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I am planning a trip to Letaba (and Biyamiti) in July.

Does anyone have some tips to make the stay at Letaba the best ever?

PS The kids want to know if there is swimming available?

Peter V

Hi Peter
The road North to Mopani can be boring but a slow drive will reap rewards.
The road to Phalaborwa will be very rewarding especially around the Sable Dam
The river drive to Olifants will get you plenty of Ellies.
Biyamiti, can't comment other than I saw the biggest breeding herd of Elephant ever (150+) yesterday.
Enjoy!!

Hallo Peter
Lots of things to do in and around camp and believe it, somehow you never get enough time to do them all. Also check with reception too see if there is any specials on the activity menu.
I don't know your kid's ages but I've got three ranging from ages 5 - 9, and nothing bores them as much as long drives, so my advice to you would be to keep your drives shorter and during the early morning and late afternoon when its cooler.
Also take a game or two too keep them busy when the drive gets too monotonous.
I also bought a few cheap but effective palm binoculars that retailed at around R80-R120 a pair at a major retailer.
They love to watch game if they can do it with their own "stuff", especially the boys.
The local bushbuck residents within the camp is also a real treat for them since they are quite used to human activity and will walk right up to you looking for a snack.
A walk next to the fence on the river side of the camp just before dusk can also turn out into a adventure.
My wife and I one early evening stalked 2 elephant bulls for almost 60 meters not 3 meters away from them while they snacked on grass in the river bed.
As long as the animal is in a accommodating mood and you are downwind and real silent you can get away with a few tricks or two when its starts to get dark. (their eyesight ain't too good but they have excellent hearing.
That was a real experience, since the fence between you and them would be more of an irritation than a blockade should they decide to charge...

Hi peterv,

Just sitting and watching the river from the restaurant area or on the benches overlooking the river will make it the best ever. I also find night drives from Letaba very interesting. Birding is very good if you are interested. I love the call of the mourning dove in the camp!

Don't know how old the kids are but a bit of treasure hunting to find the tree with a cross engraved in it on the gravel roads turning right from the H1-5 between the camp and the big bridge over the Letaba river could be interesting.

I have seen numerous leopards around the camp, so good luck!

Letaba is a Beautiful Camp
I want to complement all at the Camp
We found the staff very friendly and helpful, from the shop assistant to the petrol attendent - she had a bautiful smile all the time
Also the camp is kept prestine clean.
It is in our opinion the "Prettiest" camp by far

Keep it that way Letaba

Best kept secret of Letaba is the Mantambeni hide north of the river on the way to Engelhard lookout point.
We always see eles drinking or crossing or buffs crossing. The water is now quite deep, but you should also see about 15 water bird species. A great place to have your breakfast.
We saw a kill there on Tuesday 14 June. A burchell's coucal took out a chameleon a foot from the hide base.

Comments on the tents after actualy having spent a night
Very nice and each tent out of view from the others.
shrubs, trees etc between them.
The showers and toilets were within easy walking distance

When exiting Letaba, turn right at the 4 way crossing (direction Mopani) After 7km turn right on dirt road S62 (you will cross the Letaba river first, turn of ± 500m further on). After ± 5km on the S62 you will see a signposted turn off on the right that will lead to Matambeni bird hide.

When leaving the bird hide you will travel on the same dirt road back to the S62. At junction turn right towards Engelhard dam lookout. After turning right take the next turn off to the right. This road runs next to the Makhadzi river and ends at Engelhard dam. We normally have some good elephant sightings on this road and also found leopard before.

This photo of Saraf looks as if it was taken from the second spot I described (Makhadzi river entering Engelhard)

@Saraf: Hope it is OK for adding a link to your photo

Does Letaba not mean sand? I think it is called the "river of sand" - can anyone confirm this?

The first part of the S46 were the track goes right next to the river has on numerous occations delivered lions to us. Once just after leaving camp at gate opening time we picked up the spoor of lions at this spot and after following it for 40 meters found 5 lions feasting on a buffulo only 4 meters from the road.

Can't remember ever driving the S47

Hi kelfro - you must mean the pools of water in the Letaba River bed that one can see from the camp. We always see ellies there and of course the naughty and noisy baboons that sleep in the tree just left of the verandah. A really great sighting was of about 40 odd marabou storks circling and then landing on the sand. It is such a beautiful place to sit and watch

Full size photos at
http://www.pbase.com/richardharris/letabacamp

Bushbraai report:
When we arrived at Letaba, I informed about a bush braai and was very happy to hear we could join one the same evening.
It turned out to be a Dutch family with 3 teenagers.
We had a great time together.
On the way to the braai we had a little sunset drive, but all we saw were scrub hare, scrub hare and more scrub hare.
The guide was starting to get a bit depressed.
We were starting to get hungry.
At last we saw the lights of the lanterns and the flickering of fire.
The braai spot is set under a huge Leadwood tree, estimated to be nearly 3000 years old!
The chef and the guard were already there and we were welcomed with a glass of brown sherry.
We sat around the fire for a while until dinner was ready.
The chef had prepared boerewors, lamb chops, steak and sosaties.
Next to the fire were potjies with mieliepap, different kinds of potjiekos, vegetables and a sauce with an exotic name which I seemed to have forgotten.
The table was beautifully set with candles.
We had a delicious meal and some nice wine to accompany it.
Halfway the meal a tree near us started to rustle and then another one rustled and shook violently.
You should have seen our faces!
It was a white faced scops owl that had dropped in to see what we were up too.
We had a lovely time and I can highly recommend the Letaba bushbraai to everyone.
There is a minimum of 4 people.

Just returned from 3 wonderful nights camping at Letaba. There is no grass left in the camping area at all as they have stopped watering and the lovely grass lawns in the front of the camp are also drying up fast. Will put some pics on soon.

The building of the new swimming pool is well underway and same with the new day visitors area.

I love Letaba. It is very shady with lots of bird life. There is always some game in the river bed to watch from the verandah.