Bontle campsite in Marakele National Park

By Roxanne Reid
It’s the best time of day in one of the best campsites in Limpopo. The sun is setting and the brutal heat is starting to ease gently into a perfect evening. We’re at the Bontle campsite in Marakele National Park and life just couldn’t be better.

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When we first visited Marakele National Park seven years ago, we stayed at the Tlopi tented camp in the eastern section with its mountains and valleys. Our safari tent looked out over a dam where elephant, kudu and giraffe came to drink as we sat on our wooden deck, sipping chilled white wine.

At the time, one of our game drives had taken us into the flatter Kwaggasvlakte section in the west, where we discovered the Bontle camp, its sites laid out in three lopsided circles under karee, leadwood, bush-willow and black monkey-thorn trees. It seemed to us to be just about flawless for anyone who loves camping. 

Many trees at Bontle are nude in winter, but provide welcome shade in the hotter summer months

We’d been dreaming about it all those years and now we were there at last. Setting up camp in 36-degree midday heat hadn’t been too much fun; we’d far rather have sat with our feet up in the dappled shade, watching animals come to the waterhole. But now all that was done and three blissful days lay ahead.

A pearlspotted owlet called insistently in the distance, and two African scops-owls were having a conversation through the treetops. Ostriches boomed in the distance, a deep sound that might baffle you into thinking they’re lions.

Even if your campsite isn't one of those nearest the waterhole, you can stroll down to the perimeter to see the action

At Bontle there are no fences, just some short poles planted in the ground a few metres apart to define the camp’s perimeter, and a sprinkling of signs telling you not to go further – and into the territory of the wild animals. 

This makes the camp feel like part of the surrounding bush and it’s impossible to resist its wilderness charm. In fact, Bontle is the ideal campsite for lazy people. Want to watch animals but can’t be bothered to go out on a game drive? No problem; just kick back at your campsite and the animals will come to you. 

A huge but unagressive beast comes close while zebra and warthog drink at the waterhole behind it

When we arrived there was a white rhino mowing the grass and some warthog and impala drinking at the waterhole the campsite looks out on. Zebra were snorting nearby as they grazed, others giggling in the distance. Their racket revved up the zebras close by and one walked through the campsite just 5m from where I was standing. A second followed at a trot and a third at a gallop.

Obey the rules so we can all continue to enjoy the magic of an unfenced Bontle

This kind of closeness to wildlife, where there are no fences to act as a barrier between you and them, is very special. It’s one reason why the unfenced wilderness camps of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, like Urikaruus, Grootkolk, Rooiputs and Polentswa, are so special – and so popular. And it puts Bontle high up on my list of favourite campsites in game reserves around the country. Even Tsendze rustic campsite in the north of Kruger National Park, fabulous as it is, doesn’t offer this one special touch (though mischievous elephants regularly try to flatten the fence!).

Burchell's zebra are a common sight at the waterhole or walking through the campsite

The next morning, even before we went out on a game drive, we had kudu, wildebeest and giraffe come to drink at the waterhole. Other visitors through the day were ostrich, jackals, zebra and lots of antelope. We saw vervet monkeys and baboons on the fringes of the camp but they didn’t pester the campers during the three days we were there. Long may that state of peace last – if campers don’t feed them or leave their rubbish lying around.

The subway that joins the two sections of Marakele under a road that cuts through the park

Of course we took game drives in the bush around Bontle and to the hide at Bollonoto dam. We even drove through the subway under the road that joins the two sections of the park. In the more mountainous eastern section, where Tlopi tented camp is, we enjoyed some of the 4x4 tracks and saw a breeding herd of 30 elephants.

But coming back to our campsite at Bontle was always the highlight of our day, grabbing a cool drink and relaxing in comfort while the animals came and went from the amphitheatre around the waterhole.

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