The lakes of maputaland
Maputaland in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal is a flat, sandy and wet region with Mozambique on its northern border, the Tugela River to the south and the Lebombo Mountains to the west. Geologists say the wide coastal plain was submerged 100 million years ago, and today Maputaland is characterised by dozens of lakes, lagoons, wetlands and grasslands, as well as huge dunes more than 150 m tall that remained after the sea receded.
If you stay on tar, you could easily drive the length of Maputaland in five hours, but why not take a back road? It first takes you through elephant country and from there along the coast to the Mozambican border. If you remember your passport – and lockdown rules allow – you could even visit Ponta do Ouro for shrimp, peri-peri chicken and 2M beer.
YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS at Cape Vidal, a popular campsite 30 km north of the KwaZulu-Natal coastal town of St Lucia. The Cape Vidal resort is located on a bay that’s protected from incoming waves by a reef. It has 50 stands, each with water and electricity, and neat ablution facilities. It is a popular destination, and you have to book well in advance if you plan to be there in peak season.
A mysterious ship named the Dorothea ran aground on 31 January 1898 at Cape Vidal. According to legend, the then president of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger, had sent a load of gold bars from the
