos, hunting for moles, mice and shrews.

Ample rewards
The lagoon takes centre stage for non-birders too and several operators in Langebaan offer yacht cruises or rent out kayaks and windsurfers. However, there’s no better way to experience it than on one of the two houseboats at Kraal Bay, a sheltered cove on the western side of the lagoon. A large, luxury houseboat accommodates up to 24 guests, while a smaller version nearby provides a cosy set-up for six. Both offer an experience unmatched in the national parks; there’s little to beat waking up to a lagoon sunrise, with the water lapping against the hull.

The lagoon is divided into three zones: the northerly section (Zone A) near Langebaan is open to all activities, including boating, skiing, kitesurfing, windsurfing and controlled fishing. Further south is Zone B, where only yachts and kayaks are allowed, and the most southerly Zone C is off limits to all people and activities, preserving its delicate salt marshes and birdlife.

On land, the park’s most splendid moment comes in spring. Flowers emerge from the winter cold in their millions, opening their petals to the increasingly sunny conditions. The kaleidoscopic array of colours boggles the human eye and attracts pollinators, some of whom rely on the flowers for survival.

‘Bees, in particular, rely on both nectar and pollen for all their nutrition throughout their lives, both as larvae and as adults, and so are entirely dependent on flowers,’ explained botanist John Manning from the South African National Biodiversity Institute.

When the sun rises, the flowers open up, only closing again when the afternoon draws to an end. ‘Some species respond more strongly to light and others to temperature,’ John explained. ‘They probably close for various reasons, including protection of the pollen from moisture, avoidance of predation and synchronisation of flower opening.’

Most of the vegetation here consists of strandveld fynbos, which is more diverse than the fields of yellow, white, orange and purple flowers. ‘The park is the only place where several highly localised plant communities are preserved, notably Saldanha Granite Strandveld, Saldanha Limestone Strandveld and Langebaan Dune Strandveld,’ said John.

‘These were never very extensive, and most have disappeared through urbanisation and agriculture.’

Still, the flowers at Postberg steal the show, attracting more than 100 000 visitors during the two months (August and September) that the section is open to the public. Postberg also seems to be more popular with the park’s large mammals such as Cape mountain zebra, kudu, springbok, blue wildebeest and eland. In fact, in a move to reduce grazing pressure on the section’s vegetation, park authorities moved several eland to the eastern areas near the town of Langebaan, but the large antelope had other ideas.

‘No sooner had we relocated them, than they jumped into the lagoon and swam across to Postberg on the other side,’ said section ranger Pierre Nel with a laugh. ‘Believe it or not, they can swim really well! Perhaps they just think of Postberg as home.’

Because there’s no dangerous wildlife such as lion or elephant, West Coast National Park is great for families who want to get out of the car and explore on foot or mountain bike. With mostly undulating hills and long flat stretches, the highest point is the low granite koppie of Vlaeberg (198 metres).

Early footprints
This area has been good walking territory for more than 100 000 years. In 1995, Dr Dave Roberts from the Council of Geosciences uncovered some of the world’s oldest anatomically modern human footprints on a sandstone slab near Kraal Bay, close to where the houseboats are now moored.

This is one of just four sets of fossilised human footprints worldwide and experts suggest they were made by a female, because of their small size (about 22 to 26 centimetres). No doubt, the young lady would have admired the surrounding scenery, although the climate then was considerably warmer and the sea level was probably two metres higher.

Nevertheless, it’s poignant to think that West Coast National Park has changed relatively little in the past few thousand years. The same can’t be said for the area around the park, which has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Eddie Papier, a recently retired field ranger, was born in 1950 at Oesterwal on the eastern shores of Langebaan Lagoon and spent most of his life as a fisherman, whaler and, in later years, a park ranger.

Eddie took me to one of the park’s best view points at Seeberg, where a little white-washed hut on the eastern hills offers panoramic views of the lagoon, Atlantic Ocean and – on a clear day – the silhouette of Table Mountain 100 kilometres to the south. It was from here in the 1800s that a signaller used to light a fire to alert farmers that a trading boat was arriving in the bay from Europe or Cape Town.

Eddie recalls his childhood and how he’d help his father Nicklas catch cob, steenbras, stumpnose and maasbanker in the lagoon. During winter, Nicklas would leave for several months on the whaling ships.

While we sat chatting, Eddie pointed to Donkergat at the end of the Postberg Peninsula, where for decades until 1967 a whaling station processed thousands of cetaceans, including one of the biggest blue whales ever caught.

‘Ja, we’ve come a long way in conservation,’ Eddie said. ‘At least we don’t hunt whales today. But there are other worries. The lagoon has silted up a lot, and that’s because of the breakwater and the dredging at Saldanha Bay harbour,’ he said of the three-kilometre-long breakwater, which was built in the 1980s to protect huge ships carrying away millions of tons of iron ore mined in the Northern Cape to the Far East.

‘These have changed the dynamics of the currents in the bay and lagoon. And because there’s more silt, there are fewer places for fish to breed and less food for the migrant birds.’

Then there’s the urban development of Langebaan, which stretches right to the park’s borders. ‘When I was young, there were hardly any houses near the park,’ Eddie said. ‘There were once fields of flowers where today there are huge suburbs.’

But there are positives too. ‘The lagoon was overfished in the old days,’ Eddie continued. ‘Today the fishing is controlled. The terrestrial animals have also come back; these days it’s relatively easy to see animals such as caracal.

As a former whaler, Eddie sailed the length and breadth of Earth’s oceans, but West Coast National Park is where his heart belongs. ‘I’ve been all over the world, but there’s no other place I’d rather live. On my travels I saw how much nature has been damaged by man. We’re lucky in South Africa to still have this beautiful lagoon.’

Getting to the West Coast National Park

The park is about 100 kilometres northwest of Cape Town, to the west of the R27 and near the town of Langebaan. There are two entrances. If you’re driving from Cape Town, the southern gate is just to the left of the R27, about 90 kilometres from Cape Town. If you’re driving from Langebaan, go south along Oosterwal Road, turn left into Sunbird Drive, then right into Park Drive and follow the road to the northern gate.

What to do in the West Coast National Park

Visit Postberg during August and September to see the flowers. Motorcycles and bicycles are not allowed in this section, but there are various walking routes.

Make a turn at the excellent restaurant and park information desk at historical Geelbek, the restored Cape Dutch-style homestead dating back 150 years. There’s another excellent information centre at Preekstoel, near Kraal Bay.

Go birdwatching at the hides near Geelbek, Seeberg and Abrahamskraal, where one of the few freshwater points in the park attracts birds even at the height of summer.

Go for a braai and picnic at Kraal Bay and Tsaarsbank.

During winter and spring, try to spot southern right whales in the Atlantic Ocean from the latter.

Go kiteboarding, windsurfing or kayaking on the lagoon. The best place for advice and rentals is Cape Sports Centre in Langebaan. Tel 022-772-1114, email info@capesport.co.za, www.capesport.co.za.

Hike one of two trails: Bakoor starts at Langebaan Gate and ends at Seeberg, while Steenbok Trail is located in Postberg, and therefore open only in August and September. The overnight Postberg Trail can also only be done during flower season, while the two-day Strandveld Trail to the south of the lagoon can be done at any time of year.

There are two mountain-biking routes: the 13-kilometre Red Trail and the 17-kilometre Green Trail. The tarred roads in the park make for excellent cycling too, a return ride from Langebaan Gate to Kraal Bay is about 70 kilometres; it’s about 30 kilometres if you turn around at Geelbek.

Where to stay in the West Coast National Park

The privately run Duinepos, to the southeast of the lagoon and near Geelbek Restaurant, has 11 self-catering chalets surrounded by strandveld vegetation. Accommodating between four and six people each, they’re built in an adobe style and have outdoor patios and braai areas. A communal pool brings relief during the hot summer months. Self-catering costs from R915 a night for the first four (R100 an additional adult and R50 a child). Tel 022-707-9900, email info@duinepos.co.za, www.duinepos.co.za.

SanParks accommodation includes the fully equipped and self-catering Jo-Anne’s Beach Cottage (R1 310 a night for up to four people, R314 an additional adult and R157 a child). It’s in the old fishing hamlet of Churchhaven on the western shores of the lagoon and sleeps up to eight people. The restored self-catering Abrahaamskraal Cottage (From R1 030 a night for up to four people, R186 an additional adult and R93 a child) is to south of the lagoon and sleeps up to six people.

Two privately run houseboats at Kraal Bay are available for hire. The triple-storey Nirvana has 24 beds, with nine bedrooms, four bathrooms, two lounges, two kitchens and plenty of deck space outside. Costs from R650 a person a night, minimum 12 people. The smaller Larus sleeps up to six people and costs R350 a person a night, minimum four people. Tel 021-689-9718, email langebaanhouseboats@mweb.co.za, www.houseboating.co.za. For more places to stay on the Cape West Coast,  visit accommodation.getaway.co.za.

West Coast National Park contact details

Tel 012-428-9111 (central reservations), 022-772-2144 (park office), email reservations@sanparks.org, www.sanparks.org.

I never thought I’d enjoy sitting in a metal container for hours on end, let alone one that’s half underground. But it was in this unusual hide, just two metres from a waterhole in Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, that I discovered just how exhilarating it could be.

Perched on a stool with my camera’s viewfinder resting comfortably to my eye, I waited in the morning stillness, eager to get clicking. Photographic guide Isak Pretorius assured us that they’d arrive. Until then we took advantage of the golden light and focused on the barbets, bee-eaters and rollers that whizzed through the sky. Impala, kudu, warthog and guinea fowl also came to quench their thirst in effortless rhythm. But it wasn’t long until Mashatu, or the Land of the Giants, lived up to its reputation.

A 15-strong herd of tuskers stole the limelight (and our breaths) when they marched to within touching distance and started slurping and splashing in an oasis on an otherwise-parched winter landscape. At first they invoked silence, then a floodgate of shutter clicks was released. We had such a fruitful session, but Isak explained there was even more to come, away from the bustling hide. Scarce vegetation had left the animals relatively weak and they were easy pickings for the big cats in the area. When he said the chances of seeing thrilling predatory action were pretty high, we didn’t believe him but, boy, were we wrong – catching the action of a rarely seen cheetah kill was just one of the photographic highlights over the next few days.

Another advantage of this sort of safari is the freedom the group has to spend more time with subjects, free of the demands of other guests, increasing the chance of capturing incredible moments. After years of taking wildlife photographs, Isak’s technical expertise and knowledge of animal behaviour proved very helpful in the field too. On game drives, he worked closely with the driver to position the vehicle for the best angle of light and background and shared tips and insights that come only from experience.

Through shooting a wide range of subjects in various light conditions, each of us was able to tackle our individual photographic challenges and it was through sharing our images in afternoon review sessions and informal chats over breakfast, lunch and dinner that helped us to learn from and inspire one another.

Days were jam-packed with incredible wildlife sightings and glorious food, but falling asleep to the sounds of branches breaking – and knowing you’re likely to see the giant perpetrators again at the hide at first light – was unbearably pleasing.

Ground squirrel image
We tend to want to photograph subjects that wow the viewer. Sometimes the challenge is to shoot seemingly ordinary subjects in a way that will have as much impact. Here, the low angle, shallow depth of field, muted colours and composition with the subject looking out of frame create a sense of edginess the squirrel appears to be experiencing as it cautiously approaches the waterhole. (Canon 7D, 600 mm lens, ISO 400, 1/1000 sec at f4)

Guinea fowl image
Great photographers can recognise great light conditions and will use this time to shoot just about anything. Wildlife photographers aren’t always blessed with the luxury of great light at all sightings and need to capture what’s in front of us at the time, but notice how lighting influences the mood in a picture. (Canon 7D, 70 – 300 mm lens, ISO 800, 1/640 sec at f5.6)

Baby elephant image
Artists strive to fill a blank canvas by adding to it, whereas photographers need to exclude details to create a powerful image. With a large herd of elephants around and lots of commotion, the challenge here was to single out a specific story to evoke a response from the viewer. The tale of this baby elephant stumbling into the water (hopefully) leaves the viewer feeling empathetic. (Canon 7D, 70 – 300 mm lens, ISO 400, 1/1600 sec at f7.1)

Landrover image
When you’re in the bush it becomes easy to focus entirely on capturing only animals. Don’t lose sight of other photo opportunities that can add depth to your portfolio. Landscapes, lodges and people contribute towards a complete story behind your experience. (Canon 7D, EF 17 – 85 mm lens. ISO 400, 1/6 sec at f5.6)

See more photos taken from the hide at Mashatu.

Getting to Mashatu Game Reserve

Take the N1 north from Pretoria, then the R521 out of Polokwane until you arrive in Alldays (the Delicious Alldays Restaurant alongside the Total garage serves great steak wraps). From there, look out for free-roaming herds of goats, cattle and wildlife while following the signs to Pont Drift border post. Park your vehicle in no man’s land between South Africa and Botswana and the friendly Mashatu staff will collect you.

The cost of a photographic safari in Mashatu Game Reserve

A four-night photographic safari costs R15 350 a single or R13 350 a person sharing and includes full board and lodging at Mashatu Tented Camp, meals, game drives, a photography guide and a CD with notes and presentations. Groups are kept to a maximum of 12 people or six photographers.

Who to contact for a photographic safari in Mashatu Game Reserve

All enquiries can be made through Getaway. Visit adventures.getaway.co.za for more information or contact Claudia Hodkinson, tel 021-530- 3380, email claudia.hodkinson@ramsaymedia.co.za.

Visa requirements for Botswana

South African passport holders don’t require visas to get into Botswana. A passport valid for six months will get you into photo heaven.

The perfect camera set-up

A good camera body that can handle high burst modes to capture fast action and reasonable ISO capabilities for low light is ideal. Take a standard wide-angle lens for landscapes and for capturing larger-than-life elephants standing no more than a metre away at the underground hide. For general wildlife, a 200 mm or 400 mm zoom should get you into the thick of it and fast f2.8 lenses will give you desirable blurred backgrounds. If you’re an out-and-out birder, a 600 mm lens is a must. A teleconverter is also a consideration. Beanbags are provided, but you may prefer using a Wimberley tripod head.

If buying all that equipment means you won’t be able to afford the trip, consider renting specific kit to ensure you get the shots you want. C4 Images & Safaris, cell 087-805-7641 www.c4images-safaris.co.za or ProLens2Go, cell 083-561-6565 www.prolens2go.com.