Following a small game path, our guide, Mark McGill, suddenly spots a lion and calls us over. As it stalks its prey, we sit enthralled, not envying the unfortunate prey. We are on foot and as close to the kill as humanly possible.
Time freezes as the prey falls into the clutches of the lion. But then the courageous ant manages to escape from its prey’s sand lair and the ant lion retreats angrily into its hidden sand cave again.
Later in the day, while hiking toward an isolated spring, we run into the roar of the ant lion’s bigger counterpart. But the lion is apparently mating and the king of the jungle is not likely to leave his love next for the rest of the day. But, unlike his cousins in the rest of the National Kruger Park, its mating is unlikely to turn into a voyeuristic free for all.
Lately the Kruger has gained a reputation as a place where crowded cars huddle together to catch a glimpse of one of the big five in the distance; a park where people speed along tarmacs to race to the next sighting, which can be seen from a distance as cars wait their turn to see a lion or an elusive leopard.
But the park also has a different, untamed side to it. In its far northern reaches, remote Pafuri — where we are busy stomping through the bush — is Kruger’s best-kept secret. The Makuleke concession, between the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers, is as remote as any far-flung park in the rest of Africa and offers a pristine beauty that has not been encountered by many in Kruger.
The 24Â 000ha area boasts well-developed floodplains, secret perennial springs and, of course, the magnificent Lanner Gorge, which remains inaccessible to most of Kruger’s visitors; it can only be reached on foot.
And this is where Mark and tracker Abednigo Masuku stomp into the picture. Wilderness Safaris operates a four-day Pafuri Wilderness Trail, during which this piece of paradise is explored on foot while getting up close and personal with the bush.
While the rest of the Kruger is chasing after the big five, the trail gives you the opportunity to hotfoot it after the small five, including the ant lion. On our trip we saw two porcupines hurrying out of their nest a few feet from us and extraordinary sightings of civet.
Of course the big five is out there, but for locals who are tired of the same old sightings, the bush walk offers an opportunity to see a deeper side of the bush, guided by the knowledgeable Mark. But there is also a certain adrenaline rush in smelling the roughness of a buffalo or the dust of an elephant scurrying on to a koppie.
On our last day, we even found footprints of a different kind — illegal immigrants who had crossed the Limpopo, either to poach or for a more permanent reason. The Limpopo made the trip easier, as it was dry as a bone. Ironically, the crossing was not far away from the infamous Crook’s Corner, where the Luvuvhu meets the Limpopo.
The trail starts off with coffee and rusks at base camp, a drive to the start of the morning’s trail and, afterwards, a light breakfast back at camp. The Limpopo valley temperatures are well known to create more than a light sweat, and so walks are limited to three or four hours in the mornings and late afternoons.
Trails are limited to eight people and anyone of reasonable fitness (or unfitness in my case) will be able to cope with the trail, as long as you drink a lot of water.
While many South Africans might balk at the price tag of this walking safari, it is currently the most affordable private trail in the Kruger.
Yolandi Groenewald was the guest of the Pafuri Wilderness Trail operated by Wilderness Safaris