Lonely Bull, Kruger National Park

Skaaphaas

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So for my 30th birthday my wife presented me with a booking confirmation for the above hike.

It's a 4 day, 3 night hike in the Kruger National Park. Everything must be carried in (and out again), and water will be found by digging in the riverbeds. We will be accompanied by two armed rangers that also act as trailguides. There are no designated camping spots, you walk until the ranger decides on a nice spot.

I am absolutely stoked. Our hike will be 6-9 July, winter here so longer nights than days (marginally so).

I already planning my lighting requirements. It's quite difficult as weight must be kept to a minimum, but I think my MH20nw and Olight S1 will suffice for all the lighting needs, along with a collapsible solar jar.

I must admit, the idea of sleeping with nothing but the thin nylon of a hiking tent between me and the lions is quite something :)
 

scout24

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Lions! Sounds like the armed rangers are a good idea. Can't wait to see pictures. Hope there's room for a camera.
 

Skaaphaas

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Yeah it's full-on Big 5 country. Elephant and buffalo sightings are practically guaranteed, but the carnivores are a tad more scarce.

Camera will be a non-negotiable item!
 

nbp

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Man that sounds amazing! Really looking forward to seeing pics! Your wife sounds like a keeper. ;) Keep us posted - I'd like to see what sort of gear you pack for the trip as well.
 

Skaaphaas

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This hike is hanging in the balance. I was in a motorcycle accident on 5 April, multiple compound fractures of tibia and fibula, few cracked ribs etc. After the whole thing getting infected I only got discharged from hospital this week.

On the road to recovery now, but I have a very, very long way to go.
 

nbp

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That is terrible! I hope you are able to recover quickly; those are some nasty injuries. :(
 

Skaaphaas

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Necropost.

This hike is still on and booked for the last week of April.

Still limping a bit but should be able to manage the hike.

Really, really looking forward to this one.
 

Str8stroke

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Wow, hope you heal up and can make the trip. I would consider bringing one of those roll up solar panels and one of those clip on Foursevens chargers. That would be cool way to keep the batteries charged.
Good luck.
 

Skaaphaas

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Thanks all.

We've heard from the guides that they prefer a low-light campsite at night, so no spotlights etc.

My lighting planning is currently as follows:

Wife:
Headlamp Tikka XP plus one set spare Energizer Lithiums
Handheld Olight S1 with primaries (1 spare)

Me
Headlamp Olight H1 Nova with primaries (1 spare)
Handheld Nitecore MH20 with 3400mAh battery (1 spare)

Tent

Light jar with solar panel, to be attached to backpack during the day.
 

Roger Sully

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I understand the low light campsite however, I'd still be more comfortable with at least 1 high lumen light "just in case" lol.
Not sure if I can imagine myself in that environment without a "night to day" solution!
 

Skaaphaas

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I understand the low light campsite however, I'd still be more comfortable with at least 1 high lumen light "just in case" lol.
Not sure if I can imagine myself in that environment without a "night to day" solution!
My MH20 at just shy of 1000 lumens is my highest-lumen light, though.

I am attaching a Glo-Toob to my backpack incase emergency signalling is needed.
 

Skaaphaas

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Leaving tomorrow, checking into the Kruger National Park on Sunday, and the hike starts on Wednesday. All set, batteries charged!
 

Capolini

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Have fun and be safe! I am looking forward to hearing about your trip and especially looking forward to the pictures!

If you see this guy below,,no worries,,,,,,,he looks like a Wolf but loves to run! We are closing in on 14K miles of hiking!
11484017113_130801e1dc_z.jpg
 

Skaaphaas

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Okay. Where to start? I cannot describe the experience in words or pictures.

We started out on Wednesday. We were dropped on the southern bank of the Letaba river, about 8km from the nearest tar and public access road. From there we hiked southwards.

Pretty soon we were shown where elephants dug for water in a riverbed, and were then shown how to do it ourselves. Much to my surprise, this hole in the ground was suddenly our life-line. Our only source of water, as sulphuric as it smells, and as yellow as it looks, and as organic (not in a good way) as it tasted, this was all we had.

We made camp about 200m from there in a nice bend in the river, with a rock face as backdrop. The night gave us sounds of scops and pearl spotted owl(et)s, hyenas and lion.

The next morning we kept south, following some fresh lion spoor for a possible sighting. Unfortunately they eluded us. We had a close encounter with a dagha boy (the name given to a lone buffalo bull that has been driven from the herd, that spends its time in mud (dagha) holes and have terrible tempers) when one of the ladies startled it during a toilet break, which made for a few tense moments. Luckily the sound of a .458 cartridge getting chambered made it think twice about a charge.

From there we walked to find water, to find it occupied by a big elephant bull. We sat on the banks watching him, with the wind blowing our scent directly toward him. He was not bothered, and after about 20 minutes he calmly walked past us, not 10m from where we were sitting. Unbelievable experience.

We had dug a fresh water hole and made lunch and had a siesta, from where we had a pretty hard walk to where we wanted to camp again.

Impossible as it seemed, this campsite was even more picturesque than the first, again in a dry riverbed. The guides let us decide where to set up camp, but after we chose, they pointed out that it's right next to a well-used elephant path, and that our presence may prevent them from drinking. We moved about 300m onwards.

We found a place to dig for water again, about 100m from the tents. This night the lions roared quite a bit, and we could audibly track the pride. I woke up early to take a leak, with the sky still very grey. As I finished I saw three big grey animals moving towards our water hole, and without my glasses I assumed them to be hippo. I made a tactical retreat to my tent, from where I got the bins, only to realise that it was 3 rhinos coming for a drink. They were very skittish, and when another hiker unzipped his tent, they vanished. Going to collect water for the day showed very clear evidence that a male leopard visited the water hole during the night as well.

We broke up camp, for another close encounter with a buff, and finally reached the Letaba river again. Our guides found us a shallow pool with no crocs, and we were able to cool down a bit. The feeling of running water is immense, after two days of having practically only survival water with us.

Our drinking water from then on came from the Letaba, which is quite polluted. Our water drops were used religiously from then on.

Our last camp was on the sand, on the bank of the Letaba. Absolutely breathtaking. Crocs and hippo around us all night.

The final day saw a short walk to the pickup point, where we were greeted with cold beers. After 4 days of suspect, luke-warm water, this went down very well!

I'll add pics as soon as photobucket and I see eye to eye again.
 

Roger Sully

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Glad you made it back safe! I'm sure that even as you type this the words can't actually describe the experience....
Looking forward to seeing the pics!
 
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