The Manoutsa Trail - A Rumble in the African Jungle

Hiking Trail: Manoutsa Hike, J.G. Strijdom Tunnel, Blyde River.
Name of Reserve / Area: Manoutsa
Nearest Towns: Hoedspruit, Gravelotte, Nelspruit, Pilgrims Rest, Kruger National Park
Province: Limpopo Province
Country: South Africa

Duration of hike: 4 hours one way

Directions to get there: From Hoedspruit, you take the R36 and drive East. Pass the Manoutsa Resort on your right as you drive up the mountain pass. Drive through the J.G. Strijdom Tunnel. About 1 km after the tunnel is another craft market on the left. This is where the route starts. Do not attempt this route on your own or without a guide. You are welcome to email me should you wish to go on this route.



Contact Information: hiking.guide001@gmail.com

Best time of year to go: All year. In summer the lakes can be swam in, in winter its bearable from the African heat.

What costs did you incur to do this hike: R30 pp for the permit, plus costs for the guides available on request.

How safe is it: Well, this is Africa. In my opinion, this is on your own risk. You walk in the deepest darkest jungle. Its beautiful. There are all sorts of wild animals in the mountain. But hiking is an adventure and I did not felt threatened at all - especially being with an experienced guide.

Fresh Water: I would not drink this water, but that's my opinion.

Difficulty: Moderate hike, steep hills, dark caves.

Pets: Not a route to take your pooch on.

How will I rate this hike? Awesome!


I was fortunate to go and visit my best friend from school days in her hometown, Hoedspruit. One of the things we asked her to share with us, is to take us on the Manoutsa Hike.

This must have been one of the most scenic river hikes I have been on so far, please read on and see the pictures. Soon I will load a video that Bernet made, of this hike too.

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I have made them large enough
so that you can also save them as Desktop Images if you wish to do so.

We started off at the Manoutsa Holiday Resort, on the edge of the Olifants River, at the foot of the Drakensberg mountain.


Adele has friends who know friends that gave us a ride to the top of the mountain. I know it was cheating a little (getting a ride to the top), but beggars cant be choosers!

The drive to the top takes you back through the J.G. Strijdom Tunnel, to the craft market almost right next to start of the hike route.


We got dropped off at the Craft Market, and immediately crossed the road into - what one can genuinely call - the real African jungle.


We came upon many waterfalls and lakes all along the way down.


The walkway is not very clear and this hike must be taken with an experienced guide like Adele.




The route takes you through a few caves, torches and careful treading is par for the course.






Whilst Bernet and I were sitting here watching Adele swim, I noticed a Vine Snake (or Twig Snake) perched on the bush in front of me. Adele told us that these snakes are so poisonous, that they do not have anti-venom for them. If you get bitten by a Vine Snake, the venom thins out your blood to a point that your entire body starts bleeding until you bleed to death. Interesting to say the least. Can you expect anything less than danger in a jungle like this?


More steps and rocks to scramble. This route was not very exhausting, but its not for the faint hearted.


This is another little lake which Bernet likes to jump off the rocks. If you look careful, you will see her flying through the air in the picture above.


When one drives through the J.G. Strijdom tunnel, you will notice a small waterfall from the road. This is a part of the Blyde River, flowing towards the Olifants river. Adele took us right to the bottom of this waterfall, which turned out to be much bigger when standing under it. Each of us had a turn to get a free back massage. The locals believe to cleanse themselves under this waterfall and to gain the powers of the water. We surely did that - and oh what an amazing feeling and thing to experience.





More steps, ropes and rocks to scramble down...





Each lake that we passed by seemed more beautiful than the other.



Finally as we reached the end of our walk, at the bottom of the mountain, we continued to follow the path through the local village. There we had to give them our mountain pass which we paid for at the Manoutsa Holiday Resort.



Im really sad that we unfortunately lost all our pictures of the village and its locals, but it gives me a reason to just have to come back again. The video that I will be loading soon has some pics of the locals and the village, so keep your eyes open for when I load the video.



My best memory of the village was seeing a little baby goat (kid) lying in a corner on some hard rocky ground, in a small patch of shade - desperately trying to avoid the heat of the day. He must have been about a week old. I wiggled myself into the typical 'dilapidated goat pen' and walked over to pick him up. At first he moaned terribly when I tried to pick him up. But after a cuddle and some proper TLC, it was so sad to see how he moaned even more when I put him down to continue on our road further. He came running after me, as if to say "hey! where are you going now!? I want more of that love-stuff!"


Pictures by: Alex Aitkenhead ...shot bru! they rock as usual. Jx

There is a first for everything

Herewith another excerpt from the tales at Campfire Safaris


by Ruben Rekker - Netherlands 29 July 2006

Actually the whole 4 weeks were one big adventure to me. My first trip to a country far, far away all by myself. Every day I saw,learned, smelled, tasted or experienced something new.

My first time in the bakkie.
Laetitia picked me up, together with Miki and I had to sit with all my stuff together with the black working familiy in the back. I looked at Maria and she began to laugh. I thought, why is she laughing? Is it my clothes? Hair? I kept wondering what it was the whole ride. Later I heard from Miki that she was laughing cause I was sitting there so tight with all my stuff.

My first arrival at Campfire.
It was like a little paradise in the dangerous bush. I saw the palm trees and rondawels and in the distance you could see a giraffe. I was brought to rondawel number 5, my lucky number. When I saw the kitchen and all those tables I thought that all those tables would be occupied at every meal and that there must be lots of people staying.



My first dinner.
I was very hungry and normally everything you eat at that stage will taste good. I reckon we had potatoes with chicken, around the campfire with the other students who just came back. I was a bit weird, I had so much to ask but I was a bit scared because I knew that if I said something, the whole group would be listening. Well, I asked anyway and they were nice.

My first bushwalk.
This was pretty funny, because I really thought that we were going to see rhino's and lions. I remember Thel saying that she had never seen a rhino there. I said; well, maybe today! And I started scanning for rhino's. I was still feeling pretty sick and I can remember that I was dying for a cold glass of coca cola after the sun burned for an hour on my skin.

My first lecture and introduction.
I learned about the dangerous 9 and I got information about the excursions. They all looked very nice and I would love to do them all! About all the other lectures; Laetitia has a natural talent for teaching.

My first stir fry.
To honor Michel's birthday, and I understood why.

The first time a monkey tried to grab my apple.
When I was peacefully eating my apple, I suddenly felt a hand grabbing my apple. It was a monkey! I looked at him, he looked at me. He showed his teeth like, come get some! 1-0 to the monkeys. Well, I still had the apple.

My first shots with a real gun.
Highest score! Someday I will be as good as Tinus.

My first elephant encounter.
Was pretty boring, he was sleeping against a tree.

My first encounter with Marty.
Tinus, she was exactly like you said =)

My first survival.
We were placed with the others, who were already there for 24 hours. Michel, Kelly and I went to catch fish. We made a hook with rope on a stick and stood aside. I thought we might have more chance if we went to that tree laying in the water. I climbed it and felt immediately fishes grabbing my hook. But the rope broke. The second try with new rope had more succes, Thel catched it. We had 1 fish for dinner that night.

My first bushwork.
We had to dig for sand a to put it on the roads. I actually expected that there was much more work to do. But I liked it that we were seen as students and that we were there to learn.

My first night on the tower.
We looked at the stars and saw many shooting stars. It was really, really nice. You don't see that in Holland .

My first feeling that I felt like being home.
When we were at the horses and had to wait 2 hours for Laetitia cause our ride stopped much earlier. The woman who was leading us disappeared inside and left us waiting in the cold. I felt very happy that I was placed at campfire and not at this ranch. I talked to a volunteer who arrived the day before, earlier. I felt sad for her. So, Laetitia picked us up, with MD Greyling on we all sang as loud as we could. I couldn't stop smiling. We were going home.

An Encounter with an African Lion

A story of a volunteer student and their remarkable encounter with the King of the Jungle:

How my day started:
We awoke at 7:30am to the calling voice of Brass our guide. Unusually for the South African way of life her call sounded quite urgent ...

The 'shocking' news that followed:
We were gathered in the kitchen and given the announcement that we were about to embark on a 24 hour survival which included a Treasure Hunt! We were to leave with only the clothes we were wearing, no food or water was allowed (Brass had padlocked the fridge and food cupboards!) only cameras to record our findings. Our sleeping bags would be collected later that day. The group of 25 people were divided into two and sent out on a Treasure Hunt, with a list of objects, animals and tracks to find.

Gathering a respectable collection of Shit:
My team set out to the right of the Campfire entrance. There hadn't been many sightings of animals in the last two days and the Bush seemed relatively quite. We concentrated on the list, gathering a respectable collection of shit from the native animals, large and small. We recorded many of the tracks, birds and insects that we came across, and now seemed to be getting close to the end of our Treasure Hunt. One of the last instructions was to walk in front of the Hawk Eagle's nest. We were lucky to witness one of the birds actually sat in its nest high above us.

The first set of lion tracks...
We approached the dust road and to my excitement I noticed several lion tracks that appeared to be fresh. We had seen some on a previous game drive but I had never come across them myself. We circled a good example and took a photograph. As we moved on I came to the front of the group. We were close to the end and were wary that the other team may have finished first.

Our first encounter...
As the end came in sight we suddenly heard a loud noise. It sounded as though a car was moving quite closely through the Bush. There are many cars that move through this area so we were not alarmed. The sound continued - like the revving of an engine. A member of my team even joked that it could be someone here to rescue us from our 24 hour survival! Suddenly, within a second, we knew that it was not a car but the almighty roar of the African King. To our right he sprung out of a bush which had camouflaged him perfectly. Being at the front of the group I was one of the first to witness his enormous jaw of teeth and impressive black mane. His name, as known to the Balule Nature Reserve, Big Boy

!

His call hit us like a brick wall, and the shock was as if a bolt of lightning had hit me. He must have been only 20 metres away, and believe me that is too close for comfort when on foot! There is nothing like a lion's warning roar. It passes through you with such conviction that you understand perfectly what he wants you to do. In that split second I learnt of the difference between man and Lion. Even though I have spent some time at Campfire I did not fully understand the power of a lion's presence. We were truly in his kingdom; and he did not want us there.

What to do when you 'run' into a Lion:
When a lion jumps out at you every ounce of your body wants to run. It is our natural instinct of survival that tells us to run from danger. However as you will well know this is the one thing you do not do in this situation. I simply remember spinning on one foot simultaneously towards my friend Kat to see the rest of the group only just realising there was a lion. I heard Brass to the right of me shout the instructions: “STOP! DON'T RUN! GET BEHIND ME, NOW!”. It is in these moments that you truly appreciate the work and training of an experienced nature guide like Brass.

How we survived this attack:
We followed Brass' instructions, grouped together to create an object bigger than the lion, and slowly backed away. I was too nervous to walk away with the lion to my back, therefore I walked backwards, treading on many thorny bushes on the way. My heart has never pounded so fast and the adrenaline had seriously kicked in by now. My legs were bleeding from the thorns and I think my face may have lost its tan!

Back on 'safe' grounds:
Brass had now contacted Laetitia and her group joined ours. Laetitia announced that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we were now to approach the lion as a bigger group. At this point my survival instinct was working strong and the last thing my body wanted to do was walk back. However I understood that the lion would not approach us in a large group and he would warn us if he wasn't happy. I think we might have only walked 15 steps when he practised his vocal cords once more. It wasn't as close this time but BOY did it have the same effect! After many minutes of looking through the bush Laetitia had a visual but she was unsure how many lions there were, so we were instructed to walk to a safe spot where we would be picked up.

The reason he was so aggressive:
From the safety of our vehicle we approached the lion once more. By now we had noticed many vultures circling the sky. A KILL! Now my shock had changed to excitement as I knew how rare it was to walk into a lion and its kill! As we drove down into the dry river bed the carcass came in sight. It was a young, female buffalo. We had seen buffalo for several weeks leading to the kill. It was then, there to my right, that his majesty casually walked to the right of our vehicle. Being on the right side of an open top “Bakkie” (pick-up) I wasn't feeling too comfortable, in fact I might have tried to slide under the seats at this point! I could now see how huge he truly was.

The rest of HIS family:
Driving between the carcass and the lion his partner came on show. He had a young lioness with him, her coat was almost perfect. She was beautiful! They were alone and had probably ventured out for a little mating time. Maybe they thought a buffalo would be a romantic meal - yummy! The buffalo's body had been devoured, only it's head, limbs and exposed ribs remained.

Inspecting the carcass of the buffalo:
After about ten minutes, the lions moved off into the Bush and Laetitia felt it was safe to investigate the carcass. In groups of four we each inspected the carcass to see how the animals and vultures had eaten this animal. As a part of your learning experience at Campfire you learn of the Clean-Up Company, therefore it was important that we observed this first hand. Rigor mortis had not yet set in, meaning it had been killed in the early hours of that morning. The blow flies had began to crawl over the remaining meat and soon its body would be consumed by the scavengers of the Bush.

As the last group were about to look at the carcass we heard Big Boy once more from the rear of the second car. He was now ready for us to leave, and we were more than willing to please him!

Bed Time in the wild:
That night we slept 100m from the carcass in the dry river bed. Even though I had been scared, the opportunity to hear lions at night while sleeping under the African sky was not one to be missed. As we sat baking stick bread on one of four fires surrounding our camp we suddenly heard the roar of the lion once more. With the wind being so fierce that night the sound coming from the direction of the kill seemed as though it was right next to us. The five huddled around the nearest fire, including myself and Laetitia, jumped and ran to the furthest fire. We later leaned this was probably another male fighting over the carcass, and had nothing to do with our presence ... phew!

That night as I lay there trying to sleep we heard the lions many times. Their calls are unlike anything you will ever hear, and we knew that they weren't far away. On many occasions we could hear twigs being snapped around our camp, and the thought of having a wee in the dark was now quite scary. I never thought I'd be scared to go to the toilet, or should I say Bush toilet!

How safe were we that night?
As my group awoke at around 5am to leave for another project the car lights illuminated the floor. There on the sand, just a few meters away from our camp were dozens of fresh lion tracks. I guess it doesn't get much closer than that!

A story of a life-time:
I now feel extremely privileged to have walked into Lions, and feel this story will be told for decades to come. It isn't until you experience an African animal in its natural environment that you sincerely appreciate its existence. Seeing them in the wild is the only way to see them and I hope this remains the truth for a long time to come.

I would like to thank Brass, Laetitia, Adele, B and the rest of the Campfire staff for making these experiences so special and unique.


Laura Preston - Written by Laura Stacy Preston and experienced by the Campfire Crew August-September 2008

Source: Campfire Safaris