[ TRAVEL ] BLYDE RIVER, KRUGER, SWAZILAND, DRAKENSBERG, ADDO

BACK IN SOUTH AFRICA

We crossed the border to SA at Platjan, not far from the Limpopo River Lodge. The officers on both sides were very friendly and efficient. Our plan was to camp at the Mapungubwe Nationality Park camp site, but we soon discovered that all the sites had been booked for the school holidays.

Instead, we found a nice, quiet camp with lovingly maintained facilities at Ratho Bush Camps, about 15km west from Pont Drift. It's part of the local citrus-growing operation and crocodile farm, and offers cottages, luxury tented camps, a well-equipped camp site and a remote 4x4 campsite next to the river. The main camp has a communal seating area that also serves as a wildlife-viewing platform. The owners of the farm spread fruit around the grounds in front of the viewing area and waterhole, which attracts the elephants and provides great game-viewing opportunities.

We thought we’d struck gold with two young males who walked off at sunset; but, by the time we’d begun our dinner, trumpeting and rumbles announced the arrival of a twenty-plus strong breeding herd. The sounds they made munching and breaking branches off trees were a reminder of how much vegetation elephants consume.

Our host, Sandra, was very modest about her camp, saying only, “Enjoy your stay and make yourselves at home.”