The Trails of Thabazimbi

They were barely home a month that they got invited to visit the Marakele National Park with Antoinette. This was an invitation with an agenda - to babysit while she was in the field!

Marakele is a game reserve near the town of Thabizimbi (mountain of iron) in the Limpopo province, they have both never been there before and were keen to get a glimpse of the place.

It was only an overnight trip. They planned to leave at 4 in the morning so that Antoinette has time to get into the field and do her thing. However, on the eve of the departure, things were pretty hectic at home: yoga class to give, visit to the doctor, dinner invitation and the whole trip to pack for. So, instead of sleeping at Antoinette's place that evening, they opted to sleep at home and wake up at 3+ that morning and go to her house and depart from there.

Sleep was little. She was going to take me along but found out that my laces were missing, so Redoute went with. They left Pretoria in good time. The baby was still a bit sleepy and slept for much of the road. She started fretting a bit before they stopped for coffee and rusks at a picnic spot on the road. Soon after they stopped Antoinette's prof and supervisor arrived.

Researchers in the field with ranger

The road was all right for many kilometres out of Pretoria but steadily worsened with small potholes and rather big and deep ones later. By then there was one of these 'abnormal' vehicles in front of them and it was rather difficult to overtake. But finally they were at the gates of the park sorting out accommodation. There was a mess up (as it often happens these days) and they could not find the booking Antoinette had made for us.

This park, we were told, is very nice but the management has demotivated the people who work there. Things are pretty much down hill in that area.

When the prof arrived he dealt with the people and they made an alternative arrangement. The agreement is that they go to the field first, when they finish working they will picnic there and then go in search of that accommodation the park people told them about.

On the way to the field - wetlands that they are studying - they saw numerous wildlife: white rhinos, giraffes, wildebeest, springbok, bushbuck and quite a few types of birds. At the field, they waited until the researchers were down in the wetlands and went off on a further drive up to the view point. By then the baby was wide awake and playing/tasting with whatever she could get her hands on.

At the view point

Klipspringer at view point

Up at the view point the view was stunning, complete with vultures flying and other birds. There were already a few cars there when they arrived. They stayed a while watching the great big birds in the sky and the small ones landing close by. When they started back down they saw a rather big dassie on a rock and two klip springers also nicely sitting on rocks, fascinating animals.

Picnic after field work

Back in the field they settled the picnic things under a tree and tucked into whatever there was being joined very soon by the rest of the research team complete with armed ranger. It was a jolly affair in the middle of the bush with the baby playing with anything she could get her hands on.
There was a definite rumble in the air and they opted to pack as soon as everyone had finished eating. Soon enough, it started to rain. They drove on to the tented camp where they were told there was a tent for them. Under the rain there was not much to see but at the camp, but once the rain had stopped for a bit they saw some bird life on the pond there and vervet monkeys came to see what they were up to.

Deck at the tented camp

They made tea there and were sitting enjoying the quiet for a bit before they were informed that the original accommodation booked for them was ready, they had to fetch the keys from reception. Off they went and on the way had nice, close encounters with more wildlife. The baby was thrilled.

At the look-out point

It took a bit of asking around to find the cabin where they were to sleep. It was in a nice gated space with electric fences. The apartment was adequate enough but the kitchen had not working space and no dining table either.


Since it was a braai that evening, they were not too bothered. Coen lit the fire and she sorted out the food things while Rean got the salad things.

By the time the bread was off the fire, there was lightning in the sky and it started raining steadily soon after. Luckily the meat was ready and they could enjoy a cooked warm meal because it was getting rather cool. By then, the baby was fretting again: too tired, too many new elements in her world and she was a bit fractious.

After clearing up, they showered and settled in bed early. It was hot in the room but it later cooled down and they could enjoy a good night's sleep.

Wild duck over the pond

The next morning, they packed the car under the rain and started out. The key they gave us for the gate was not for the one we came in. So, we could not go out though that one but had to go around the park, on a rather tricky dirt road.

They stopped by reception to see if they could settle the bill because no one was answering the phones since the day before and they did not know how things should be done. At reception they said that the phone lines were not working properly because of the rain and the gate they used to get to their rooms was not supposed to have been used but the elephants had pulled that sign off. As in nothing is their fault and they will not do anything about it either!

In spite of this, they accessed this park with no hassles, they were not hassled while inside the park either, no one imposed a 'guide' on them nor did they have to pay a fortune for this. And they saw lots of wildlife without much effort. Which is a big plus on visiting parks in other parts of Africa where the hassles are endless, the park fees are rather steep and you do not see much by way of wildlife unless you are lucky.

On the way back, they stopped a few times to stretch their legs and have coffee and walk the baby out of her car seat for a bit. The poor baby was confined to her car seat and got pretty cross about it but finally after screaming for a while, she settled into sleep. They got home early afternoon under more rain.