Hiking along the Letaba River

We are currently camping at a resort in Limpopo, in the Hans Merensky Nature Reserve. We started our hike towards the river, across the entrance of the Nature Reserve. It was an invigorating morning, the weather was in our favour with medium temperatures and a bit of cloud coverage. With this hike we were completely prepared with hiking boots and water, unlike last time.

It is the perfect hike if you are looking for tranquility as it is not at all difficult. It is dense bushveld and you are completely consumed by nature. The path is visibly marked with arrows and it is flat without vegetation covering the way. Birds were teasing us with their song and the breeze made the golden grass bow obediently.

On the way we heard a deep spouting sound. I began to grow excited as it was the Letaba river. This river is the river flowing towards the Kruger National Park, which means that wild animals live in and around the water. There are signs warning you about hippos and crocodiles. I was hopeful to see one of them up close, but from a safe distance though.

The path started to snake next to the river. There are clearings with a table and unmarked paths going down the riverbank until you can stand directly next to the water. I do not recommend you going completely down as there may be something lurking in the water or hiding under the lushes riparian vegetation. As we stood there we saw some monkeys and that strange huffing sound returned. I looked around, but I only saw boulders peeking out of the river. We walked further along the river and I stood there looking down the river. A big mass lied in the water, low and behold the hippos!

One was barely visible with only the ears emerged, but the other one showed its massive body and head. They were only a throwing distance from us. @fermentedphil was able to catch them before they thought to disappear under the water. It was really a sight to see such an enormous being without a fence seperating us. Of course it is dangerous, but we are responsible and know the boundaries. They are able to run at a speed of 30km/h and their jaw will have no difficulty to snap a human.

We enjoyed the sight of them until they went under and we also decided to circle back home. There were the most detailed butterflies on our way which I appreciated just as much!

I do recommend this hike for the whole family, with caution of course. Thank you for reading this post. The photographs were taken with @fermentedphil's Nikon D300. This post is of my own creation about our wonderful experience.