Rock on. You need a vehicle with good ground clearance for the Grootwater 4x4 Trail near Lephalale.

In the late 1800s two men discovered gold in the Waterberge. One night, a local farmer visited them with a bottle of brandy. The next morning both were found dead. Gerrie van Eeden explored the area, and gave the brandy a miss.

Judging by road maps, the Waterberge around Vaalwater offer very little. However, three days and many gravel kilometres later, I realised it’s everything but the case.

Signboards on almost every second farm gate invites you to enter for gameviewing, hiking, to drive a 4x4 trail or just to overnight.

I’m driving along the R101 between Modimolle and Mokopane. I have no set itinerary – I’m here to explore. In the east of the Waterberg Biosphere, the area between the R33 in the west, the R101 in the south and the R518 in the north, lies a network of gravel roads. I’m simply going to go in boots an all and suss it out.

The turnoff to Driefontein 7km from Modimolle leads to my first gravel road – I put the bakkie in third gear and cruise up and down the hills among game enclosures and game farms.

I’m roughly following road signs in the direction of the small town of Melkrivier. Past Vier-en-Twintig Riviere, which is a dot on the map but of which I find no trace, I eventually reach the Jobedi Game Reserve. The Melkrivier 4x4 trail is on this farm, but I decide to rather tackle it tomorrow. After all, it’s Saturday afternoon and I’m just in time for the only Tri-Nations test the Boks would win in 2010 - against the Aussies at Loftus.

Around the fire later, the game ranger Grant Hibbens warns about the dangerous parts on the Melkrivier 4x4 trail: Tierkloof and Koedoekloof. “If you only have one vehicle, drive to the start, stop, get out and walk down.
Experience it, get back in your bakkie and drive off – there are escape routes at the start of these parts. You need a vehicle with a winch to recover you if you get stuck, and another one to recover that vehicle.”

If you therefore want to tackle these parts of the route, ensure your recovery gear are in order and that your very experienced 4x4 friend and his top-class 4x4 is with you, and preferably his winch too.

With hyenas laughing in the distance, I fall asleep on a big soft bed in one of the camp’s cottages.

Wanted: navigator

At sparrow’s, after coffee and a big breakfast, I tackle the route. Heeding the previous night’s warning, I only drive the route’s easier parts. The Hilux makes mincemeat out of the “easier” part, even the rocky hills. There is lots of tame game – giraffes are grazing peacefully and zebras stand blowing as if they are suffering from sinusitis.

Despite a navigation glitch – all forks in the road aren’t clearly marked – I complete the route just after lunch.

From Jobedi I drive 30 km southwest to Vaalwater, a little town in the middle of the Waterberg area. I take the tar road signposted Thabazimbi and running northwest to the R510, but after about 9 km I turn left onto a gravel road to Bakkers Pass, which snakes past the south of the Marakele National Park.
The Waterberge’s majestic sandstone cliffs rise up on the right like a wave threatening to crash over the bakkie and the gravel road.
I drive down the pass with its narrow turns to Marakele’s southwestern corner
where the Kransberg stands like a beacon marking the gateway to the Waterberge.

Donkey power. Alfred Mpempele and Jeremiah Motau have to find a shady spot every now and again for their donkeys en route to Vaalwater.

Hellish hot and bone dry

I continue to Thabazimbi, near which overnighting and camping spots seem to be as scarce as hen’s teeth after six on a Sunday night.

After driving north on the R510, I turn right, back onto the tar road to Vaalwater and eventually find a place to stay at Uitval 85, across the road from the Welgevonden Nature Reserve. The farm got its name when the original farm was subdivided into four – the farm gate of this specific part is adjacent to the marker indicating it’s 85 km to Modimolle.

The next day I backtrack towards the R510 to drive the gravel road north of Marakele to Matlabas. Just before you hit the Bulge River (pronounced like Wilge), is the turnoff left to Schoongelegen. On this road you will cross the
Malmanies River a number of times – and the sign at the start indicating it’s a 44 km long winding road doesn’t lie.

The gravel road twists like a snake along the borders of Welgevonden and Marakele. The road is severely washed away in parts although it is so dry it’s hard to believe it ever rains here.

I stop in the shade next to a stream to muster my courage for the hot afternoon that lies ahead, without aircon ...

Just before lunch I meet Alfred Mpempele and Jeremiah Motau who come
riding up on their donkey cart: “We can only ride for a short distance, then we have to pull off and rest in the shade. The donkeys get too hot,” they laugh, despite the insane heat.

Keep your eyes peeled

My next destination is Grootwater, about 50 km from Vaalwater on the R33 to Lephalale. From where it turns off the tar road, the 10 km gravel road to Grootwater’s gate is exciting, to say the least.

Herman du Toit, owner of Grootwater, says visitors often tell him they didn’t
expect the first speed bump in the road and went flying over it.

The further I drive, the more I see the use for these bumps. If you’re driving too fast, you could end up in the kloof down below, which is a constant threat on the right. The road descends with beautiful views in the late afternoon sun, but it’s safer to keep your eyes on the road as you hit the next bump
before you know it.

Nicely isolated, I sleep in a hut in the veld that night. An inquisitive animal whose eyes are shining in the distance in the light of the braai fire and bats that start swooping around later are my only companions to share the heavenly silence tonight.

Early in the morning I get going. The routes on the farm are all indicated quite clearly. Large rocks, little rocks, medium-sized rocks. Sand, gravel and dirt. Against the cliffs of the kloof where the farm lies, the routes snake up and down among the bushveld.

There’s a kudu or impala here and there, but I prefer keeping my eyes on the road. Herman told me exactly which parts are the roughest. I leave them for last and eventually I’m standing on top of the last mountain I have conquered, like Tarzan gazing across the jungle.

Where to stay?

• Jobedi Game Lodge has camping at R65 per person and chalets from R500 per room. 014 755 3993; game@jobedi.co.za; www.jobedi.co.za
• Uitval 85 has four chalets from R150 per person per night. 082 442 2742 or 083 288 7661; info@uitval84.co.za
• Grootwater has camping at R65 per person, R80 per person at the Bush Camp and R455 for a four-sleeper chalet. 082 338 3115;adventure@grootwater.co.za

What to do?

• The 4x4 trails at Grootwater and Jobedi Game Lodge
• The Marakele National Park and Welgevonden Nature Reserve are among the many options for game drives.

Originally published in DO #42 Jan-Feb 2011