Diary Entry 1 – Primitive Wilderness Trail

Diary Entry 1 – 1 June 2014 17H00

Day one of the trail done and dusted, I am now sitting on a large boulder overlooking the White Umfolozi River, sipping on a hot Bells whiskey topped up with fresh river water. The day got to a good early start with us preparing and packing all our food and kit for our five day adventure, the Umfolozi Primitive Trail. Our group would consist of Scott Ramsay, Pierre Pienaar, Christo Dippenaar, Pinkey Ngewu and myself, our guides from Umfolozi were head guide Nunu assisted by Nontobako. We were informed that there would be two more people joining our group, we met up with them at the starting point, and they were father and daughter team, Bruce and Meghan, ex South Africans returning for a visit after spending 14 years abroad.

Our Group

We were eventually ready to leave by midday, just before we left we were told to take off all watches and that no cell phones or tablets were allowed on the trail, this was a primitive trail and we would rise and shine with the sun, we were to be in no way bound or controlled by time-this I could get to like.
It was extremely hot, and the temperature rose well into the 30’s. Luckily for us it was a reasonably short trek on the first day and we only walked for about four hours. Though in this short time that we were walking today we got to see a good few animals, three white rhinos, and a couple of giraffe, several impala as well as zebra.
Our camp for the night was set up on a rock outcrop, on the banks of the river. We were protected by a hill behind us to the West and a river view spanning 180 degrees from North to South, overlooking a regular drinking spot.
Our packs were barely off and our clothes followed, as we went to go cool down and freshen up in the river, it is quite fast running but very shallow at this time of year but it still did its job after a sizzling hot day. This too would be our source of water for the next five days. By the time we had finished freshening up, Nunu and Nontobako had a fire going and were preparing the food for tonight’s dinner.
It was a good day, a bit tough getting used to having a heavy backpack on your back but I’m sure it will start feeling better by tomorrow.

It looks as though we have a great group of people and I am sure this is going to be a great trip.