SANParks.org Forums

Hi Walt,

How about doing the Olifants riverwalk? The focus during these walks is on river animals like crocodiles, hippos and birds! The walk starts at 9.30 am so you can easily be there on time, when staying at Letaba. The walk takes 1,5 hours and it costs somewhere around R110.

I did the walk myself in August and it was easily the best walk I have ever done. (I have also walked at Satara, Berg en Dal and Lower Sabie) I posted some pictures here.

DinkyBird and Hawk also did the walk and Hawk posted a great report about it.
At One with the Olifants - Sept 2006

Open vehicles , walking and following tracks & the signs of big game all around , rangers walking with .458 rifles and bullets straped to there belts ...
What more do guys need .

I would have chosen letaba , purely because you have 3 nights there .
Plenty buffalo , elephant and hippo there also .

If you want to take anything with , get a small backpack , take a couple of waters and maybe an energy snack along , let the lads carry it .
There is a small breakfast , and a juice that the rangers carry , but I find I need more liquid refreshment than just that .

There is no need for any books , the guides are normally walking bush librarys .

Why not take a sunset drive , instead of a 2nd walk .

Did the Letaba walk and despite not seeing any big game apart from the backs of two hippos in the water (very small pools) it was very worthwhile.
The boys were thrilled at the "danger" aspect and found spoor everywhere that the guides missed.
They now want to become guides themselves.
The hippos did give us all a fright though (especially the one ranger).
When we came across this small pool in a Letaba tributary, we were very close to the hippo before we spotted it.
We had to make a quick and silent retreat because apparently they feel very threatened in such confined areas.
Two week earlier the above mentioned ranger had to kill a charging bull on a morning walk when it was surprised by the group.
The hippo dropped only 5 metres from the two rangers, with their guests (two married couples, one from Germany, the other Australia) screaming and running in all directions.

I must mention our lead guide on this walk (think the title is 1st rifle ?). Her name is Saskia.
She is very friendly, approachable, knowledgeable and bush wise.
Compliments to her !

Hello Mopani and welcome

If you are doing on one of the official trails....
take your own wine and beer.
good hiking shoes
lots to drink
camera equipment
I needed a sleeping bag and pillow, but check on that
torch
maleria stuff
light shoes for the camp
both light and warm clothes
books
wind breaker and a rain jacket
a sense of humour.

other than that,
toothpaste
soap
shampoo
.....

sammylou
Took this from the Roodewal page

.

If i read this correctly it can be booked .
But i believe Gwen is right about the amount of people
We once had a bushbraai canceled because we were only two attending
Try to email SANparks HQ

Timbo, I think they charge higher rates if you are not staying in accommodation the the park.

Hello dear forum members- We are planning our Olifants activities for August and wonder if it is possible to do both an afternoon walk and a sunset drive on the same day. How close are the the start/end times (ie do they overlap?)

Also, what are the opinions about the mountain bike ride? Does it really add something to the bush experience, or is it just a guided walk in disguise?

natbro

IF i remember in May 2006 it was not possible to do an afternoon walk and a sunset drive in the same day because the afternoon walk begun one hour or one hour and a half before the sunset drive ( my husband and my elder son were on the afternoon walk and me and the younguest on the sunset drive ) ; don't know for august . Last year i went with my sons on the sunset drive and after there was a night drive , and there i think it's possible to do an afternoon walk and after a night drive .
At Olifants you have also river walks , very nice to see hippos close in the river at 9 and a half in the morning .Only a little short as it takes 1,5 hours ...

Anne .

Thank you Anne Catherine- I didn't know about the river walks as they aren't on the master list of activities on the Sanparks website. Did you call Olifants to book the river walk or arrange it when you arrived at the rest camp?

Hi natbro,

You can book the walk at reception. It's a lovely walk, I did it last year in August.

Here's a report by Hawk and DinkyBird.

Natbro ,
I think for the river walk we arrived at 12 o' clock at Olifants and reserved at that time a sunset drive for the evening and a river walk for the next day.
we were only five for the river walk.
There is a short drive before you arrive near the river, we saw two beautiful rhinos, the lonely ones we saw in 15 days with an other one we saw near Bangu waterhole .
We never reserve before activities, no problem in the north and in the center usually, sometimes you have private drive or private walks, but you must take care on weekends .....specially at Skukuza .
Anne .

Hi,

I am new to this forum and hope someone can help me. I go to the Kruger Park at least once a year, but since I am living in the Cape, I can't get there so often.

We have decided to go in December / January (new time of year for me) and I wanted to book a bush walk from Talamati. I phoned the camp and they advised me to book when I check in. How good are the walks from Talamati? Do you think that they will availability then?

I will appreciate any feedback on this. Thanks.

Hi Liora,

Keep an eye open for future Cape Town meets and we can answer you in person.

Talamati is like any other camp. 2 walks on 2 consecutive days can be totally different.

Honeybadger, sable and serval are sighted around the camp and I have seen the big 5 minus leopard, but wild dogs are now in the area as well.

Pot luck??

During a morning walk at Lower Sabie we twice had to make tracks quite fast when we walked into two black rhino's in two separate locations.
One gave an almighty snort when he got our scent and pawed the ground.
He then wheeled around to determine where we were.
We moved somewhat sharply across a dry riverbed and up a hill, into a thicket, where we (still out of breath from the first encounter) walked into another black rhino.
We then beat it out of there quite fast, again.
Luckily neither tried to follow us.
Nice adrenalin rush.