The journey started with a long, scenic drive North-East of Rustenburg, and included getting lost for about hours, but “getting lost is one of the thrills of traveling”, my lecturer said jokingly as we rerouted for the road that took us to the next wrong gate.
When we finally got to the right gate to and drove into the chalet we would be staying in in the bushveld, we shortly got briefed on the facilities available, what the plans for the rest of the evening were as well as when we were expected to be ready for our first activity of the next day; breakfast. Before getting to unpacking, I took a deep breath as I admired where we were; in the middle of the wild bushes and pure, clean air. My entire body immediately began to relax and let go of the nearly frustrating long, dusty drive. As a nature enthusiast, I knew I was up for an amazing time.
The Vaalkop Dam has hot showers, flushable toilets, and chalets that can accommodate about 6 sleepers in a room with working electrical plugs. As much as I loved bush camping without these, having these facilities gave me much relief because it was all much more comforting. There is also a kitchen, dining area and hall.
We got to offload our belongings from the taxis and since the closest town is 10kms away, a list was going around to note down what everyone needed from town along with their contributions and I, of course, noted down marshmallows and tennis biscuits. We got to unpack, make our beds, and decompress. No campfire was made our first night, and this is the perfect place for No Devices Expeditions as the network signal is bad… so we just hang out for a bit amongst ourselves before calling it a night.
Saturday morning started with admiring the sunrise, a hot shower, and a filling breakfast before our very first presentation at 09:45 by the Conservation and Environment in the North West Parks Board. We were reminded of the importance of keeping nature sacred, the right ways to be recycling waste, careers in the field of Conservation got highlighted, and SO much more. The following presentation got into Eco-tourism, examples thereof, its effects on our culture, tradition, protecting the environment, and sustainable development with much detail. Following was an energetic presentation bringing more Environmental Awareness focusing on the conservation and environmental challenges in our local communities, villages, and towns as well as the in-depth legislation framework, forest, trees, and environmental values.
A much-needed short break was granted, and then we got back to the educational part of our trip once again for more presentations. We kicked it off with the effects of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in our country and were told in depth about the Obligations of the Rustenburg Municipality, the Sun, Climate Change: causes and impacts, Global Warming, Our Obligation as a People, some 2016 – now statistics, the floods in our neighboring countries of Malawi and Mozambique, Precautionary Measures to keep in mind, and the Projects this municipality in our province is working on. The following presentation got into more depth with Waste Management; its importance, its cycle, the best ways to minimize it, how to begin your recycling program, and much more. The last presentation of the day was held on Security and Anti-poaching where the facilitator got into natural resources, Africa’s Big 5, South Africa’s rhino species, the importance of animal security and the threat of poaching as well as how we can help each other going forward.
You can imagine how fueling our lunch had to be after getting so much information in. We got a lot of leisure time after, and I even got to take a nap. Around 5 PM we were taken on a Nature Drive around the reserve and got told of the environments grazers, the lodges nearby, and so forth. We saw a couple of animals and even encountered a buck’s caress being sniffed out by a jackal.
“S’mores” are a fun treat of melting marshmallow, biscuit and chocolate stacked together
By 7 PM we were finally around my favourite camping thing; the campfire. We had conversations and a micro-game session before devouring dinner by the fire. The weather began switching on us, as it began drizzling, many others went on inside and set up a chill session in the chalets but as soon as the drizzle cleared up, I grabbed my marshmallows and tennis biscuits for some fun on the fire. Around 11 PM I was back inside with and found the chilling session turned into a fun singing and dancing moment… My introvert self was in bed shortly after though.
Sunday was departure day, so after getting ready and having breakfast, we got to packing, taking a few more pictures, and set off. The road that initially took us 3 hours to get in was less than an hour to get out off. This camping experience came a little off-guard because although we were aware of a weekend trip, we did not know exactly what kind of trip it would be. But thanks to my time at Ratumuga Bush Camp, when we were told to pack bedding and bring plates and cutlery I had a hunch it would not be a trip to a hotel at Sun International.
Our facilitators were great! Not only were they super educating, informative and friendly, but they also assisted in guiding and broadening our career paths. Vaalkop Dam as a whole is an obviously water-filled space, and my spirits were calmed as I felt very at home. Learning while having fun is my favourite thing and I got to do these with this trip. Camping here, even for those who are not in Tourism or educational programs, is very affordable and arrangements are easy to do.
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