Back to Basics - the Primitive Trail*

[Peter Connan]

I recently had the opportunity to do the Primitive Trial in the iMfolozi.

This is a 4-night, 5-day walking trail in which the participants carry all their own kit, including food (which is supplied by the reserve and included in the very reasonable cost). They also provide backpacks, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, cooking equipment and eating utensils, although you can take your own if you prefer. All you need to provide is your clothes and toiletries.

I was invited by a group of guys from another forum I am a member of, guys I had never met and only knew on-line.

One is supposed to report at Mpila camp at 09h30 on the morning in question, in this case Tuesday the 12th of May. Because I had to work on Monday, I had to leave home around midnight on the morning of the 12th. The good thing is, at that time of day the roads are quiet and I arrived at the entrance gate shortly after sunrise and could take a leisurely game drive to Mpila. Game was a bit scarce though.





Arriving at Mpila, I outspanned in the day visitor's picnick sight, got dressed in shorts and organized my (mostly borrowed) kit.




Back to reception at 09h30, I met up with the other guys who would be doing the trail, as well as the two guides, Sibelo (an ex-Birdlife SA guide) and Magnifficent (Maggie for short).



We then headed off to the trails base camp. Before we got there, Sibelo spotted a pride of lion on a far hilside.



A bit further up the hill, another group of trailists could be seen looking at some Zebra.



At the base camp, we all got issued kit and food to carry, then had a cold lunch before heading into the bush.

[Peter Connan]

All of this stuff weighs probably 25-30kg. It's a very long time since I have carried this kind of load!
We started by crossing the river. To do this, we took our shoes and socks off. A number of guys didn't take enough trouble cleaning the sand off their feet, and suffered with blisters as a result, but I was one of the lucky ones.

Our first (and unfortunately only) kill: an Ant Lion strikes:


One of the nice things about walking is that one gets to see so many of the little things one never sees from a vehicle.








One also occasionally gets to see some of the bigger things in a way that one can't from a car...




To a large extent our route followed the beautiful river.There are a lot of Dagga bulls making use of the opportunity to get some rest away from the ticks...


Woolly-necked storks:

[Peter Connan]

At the same pool, there were three vultures and the largest terrapins I have ever seen.







At the next rhino midden, Sibelo explained the difference between white and black rhino scat, the different toilet habits of male and female rhino, the importance of dung beetles and how elephant flies roll.




Not long after, we bumped into a rhino.


Sibelo and Maggie drew it's attention while they got the rest of us behind a tree.


By the time we reached our kampsite, I was quite knackered, and it was quite a challenge climbing onto the rocky ledge that was to be our home for the next two nights.



Matt made us a great dinner of Spaghetti Bolognaise.

[Peter Connan]

Mel, know, although there were times I really wished I had.

Instead I took a 300mm f4, a 1.4 x teleconverter, a 55mm macro lens (which I virtually never used), and a borrowed 10-20mm Sigma lens and lovely Gitzo Traveller carbon-fibre tripod.

Careful, big file:


One of the features of the trip is that the trailists are expected to stand guard during the night. I ask for the last shift because that was when I expected the moon to be best for star photography. However, during the night it rained a little bit. I slept right through that, bit there were still some clouds lingering in the morning.


Our neighbours:




As we would be spending two nights at the same camp, we left our kit behind for the day's walk. About 400m from our camp was a river crossing where during the night Lion, Leopard and Wild dog had come to drink.




Water Thck-knee:


There were also fairly fresh tracks of both black and white rhino. We followed the dog tracks away from the river. The higher ground showed clearly that it had been a dry year, with very little grass, but there was still water in the pools.



Acacia Pied Barbet:

[Peter Connan]

I am told this is a flightless wasp:




Once in a while, we would take short breaks while the guides would explain some pertinent behaviour. In this case, it was the habit of mud-wallowing and rubbing, and how that changes the landscape.

Magnificaent:








Rhino mother and calf:


And another pair:

[Peter Connan]

Thanks Roger

About five minutes later we are wending our way back down to the river. I am second, right behind Sibelo. Some of the guys at the back are chatting, and the guide is unhappy about this. The bush is dense and he wants silence. I hear something, a sort of a low rumble, and try to attract his attention by clicking my fingers as instructed. I point to my ear, then to the bush to front left, but he doesn't undrstand.

I am trying to figure out whether it's an elephant or a buffalo when the lioness charges!
Up with the camera, but all I can see is brown. I lift my head and see that it's Sibelo's elbow as he aims the rifle, so I bend down and snap.


Darn twigs.


Go Away, she growls.

There were two or three lions, and the rhino we had spotted a few minutes ago were not far away, but Sibelo manages to extricate us.

Our target for lunch is this hill:


It's on the other side of the river, but this time we don't bother taking our shoes off. One of the lions was crossing too, but heads back when she sees us.


On the other side, Sibelo explains plant's defence mechanisms, and how animals combat that. Tannin, thorns, feeding up-wind and a number of other topics get a mention.

[Peter Connan]

Next we stumble across a wildebeest skull. Sibelo turns it over, to find this scorpion.


The view from our lunch spot is fabulous. While Maggie prepares a lunch of bread, salami, cheese and tomato the rest of us gaze about in wonder.


Lapped-faced vulture.




The Ndevu tries to catch some shut-eye.


The walk back to camp is uneventful, the animals resting in the heat of the day. We collect more firewood as we get closer to camp. After off-loading, a number of the guys take a dip.





In the early morning, a Rhino crosses the river.

[Peter Connan]

Day three sees us moving camp. The first step is to thoroughly clean camp. The guides are quite clever about this, preparing a bed of sand on which to make the fire so that after cleaning no trace remains of the camp except footprints. The pots and pans are scrubbed with sand and the ashes are buried.





At times we struggled with Sibelo's pronounciation. Lunch today was spent on Shagger's Rock. The sniggering confused him, but after he explained that Shaka used to hold court up here and throw the convicted over the edge we realised that it was Shaka's rock, we realized why he was confused.

















Shaka's rock:


I fail to see how anybody could end somebody else's life in the face of such beauty.

[Peter Connan]

Female Bataleur.




In hindsight, I am wondering whether this buffalo was still alive:




Our campsite for the next night seemed like luxury compared to the previous night. Soft sand instead of hard rock.

When we arrived, a pair of elephant were drinking just down the river.


Cliff Mocking-chat:


We could hear a spotted eagle-owl calling from one of the trees on the riverbank, so a couple of us (with Sibelo) took a walk to try and find it, but instead we bumped into this fellow:


And so we headed back to camp.

The rain on the first night must have been more extensive, as the river's level has rised substantially during the day. We get our water from the river, but not directly. We dig holes in the sand and allow the water to filter through. But now there is no sand on our side of the river, and we have to cross through hip-deep water 50m wide to draw water.






Careful, large file:

[Peter Connan]

Day 4
Since breakfast is just rusks and muesli, I tend to roam.







These lumps are caused by the African Monarch butterfly, which lays it's eggs in thin branches.


As the caterpillars grow, the twig grows around them.
In this case, they have already morphed.

This is what it looks like inside:


One of the many wait-a-bit species


White-fronted Bee-eaters