Serene spaces and lots to do
“Ghost Mountain Inn at Mkuze in northern KwaZulu-Natal is like an overgrown country home surrounded by beautiful gardens with sycamore fig and fever trees….”
African travel writer Roxanne Reid recently stayed with us and has a thorough article about her experiences on her blog, originally posted here: https://www.roxannereid.co.za/blog/at-the-foot-of-ghost-mountain-serene-spaces-and-lots-to-do
Below is an excerpt from the blog on things to do from Ghost Mountain Inn.
Don’t you love it when places turn out to be better than expected? That’s true of Ghost Mountain Inn at Mkuze in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Discover how peaceful and relaxing this Zululand country inn is and how much there is to do in the surrounding area.
1. Go birding
2. Take a boat trip on Lake Jozini
The hills rising up on both sides of the dam are covered with thorn trees and sculptural euphorbias. During our boat trip we saw numerous birds like reed cormorants, kingfishers, osprey and African fish-eagle, as well as water monitors on the rocks along the edge of the dam.
3. Go tiger fishing at Lake Jozini
If you love the challenge of fishing and spending a day on the water, go tiger fishing at Lake Jozini. Remember that the winter months of May to August aren’t good for tiger fishing. You can also fish for other species like tilapia, carp and catfish.
4. Join a guided wildlife safari
Keen birders will enjoy the Mkuze River walk around the dam in front of the inn and into the Mkuze riverbed. Apart from views of Ghost Mountain, expect to see both water birds and savannah species, including palm swifts, kingfishers, barbets and more.
For something truly special, take a game drive through uMkhuze Game Reserve to the start of the Fig Forest Walk. Then wander under the canopy of huge sycamore fig trees, listen to the calls of trumpeter hornbills and look for birds like Pel’s fishing-owl and blue-mantled flycatcher. Although it’s not a demanding walk, it’ll take about two hours and see you crossing two short swing bridges over the river.
6. Enjoy a scenic Lebombo mountain drive
To get a deeper understanding of the area, we took a guided drive into the Lebombo Mountains with Sakhile Mathenjwa. Lebombo means ‘long nose’ and this mountain range stretches 800km from Hluhluwe through to Mpumalanga and Limpopo, with parts of the range in Eswatini and Mozambique.
The drive took us up a steep pass to 650-700m above sea level, where people of the uBombo community have their houses, vegetable patches and orchards. ‘There’s little money,’ Sakhile said, ‘but they have all they need from crops like watermelon, oranges, pumpkin, avo, onion, banana, cassava. They also have cows, goats and chickens.’ It was a reminder of the beauty of authentic rural Africa.
Our drive finally crossed over the top of the mountain, descending on the other side to sweeping views over Lake Jozini as the sun set with a hot orange belt above the horizon, gradually softening to pink. Magical stuff.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, you could choose to join a cultural interaction with the local people. Visiting a local school, community centre or home to meet the locals and learn about rural Zulu customs is a great way to connect with the warm heart of Zululand. At present, for the safety of all concerned in these times of social distancing, these interactions aren’t available. Once the pandemic is under control, no doubt these special opportunities will return. In the meantime, if you’re keen to learn about the local communities and Zulu traditions, the scenic Lebombo mountain drive (see point 6 above) is a safe way to do that – and to enjoy some spectacular views at the same time.
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