Camping at Makuya, Matla Noka and Kruger

[Music] Hello everybody welcome back to the channel and happy 2023 we are on our way to the Limpopo province of South Africa it's time to visit a new place called matronoka and we're revisiting McQueen Nature Reserve which I'm quite excited about and then stopping over in Kruger National Park for a few days on our way back I'm joined by Evan Ryan uh they're busy with a product shoot but I thought I'd bring you along for the ride foreign then onto makuya nature reserve and finally the Kruger National Park it's January 2023 so it's summer in Limpopo the first stretch of the trip is mostly on the N1 Highway [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the bush is looking great after the recent rain after about two hours we're in the Waterberg [Music] you'll find matlonoko on Google Maps but it hasn't been added to track South Africa yet the short and Scenic dirt road leads to the campsite [Music] [Applause] [Music] we've reached matlanoka it was a good three-hour drive so it's not bad from joburg and this is really really really nice place let me show you around there's only one campsite for large groups at the moment with more to follow soon the campsite has great shade and it's right next to the river the abolitions feature a kitchenette a flushing toilet and hot water shower water is not potable though hot water is provided by a donkey a fire water boiler and it works great there's also a large Boma with fire pit scenery around the campsite is stunning especially along the river [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] thank you foreign foreign spot hey the campsite's just opened we wanted the first visitors here and it's under a massive tree and everything's green right on the river we've got some clouds pulling through but it's a really nice campsite it's quite luxurious like all the bathrooms and stuff are really nice last night we chilled by the fire and they've got all these lights behind the fireplace and it was an incredible evening and yeah I'll give it 10 out of 10 as a campsite and not sure what we're doing today maybe we go for a game Drive later we did have some in yala and bushbuck through the camp yesterday but yeah just a great campsite and tomorrow where we off to tomorrow hey we're off to a to get revenge on a place uh we're off to makuya Nature Reserve there on the border of the Kruger National Park uh it's quite a long drive as far as I know but we want to go there when it's green and maybe try out a few different spots we didn't really get to explore the area so we definitely going to enjoy macquia and then we're going into Kruger to tenzi again so yeah it doesn't get much better than that yeah good thanks that was last night and when did you sleep well I slept well very well knew yeah I slept very well I think it's one o'clock in the afternoon I slept very well thank you matanoka provides guided game drives to explore the reserve what's going on what's going on here your qualified guide we'll show you around and there's plentiful game on the reserve you can expect lots of Planes game like giraffe zebra and wildebeest this Reserve definitely has some of the best scenery the Waterberg has to offer tree frog eggs there is also a sunken height that's great for bird watching and photography there are also a lot of historic mining sites on the reserve these all date from around the 1800s there are around 40 kilometers of hiking and mountain biking trails on the reserve be careful though there's also buffalo on the reserve we thoroughly enjoyed the self-drive route as well it's been today at uh Madre nooka and this place is amazing the views here are stunning just have a look at this I really enjoyed matalanoka and will definitely be back here soon foreign [Music] early morning we are on our way to makuya Nature Reserve it's about five hours drive but with filming it's probably more like seven hours drive um we're meeting uh Heinrich which is in one of my previous videos uh in Luigi hard first as well because uh they've got to actually recover a vehicle um that ran out of spare tires um on the lava Trail which goes through Maguire so yeah see you on the other side the five hour drive to the far north east of Limpopo takes us through Louis trichardt and it's very scenic [Music] just stopped at electric heart for a fuel pump stop and we've met up with Heinrich he's brought the roads of two spares in uh queer game reserve on the living room Trail so they're going back to fit new tires and then we'll find some nice wild camps inside bakuya as well [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] right so we had another amazing evening around the fire last night and this morning we left early matla Norco we left this morning at five o'clock and uh yeah what an amazing stay really an amazing place a new place that's just open and we are actually we've almost arrived but we're on our way back to a place we have been before makuya Nature Reserve uh yeah we went there I think about two or three years ago but we've actually met up with our mate Heinrich and he knows makuya really well so he's going to show us a different area of mokuya because last time it was amazing but it was quite rough and uh not really any wildlife and and the scenery became sort of boring because we only traversed a small part of mcquire not knowing it so yeah looking forward to it he's going to show us a different area of makuya areas had a lot of rain clearly we're not entering through the main gate this time [Music] so we've reached makuya Nature Reserve uh we used the musundu gate they came and opened for us which is a sort of along Midway of the reserve which is not normally a tourist interest gate because that gives us uh easier access to the Land Cruiser where we have to go and the place of tires so yeah it's quite an adventurous already much of a road here let me show you foreign Chris you made that look easy my man well done I don't know if you can hear it he's worried that if he's the fourth the last vehicle I he thinks it's gonna be a odd one so we had our first water crossing the last time the last time I did a water crossing in the 200 it didn't go so well a little bit nervous foreign [Music] hectare Limpopo box Reserve sharing a fenceless border with the Kruger National Park this little known Reserve definitely appeals to the more adventurous Overlander this is a magic Wilderness and it has a very non-touristy feel to it wow so uh we'll hit a change I don't think anyone's done this road in Shore Maybe two three months very overgrown but it's just stunning we're now following the fence of the makuya reserve it's quite a substantial fence and uh just a lack of opportunity to see a new part of makuya and a new part of Limpopo never been in this half of macquia the bush is just looking amazing Summit green it's uh yeah having an amazing time hey yeah just great to be out to the gents again and a nice 4x4 experience some nice River Crossings and who knows where we camp tonight this is Adventure this is why we do this just awesome the going is pretty tough in some places [Music] we soon reached the abandoned Land Cruiser foreign tires and it's around 40 degrees Celsius be careful please yeah otherwise Chris is getting a million views foreign the cruiser is soon sorted and we're heading to camp there's another snag though okay so a little bit of an update we left um the ranger because uh it's got a little clutch issue that I'm sure you're going to be able to sort out but the reason why we left it in the Echo up at the top of the hill there is this road is hectic just look at how these trees it's so overgrown and um it's steep eh and I don't even think we're at the steepest part and yeah it would just be a bit it wouldn't be sensible to bring the car and the trailer down so we left it there but yeah we're climbing down to the levue river bed you can see the River on the left there good job it's rough makuya's rough Ryan what do you got to say come on man hey bro it is not one trip where even the car I'm not in your car you could not in my car ah Robin I want to go and see practicals right now let's see a football thing I like doing this is just ridiculous it's like rocks and cheese and more rocks just rocks rocks everywhere that uh yeah it's I don't know it's hard to find positives when you've got a clutch that's possibly on the outer I mean it's a problem that tree nearly killed us yeah and I just got both cars fixed and a lot of you guys will be saying oh it's not really that bad I promise you these roads haven't been driven in months I also think the biggest difference is this you know the Land Cruisers generally are a wider vehicle got a wider footprint and these roads are like you know for high luxes and narrower vehicle buckies and you know so yeah I don't know it's just it's a lot I think it's a lot harder on a vehicle like this and I suppose it's Testament really to the what the Land Cruiser can do I mean and in Comfort it I mean I mean we're shaking around but I think I think even an airplane would Shake around on this road I mean it's just next level definitely we eventually reach our camp for the night it's been a long day but this place is amazing foreign back home the next morning but we sleeping in a bit the rain clears up eventually to yet another stunning afternoon so James what do you think of macquia this time different place eh completely different while the setting of the campsite's very similar to the one at the picnic site it's it's amazing knowing that not many people if any have camped here before and last night we had a leopard walking that side of the river the Liverpool River and it's just amazing different time of year it's summer everything's green the birds are out and yeah it's just amazing listen to the Franklin's there sure you said everything I was gonna say I know I took all of you did you didn't even spare me one talk about the fish in the water they forget to tell you about the crocodile that was right here mommy you took you took it what is there for me we're at a new campsite and thanks to Heinrich and his and his brother for bringing us and showing this place I think it's called buffalo campsite or buffalos campsite and very similar to picnic site that makuya main campsite but I tell you like it says the summer I mean it's just so super green there's a good amount of water flowing through the river and I'll tell you what I made the biggest mistake in not bringing my fishing rod tiger fish are rising not big ones but they are here we've seen them all right but I'll tell you what when you're in a place like this with clouds building up like that we've had a bit of rain now it's very easy to sit and take five minutes to yourself if not any cameras and enjoy all right so we spent our first evening at makuya again this time of wild camp that we haven't camped at before and it is amazing it is green the last time we had was it was like being on Mars quite frankly um we're again on the river um the bird life is amazing we saw one leopard last night which was pretty cool that's Kruger National Park just uh on the other side of the road there so yeah really good experience um there's no facilities obviously because it's a wild Camp so you have to be really self-sufficient you have to have your own water there's no ablutions um this is direct electricity obviously but I mean it's not a lot of locations like this to be honest um it that's kind of the whole point I think is is really to be out here and I'll happily bring my own stuff to be able to Camp like that driving here can be a little bit rough it's not overly technical but you definitely need a 4x4 with low range high clearance but frankly it's well worth it getting to locations like this uh I'm happy to to put a few more pinstripes on the car and but it is very Rocky so look at the tire placement there's some really nasty sharp rocks so other people like you saw with heinous brother have lost quite a few tires yet [Music] foreign foreign and we are having I see Chris is having his healthy chicken over here we are having some pork rashes or pork steaks I assume with some rye breads garlic and onion and some Millis or sweet corn tonight it is cooking it is very hot there's a storm approaching but yeah you can hear the hyenas and lions going off in the background so it's amazing oh [Music] foreign [Music] again this morning but this campsite was amazing foreign camps always take your trash out and leave it better than you find it good morning we're on our way to world's View the camp there for the night incidentally sorry about the noise if you're hearing a lot of squeaking and moaning and groaning from the car it's not sorted out completely from Namibia she has a little bit of damage I need to sort out it's really hot this morning it's uh it's like 30 degrees and it's only 10 o'clock see how it's a scorcher we'll stay there tonight at World's View and then tomorrow we off to tenza in the Kruger foreign that incredible campsite on the lavuvu and we are on our way to world's view a stunning Viewpoint I'm gonna try and Camp there tonight and this road seems to follow next to the lavuvu which is absolutely stunning now this perfuri and makuya area in Northern Limpopo Northern Krugers probably the most scenic part of the park which and what a spot to camp for the last two days it's just been incredible bush is very thick and overgrown and again we haven't seen we saw a leopard two nights ago which was incredible but bird life also amazing but not too much in terms of wildlife I think there is a poaching issue here in makuya unfortunately thing that is you know they're not many animals here I think most of them are being poached which is very unfortunate but hey look maybe we see something so we are here in maquita we're on our way to uh the I believe it's called the picnic site the main campsite and we're driving from Buffalo's campsite and it's 22 kilometers about their butts and we are enjoying makuya it's a hard drive really hard drive you've got to watch where your tire placement is but thankfully this stretch is not so difficult on the ATMs on my car it's nice to see are the ATMs are doing their job and handling it but yeah I think I've got a bit of a clutch problem the main Syncro I don't know too much about it but apparently it's beginning to act up so my clutch is not really engaging and I think it's got to do with heat so yeah damage to report and damage to repair when we get back this game it's a game the job I'm enjoying it are you enjoying it did yeah 100 different to our last experience at makuya hey this this drive is stunning um we were quite nervous we checked on the GPS and it seems like there's six water Crossings between us or river Crossings between us and the next campsite but we've arrived at the first one and it's got concrete opens yeah yeah what a standing Place let's get to maybe a lunch spot what do you think yeah I just spotted an ice cream drink it takes about an hour to cover the 20 odd kilometers to world's View [Music] Ryan snag has become a bigger problem though James what's going on so we have a slight bit of an issue going on with the ranger from all the kilometers I've put on her it seems like the main Synchro is not allowing the clutch to come back out so we I can't engage gear and it's being so hot I think it needs to cool down just to allow that main sinkra to work but I tell you what we've pulled out the Wild dog winch and we're hooking up to a wild dog de-shackle and I'm gonna get it to just basically pull us into an area where I can let the car cool down hook up to some solar panels and we carry on the adventure but for now yeah that's pretty much it we're trying to get hitched up and then uh good to go I hope so I see I've still got some first Bridge sand in this recovery kit but I have broken quite a few things in from the last recovery but luckily in this kit the Wild dog kit it pretty much gives you two of everything two d-shackles two soft shackles um a bridle and the kinetic rope so yeah if you do break something there's pretty much always a spare we're just gonna pull it on the winch because we don't have to pull it far maybe 30 meters and we're gonna do it very slowly so yeah it is a good kit and we've used it quite a few times and it's always good to have confidence in your recovery kit because you never know when you're gonna need it foreign thank you it's not far to the picnic side from World's View we're at the main campsite that people usually camp at um it's called padambili campsite on drugs for Africa and the latest version um if you're looking for it it's also called Parks Board camp on older versions there's no real signage to it uh it just says picnic site that's basically the the campsite it's not bad uh it seems a little bit more level to when we were last time you can have a look at some of my previous videos uh the bathrooms are in the same state I'm sorry to say there's no water so the toilets obviously don't work you can't take a shower a little bit cleaner admittedly but that's a problem if you're counting on abusions here so my recommendation for mercury is don't let that spoil your time bring your own stuff uh usually there's clearly no water here so in 2020 we came to the picnic campsite at macquia three years ago and we came then in Winter and we're here now in summer the bush number one absolutely magic I think it's at its best every time this time of the year I say the bush is at its best and it really is up here in Limpopo now this campsite we were actually here and in 2020 and in 2020 we had one serious Storm come through here I think 120 kilometer an hour winds and it stripped this whole campsite down and we fought that day and we actually thought we'd never come back to Mercury but we're so glad we did we're here it actually looks magic they've cleaned up the campsites they've put bride grids in they've swept up the areas it's still very wild raw and rustic so it's not freshly swept but efforts have been made and I think yeah well done well done to the Mercury stuff we're trying and attempting just keep it up you know keep it up keep that maintenance going and um yeah just really nice to be here yeah so as Ryan says really lucky to be here we've just stopped here to make some lunch Ryan's got a like a new camera so shooting uh big files so he's busy dumping the footage now because we've got to shoot some more in the riverbed and we're just gonna have a cold drink and make some lunch under these massive Jackal Berry and enyola trees it really is amazing hand good memories from the last time and there are some storm clouds buildings uh yeah I guess we'll see what happens there but it is cooking and then uh you know I'm not so sure what we're going to do about the about the ranger at the moment maybe once it's cooled down it'll either clutch will play along but yeah we'll just take that as it comes as we always do I guess but yeah an ice cold beverage and we're gonna make some lunch it doesn't get better than this the world's sharpest knives foreign there are some sections shared Maguire that are pretty nasty you definitely need a high clearance 4x4 with low range foreign off to today's events I'll be back at the campsite at World's View and we're just going to have a cold drink flies hectic heat is hectic but this view is just just unbelievable so we're just gonna enjoy this just look at this so this is world's view as a definite must visit when you're in macquia we actually even Camp here tonight and the view is spectacular it's actually a lot greener than the last time if you've watched the previous video so that uh that just makes it even better I mean spectacular I think we were here in 2020 when it was very very dry and to come up to world's view here in makuya in summer in the month of January it's absolutely transformed I mean it looks spectacular you've got big cumulonimbus clouds railing and casting Shadows down in the valley the levue has got water a lot more water in it than it did last time and it's just so super green with the contrast of all the red soil it looks absolutely fantastic you can see Baobab trees massive bare bad trees off in the distance and just good to be here I'm a little bit worried though we push into Kruger tomorrow and I've got no clutch that means Ed's Towing me and his invoice bill is growing by the minute but yeah just absolutely enjoying it with you fellas and what a privilege to be here at World's View and enjoying right I mean that was just that one piece we had to go oh yeah something to keep in mind is anywhere in the African bush at night don't do what I've done and put flip-flops on at all I've just done it because it's incredibly hot but really where close shoes and what we've got here is the reason why I'm not 100 sure but I'm sure this is a pair I think it's called pair of betas transfalia or something a very very venomous scorpion very venomous fit stings you you will be in big big big trouble I'm really glad we came back to Mercury and I can highly recommend it for Adventures overlanders good morning uh we on our way to the Kruger National talk I had a really great stay at macquiao this time I've got Ryan in tow unfortunately seems his clutch has given up the ghost um yeah it's not been a great trip again for service centers uh lots of Gremlins I'm still battling with stuff from uh Namibia hey part of the adventure we've arranged to leave Ryan's car at the before he gate where it'll be flat bedded out heading into Kruger National Park originally we would have gone directly to senzie but now we're aiming for Punda Maria [Music] Brian obviously doesn't have a tent now and will need to pick up his car again as well foreign is also one of our favorite camps in Kruger so we don't mind staying here and there should be a bungalow available for Ryan as well so we stopped at Punta Maria um to see if there's a bungalow available for Ryan because you're obviously doesn't have anywhere to sleep tonight because of course going to hurt massive thank you to Henrik for helping us out there and being the middleman there are amazing it makes life a lot easier we did find a campsite and a bungalow chinweti so we're going down there at the moment and then hopefully by tomorrow Ryan's car is okay we can get back to that and then to answer sends it it's about an hour and a half to drive to sanguity but we're enjoying all the back roads on the way there [Music] foreign traditional camp but a two-tire needs for the moment and it's still great to be in the crew [Music] we checked in at shinguity Camp um kind of Korea didn't actually have any space for Orion to sleep so I had to put him in a bungalow while he's cars in for service obviously so we started did some gritty it also has power which we need at the moment because we are short on Dual Battery Systems um we will go through to 10 day tomorrow for the last night unfortunately um as Ryan's car should be finished this afternoon the camp is quiet at least and we settle in for the evening [Music] [Applause] it's always great camping in Kruger even in fence camps [Music] we're heading out to San Diego this morning it's another hour and a half drive and we're meeting Heinrich there as well he's actually bringing Ryan's car gents I'm having a great trip whatever you thought of the places we've been to so far yeah Chris Martin hey it's been awesome uh we visited some new places Norco is amazing and the experience we had at makuya just wild camping on the lavuvu and then at World's view it's something different and something I'd highly recommend definitely wouldn't go there just as one vehicle given the risk if something goes wrong but yeah it's been awesome and then Kruger I mean what more can you say even though um the campsites are fenced here I'm still having a good time and I think Ryan is as well yeah so I think I think the great thing is is when wild camping for me and makuya definitely delivered that it's a hard place to go with the vehicles it is a 4x4 Trail and I'd highly recommend as Ed said man just uh just roll in maybe two vehicles and just be prepared that it is a hard place to drive but man that uh that one position X on the on the levue river was spectacular overlooking the Kruger National Park and you know I think you know coming into Kruger and uh staying behind fences whilst it's not maybe the preference for myself as we've been so spoiled by Botswana you know sitting around a fire with you chaps just enjoying the evening and getting to meet new people in very very special places yeah absolutely a treat what did you think Chris yeah I definitely enjoyed matlanoka we'll definitely be back there um and yeah macquia this time was I sort of really redeemed itself for me uh yeah it's tough getting in there but uh some of those spots are amazing uh last night in Kruger unfortunately we're going to San Diego another favorite spot and then back home because you know how to make a person very depressed there Chris the drive down doesn't disappoint when it comes to game viewing [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] I think that was that was really a departure from the last time we were there and I will definitely be back for that Kruger was a little short so I think expect us to come back here soon I just checked out some more Wildlife I hope you enjoyed the episode until next time get out there [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Get Out, GO!

Views: 53,179

Keywords: camping, overland, overlanding, south africa, campsite, campsite review, limpopo, off-road, 4x4, bush camp, africa, Dicover Africa Safari, Safari, adventure, South Africa safaris, bush camps, overlanding escape, get out go, 4x4ventures, Edward Bath, makuya, makuya nature reserve, Matla Noka, kruger national park, luvuvhu, wild camping, camping south africa

Id: RAvedelg6UA

Length: 55min 30sec (3330 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 19 2023