The Bushveld Beckons

Ah, the Bushveld! The word alone is enough to ignite your wanderlust. This week-long travel plan includes national parks and a few secret spots… and a campfire every night.

- Toast Coetzer

ROADS

Many roads in the Bushveld, including the tar roads, are in a poor condition. Rather drive this route in an SUV or a bakkie. (Any 4x2 with high ground clearance will do the trick.) Be careful on the smaller“tar roads” that haven’t seen a contractor in decades. There are sometimes more potholes than tar… Consider it part of the adventure!

The Bushveld is a mythical place. It brims with stories, with Jock’s adventures, and with big game hunters’ close calls. It’s remote and wild; a place of escape where you can light a fire at sunset and watch bushbabies in the branches of an apple-leaf tree. When the sun rises the next day, Swainson’s spurfowl will wake you with their raucous call, and you’ll hear a grey go-away bird in the canopy of a marula tree.

Somewhere in the Bushveld, you’ll come face to face with a baobab or a tall nyala tree; you’ll see herds of impala, maybe an elephant, and so many southern yellow-billed hornbills that you’ll grow tired of them.

Above all, you’ll come to the Bushveld to dream – of a time when life was simpler when that night’s camping spot was the only thing that mattered.

This route will take you to animals, birds and trees – and a few of our favourite places.

DAY 1 Marakele