Dispatch 23 - One of the Greatest Of Them All

We say cheers to the Nando's team after a colourful soccer game at Bobole, a small village near Marracuene. Then it's up through the Goba border post, back into Swaziland and down a winding track down through the Mlawula-Ndzindza-Umbuluzi Nature Reserve which joins the Hlane Royal National Park and then on through the dust and corrugations to the top of the Lebombo Mountains to meet the Shewula community who's linked their lodge to a conservation project on top of the mountains. It's so important that the expedition supports communities like this that are desperately trying to link their colourful culture to nature conservation. I'll have lasting memories of listening to Katarina Magagula, a Swazi Mama in full traditional dress playing a makhweyane, a traditional bowstring instrument, that resonates off an open gourd and singing a 'walking song' from on top of the Lebombos. Traditional thatched accommodation, locally prepared food, walks into the mountains and endless views over Swaziland and Mozambique. We meet chief Mbandzamane Sifundza who endorses the expedition scroll and requests adventure travelers to use his little mountain lodge high up on the Lebombos, close to the Lomahasha border post into Mozambique.

Landies, one behind the other, the magic of Africa continues to unfold. Out of Swaziland; back into South Africa, past Samora Michelle's monument, through Komatipoort. It's a race against time, just a hundred odd days to link Transfrontier Conservation areas across Africa and now it's the Kruger National Park; one of the greatest of them all. Over two million hectares of pristine wilderness stretching from the Crocodile River in the south to the Limpopo in the north, bordered by the Lebombo mountain range in the east and by many famous private game reserves in the west to include Mala Mala, Londolozi, Timbavati, Sabi Sands and Sir Richard Branson's exclusive Ulusaba. At sunset on day thirty two of our adventure our dusty convoy of Landies pull into Kruger's Crocodile Bridge entrance gate where as further proof of the heart-warming support by the nine governments that make up our Boundless Southern Africa route, we are met by William Mabasa and his delightful team of San Parks media and communications officials who at the launch of the expedition had presented us with Wildcards allowing us entry into eighty-eight Southern African parks. We are escorted through the night and into a bush clearing, what a wonderful surprise. White candlelit tablecloths and green canvas chairs, a circle of tents, ice and a bar, a roaring mopani fire and a full moon rising behind an ancient leadwood tree. William Mabasa of San Parks makes a welcome speech, in response I talk about our journey thus far - Miss South Africa cutting the ribbon that launched the expedition from the International Tourism Indaba from Durban, meeting King Langalibalele at Giants Castle, part of the Ukahlamba world heritage site; I spoke about the beauty of Sehlabatebe, part of the Maloti Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation area, of the snow and ice, the mountain passes, the freezing temperatures and the wonder of the community days across Lesotho. To the sound of a distant cackle of a Hyena, I talked about the visit to the 'Ndhlovakazi' Queen mother of Swaziland, the beauty of the Usutu Gorge, the elephants of Tembe, the fish traps of Kosi Bay and the coastal beauty of the Reserva Especial de Maputo, a special place for elephants linked through Transfrontier Conservation by the Futi corridor. The feast begins. It's yet another great opportunity to collaborate with people who care for Nature, Culture and Community. A lion roars in the dark, we can hear the gurgling of the Sabi River, the grunting of hippo and the cry of a jackal.

We'll wake at first light; armed rangers will lead us on foot to explore this boundless paradise. - We'll keep you posted...