EXPEDITION WILD
Mphongolo Wilderness
150 000ha wilderness section in the Northern Kruger National Park
Expedition Basics:
6 night extended primitive backpacking trail exploring the three main tributaries of the Singwedzi River
80km over the 7 days, sleeping under the stars, self supported, and only us for as far as the eye can see.
September 2017 - late dry season
​
Overview:
The trail started on the northern section of the wilderness area along the Mphongolo river where we walked westwards for two days camping on the river bank as we went reaching our furthest westerly point at one of the few hot springs in the Kruger. From there we tracked South for around 14km through the Mopane woodland to the Phugwane River where we cut back east for three days. This was by far the largest of the three river systems and we where fortunate to have two separate lion sighting. On our final leg we headed South again onto the Mbububu river system where we explored a number of Gabbro koppies giving us a unique aerial view of the surrounding wilderness and a great end to this epic trip.
​
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
​
Description:
Good rains in the previous season meant water was relatively easy to find, not flowing but in small pools dotted along the sandy river beds. Following the elephants we also dug for clean water in the river beds and it proved to be very palatable and cold which was some relief from the spring temperatures reaching up into the early 30’s.
The area is predominately Mopane woodland with a distinctive green riverine forest belt that cuts the otherwise dry landscape. The river systems have some spectacularly large trees, including Jackalberry’s, Ana Trees, Nyala Berry, and leadwood trees, with also some of the finest large Mopane specimens I have seen in South Africa, it reminded me of the Zambezi Valley and really gave meaning to how under estimated this Northern area of Kruger is.
​
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
The area at this time of year supports large numbers of elephants and buffalo and we enjoyed daily sightings of both breading herds and males groupings, general game was mainly made up of impala, good herds of Kudu, one herd was around 20, but we where never short of some large mammal moving around us. On the birding front non of the regular migrants had arrived yet but we where fortunate to see our first Wahlberg’s eagle of the season, but generally the birding was great and we ended up with 110 species with some of the group adding a good number of lifers to their list. The wilderness feeling was all around and the quite nights where broken with various animal sounds reminding us that we where only visitors.
​
The trail was a collaboration between Wayne Te Brake, from Lowveld Trails Co and Expedition Wild. I would like to thank Wayne for his guidance in making this such an epic trip, if your looking for a wilderness experience, off the grid Lowveld Trails are passionate about wilderness and extremely knowledgable.
 | | |
|---|---|---|
| |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |