Among the (grumpy) ellies

The Tshugulu 4x4 eco-route isn't widely marketed by the Mapungubwe National Park - actually it's only guests at the Tshugulu Lodge that really have access to it.

- Cyril Klopper

The Tshugulu 4x4 eco-route is about 13 km long as we drive it here, but there are ways you could double the distance. We, however, did the route the way the SANParks rangers told us to.

Before, the route was marketed as an activity for which you had to get an extra permit. Nowadays, though, only guests of Tshugulu Lodge are allowed on it, with a few exceptions.

At R1 780 per night for four people, it's not cheap to stay here, but if you consider the location, amenities, and size of the lodge and your free access to the route - it's good value for money.

Leave the lodge and drive 500 m back on the road you arrived on. Look out for the sign that sends you on the route (S22.26989 E29.20415) and turn left.

The road immediately turns into a twin-track. When we drove the route in the summer, it was overgrown in places and the wheel tracks of the previous vehicle looked to be a day or two old. Sometimes, you get a fork in the road, but then you simply follow the path that looks the most used. Rangers will block any access with dry branches where they don't want you to drive. (Just bear in mind that elephants sometimes shuffle these branches out of the way.)

A ranger at the lodge told us there's a picnic spot about 1,5 km into the route, but the grass was so thick, we couldn't find it. Later, we would learn the picnic spot's coordinates are S22.26240 E29.19827. A few metres before it, there's apparently also a turn-off to a lookout point, but we couldn't find that either in the long grass.