The Road Less Traveled – KNP Lebombo Eco Trail 3 – There and Back

Day 4 Wednesday 2^nd Oct: 110 km, Shilowa to Ndzopfwi

Ready to leave Shilowa campsite — Ready to leave *Shilowa* campsite

One of the perks of going on a guided trail is that you get to drive on all those ‘No Entry’ roads that you see all over the park. And once on those forbidden roads it is at the guide’s discretion when and where you can get out of your car. Every time there was a point of interest the whole convoy stopped, we got out and gathered for an information sharing and discussion session. Makes one feel very privileged.

Our first stop for the day was at a huge baobab tree where we were told about the estimated age of these magnificent trees, its utilisation by the animals, and its survival techniques.

Animals, as we all know, and especially elephants eat the fruit. Elephants also ‘mine’ the fibrous trunk for water.

Red-billed Buffalo Weavers build their nests on the north-western side of the tree (due to prevailing wind), a handy directional indicator for us humans.

Baobab saplings look very different to the adult trees. Saplings have three leaflets whereas adults have five; this is often the cause of miss-identification and led to the ancient belief that there were no young baobabs.

Baobab tree — The site around this tree was a military camp in days gone by. The tree shows clearly how the elephants use the cambium and inner sapwood, leaving the fibrous parts behind

Nico is very passionate about geology and how it shapes the landscape. The type of rock determines the type of soil, which in turn determines the vegetation type. That again, together with the rainfall, determines the species of game you will encounter. So now you know what to look for when next you are in the Park.

Striped rock — The rectangular, ‘striped’ shapes indicate motion/flow when the rock solidified

Basalt and other rock — Basalt (black rock) on the left. The ‘round’ shapes on the right show slower cooling than the striped one above

Leopard kill — Remains of a leopard kill (impala) wedged in a tree; not fresh, but not too old either

Another very interesting and thought-provoking bit of ‘enlightenment’ was about the Park’s water point strategy. We were shown how the artificial water points had increased from a just few in the 1930s to a mosaic of them in the ‘90s. This was when the Park was managed in a way similar to farming. The abundance of water prevented water dependent species from moving away, even during wet periods. This displaced water independent species such as roan and prevented the veld from recovering. The Park is currently in the process of destroying most of these water points and dams, leaving just a few along the tourist routes. They are literally blowing up the dam walls. The boreholes remain but are not functional, just in case they are needed in future. As a result of this new approach, the rivers are starting to recover, the veld is in better condition and the rare species such as the roan are showing signs of recovery.

Water points discussion — Nico showing us a printout of a PowerPoint slide with the water points plotted out. We are standing at a closed water point; note how the veld is starting to recover

A question we all had was why certain areas have very short Mopani trees, even though Nico assured us that they are actually 100 to 150 years old, while other areas have bigger trees of more varied height. The answer was again in the soil type. A layer of calcrete close to the surface restricts the root depth, hence their growth form.

Calcrete — Passing a piece of *calcrete* around. It looks and feels like a lump of concrete at a building site

Day 5 Thursday 3^rd Oct: 55 km, Ndzopfwi to Crooks Corner

Summer had returned. The day started off being pleasantly cool but warmed up rapidly.

Leaving Ndzofwi — All too soon it was the last day of the trail; leaving our last camp *Ndzopfwi*

Trying to get a glimpse of the endemic, very elusive, *Pink-throated Twinspot* after Nico heard its soft, high-pitched call

We were still in the Sandveld area when we stopped to inspect a drag mark in the road. There were leopard tracks alongside. We all got out and cautiously followed Nico, who was following the tracks, hoping to spot the leopard and it’s kill, somewhere up a tree. At some point it appeared as if the leopard had back-tracked and we were not about to see it, so we turned back rather disappointed.

Leopard ‘hunting’ — In search of a leopard

Back in the road there was evidence of small tracks as well. Eugene’s explanation made the most sense: the mother had made a kill and dragged it off to safety. She then went back to fetch her cubs. Quite fascinating when one is tuned in to the signs of the bush.

Lebombo Ironwood trees dominate the rocky, higher slopes of the mountains. Close-up one sees how the leaves roll up in order to preserve their precious moisture. From a distance, we thought, they look like stands of Black Wattle.

Stand of Lebombo Ironwood — Stand of *Lebombo Ironwood*

The rare Sharpe’s Grysbok — The rare *Sharpe’s Grysbok*

We reached Crooks Corner at about mid-day where we sadly had to say goodbye to our guide. He had a family to go to and we had to return to the real world.

The story of Crooks Corner — The story of *Crooks Corner*

Lookout at Crooks Corner — Looking at the confluence of the *Luvuvhu* and *Limpopo* rivers from the lookout at *Crooks Corner*

It was a good five days. After exchanging business cards and good wishes with our new friends, everyone went off in their own direction. Who knows when or if we will cross paths again…

Another ‘bucket list’ item ticked. What an amazing, informative, enlightening experience.

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