Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

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optirite
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Town: Hartbeespoort Dam
Vehicle: 1993 80 Series Land Cruiser (3UZ-VVTi)
Real Name: Mike
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Location: Hartbeespoort Dam

Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by optirite »

The Levuvhu trail is a must!!! It is not done by the same clowns that do the Lebombo trail. The guys that do the Levuvhu trail are a professional company that base their advertising on basically word of mouth so they cannot afford to screw things up.

Day 1:
We all met at the tourism centre in Phalaborwa, had a quick briefing, were given hand held vhf radios and formed the convoy. The convoy consisted of our guide and leader, Hennie in a Land Rover 110 s/cab bakkie; then Wayne and family in a Toyota Land Cruiser s/wagon V8 towing an Xplorer; then came Peter and wife of The Landy Worx fame in their Disco 3 towing an Imagine Trailvan. Next was Doc and wife also in a Disco 3 towing an Imagine Trailvan; then Mike Clark and wife, Vicky, also in a Disco 3 but towing the Imagine Comfortvan; and last but not least me and SWAMBO in my Hilux d/cab bakkie towing an Oryx Caravan.

A few kays outside of Phalaborwa we turned right and soon entered the first game farm/ reserve. I must say that we were actually never in the KNP, but on farms/ reserves adjacent that had the fences removed so basically we were still in the KNP area or the Transwhatever they call it of which the KNP is part. Enter dirt roads... and the rain queen of my wife, Estelle, and it soon started drizzling.

Fantastic dirt trails through bush mixed with a few smoke breaks had us pull into “camp” at around 4pm. The “camp” was an open area next to a watering hole. Not 20 minutes later the first and only Spotted Hyaena strolled into our campsite and made himself comfortable for the rest of the evening. As soon as the sun set a herd of Elephants came down to the water hole and spent most of the evening there.

Food was a combined affair, with each vehicle been given tasks and certain dishes to bring for every supper. Mike and I took on the roll of chief cooks and soon had a roaring fire and Lamb roast with roast potatoes, foiled veggies and roosterkoek was served.

Distance some 40 kays.

Day 2:
The area had been busy throughout the evening with the bush orchestra of Jackal, Hyaena, Ellies and Lion, as well as Owls and the usual cacophony of insects and other critters.
After breakfast we packed up and moved on, still in rain. During the day we came across the confluence of the Small and Large Letaba river and had a brunch break. Walking down to the river bank we came across very fresh Lion spore the size of a dinner plate. That and the noisy Hippos and Crocs a bit close and we soon moved on. Just before lunch we came across the Letaba river where we had to cross. Hennie went first and I noticed that it was quite deep. Next was the Cruiser. As he was towing he could not pick up momentum in the river to cross as the caravan needed to follow him down the steep embankment. He got seriously stuck and it took Hennie almost two hours to winch Wayne and Caravan across. I found another game trail to the river that was drivable and Peter took that route next. He got across the water without problem but soon got stuck in the 200 meter stretch of soft sand to the other bank of the river. I went next and also got stuck but managed to recover myself and got out the other side. I unhitched the Caravan, came back and snatched Peter and his setup out.

Next was Doc, Hennie winched him out of the sand too. Last was Mike and I eventually towed him out too. All done..... what fun... no damage to anyone so we carried on. We made camp that night on the banks of the Letaba River. As we made camp Doc drove over a fence dropper that had been cut down some 10 cms out of the ground and destroyed one of his tyres.

Supper was Fillet wraps with all the trimmings and salad.

Distance some 60 kays.

Day 3.
Once again drizzle and rain... Estelle pleeese stop it now. Packed up and left.
The rest of the group chickened out of the next river crossing, much to my pleading landing on deaf ears, so Hennie took us on a detour around the obstacle and we were soon back on track. Most of the day was spent in yet another reserve, rocky tracks that required 1st and 2nd gear low range. Saw quite alot of game on this day. Whilst going over ditches and humps in the road Doc’s Imagine Trailvans started losing its fibreglass panels, but I refitted them that night in camp. Being a Doctor I thought that he would have appreciated the elastoplast plaster that I put on the Imagine’s wound, ha ha. This evening we camped on the banks of the Levuvhu River in a rocky area. That night I saw the reflection of eyes in the bush and swear it was Leopard.

Long day but with stunning views and a few bits of tar to remind us of how close we still were to civilisation. Mike’s Imagine Comfortvan’s geyser started packing up so their showers became occasionally scalding hot, but mostly cold.

Supper was Steak, Wors and Chops braai with all the trimmings.

Distance was some 120 kays.

Day 4.
After packing up and getting moving the day started with a stream crossing that had one of the Landys slipping and sliding all over the place but we soon all got through. Again 1st and 2nd gear low range stuff in alot of rocky sections but really beautiful scenery through Mopane forests.

Shortly after lunchtime we came across a two hundred meter long patch of mud... much like cotton soil. Hennie got stuck but winched himself out. We cut another path close to the mud pool but still entailed a good twenty meters through the mud to get there. I went next as I had a winch. As I exited the mud pool I lost traction and had to winch myself out. Once I got through I unhitched the Oryx Caravan and went back to help (play) get the others through. Next was Peter’s turn. He went maybe ten meters into the mud before getting seriously bogged down. At one stage in order to stop me from sliding back into the mud due to the winch action I had to anchor myself to a tree behind me, and run the winch cable through a snatch block. Whilst this took place the rest of the group decided to rather take a twenty kilometre escape route. Hennie took Mike’s Disco and they joined up with us quite a while later on.

Our campsite for that night was an established site amoungst the most beautiful trees, with an ablution block, donkey hot water system for hot showers and flushing toilets.

Whilst Peter pulled out his fridge the sliders broke and the entire fridge came crashing to the floor. I managed to get the sliders and fridge back into the Imagine Trailvan. Next Doc’s trailvan roof would not open properly but it was merely the gas struts that had popped off their brackets. Soon fixed.

Supper was braaied chicken flatties with roosterkoek, salad etc, etc.

Distance was some 60 kays.

Day 5.
After breakfast it seemed that everyone wanted to go their own ways and only Mike and I were keen to actually finish the trail. The trail was at its last leg and would finish within a couple of hours anyway, all that was left was to go view a waterfall and another river. By this time it had stopped raining, and Estelle was starting to miss her dogs so we opted to high tail it out of there and save the rest for the next trip.

It was a interestingly muddy trip through the park to the main road, then via Tshipese to the N1 and home.

We got home at around 4pm.

Distance was some 700 kays.

Would I do this trail again??? HELL YEA, but maybe without the Caravan.
Positives:
The trip was fantastic, the route awesome.
When we got stuck everyone became a single team and worked well together.
My 12 year old Hilux did not miss a beat, neither did my Oryx caravan. :clap:

Negatives:
I was a little bit disappointed with the build quality of the Imagine. Short cuts are definitely taken (cheap low weight rated fridge sliders for eg) and everything seems to be held together with pop rivets.
I am not biased towards any vehicle but I think that the Disco 3’s were out of their depth, possibly too much electronics. And then the computer would get confused and dash lights come on which was fixed by switching off and back on. There was also too many things that had to be pushed and pressed and turned to do any changing type of terrain.
The Land Cruiser also struggled a bit with the weight of the Xplorer, but in defense was running highway tyres. The rest of us were on BF Goodrich (AT’s).
Last edited by optirite on Thu Sep 13, 2012 2:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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CasKru
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Re: Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by CasKru »

Jis daai klink sommer na vet pret. Thanks for sharing... waar is die prentjies?
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optirite
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Real Name: Mike
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Location: Hartbeespoort Dam

Re: Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by optirite »

Pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27824536@N ... 525871706/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Cheers
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Re: Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by ROOKIE »

Thank you for sharing.
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Re: Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by 4x4Maniac »

Mike, sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!!
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Jaco Versfeld
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Re: Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by Jaco Versfeld »

Where can one get more detail? Price, etc.

Thanks,
J
optirite wrote:The Levuvhu trail is a must!!! It is not done by the same clowns that do the Lebombo trail. The guys that do the Levuvhu trail are a professional company that base their advertising on basically word of mouth so they cannot afford to screw things up.

Day 1:
We all met at the tourism centre in Phalaborwa, had a quick briefing, were given hand held vhf radios and formed the convoy. The convoy consisted of our guide and leader, Hennie in a Land Rover 110 s/cab bakkie; then Wayne and family in a Toyota Land Cruiser s/wagon V8 towing an Xplorer; then came Peter and wife of The Landy Worx fame in their Disco 3 towing an Imagine Trailvan. Next was Doc and wife also in a Disco 3 towing an Imagine Trailvan; then Mike Clark and wife, Vicky, also in a Disco 3 but towing the Imagine Comfortvan; and last but not least me and SWAMBO in my Hilux d/cab bakkie towing an Oryx Caravan.

A few kays outside of Phalaborwa we turned right and soon entered the first game farm/ reserve. I must say that we were actually never in the KNP, but on farms/ reserves adjacent that had the fences removed so basically we were still in the KNP area or the Transwhatever they call it of which the KNP is part. Enter dirt roads... and the rain queen of my wife, Estelle, and it soon started drizzling.

Fantastic dirt trails through bush mixed with a few smoke breaks had us pull into “camp” at around 4pm. The “camp” was an open area next to a watering hole. Not 20 minutes later the first and only Spotted Hyaena strolled into our campsite and made himself comfortable for the rest of the evening. As soon as the sun set a herd of Elephants came down to the water hole and spent most of the evening there.

Food was a combined affair, with each vehicle been given tasks and certain dishes to bring for every supper. Mike and I took on the roll of chief cooks and soon had a roaring fire and Lamb roast with roast potatoes, foiled veggies and roosterkoek was served.

Distance some 40 kays.

Day 2:
The area had been busy throughout the evening with the bush orchestra of Jackal, Hyaena, Ellies and Lion, as well as Owls and the usual cacophony of insects and other critters.
After breakfast we packed up and moved on, still in rain. During the day we came across the confluence of the Small and Large Letaba river and had a brunch break. Walking down to the river bank we came across very fresh Lion spore the size of a dinner plate. That and the noisy Hippos and Crocs a bit close and we soon moved on. Just before lunch we came across the Letaba river where we had to cross. Hennie went first and I noticed that it was quite deep. Next was the Cruiser. As he was towing he could not pick up momentum in the river to cross as the caravan needed to follow him down the steep embankment. He got seriously stuck and it took Hennie almost two hours to winch Wayne and Caravan across. I found another game trail to the river that was drivable and Peter took that route next. He got across the water without problem but soon got stuck in the 200 meter stretch of soft sand to the other bank of the river. I went next and also got stuck but managed to recover myself and got out the other side. I unhitched the Caravan, came back and snatched Peter and his setup out.

Next was Doc, Hennie winched him out of the sand too. Last was Mike and I eventually towed him out too. All done..... what fun... no damage to anyone so we carried on. We made camp that night on the banks of the Letaba River. As we made camp Doc drove over a fence dropper that had been cut down some 10 cms out of the ground and destroyed one of his tyres.

Supper was Fillet wraps with all the trimmings and salad.

Distance some 60 kays.

Day 3.
Once again drizzle and rain... Estelle pleeese stop it now. Packed up and left.
The rest of the group chickened out of the next river crossing, much to my pleading landing on deaf ears, so Hennie took us on a detour around the obstacle and we were soon back on track. Most of the day was spent in yet another reserve, rocky tracks that required 1st and 2nd gear low range. Saw quite alot of game on this day. Whilst going over ditches and humps in the road Doc’s Imagine Trailvans started losing its fibreglass panels, but I refitted them that night in camp. Being a Doctor I thought that he would have appreciated the elastoplast plaster that I put on the Imagine’s wound, ha ha. This evening we camped on the banks of the Levuvhu River in a rocky area. That night I saw the reflection of eyes in the bush and swear it was Leopard.

Long day but with stunning views and a few bits of tar to remind us of how close we still were to civilisation. Mike’s Imagine Comfortvan’s geyser started packing up so their showers became occasionally scalding hot, but mostly cold.

Supper was Steak, Wors and Chops braai with all the trimmings.

Distance was some 120 kays.

Day 4.
After packing up and getting moving the day started with a stream crossing that had one of the Landys slipping and sliding all over the place but we soon all got through. Again 1st and 2nd gear low range stuff in alot of rocky sections but really beautiful scenery through Mopane forests.

Shortly after lunchtime we came across a two hundred meter long patch of mud... much like cotton soil. Hennie got stuck but winched himself out. We cut another path close to the mud pool but still entailed a good twenty meters through the mud to get there. I went next as I had a winch. As I exited the mud pool I lost traction and had to winch myself out. Once I got through I unhitched the Oryx Caravan and went back to help (play) get the others through. Next was Peter’s turn. He went maybe ten meters into the mud before getting seriously bogged down. At one stage in order to stop me from sliding back into the mud due to the winch action I had to anchor myself to a tree behind me, and run the winch cable through a snatch block. Whilst this took place the rest of the group decided to rather take a twenty kilometre escape route. Hennie took Mike’s Disco and they joined up with us quite a while later on.

Our campsite for that night was an established site amoungst the most beautiful trees, with an ablution block, donkey hot water system for hot showers and flushing toilets.

Whilst Peter pulled out his fridge the sliders broke and the entire fridge came crashing to the floor. I managed to get the sliders and fridge back into the Imagine Trailvan. Next Doc’s trailvan roof would not open properly but it was merely the gas struts that had popped off their brackets. Soon fixed.

Supper was braaied chicken flatties with roosterkoek, salad etc, etc.

Distance was some 60 kays.

Day 5.
After breakfast it seemed that everyone wanted to go their own ways and only Mike and I were keen to actually finish the trail. The trail was at its last leg and would finish within a couple of hours anyway, all that was left was to go view a waterfall and another river. By this time it had stopped raining, and Estelle was starting to miss her dogs so we opted to high tail it out of there and save the rest for the next trip.

It was a interestingly muddy trip through the park to the main road, then via Tshipese to the N1 and home.

We got home at around 4pm.

Distance was some 700 kays.

Would I do this trail again??? HELL YEA, but maybe without the Caravan.
Positives:
The trip was fantastic, the route awesome.
When we got stuck everyone became a single team and worked well together.
My 12 year old Hilux did not miss a beat, neither did my Oryx caravan. :clap:

Negatives:
I was a little bit disappointed with the build quality of the Imagine. Short cuts are definitely taken (cheap low weight rated fridge sliders for eg) and everything seems to be held together with pop rivets.
I am not biased towards any vehicle but I think that the Disco 3’s were out of their depth, possibly too much electronics. And then the computer would get confused and dash lights come on which was fixed by switching off and back on. There was also too many things that had to be pushed and pressed and turned to do any changing type of terrain.
The Land Cruiser also struggled a bit with the weight of the Xplorer, but in defense was running highway tyres. The rest of us were on BF Goodrich (AT’s).
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Johan Havenga
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Re: Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by Johan Havenga »

http://www.dolimpopo.co.za" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Jaco Versfeld
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Location: Fairland
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Re: Levuvhu Trail. September 2012.

Post by Jaco Versfeld »

Thank you very much
Johan Havenga wrote:http://www.dolimpopo.co.za
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