Mtomeni Wilderness Trail

About Mtomeni Wilderness Trail

Start: Letaba Ranch Game Reserve, just north of Phalaborwa
Finish: Letaba
Duration: 36 km, 3 nights
Fitness: moderate
Our tip: Mtomeni is the name for the jackleberry trees that give shade to the safari tents in this camp

Letaba Ranch, despite sounding like a privately owned game park, is a 42 000 hectare provincial park run by the Limpopo Tourism Agency. The unfenced reserve borders the Kruger National Park and is particularly well known for sightings of elephant and buffalo.

In the park is the African Ivory Route tented bushcamp, Mtomeni. It acts as the base for the wilderness trail.

The attraction of this trail is that there is no set route. The emphasis is on quiet and careful walking to maximise interaction with nature, including plenty of stops for discussion about the environment. You are urged to walk in silence, and in single file whilst guides both head and back the group.

The trail is shaped daily by your guide, the route and duration selected depending on the time of year, the weather and the movement of game in the reserve. Days are a combination of full-day, morning and evening walks in a way for you to best experience the reserve.

Each day heads off in a different direction – whether it is to explore the banks of the Great Letaba River, the mopani veld, or a drive out to the middle of the reserve. The emphasis is not so much on game spotting as a focus on tracks and signs that make up life in the bush.

Mtomeni's camp has five twin-bed safari tents with wooden decks, and communal cooking and dining areas, where your guide will prepare and serve meals around a fire.

This is a slackpack hike, with food provided.