A sleep-out in the African wilds is a primal experience. Lying under a billion stars, it’s impossible not to ponder the world of our earliest ancestors: 200,000 years ago, did a group of wanderers choose this spot to survive the hours of darkness and take turns to tend a low fire, their ears tuned to the sounds of nocturnal hunters? Living in the modern world, it’s jarring to suddenly step back in time, to embark on foot in wilderness and to spend a night or two sleeping wild.
Thanks to the preservation of ancient bush skills, it’s possible for almost anyone to share this experience in South Africa, in the care of expert Trails Guides. It’s usually referred to as a Primitive Trail, in the sense of a bushwalk that adheres to the earliest stage of evolution. All that’s needed is ‘backpacking fitness’, the right kit, and a sense of adventure.
The wilderness expanses of Greater Kruger and Zululand are the main centres for this form of trails walking, but now there’s a new option close to Johannesburg that will appeal not just to residents of Gauteng, but international visitors with limited time. This season, Safari Wild Co. has started to run overnight trails in Dinokeng Game Reserve, just 1.5 hours from O. R. Tambo International Airport. The reserve may lack the scale and name recognition of the country’s bigger parks, but it has all the big game that thrives in its mixed biomes of savannah and grassland.
The name behind the new venture is Val Graus, a young Trails Guide who has logged over 1000 trails hours. As well as being a FGASA Professional Trails Guide, Val has added qualifications in Tracking and Track & Sign and works with NGO Global Conservation Force as a dangerous game and animal tracker instructor. He started his guiding career in Dinokeng, and after an interlude working on an Eastern Cape game farm, he has returned to the place he knows best.
Val’s trails run in the Mongena and Amakulu Wilderness sectors of the reserve. He says that “Dinokeng has a good number of lodges, and self-drive is allowed, but these areas have fewer vehicle tracks and a more wilderness feel, and we can avoid seeing other visitors”. Not surprisingly, he has grown very fond of this corner of Southern Africa. “It’s good walking terrain – not too flat, with these rolling hills and some granite koppies that are perfect for a scan or just to sit and see what turns up”.
Trails guests meet at Dinokeng Game Reserve, where vehicles can be safely parked. The trails run as one or two-nighters, and participants supply their own kit and food (a full packing guide is provided in advance). Safari Wild Co. can supply bivouac bags and sleeping mats which is especially useful for international travellers, to cut down on check-in baggage. Water drops are arranged at the leave-no-trace overnight sites to reduce the weight to carry.
The spring and autumn months are the best time to walk in Dinokeng, with winter months chilly and the summer potentially rainy and humid. This year, a one night trail costs R2,250 and two nights is R4,435 (Conservation Levy included). The trails are open to solo guests, subject to making a minimum group of four, and the maximum is eight, along with two rifle-carrying guides. Depending on the group size, each guest must take a 1-2 hour turn on night watch. Guiding in Dutch or German is possible for bespoke groups.
Val is in discussions to run similar trails in Mapesu Game Reserve, next to Mapungubwe National Park (both of which feature in Walking Safaris of Africa). With its splendid landscape filled with baobabs, lala palms and rock art – and no existing backpacking trails anywhere in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area – this would be really something to anticipate.
For further information and booking details, see safariwildcompany.com.
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