elephants – Clancy Abroad

Camelthorn Farmstay

A day stationary. I fixed some things. I fixed the float in the right hand water storage tank. I had changed the float last year, but I installed it the wrong way, so I changed how it worked, and now I can fill that tank up. I cleaned up the connections to the starter motor to see if it fixes my mysterious not starting problems when it’s hot. I fibreglassed yet another mud flap mount, probably the third time I have done the right side. As well I did lots of clothes washing. I also visited the waterhole both at dawn and in the afternoon. The dawn visit was pretty calm, not much going on, other than the 10+ hippos wandering about. The afternoon was the normal zebra madness.100+ zebras, 4 elephants,hippos and more. Crazy.

The electric fence protecting the viewing platform

Changing how the float works on the water storage tank

Powerline wild camp to Camelthorn Farmstay

The wild camp next to the powerlines was good. Quiet, a few cow bells, no people. I got going and drove the 10km back to Rakops. I arrived at the ATM. Joy! There was a queue. So I joined the queue (I think I was person number 6). I got out the maximum I could withdraw twice. The max withdrawal was about $A300. So equipped with all this cash I headed to another of the supermarkets. The first one has almost nothing. The second one was better stocked, and I bought some apples (I had run out a while back). I wanted some potatoes,but they only sold them in 10kg bags, so it was too much for me. I tried the hardware for some disposable gloves (greasing and oil changes) but didn’t see any. I contacted Camelthorn to see if I could get a campsite, and they got back to me to confirm. It was about 90km to Camelthorn. The last 6km was a sandy track, and I had to stop and lower the tyre pressures a bit.

So I arrived at Camelthorn, great campsite.They have a viewing deck that looks over a waterhole in the river that I went down to look at. There was close to 100 zebras, more than I had ever seen in a group.Plus there were a couple of Elephants, a couple of Hippos, some wildebeests , and a lone antelope.

I went back in the evening. There was a floodlight, and I could dimly make out an elephant and some zebra, but not much else.

I did some washing.Its been two weeks since I have had enough water to do clothes washing. The best of all was the shower. I had spent two weeks using a solar shower bag with 4 litres of water in it, it was great to have unlimited water.

The zebra and more from the viewing platform

XaXa camp to Xade 02 camp

After dark I took out my spotlight and managed to get an overexposured picture of a couple of owls flying around. At 2am I heard a lion down towards the waterhole. The roaring continued for a few minutes then went silent, in the morning I saw no sign of the lion.

I had calculated 40km to Xade 02 camp, but I had miscalculated, and it was actually 60km. I was slow to get going and so I did a lot of the journey in heat. Firstly I went down to the waterhole to see. A few vultures, but nowhere a many as yesterday. No other wildlife. I drove 14km to rejoin the main track. I passed another burnt out rusted 4wd by the side of the track. The track was sandier than the previous day, and I spent more time in second gear doing 15kmh. I also saw three Kori Bustards on the track. Another elephant skull was also by the track.

I turned off the main track towards Xade 02, about 1km off the main track. It was cleared enough (there had been reports it wasn’t cleared). Its a little uphill out of the pan, that is covered with brushes with yellow flowers. The plants I think are ‘swarthaak‘ an Acacia like species. They are only growing in the flat part of the pan, that probably gets some water when there are rains. I need to add, because until you get to Africa, you might not realise, that almost every plant in Africa, at least eastern and southern Africa is spikey. They grow thorns, some big, some little, but there are always thorns. It makes it really hard to get through the scrub, because you constantly get caught by the thorns.

I set up for camp. I was here for two nights. It will be good to not be on the move for a day. It got cloudy later, a rare thing. I have had only one cloudy day in three weeks. It made for some good sunset pics. I haven’t seen another vehicle now for 5 days.

UPDATE: About 10pm on the second night, I got woken up by a roar outside. I opened the door and in the almost full moon I could see something walking through the grass about 20m away. I grabbed the spotlight and there was a male lion. He stopped, looked at me, and then continued walking away.

The waterhole in the morning at XaXa, with a few vultures

Swarthaak with yellow flowers growing on the pan

It got cloudy (rare at this time), so some nice sunset pictures at Xade 02 campsite

Bape camp to XaXa camp (or Xaka?)

I knew I had a long way to go, 120km, so I was up at 6am to leave as soon as I could. A few things went wrong but I did get going by 7:30am.

2km up the track I found very fresh Elephant tracks, it looked to me from the previous night. I then did a sharp turn west. I realise that traveling east and west is easier. The dunes which are low and far apart tend to run west east. So when you are heading north you are constantly crossing dunes, which makes it much harder going. When heading west you are running mostly in the interdune space that tends to be less sandy. The track west is somewhat overgrown. You constantly hit bushes either side. I should have pulled my mirrors in, and that mistake cost me one broken mirror on the drivers side. As well I managed to rip off the rear right-hand mudflap. The mudflaps are a running joke, I rip one or both off every trip, I am always fixing them.

I went through a section where elephants had pushed over trees, and generally caused mayhem.

I stopped for a stretch on the track at one time just randomly and in front were Elephant tracks, and at the back I thought there were lion tracks. I was making good time, I spent a lot of time in third gear meaning I was doing 20km and hour or more. 80km in I saw some giraffes on the road ahead. I crept up, and could see two adult giraffes and one baby. They got off the road, but they were happy to watch me while I watched them. I left them to it, with one of the Giraffe I could hear but not see ripping things of trees.

I turned over the road to Xade up to XaXa (which on the park map is called XaKa, but tracks4Africa has XaXa). I went to the solar powered waterhole that was full of vultures, and another flocking bird that I couldn’t identify. The vultures were riding the thermals all over the place. I drove up the sand dunes to the campsite that looks down on the plains.

Stopped on the track for a stretch. There is nowhere to pull off

Moreswe Pan to Khankhwe Pan

Another cool morning, about 12C, but by the middle of the day it’s 32C. Real Desert weather. I saw some ostriches on the pan but not much else. I wonder if the diesel powered pump for the waterhole is too erratic for the animals to trust it.

I packed up and got going by 9:30am. It was a 60km drive to Khankhwe, at about 25kmh. I stopped at the Moreswe waterhole, but there was nothing there, not even birds. I headed north passing Elephant droppings on the track quite often, but didn’t see any elephants. I saw a few antelopes along the way, and stopped in a Molose waterhole to see a group of antelope and a sole Cape Buffalo. I saw some other campers at Molose, and stopped to talk to a ranger who was headed south. About 1pm I arrived at Khankhwe Pan. This is the last stop before crossing the CKGR. It is 72km to Bape campsite. Later in the afternoon I jacked up the rear wheel so I could rotate the tailshaft, and I greased the tailshaft.

St Lucia to Glensheiling to Drakensberg.

Our St Lucia accomodation was one of two campsites behind a guesthouse. The only campsite in town had bad reviews, being run down and expensive. An overlander had come a few years ago to their guesthouse and camped out the back in their garden. That overlander left a review on the iOverlander app, and thus grew their little camping business.

St Lucia is a tourist town. The side streets are full of guesthouses, and the main street is restaurants, tour operators, and shops catering to tourists.

The first day there we headed into iSimangaliso Park. We drove into side loops off the main road to Cape Vidal. The first loop went to a waterhole with maybe 10 hippos all out of the water because it was a cool overcast day. We headed down another loop, but it was eventually closed of by flooding. We drove down to Mission Beach, a rocky beach on the Indian Ocean.

Then along the main road was a traffic jam of cars because a herd of maybe 20 elephants were blocking the road. We waited 30 minutes or so for the elephants to clear the road, so we could pass. We headed into another loop to see if we could follow the elephants, but they had disappeared onto scrub. This loop led to an unsigned posted lookout tower called Kawashelini. This was an interestingly designed lookout tower that was gradually falling apart as a result of lack of maintenance.

We then drove out of the loop to the main road, this time blocked by three white rhino, including a suckling baby rhino.

The next day we walked a 10km route around St Lucia including the boardwalk and the beach. The boardwalk is probably one of St Lucias biggest tourist attractions, a tour bus was there when we walked it. However the boardwalk is falling apart and needs maintenance.

Sunday we headed off south along the N2 to see how far we could get to the Drakensberg. We decided to go right into Durban, only to find some of the N3 was closed, and we were forced into a detour through suburban Durban. Durban is a dense city, way more dense than Joberg. Around 5pm we made it to Glensheiling caravan park for an overnight stay which was located in an area called the Midlands, an area full of food and art places.

The morning we headed into the strangely named town Nottingham Road. We got more supplies at the Spar supermarket, and then headed to Injusuthi campsite in the Drakensberg.

White Rhino blocking the Cape Vidal road

Chitove camp to Chivillia Camp to Rossi Pools, Gonarezhou National Park

Chitove camp was even better than Fishans camp. We were right next to the water. When we arrived, a couple of elephants left. We had crocodiles resting on the opposite bank. Baboons, Zebras, Elephants and more came down to the water, somewhere along the bank. There was pretty well something going on all day. After 3 nights at Chitove we headed about 60km to Chivillia. Firstly we needed to cross the Runde at a causeway, which we did without it being much more than 30cm deep. We then stopped on the opposite bank to watch a couple of hundred Cape Buffalo head into the water to drink. We then headed to Chilojo cliffs picnic area. There we watched an Elephant wander across the Runde, eventually coming back to comprehensively scratch itself on a tree near us.

We continued on to Chivillia Camp which was a rocky downhill track. We were a bit disappointed with Chivillia, it was away from the water, and there were not a lot of animals. However the first night during dusk, Karen spotted a lion sitting about 100m away. It roared a few times then wandered off. We were pretty careful around camp the next two nights.

After 3 nights at Chivillia Camp we headed for the long drive south to Rossi Pools camp. Firstly we needed to detour to Chipinda Pools camps to get some extra water. Then it was the well built but steep winding descent to the Nkwangulatio causeway. The causeway was built in 2019, and was well done. We crossed it and continued south. We passed a couple of heavily armed rangers making patrols, then followed the electrified park fenceline for tens of kilometres. At 4:30pm and after a long day we arrived at Rossi Pools camp.

Cape Buffalo opposite our campsite at Chitove

Another huge Baboab protected from Elephants with rocks

Occasionally we have some home made bread

Driving down the park fence line, don’t touch the electric fence!

Fishans camp to Chitove camp, Gonarezhou National Park

We spent 3 days at Fishans camp. We had two elephants wander through camp passing within 3 metres of the camper. We had the occasional Baboon stalk us. A monkey managed to get a small bag of flour. There were lots of birds. We had various antelope nearby almost all the time. The mornings were cool, but build up to a warm day in the high 20s.

The Runde river bed below the campsite, with the solar panels set up

Gregs feet are big, but elephant feet are bigger

the Chilojo viewpoint on top of the cliffs

Looking down onto the Runde river from the Chilojo lookout

Great Zimbabwe Hotel to Save River Conservancy

The next morning it was cold, but at last not raining. We got packed and drove the 30km into Masvingo, for more supplies, fuel, and water. We found a Pick n pay supermarket, which would also take a credit card.

I went over the road to another supermarket to get water. They wouldn’t take a credit card, so I had to pay with USD. So the bill is USD$3.20. So they have no change less than a $1USD note. So what would I like. So I grab a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge. That leaves 22c changed owed, what do I want to do with that? I don’t care, keep the 22c. However the checkout attendant says, can I buy myself a chocolate bar for 20c. I say fine. We then go out both of us to be checked by the guards for my bottles of water, and her chocolate bar.

We try a servo for fuel with a credit card, no luck, but they suggest the Puma out of town. We go to the six month old Puma with attached KFC about a km out of town and buy fuel with a credit card. We are trying to conserve our supply of USD.

We drive east around 140km, decreasing in altitude and with increasing warmth. A couple of police road blocks, but they wave us through. We then turn onto the Save river conservancy, which is so big, that its a 60km drive from the front gate to the camping spot we have booked.

We drive past (and nearly collide with) Elephants. We also see Zebra, Giraffe, Kudu and other antelopes. After a river crossing we arrive at the Humani compound. We don’t know how to get to the campsite, eventually someone guides us out the 3km to the campsite next to the Turwi river.

We saw Elephants down river from us the first night. Occasionally we hear lions. The second day we spent the afternoon game driving down to the Save River, but didn’t see a lot. When we got back to camp, there was an elephant next to our campsite.

The solar panels set up on the bank, because the campsite is under trees

Hillside Dams Bulawayo Zimbabwe to Farmhouse Matopos

I struggled getting power at Hillside Dams the next morning. I got power until 10am then load-shedding started. With all the solar panels up I managed to charge up the batteries by mid afternoon. I then headed to Karen’s lodge that she was staying at. It was very nice, they also had their generators running as well because they had lost power too.

We went out to dinner with Karen’s colleagues. It being Zimbabwe, and a few South Africans thrown in as well, there was a lot of meat for dinner. Everyone got a good feed though and there was meat left over which people could take home. We stayed in Karen’s room overnight, a big change from the camping I had done for the last 3 weeks.

We headed out the next morning for the Farmhouse camping site about 50km south of Bulawayo, which is just north of the Matapos National Park. We went through two police road blocks, but we were not stopped. Karen thinks they are under orders not to hassle tourists. Farmhouse is very well run. We had hot showers from a donkey boiler, and we had great views. They have Giraffe and Wildebeest on the property, so we walked down to the feeding of the Giraffes which happens every day at 4pm.

Karen by now had got pretty sick from something she caught from being in all those meeting rooms, so Saturday she spent a lot of time asleep. I was fine but I was going to get sick eventually. I went on a cave guided walk, and say a couple of caves with 2,000 year old cave paintings.

On Sunday we drove into Matapos National Park. We headed west on looked at the rock formation called mother and child which is actually pictured on the mysterious ZIG currency. ZIG is the official currency of Zimbabwe, but almost no-one has seen it, everyone works on USD. There are so many balance rocks both in and around Matopos. We headed further west to a dam looking for animals (and maybe white rhino), but we saw evidence of Elephants, but only saw Hippos and klipspringers.

We then headed east to try to get to Nswatugi Cave. The first track got rougher and rougher, until I thought it was too rough for our heavily loaded camper. So we spent about an hour carefully reversing back down the track including cutting scrub out of the way. We ripped off one of the rear mudflaps. This time it was the old one that’s been on for years, rather than the new one. We then headed back and approached the cave from a different direction. We were more successful this time, and made it to the cave late afternoon. The cave had been excavated about 5m down, finding evidence of people living in it 9,000 years ago.