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Shingwedzi 20 N CARAVAN & OUTDOOR LIFE CARAVAN N ov EMBE R 2010 ove mb ER WIN: 2010 Sh 2x two-week holidays in KZN! IN gw ED z I • C A mp & Shingwedzi SCU b A 4x4 Eco-Trail • 13 BUSH CAMPING IN MOZ TENTS TENT TIP-OFF models • 20 g to choose from LA 20 13 m OROUS GLAMOROUS GADGETS g German engineering AD meets caravan style g ETS D Thaba Monaté E WWW.CARAVANSA.CO.ZA W Lake Eland Game Reserve E DIVE RIGHT IN! VI Fish River Diner Caravan Park E RESORTS Camp & SCUBA R San Cha Len R26.80 (incl. VAT) BUSH FEAST: bRAAIED ChICkEN & SLAp ChIpS OUTSIDE SA R23.50 VAT excl. DON'T GET SCAMMED! RISky INTERNET pURChASES 2010 TOP PRINT PERFORMER ON THE WAR Photos by Mark Samuel and Grant Spolander PATH Words by Mark Samuel Words 20 Caravan & Outdoor Life • November 2010 SHINGWEDZI ECO-TRAIL Adjacent to Kruger, across the Mozambique border, lies Parque Nacional do Limpopo – the Mozambique portion of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The fences between the parks are slowly coming down, and the popularity of this destination is increasing steadily. The best way to experience the region is on the Shingwedzi 4x4 Eco-Trail. So, with a Conqueror hitched to our Toyota Hilux, we set off to see what this trail has to offer. The briefing before the trail commences lets you know exactly where you’re headed. here they were: ghostly grey South Africa’s Kruger National Park and time. It’s beautiful, untamed and wild – all behemoths moving stealthily Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park. that’s missing is vast populations of buck behind a veil of almost complete For years endless tracts of border fencing and wildebeest foraging its plains. This, in darkness, the occasional crack kept the South African and Mozambican turn, would entice the predators, and before of a dry stick the only hint of parks apart, and while the game in Kruger you know it an entire ecosystem would be Ttheir location in the thick vegetation. There thrived, war, poaching and poverty thriving. must’ve been 50 or more emerging from the dramatically diminished the numbers of Nevertheless, a journey through this dense bush, led by an enormous individual, wildlife on the Moz side. remote land is more than a journey: it’s with a little one scurrying around her feet. First With the establishment of the transfrontier an experience, and one that’s made all the we had noticed three sizeable scouts venture park, the fences are coming down – perhaps more enjoyable when you’re following a down to the water’s edge. After ten minutes not as efficiently as originally planned, but knowledgeable guide – which is what the the three loners retreated into the bush and there are areas where animals can move Shingwedzi 4x4 Eco-Trail is all about. the rest of the herd cautiously made their freely between the two regions, virtually way out into the clearing next to the river, unhindered by man. There are, though, a Pafuri their giant shapes silhouetted by the starlight. number of factors that influence the animals’ On the towcar front, our capable vehicle for Finally, the wildlife that until now had been movement across the border. At the top of the trail was a spanking new, out-of-the-box so elusive made an appearance – and what an this list is the proximity of the villages within Toyota Hilux 4x4 D-4D Legend 40 double- appearance! From our campsite vantage point the park’s boundaries in Mozambique. There cab. Okay, it had just over 1000 km on the high on the cliff overlooking the Shingwedzi was an agreement to relocate these villages odometer, but that means it had been run in River, the elephants put on a display that will into the buffer fringe zone of the park, just enough for towing. Interestingly, until be etched into my memory forever. ensuring less people-animal interaction. now I hadn’t towed any significant distance But it’s not that easy to up and move groups with a Hilux. Perhaps it doesn’t deliver quite Uncharted territory of people who have lived in a certain place the same torque and power as its peers, but The Shingwedzi 4x4 Eco-Trail is the for as long as they can remember. It’s now this is a great bakkie with an extremely proud best way to experience and explore the a few years down the line and nothing history. Although all of our travel companions Mozambique portion of the Great Limpopo has happened with a number of these from Conqueror Off-Road Campers were Transfrontier Park. The five-night, six-day settlements. Many people still live well within also towing with Toyotas, Godfrey Castle and trail negotiates some of the most remote the park’s borders, and if I were an animal I were in the only diesel-powered vehicle, parts of Parque Nacional do Limpopo, assessing the pros and cons of relocating and it didn’t take long to impress our fellow Mozambique’s contribution to the 3.7 million from Kruger, this would be a major deterrent. travellers with our frugal fuel usage. hectare transfrontier park that unites it with That said, much of the land there just needs Depending on where you’ve driven www.caravansa.co.za 21 from, most groups about to embark on the we arrived slightly on the wrong side of our swimming allowed in this river: a few metres Shingwedzi trail sleep over somewhere prearranged meeting time of 08:30. from the bank lurked some fearsome-looking nearby the night before the start, which is This is where our destinies, at least for the hippos and crocodiles. always on a Sunday from the Pafuri picnic site next six days, were handed over to Janco Day one of the trail has you entering Kruger inside Kruger. Scott, our enthusiastic and knowledgeable and then driving straight through to the Because it’s the most convenient campsite, Shingwedzi trail guide. Over steaming coffee border with Mozambique, hence the need to literally a few kilometres from Kruger’s Pafuri and Ouma rusks, Janco described the route pay for a day’s Kruger Park conservation fees. Gate and neatly laid out with great facilities, we were about to embark on, referring to his Currently you’re likely to see more wildlife we opted to stay at Pafuri River Camp on map mounted on the side of the Conqueror during this short drive than over several days Saturday night, which allowed us a leisurely Comfort. This introductory talk included in the Mozambique part of the trail – but drive up from Gauteng. At Pafuri River Camp topics like the terrain we were likely to experiencing the trail isn’t only about viewing you have the option of a quiet and well- encounter, the history of the region and plans wildlife. There’s the thrill of venturing into shaded bush camp near the Mutale River, for its future, and anecdotes on the fauna remote parts of a neighbouring country, positioned far from the bush pub, restaurant and flora of the park. Two-way radios were experiencing new and challenging terrain, and swimming pool, or their tented camp. distributed to all the vehicles, enabling Janco different cultures, Mozambique 2M beer sold A donkey boiler at the bush camp provides to speak to us collectively along the route and from tiny shacks in the middle of nowhere, glorious hot water for the showers, and there enlighten us with interesting facts – and, of wild and unfenced campsites, baobabs and are even flush toilets! We took advantage of course, to allow for the usual airwave banter more. And of course the camaraderie of these luxury offerings, knowing full well that that goes hand in hand with two-way radios. experiencing all this with a group of good amenities on the trail would be rudimentary I have yet to encounter a convoy of guys friends. at best. driving 4x4s through the bush who can resist Towing on the trail adds a different Early on Sunday morning, after a good telling jokes, sharing their favourite songs or dimension. One thing’s for sure: the product night’s rest, we made our way to Kruger’s taking the mickey out of their mates. What is you’re towing must be sturdy and capable of Pafuri Gate, where sign-in procedures for it about a two-way radio that encourages this taking the knocks. The Conquerors fulfilled our large convoy took around 45 minutes. odd yet universal behaviour? this criterion with aplomb. In fact, when we With park entry and conservation fees paid, assessed the whole convoy on day three, off we trundled, each of us proudly towing Out of bounds the weakest component was the tow hitch a different unit from the Conqueror product En route to the SA-Mozambique Pafuri link between some of the vehicles and their range, to the Pafuri picnic site. The drive from border post, we took a brief detour to a trailers, which had taken strain from the the gate to the picnic site is about 25 km lookout point on the banks of the mighty continuous forward and backward motion and takes approximately 45 minutes, and Limpopo River. There’s certainly no casual on the uneven sandy ground. Towing on the Brunch stops next to the pans gave us a chance to stretch our legs, fill our stomachs and enjoy a refreshment or two. 22 Caravan & Outdoor Life • November 2010 Braaied goat is tasty, Shingwedzi is definitely worthwhile, though, but rather chewy.
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