UMFOLOZI WILDERNESS TRAIL

This was truly one of the best bush experiences I have had in all of my travels in African. Imfolozi is a popular Game Park in the Natal Province of South Africa. The Park attacks visitors from all over the world. Most of these folks participate in vehicle game viewing Safaris. The Park is famous for its population of both Black and white Rhino and of course features several other species including predators.

There is a large section of the Park that is dedicated solely for Wilderness Trails. In this area there are no motor vehicles at all, the Trail is done completely on foot, backpacking style. All participants carry all provisions that are required for the five days. True to my own nature of African Exploration my Guides and I set off on foot for the next five days. I was accompanied by our lead guide Wayne Saunders. Wayne has been guiding in the Southern African bush for over twenty years. In addition to his guiding, he also teaches the younger guides the ways of the bush. We had three of these fantastic youngsters on the Trail with us, Sipho Buthelezi, Siphiwe Mtetwa and Rodney Hlatshwayo. As I travel Africa one of the most fascinating experiences for meeting is meeting and interacting with local elders, so I had requested that an old man join us, his name is Baba Gumede Baba is about seventy seven years old and he is a Zulu. He is a retired Imfolozi Park Guide and new the area like it was his own territory. I do not speak any Zulu and Baba spoke no English, so I had the youngsters translate for me, but as I have experienced many times throughout Africa, all I have to do is be in the presence of one of these guys, the wisdom and vibe just flows from them to me! As we walked and walked, every time I wondered how Baba was doing, he always kept up with us.

The scenery was some the best I have ever seen in a Park, we followed the Imfolozi River most of the time. On average we covered about twelve kilometres per day. We did see rhino often in all different settings. In the evenings we slept outside without cover. One person must stay awake for night game watch while the others get some sleep. This is a very important time as one understands that while you are on night watch you are responsible for the safety of everyone. I had the first shift on our third evening. For me and I think for most folks it is a time for real inner reflection. About every five to ten minutes you must get up with a large flashlight and walk the perimeter of the camp. I had just completed a walk around and went to sit next to the fire. As I was sitting for only about two minutes something made me get up and shine the light to my right. As I did so twelve feet away from me was a Lion approaching. As I shined the light on her, she backed off towards a tree close by. I said Lion in camp and everyone got up fast. It turned out that there were three Lionesses checking us out. After about five minutes of circling our camp, they disappeared back into the bush. An experience none of us will forget soon!

The remainder of our Trail was fantastic. This is a trip anyone can participate in and I highly recommend it. In addition to walking, game viewing, the highlight is the fact that we spent five days with no vehicles, electronics, telephones, and we did not see any other people. There are not too many places remaining where one can experience the outside wilderness and your own wilderness from within!