Nyalaland Wilderness Trail

[Dindingwe]

The Nyalaland Wilderness Trail is one of the most remote of the Kruger, located between Punda Maria and Pafuri, along the Madzaringwe River which is a tributary of the Luvuvhu River. The camp hidden in a secluded place, is one of the best in the country for bird watching and various localised species such as Pel’s fishing Owl, Verreauxs’ Eagle or Cape Vulture, which nest in the nearby cliffs.

The trailists arrive at the trail camp late afternoon and stay 3 nights. The first evening, they have the opportunity to sit around the fire, socialise, listen to night sounds of the camp which is not fenced. The mornings start before the crack of dawn with a small breakfast after which the walk will start. After a brunch and a siesta, the afternoon activity consists of a short walk and traditional sundowners. A good meal is served in the evening.

I booked the Nyalaland trail in February 2017, specifically for the birds. I was not informed that the Nyalaland Camp was being restored at that time and was closed, and that another temporary camp had been built, closer to Punda Maria to accomodate the trailists. If I remember correctly, the original camp must have reopened by now.

Here are the maps. I will put some pictures a bit later.

[Dindingwe]

As the trails begin either a Wednesday or a Sunday, I booked for Wednesday 22 February 2017, as I needed some days to go up to Punda Maria from Maputo. But on the 16 February, hurricane Dineo hit Mozambique and continued its way, on 18 and 19, to the northern Kruger. When I arrive at Crocodile Bridge, I am informed that the gravel roads as well as the wilderness trails are closed in that part of the Park. Every evening, when I arrive in a camp (Satara on the 18, Shingwedzi on the 19, Sirheni on the 20, and Punda Maria on the 21), I ask for news, and fortunately the trails reopened precisely on the 22. But in Punda Maria they tell me that they fear some flooding in the trail temporary camp, so the trailists will be accomodated in Punda Maria and will leave every morning by car to the point from where the walk will start. They leave me the choice to do the trail or to be refunded. I am a bit disappointed but decide to do the trail.

Although the Trail Camp is closed, we drive there to have an idea of what we missed :

Nyalaland trail temporary camp

Luvuvhu River right in front of the camp

[Flutterby]

What a pity the trail camp was closed!

Looking forward to reading about the rest of the trail.

[Dindingwe]

During our various walks, we did not see much wildlife, but the sceneries were great and it is always exciting to walk in the wild. Here are some views :

A tributary of the Luvuvhu and cliffs (about 30-40 m high) where raptors usually nest, but we did not see any.

The view from the top of a kopje, where the water can remain several months after the end of the rainy season.

A broader view of the Luvuvhu River.

[Dindingwe]

We also visited the Thulamela archaeological site. It is a stone city, with a royal enclosure like in Great Zimbabwe, and was occupied from 1250 to 1700. About 2000 people lived in the walled city. Archaeologists excavated an ancient ceremonial center, many graves and found signs of trading (gold, ivory, glass beads and corn).

Thulamela :

[Lisbeth]

What a pity that you had all those mishaps and the weather does not look to good either, but the scenery is great and history from way back is always interesting. The animals must have hidden during the hurricane and had not come out yet

[Richprins]

Lovely stuff, Dingwe!

And great from SANParks to organise around the weather!

[Flutterby]

Lovely scenery...and so green! Thulamela looks really interesting.

[nan]

it seems I went to Thulamela

very interesting to see what a trail is
I never dare to be part of one... because I'm.... I was traveling alone

[Dindingwe]

Thanks to all

No, the weather was not good at all. We had rain every night, but not during the walks. We had sometimes a kind of drizzle and the grass was totally wet, so it was not so pleasant to walk long distances.

And yes, Thulamela is a nice place. The interpretative center is very interesting but I did not take any picture of the various boards.

Nan, I was alone too during this trail as my wife did not want to walk for 3 days just to see some birds (that I actually did not even see... she is not a keen birder). Some trailists were informed several days before that the trail camp would remain closed and that we would be at Punda Maria and they decided to cancel their trail. So we were only 2, with 2 guides and we were in a big cottage at Punda Maria, each of us in his own bedroom.

The trails are limited to 8 persons and the camps have 4 tents. What you could do, and what I will do for my next trail if my wife persists to refuse to come with me, is to book as late as possible for a trail where there is very few reservations, hoping that no one or very few people will book after you. So you will be able to have a tent for your own.

I would like to do Napi trail or Sweni trail, a topic on these two trails would interest me very much !