We depart from Beaufort West at about nine in the morning because we have some distance to cover. We will not be taking the shortest route, as we would like to cover a route that we have not travelled before. We take the N1 and our first stop is at Richmond. We have not explored Richmond before, and this time we go for coffee and scones at Die Vetmuis farm kitchen. Delicious. I ask the owner about Richmond’s manual telephone exchange, that I read was still the largest in the southern hemisphere, and it turns out that she was the operator until it closed down about two years ago!
From Richmond we drove further north on the N1 until just outside Hanover where we turn left on the R389 towards Philipstown. This is the road we have not travelled yet. We encounter a number of iron ore carriers on the way but the road, although damaged by them, is reasonably maintained. Philipstown is a small place with not much to see – the liquor store Steady Eddie’s Disa Drankwinkel catches our attention on our way out!
The next town is Petrusville and is close to the Gariep, SA’s largest river. Last year we have visited the Gariep dam (SA’s largest), which is upstream from here where the N1 crosses the river, but this year we want to see the Van der Kloof dam which is much smaller and downstream from the Gariep Dam. Just a short distance from Petrusville one turns off to the dam with its holiday houses. It is much more modern and upmarket than the surrounding towns and we drive through it observing fancy guest houses, private holiday houses and sailing facilities. We went for a quick coffee and slap chips at Oppiedek higher up the hill.
We leave the dam driving across the dam wall. I would have loved to wait until closer to 5pm to see the sluice gates being opened for two hours to run the hidro-electric power station that feeds into the SA national grid during peak demand time, but we cannot afford to arrive after dark in Mokala – it is forbidden. After a while we join the R48 just before Luckhoff, our first town in the Freestate province north of the Gariep river. The next town is Koffiefontein and here we join the R704 which we drove last year between Koffiefontein and Jagersfontein. After a while we turn left on the R705 to Jacobsdal that we have also visited last year. Then on to cross the N12 at Richie on our final 16 or so kilometers to Mokala.
Mokala National Park is Sanparks’s latest game reserve and one of our favourites. It is small but hosts numerous game species including buffalo and rhinos. It is the only place in SA where I have seen both impala and springbok as well as both black and blue wildebeest in the same reserve. Apparently impala/springbok and blue/black wildebeest fulfil the same function in nature and it is usually the one or the other that you will see. In Mokala you can even see black, white or copper springboks! Mokala means Camel Thorn tree in Setswana and there are many of these trees in the reserve. Near the Lilydale rest camp you will find grass fields while the majority of the park is covered in camel thorn trees.
We arrive for three nights in Lilydale rest camp, which is on the banks of the Riet River. For the first two nights we are alone in the camp which makes it special and very quiet. You can hear the small rapids down below in the river. One can do trout fishing if you want. Needless to say the first evening (as well the following two at Mokala) is spent braaiing with some good red wine to match!
The next two days we drive around Mokala on all the roads we have not tried before. We also visit the Interpretation Centre close to the Mosu rest camp – a well designed and kept facility describing the history of the park and the cultures that inhabited the area. We enjoy a beer in the Mosu bar.
Saturday, 3 August, we depart for Loxton our next stop. But the day will include an unplanned stop which we will be glad we didn’t miss…
