Mokala and Witsand kalahari - May 2015

Mokala and Witsand - May 2015

In April 2015 we had decided to travel to the Mokala National Park outside Kimberly.

On the way, we would be staying at a guest house in Welkom, then at Alymer Game ranch, Mokala Campsite and Witsand Camp site.
www.witsandkalahari.co.za
www.sanparks.org

Leaving Johannesburg late morning on 10 May we made our way to Welkom, via Kroonstad. the road was relatively quiet and we stopped off at the Kroonstad ultra city for a bite to eat.

From there its a short distance to Welkom.

The guest house was very nice and we had our own self catering unit, fully equipped.

Welkom, itself, is a strange town. We were looking for somewhere to have dinner and when we asked at the local shopping center we were advised that there was nothing in town and also, actually nothing happens in Welkom.  Anyway, we found a shopping mall, and a local casino. We are not gamblers, so the casino did not really interest us. Except that we though that there would be a restaurant there. We did find a small place to eat. But, we were the only guests and they started packing up, cleaning and packing the chairs on top of the tables before we even finished dinner. Oh well...........

That afternoon we had a major hail and rain storm. Luckily the car was parked under a shelter and the trailer next to it. So we had (other than the chalet leaking through the thatched roof) no problems.

The next morning we left Welkom for Aylmer Game Ranch. This is a place near Bloemhof. The road that we selected to travel would take us across the Bloemhof dam (the road literally goes across the middle of the dam).

It was strange to see people camped on the side of the dam, as there appeared to be absolutely no ablution facilities. Oh well, I suppose we are all different, thank goodness !

We progressed onto Aylmer Game farm and took a gravel road to the establishment. It was very quiet and we were the only guests. Another family arrived later that evening.

However, this is a superb place and the accommodation was really 5 star. We stayed in a chalet, which was more like a house. Fully equipped, self contained home from home. It had 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. Its a wedding venue as well and has its own chapel.

From Aylmer we made our way back to the tar road and headed for Mokala National Park. Our route took us through the center of Kimberly. But luckily we did not need to stop as we had all the provisions that we required. I did stop to fill up, at a filling station outside of town. You leave Kimberly and travel for about 54 km before having to turn onto a dirt road for the last 26 km's to the park gate. This time there was a guard at the gate and we had to sign in there (the last time we went there was an intercom to the main camp reception).

We made our way to the main reception where we received the key for our camping site ablution (each of the 6 sites has its own ablution facility).

The sites are located around a waterhole. This time around there was only a small amount of water but we were visited daily by a tortoise, gemsbok, eland and other small game. Mokala is really a place which is quiet and tranquil and you can relax and enjoy the natural surroundings.

We had some lovely sunsets as well.

These were taken from our camping trailer.

We drove around Mokala and had sighting of most of the animals in the park.

From Mokala we were travelling to Witsand Kalahari. The route we chose was going to be quiet a lot of dirt (the shortest route) and through some scenery that we had not had the opportunity of travelling through previously.

We traveled through a place called salt lake, then onto Douglas (which is on the Orange river) through Campbell, Griekwasatd and finally onto Witsand. We stopped at a small coffee shop in Campbell and had a superb cup of coffee.

We arrived at Witsand late afternoon, but it was still light.

When we arrived, we were the only campers. So we had the choice of the sites. 

We found the campsites good, the power supply better that that in Johannesburg (it never went off while we were there) and the ablutions clean and tidy.

Of cause Witsand is famous for the roaring dunes (they were quiet when we were there) and I did climb up to the top of the dunes.

I found on the Garmin a place of interest. It was an old pass (I cant remember the name now and did not make a note of it at the time) and we decided to take a drive there. It was an interesting road.

It seems that the road is still used by local farmers in the region.

The road to and from Witsand is in a bad state of repair. We found it full of corrugations and in need of a grade.

Each evening that we were at Witsand, we were visited by a Genet.

Our return from Witsand was via Olifantshoek, Kuruman, Vryburg to Johannesburg along the N14.

Interesting, nice successful trip.