SANParks.org Forums

Sara, "outspan" is in my (unabridged ) English dictionary and means the act of or place of "disengaging the oxen from the wagon".

Thats right Arks. Now it more modern use is simple a place to rest or have a picnic along the road

Or a brand of oranges

saraf, in the old days the voortrekkers, explorers or adventurers travelled in the African bush via waggons pulled by oxen or via horses. When it was time to rest the animals ( or the derrieres bullied by the waggons) or set up camp for the evening, they called it out span (uitspan in Afrikaans). The oxen, donkeys and horses were closed up in a kraal (closed in an area with thorn tree branches) to protect them from predators roaming freely in the area. Refer to Stevenson-Hamiltons book South African Eden about the earlier years of the Kruger (1902 ->), lovely stories from this first ranger in the park.

Thanks for the explanations.

I knew about the oranges and couldn't quite see how it fitted in. Now I know.

Hey guys and girls!

Picnic sites of the southern region Part 2


Mlondozi


Mlondozi is a wonderful picnic spot situated on a hill top known as N'wagovila 10km North-east of Lower Sabie. N'wagovila is incedently the name of a man who used to live there a long time ago.

The picnic spot itself overlooks the concrete dam with the same name and many animals are attracted to the area particularly during the Winter months where there is a small borehole producing water all-year round!

Mlondozi is Siswati for a "Perennial stream" as the creek was used to irrigate crops and to supply both animals and people with water. It is interesting to note that Kelsey-Loveday (1883) called the creek Sterkspruit... Afrikaans for "a strong flowing creek"

There is however a second meaning. The Balondolozi, a section of the Inyatsi ('Buffalo') Regiment of Mswati II were at some stage stationed on this creek during their battles with the Tsonga (1856-1860) and the area became known as Mlondozi "the place of the Balondolozi".


Tshokwane


A ranger's post, picnic spot and borehole on the Nwaswitsontso Creek, midway between Skukuza and Satara. This is a popular picnic spot and is often very busy during school holidays.

Tshokwane is believed to be the name of a Sotho person who lived here a long time ago. The rangers post was opened in 1928. It is interesting to note the early writings of Harry Wolhuter and his successors who talk about the amount of lions in the area during the early 1900's.

Harry spent a large portion of his time as a game ranger in this section of the park, often alone for months at a time. He believed that all the lions in Kruger seemed to congregate around this area making for some eventful encounters such as his epic Lion battle to the East of Tshokwane where he nearly lost his life.

Hi all!!

I must first of all apologise for the lack of words for the last couple of weeks... I have had very little access to the internet recently!!

"Words of the weeK"... Bush Camps of the Kruger Park.

Talamati

15km South-East of Kingfisherspruit and situated on the South bank of the Nwaswitsontso River, Talamati is Tsonga for "A place of abundant water". The Borehole near the camp was sunk in 1962 by Ranger Gus Adendorff and the amount of water from the Borehole gave rise to the name we know today.

The camp itself is one of the best birding camps in the park with well over 200 species being identified within the camp.


Shimuwini

45km South-West of Mopani restcamp and situated on the edge of Mixed bushwillow and mopane country, Shimuwini is one of the preferred camps in the park. Meaning "at the baobab", Shimuwini lives up to it's name with many beautiful specimens lining the hilly koppies along the Letaba river.

According to reports, the area surrounding the camp is home to no less than four resident leopards and the resident lion pride male often sits on the warm sand next to the guard hut at the main gate!!

The camp itself is situated on the banks of the Shimuwini dam in the Letaba river and animals often come down to drink in front of the bird hide. The camp is also home to a resident grey duiker.


Bateleur


The smallest and oldest Bush Camp, Bateleur is an intimate camp with lots to offer. It is situated on the banks of the Mashokwe Creek and the camp is named after the Bateleur eagle which is often seen in the KNP skies looking for small rodents, lizards etc. Bateleur incidentally means "Trapeze artist" in French because of the rocking type motion of these birds when in flight.

Both the Silwervis and Rooibosrand dams are situated within 10km of the camp on private roads and the area around the camp is well-known for large buffalo herds and the lion prides that follow them.


Sirheni

Sirheni is a small bush camp on the banks of the Sirheni dam in the Mphongolo River. It has its own access road and is situated 35km North-West of Shingwedzi. The huge trees lining both the Mphongolo and the Shingwedzi rivers are home to the most highly concentrated leopard population in the world.

The name Sirheni has a very interesting origin and is an abbreviated version of 'Sirha ra ndlopfu' meaning 'Grave of the elephant'. This was the name of the waterhole covered by the waters of the dam. The waterhole owes its name to the 1959/60 anthrax epidemic, when an elephant bull, having died of Anthrax, had to be buried in the sand next to the waterhole, as it was too big to burn.

When the location of the dam was determined in 1967, Rangers Mike English and Johan Kloppers gave the dam its name.

*Biyamiti has been covered in previous "words of the week"


Hope you enjoy this weeks words and their meanngs!!

Very interesting and great topic BA! Thanks

Really enjoyed reading this thread! very interesting, thanks!

Hey everyone!

Wanted to talk about a few more picnic spots in the Park, this week up to Timbavati and next week the remaining ones. So far we've covered the Southern Picnic spots names and their meanings. Please feel free to post pics of the various places in the topic


Nhanguleni


This isolated picnic spot used to be one of the main drinking places for the big herds of zebra and wildebeest migrating from the North every winter, before the Western boundary of the park was fenced (c1961)

Nhlanguleni means 'At the magic guarri' in Tsonga, which is a common multi-stemmed tree/ shrub that grows throughout the park.

It is 22km North-West of Tshokwane next to the creek after which it is named. The waterhole nearby is still a source of attraction for many animals including Sable and a relatively large resident pride of lion which can often be seen from the picnic site and sometimes wandering through it!


Muzandzeni


This picnic spot is well known for its large tree's and is situated on the Northern banks of the Sweni river. Muzandzeni meaning 'at the tsessebe' was first named in 1958 by Ranger J kloppers on account of a small herd of tsessebe in the area. Incidentally Ranger Kloppers was surveying a firebreak at the time which later became the S36 we know today.


N'wanetsi

N'wanetsi derived from the ideophone Nwetsi-Nwetsi which means to 'shine or glitter' in Tsonga, is the name given to this picnic site situated on the Eastern boundary of the park bordering the Lebombo mountains. It is so named because it is situated on the stream of the same name.

It is interesting to note that two unrelated parties Erskine (1869) and Jeppe (1879) referred to the stream as Nwanetsi. The name itself has the largest variety of spellings and forms (21) than any other in the Kruger National Park. The stream is a large tributary of the Rio Incomati in Mozambique and is familiar to many forumites as the stream along which the S100 runs


Timbavati


This is one of the most popular picnic spots in Kruger and is situated on the Timbavati river meaning 'Brackish or bitter water' from the Tsonga word Ku Bava. It is so named due to the dry nature and many stagnant pools in this river. It is a misconception that the name is derived from the word Mbavala which means 'Bushbuck'... although one might be excused for saying so as the picnic site itself is home to many "friendly bushbuck".

In fact the local leopards like these tame bushbuck just as much, as some visitors to the picnic site might have realised when a leopard decided to go on a hunt in the middle of the picnic site !

Next up will be Masorini, Makhadzi, Mooiplaas, Babalala and Pafuri

Very intresting thank you Bush Andy

Thanks bush Andy, that was very interesting!!

Hello

As promised here are the remaining picnic spots of the Park.


Masorini


This is the "oldest" picnic site in all of Kruger. It is located on the hill of the same name and is the site where an ancient BaPhalaborwa settlement used to be. The settlement has been reconstructed and there is a small information centre describing the scene.

The picnic site is situated some 11km from the Phalaborwa Gate, on the road to Letaba. The word Masorini is actually the name of a person who lived there in days gone by. As the letters PI-NE appear on the trigonometric beacon on Masorini hill, it was incorrectly believed to be another name for Masorini (Piene).

The small borehole directly opposite the picnic site is a favourite haunt of an emerging tusker also named Masorini.


Makhadzi


This is the newest picnic site in the Kruger and is located on the giriyondo border post road. The word Makhadzi is actually a Venda word for 'Father's or chiefs sister'. Venda is not spoken heavily in and around this area of the Kruger park and the origin of the word is unknown. The original name for the creek, after which Makhadzi was named, was Ntsintsa which means 'chiefs kraal or main village' in Tsonga.

Makhadzi is situated in the open Basaltic plains of Kruger where the Mopane tree is abundant. The area is very good for ostrich, tsessebe and side-striped jackal.


Mooiplaas


Mooiplaas meaning 'beautiful place' in Afrikaans has always been a favourite picnic spot for seasoned Krugernites. The picnic site replaced the original Nshawu picnic spot which was situated on the old main road in the Nshawu river valley. It is a very shady picnic spot which looks out onto the Tsendze river. The area is reknowned for its huge elephant tuskers and large herds of buffalo which ofetn come to drink in front of the picnic spot when water is available.

The picnic spot used to be very isolated before the building of Mopani rest camp and was the only stop between Letaba and the Shingwedzi/ Bateleur area and as a result proved to be very popular, as it still is today.


Babalala


Babalala is the name of someone who lived here along time ago. The area is well known for many large tuskers and also the rare sable antelope. Here is a story from Snoobab, a fellow forumite:




Pafuri


This picnic spot is the most popular with bird watches as the area is perhaps the richest birding area in the whole country. The scenery of the area is also breath taking and is a must for anyone to visit! Pafuri picnic spot is situated on the Southern Banks of the Luvuvhu river and is named after the area through which the Luvuvhu flows... Pafuri being a distortion of the dynastic name for the Venda chief, 'Mphaphuli'.

The picnic spot was, for many years, situated downstream near the Luvuvhu-Limpopo confluence, but was abandoned because of the potential threat to tourists in the KNP resulting from the situation in neighbouring Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The picnic spot then temporarily moved to the Eastern bank of the Thambwe creek before it was moved to the present site during 1985.


Hope everyone is having a good day where ever you are !

Hello everyone!

Have decided to search for the names of some of the more prominent mountains/ hills in the park that are well-known and loved by all (then again what place in the Kruger is not loved right? ) Here are some of them:


Khandzalive


This large mountain is part of the South-Western hills of the park and is located 8.5km West of Malelane. Although this mounatin is unable to be visited by the normal tourist it is nevertheless an important landmark in the area. The mountain is the highest point in the Kruger park at 840m above sea level. Khandzalive is Siswati for 'the founding of a settlement'

Interestingly the Gray Rhebok, apparently confined to South Africa and Lesotho, was extinct in the Kruger National Park until May 1978 when twenty were translocated from Golden Gate NP and released on the Khandzalive Plateau.


Ship Mountain


This hill situated 11km South-East of Pretoriuskop was an important land mark for the early transport riders who traveled through the park on their way to Maputo and Mozambique to trade. It is so named due its characteristc silhouette, reminiscent of the keel of a ship. Sir Percy Fitspatrick used this name in his famous book 'Jock of the Bushveld' (1885). This name only stuck after this date (1885) as it was called various names prior to the book being written, such as 'langkop' and 'Umqwuqweni'.


Shabeni


Shabeni is a much loved hill 4km North-West of Pretoriuskop. White Rhino are often seen on top of this hill and is named after a person who lived here a long time ago. This area is the highest rainfall area in the park and this has contributed to the large granite domes visible in the area such as Shabeni


Muntshe


This hill is part of the Lebombo mountain range and is situated 15km North of Lower Sabie. It is named after someone who lived here long ago. This hill and the nearby waterhole of Muntshe became iconic in the epic documentary "Royal Blood".

The documentary followed the Muntshe Lion pride and another lion pride in Botswana. The documentary is one of the best ever made and follows the Muntshe pride through the rainy season and the great drought of the early 1990's where the pride spent 90% of its time around the Muntshe waterhole catching prey.


Nkumbe


This is arguably the best view point in all of Kruger. It is a part of the Lebombo mountain range and is named after a Tsonga clan name. Refer to the thread "Nkumbe: Sightings from the rooftop of the KNP" for more information on this amazing spot. It is also the spot where my Grand father's ashes were scattered... not a bad place to rest forever!


Longwe


Also an amazing lookout point, Longwe looks out onto the Engelhard dam near Letaba. Longwe is the name given to ' a net bag for the transport of maize cobs and fruit'... the name possibly referring to the similarity between the lumps caused by the contents of the bag, and the uneven topography of the Lebombo Range. Longwe is also the Tsonga name for the entire Lebombo Mountain Range.



Stay tuned ... will finish names of prominent hills in next episode ! Until then...

This is fascinating reading. ta BA