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Ecojunkie

Von Wielligh carved his initials and date, 1891 I think , into the baobab north of Olifants. I drove towards Olifants but tuned away from it on the H8, turning left on the S92 towards Balule and again left at the S90. After crossing the Olifants river the camp is on the left.


This pic was taken by Bush Andy - camping at Balule is the best!!

Better not try "Gugglepruffe" then!



Nice quiz, Nungu!

Nungu, just found this quiz ... very nice! I'll participate when I get the chance.

Me too But the rest of you are always so fast

Thanks to everyone that's given this quizz the .... maybe I should make the clues harder so it takes longer to get to the end - that way more mites will have a chance

Ok, lets see....

Seeing the hill on my left, I can't help but chuckle at the thoughts popping in my head. Not even the father of Kruger himself would've been allowed to climb it... and with the weather like it is these days, he wouldn't have had to anyway... Shortly there will be a turnoff South-East, but I've already made up my mind, I'm heading to the dam. Tysie, stacked with biltong and beverages, I'm hunting big tuskers today - and not just any tusker - I'm after the one with the skew ivory. The turn-off comes and goes and another 5kms on I turn left. Now it's only a short distance to the dam. About halfway there I spot a big one... Standing next to the road, resting his head against an old tree-trunk. Can this be him? No, this one is not big enough and his right tusk doesn't have the necessary curve... I must have woken him as he suddenly starts to walk the same way I'm heading. I'm stuck behind him for 3 agonising kms. He won't move off the road... Just when I get a bit frustrated with the old man we reach the turnoff to the dam. Armed with the billies and cold stuff, I watch all kinds of game come and go... Who knows? I might even spot James' namesake here

Klopperfontein dam, you're chasing Sikele I'm guessing?

So the hill you started from was the one outside Punda Maria, and the road you missed would be the S59?

H10, Mlondozi Dam & Duke?

Guess the clues are still too easy huh

TP - correct - Klopperfontein - but I'm interested in how you got to the answer - was it the directions or the clues?

The clues mostly Nungu - I was just reading about the current tuskers a couple of weeks ago and recalled there were only two named after a James - and one of them has a left curving tusk so that eliminated Ngunyupezi. Left Sikele which I recalled was in the Punda / Pafuri area so I then got the map out and looked.

Believe me, I was struggling with the others it's just a matter of luck that I happened to recall the elephants.

TP, superb! You're a private eye too? If not, you could be!

Hi TP

IMPRESSIVE!!!

Sorry for now only get to the pics... but I just watched my beloved BULLS dismantle the Chiefs...

Anyway - harder clues for you next time TP

Driving from Punda past Gumbandebvu hill, meaning "to shaves one's beard" won't allow Paul Kruger with a lekker full beard onto the hill. Tradition has it that Nwakama (a relative of modjajdi) used to offer animals for rain on this hill and only took men with that were clean shaven.... it's been raining for more than a week in our area - so no use for her at the moment...

So that's where we start and as Gumbandebvu is on our left, we're heading North East on the S60. Going past the S59 (as TP pointed out) we turn left onto the S61. 3km's on we get the ellie and follow him another 3 to Klopperfontein dam.

Here we wait on Sikele (again right TP), a tusker named after James Chauke. Sikele means sickle, and refers to his tusks growing in all directions - one up and one down, inward curving... I think you get the pic


Here's the ellie we followed (not really - but hey it felt like I was there) to Klopperfontein dam - pic taken by Richprins

In July 2008 I had to cancel my trip because the camp was closed. This year I was able to make the trip. Driving out of camp I'm very happy that I did, because today I'll be doing my favorite road in Kruger. Turning left from camp I make my way all along the river. Although the bush is dry I have some wonderful sightings - Waterbuck, Giraffe, Elephant and even a hyena with pups just after the ranger's camp. The road makes a 90 degree turn as I continue Eastwards. I turn at the crossing and continue towards the dam. The windmill on my left yields very little and I continue straight ahead... as does the second. Only a little further I turn left towards the dam. It's rather dry, but I can see a Saddle-billed stork foraging in the water. A family of warthog are down on their knees rummaging around for roots in the wet turf. Leaving the dam I turn left again and turn right at the next turnoff. Nothing on this 9km winding stretch, and when I reach the T-junction I turn right. Soon I'm rewarded with 4 lionesses resting in the shade at the dam. Obviously waiting for the day to cool off or an opportunistic lunch. I continue just past the dam wall and have reached my destination... Tysie says it was about 41kms... could have been shorter

Did you depart Roodewaal, stop at Ngotso and end at Timbavati picnic site?

TP ... yes,yes and uhm...NO - great try, but where did I end up?