CAMPING DESTINATION
The Bushveld, much of it in the thickets of the North West and Limpopo, is as characteristically African as sunshine and the Big 5. We set up camp in both provinces to get close to Mother Earth.
It almost feels as if this part of the world stood at the front of the queue when the earth was formed. The Bushveld is endowed with not only beautiful scenery, but it is also one of the most mineral-rich environments in the world, with platinum at the top of the list. Out here, summer is your friend. In Thabazimbi, for example, you wear T-shirts and shorts for most of the year, because the mercury usually hovers around 30 ºC. The winter months are moderate – frost is an unusual sight, and when the rain stays away for a while, the veld turns to gold. This area is also known for its large wild camps, game reserves and farms, of course. Two of those are Thabaledi and Doorndraai – here you camp among the wildlife, but have the added convenience of a private bathroom near your stand and a swimming pool in the campsite.
THABALEDI GAME LODGE Bushveld alarm clock
Keep your eyes and ears open for the woodland kingfisher from early morning. The shrill and persistent chirping of this little blue bird sounds just like an alarm clock ringing somewhere in the distance. Even so, it’s not at all jarring, but blends in nicely with the rest of the bird sounds. This little guy visits during summer, which means you’ll probably not spot it in the winter months. Another bird you’ll see often is the hornbill. Don’t be surprised if you see a Southern red-billed hornbill perched on your vehicle’s windscreen wiper early in the morning, busily pecking at squashed insects on the windscreen. They’ll go so far as to jump onto the braai grid or the caravan’s gas stove in search of something to eat. The next morning, another feathery crooner gets you out of bed with its characteristic mournful call: the greyheaded bushshrike. Fortunately, this bush experience is not only for those with an off-road trailer or caravan. Nothing stops you from coming here with an ordinary road caravan, or, of course, a tent in the boot.
From here you look out over two swimming pools next to each other that are trimmed with artificial rock
THABALEDI LIES ROUGHLY halfway between Brits and Thabazimbi, and you turn off the R511 to reach the resort. At present, there are some roadworks here, and just outside Brits there are quite a few stop-and-go points. But if you come from Thabazimbi’s side, there’s no hold-up, and you won’t have as many gravel roads to contend with either. After the turn-off, it is another last kilometre of tar to the Assen police station, and from here you have just under 9 km of gravel road to the resort’s gate. At the gate, you’re greeted by a statue of a kudu, but when we got there, some actual live giraffes stood right by the fence. On the other side of the gate, the wide gravel road continues, with the stands starting 200 m farther to the left. Make sure you know where you are camping before you arrive, because then you can quickly unhitch at at your stand without having to worry about turning your towing combination around
at the office another 250 m up the road. While there, it is a good idea to walk past reception to an open veranda shaped like a crescent that’s at least 50 m wide. From here you look out over two swimming pools next to each other that are trimmed with artificial rock. The first pool resembles three circles next to one another, with one side for the kids. From that pool, a “stone” furrow takes the stream to the next pool. Behind the veranda are a number of buildings including a bar and a games room. The games room, where you can play pool and table tennis, is at the far end. It’s free and for anyone’s use. Behind the games room is a jungle gym and trampoline. THE 32 STANDS are laid out between three short roads that veer left off the entrance road. The first road (140 m) is the longest. If you take this one, the first bathroom building is about 35 m from the start and the next one 60 m along. Every four stands share a bathroom building, which has a washing-up area at one end under the roof of the veranda. If you prefer bath tubs over shower stalls, make sure you mention it when booking. Three of the four bathrooms in the buildings have a shower and the fourth a tub. The bathrooms are spacious and have some rails and hooks on the walls for your towel and clothes – a table or a bench on which to place some items would be welcome. There is also a light that switches on automatically as soon as you enter the room. (You get your own key.) Your stand has a name and number that matches your specific bathroom at the ablution block. Blesbok and Bosvark are the two in the first road. The next two roads are about 100 m
long, and each has three ablution blocks: Buffel, Nyala and Bosbok, and Koedoe, Eland and Zebra. Most stands have a shade tree or two, and if you want to be next to the campsite’s pool, aim for the last road. The farther along it you drive, the closer you get to the pool. Next to the pool, there’s an open boma with a fire pit and some built-in braai areas. The stands are laid out on a flat piece of land, between natural Bushveld trees. There’s hardly any grass here, and you’ll have to clean the kids’ feet before bedtime as the soil is red. A woven groundsheet next to the caravan helps. Each stand boasts a 7 x 3 m concrete block for your caravan, a Fredlin plug for electricity and a rubbish bin in a small wire cage so wild animals can’t get to it. You also have your own tap and light, and you can move the steel braai with its grid around so the smoke doesn’t blow into your caravan. THABALEDI MEANS ‘mountain of stars’ in Tswana, but there are just as many wild animals to be seen here. The nyala, impalas and giraffes tend to graze right by you, but do explore the rest of the farm: you may drive yourself provided your vehicle has sufficient ground clearance and the weather conditions allow it. Or sit back and let them take you on a game drive – it costs R350 for any amount of people per trip. In some places, campsite lights turn on automatically at night and this helps to orient you, but keep your torch handy when walking around after dark. During our visit, a scorpion was waiting for us behind the bathroom door…
DOORNDRAAI LODGE The long or short of it
As the crow flies, Doorndraai lies barely 50 km north of Thabaledi. It’s just beyond Rooiberg, but that’s also where the tar road ends and you have to tow on a short stretch of dirt road (5,7 km) to Doorndraai’s turn-off. From the Assen police station – where you get back onto the tar, you can choose one of two routes to Doorndraai – one is longer and the other shorter. For both, you drive over Leeupoort: if you turn left, you drive all the way on tar, but it is 24 km longer. Take the right and you have a gravel road of around 35 km (the D928). Check at the police station about the condition of this road, you don’t really want to have to turn around later with your towing combination. This lovely wide gravel road winds farther north through the hills of the Bushveld and there are only two rocky spots where you have to slow down. Even though you’re now on a public road, there’s plenty of game to see – during our drive, a troop of monkeys and baboons showed up and a young sounder of warthogs ran out in front of our car. From the T-junction where you connect to the R516 tar road, Leeupoort lies 1,2 km to the left. After turning left, turn right again almost immediately. You are still on the D928, but from here it is tarred to Rooiberg (if you chose the tar road earlier, you’re also here). As you drive past Rooiberg, you may as well refuel and stock up on supplies. For Rooiberg you turn left, but across from the turn-off is a fuel station with a shop next to it. The Rooiberg One Stop has a neat little supermarket where you can get meat and fresh vegetables – there is even a hardware department with all the necessities, plus a liquor store. If you look in the direction of the town from here, you will see a large slatey mine heap – a sign that tin used to be unearthed here years ago. DOORNDRAAI IS EXACTLY 6,6 km away from the One Stop. This last stretch is a gravel road, but it’s wide without potholes. The surface is gritty – so tow slowly and your road caravan will get to Doorndraai in one piece. Hopefully, along the way, you will also see some blue wildebeest sheltering under trees from
the sun… or a stately sable antelope with an impressive set of horns. After the turn-off, you’re still on a dirt road, but now it’s compacted sand. Directly in front of the gate, 350 m along, is a narrow concrete bridge with stone walls on either side. It might look as though a wide caravan won’t get through, but luckily the narrowest point is 3,16 m wide, which means even a Sensation Dawn (2,48 m) will make it. Frans Malapile and Beertjie, his sheepdog, await you at the gate. He told us we were allocated the Neushoringvoël stand and we should just keep going straight. The 1 600 ha reserve lies right in front of you with the lodge to the right and the campsites to the left, where the ground is more level. For the next 2,4 km, the lovely road gradually creeps up a slope – have the kids put their phones down and look out the windows, because you’re already in wildlife country. On this very stretch of road, a huge black snake crossed the road in front of us. At the next crossing you will find a young camelthorn tree. Next to it is a bunch of wooden signs with the names of the stands carved on it – all bird names. The stands start 200 m to the left. The campsite covers an area of 190 x 130 m with five ablution blocks arranged like five pips on a die. Each building services the two adjoining stands. There’s one for Neushoringvoël and Dobbertjie, another shared by Renostervoël and Arend, and then Aasvoël and Ibis, Ooievaar and Dikkop, and Reier and Ooruil complete the picture. Doorndraai is a shining example of how stylish bathroom facilities can be for campers within the African bush. They are excellent. The building with its back-toback facilities is similar to the one at Thabaledi regarding a shower and a bath tub. One side has a closed glass shower cubicle and the other an open shower with a glass panel and a tub. In both cases the door first opens to a kitchen. Two of the walls have a worktop, one of which with a sink. The room’s windows cover almost the entire part above the work surface but has mesh instead of
glass panels. This way, you still look out onto your stand but the fresh outdoor air is also part of the room – while the bugs are kept outside. The bathroom is behind the next door. On the wall outside the building is a wooden sign with your stand’s name on it, and a hand-painted version on slate of your specific bird is attached above the door. A similar painting – also with the name Lariza van Emmenis as the artist – is also part of the slate tile work inside the bathroom, and then there is an oversized version sandblasted on oneyoung sounder of warthogsof the shower’s glass panels. It adds to the stylish finishes in the bathroom. The large shower head sits nice and high and directly above your head –and is really impressive. The same goes for the bath taps and the ceramic basin. DOORNDRAAI’S STANDS EACH have a 10 x 10 m paved space. The rest of your stand is also level, and the shade trees are huge. At Neushoringvoël we had a big old wild syringa tree that kept the sun’s rays away, but all the other stands also have ample shade. A wooden fence provides privacy on your stand, and from the paved slab, there is a paved path to the bathroom. The layouts of the stands differ in terms
of placement, but each has a fire pit for your braai. A bundle of wood is ready for you, but there are no grids here. There is also an outdoor tap and your electricity box stands on its own – it works with an ordinary domestic plug. Furthermore, there are clean soil patches around the pavement and the rest of the sites. In the middle is a boma – also fenced in – which is a great place to hang out if you want to invite some of your camp neighbours over for a communal shindig. At the entrance of the boma is a plate of the Tourism Rating Board with five stars on it. THERE AREN’T REALLY entertainment options for kids here, but there’s plenty of open space where they can cycle. And a consolation prize: a small splash pool of 3 x 4 m in the bush. In the afternoons, a wild syringa tree casts welcome shade over the pool. There are benches in the water that you can down sit on, but beware, the water is too deep for small children. It’s a great place to chill out for a family, but if other campers are approaching, it’s time to introduce yourself. (Or excuse yourselves if your neighbour shows up in his Speedo. – Ed) Next to the pool is a jungle gym with slides and swings, and a small suspension bridge that you can cross. You may go game watching in your own vehicle. Management will allow two-wheel drive vehicles but four-wheel drive is preferred. Luckily, there are no hectic obstacles to defeat, but some of the trails are overgrown. Because the animals were culled the year prior to our visit, the surviving animals are quite jumpy, but we spotted blue wildebeest, ostriches, kudu and impalas, among others. And, as a special bonus, the redand yellow-billed hornbill’s nephew: the African grey hornbill.