SANParks.org Forums

Hi Josh

The road east of Tlopi camp is currently under construction with big machinery on site converting it into normal sedan road. And hopefully the project will be completed end of May 07.

Fhatu.

That's a pity, it was fantastic!

Besides the road east of Tlopi tented camp which is currently under constraction there are other 4x4 roads which are still open and i really enjoy the ride. see you next time in Marakele

Hello I'm new at the forum.

We’ve traveled many times in groups to Africa. This time we are going to do a self drive. We are going to travel with a regular sedan. Most off the time that’s not going to be a problem. Only in Marakele it a little problem because most of the roads are only accessible by 4x4. This trip we want to visit Marakele. With groups Marakele is never in the program list. If I’m well informed there are options to book night drives and 4x4 drives at the park: Reception Office, Bontle Camping Site or Tlopi tented camp.

On this site of sanparks I don't see the options to book this.
Can anybody who has bin there tell me some more and conform if I’m right. Maybe someone knows the tariffs as well.
Who can tell me more?
Kind regards,

William
An African Wildlife fan

William, a warm welcome to the forums! I hope someone will help you here soon!

Hi and welcome William!
Here you can see the availability for Marakele, both for Tlopi Tented Camp (safari tents only), and Bontle Camping Area (camping sites only).
As you can see on those pages the safaritents are R590, the campingsites R110, up to 31 October 2007. After that the prices go up a bit as you can see here.
Drives...

You can find that and more in the Marakele webpage.

Tanks,

The tariffs and booking options i allready found. But tanks annyway.

Only i have no idea how much the game drives will cost.

I'll ask the new guru, have to mail him anyway, but that mail will only go away late today, so I hope you are not in a hurry.

No we are not so in a hurry. We are busy booking Kruger we did because there was not much available left the others are not a big thing. (panty of space in September October)

Hi wmi

We visited Marakele this weekend. We did not have much time to spend there, but I noted that many of the roads have been upgraded and are now quite accessible by ordinary sedan. You will thus have no problem driving yourselves around.

The road to the "Towers" is tarred, and is definitely the highlight of the visit. It takes you to the top of the mountain and there are some brilliant scenery. We also saw plenty of klipspringer, peregrine falcon and of course the breeding colony of vultures

Night drives and day drives can be booked at reception, though I do not know what the price is.

Enjoy your visit! It is a small but beautiful park.

Hi Everyone,

I am wanting to go to Marakele next weekend. Problem is I can only leave Bruma lake at 15h00. I will be towing a caravan. Will I be able to make Marakele before the gates etc close? I believe they close at 18h00. Is that also correct?

I plan going via Warmbaths. Is this the better route or is the Brits route better.

Do they have late entry permits at all like Kruger.

Sorry for so many questions. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards

Glynn

Glynn - not too many questions at all! I do hope someone here will be able to help you.

Hallo Glynsay

During the winter months the gates close at 17H30.

From Pretoria via Brits on the platinum highway the distance is 270km. It is properly the best rout to follow. Do not know the distance via Warmbad.

If you leave at 15hoo, it leave you with two and a half hours. I do not think that you will make it in time as you have to go through 2 toll gates. Seeing it is over a weekend and it is also the end of the month weekend, you will encounter traffic.

As for the late entry permit you will have to phone Marakele.There telephone number (014) 777-1745 or 083 564 6255

Bontle Caravan & Camping Site is close to the entry gate. If they do allow you to enter late, there will be enough electrical lights to set up camp. I would suggest that you try and set up camp in the Sable loop as it is next to the water hole and all the animals visit it. Remember that the camp is not fenced in that the Rhino's and other animals enter the camp at will.

I would suggest that you leave at the latest at 14Hoo if you can. Marakele is very beautiful and is definitely worth visiting.

Via warmbaths is the beter route because the road from warmbaths past leeukop to thabazimbi is low traffic whereas the road from brits to thabazimbi is very high density traffic .

but you realy need about 3 hours non-stop , so try for the late arrival option or leave earlier .

Hi DinkyBird, Pieter and mikev.

Thanks for the info. I think I will call Marakele off for now. Just that little bit too for for a relaxing drive. I know what happens when I am in a rush. Everything will conspire to tense me up and we will miss the closing gate time .

I will have to choose a long weekend and get out of Jhb earlier.

Again though, thanks very much for the help.

Regards

Glynn