The well-worn leather bound South African National Park Visitor’s Book at Narina Bush Camp in Addo National Park is such an entertaining read that it is reason enough to visit this delightfully rustic camp.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a multitude of other reasons to visit Narina and it remains one of our all-time favourite SANparks spots. But each time we arrive, the very first thing I do after settling in is head for the gas fridge, on top of which is a trio of books. The first is a recipe book where campers can add their favourite fireside concoctions. The second is a comprehensive list of all the flora and fauna in the area and the third is the bee’s knees in camp side entertainment.
This is no ordinary guest book. It starts out pretty normal with the first guests in 2007 recording their names, places of origin and the dates they visited. Flip through a few pages and you will see that it didn’t take long for the creative consciousness of the wilderness to kick in. Travellers began to write stories and draw pictures and this gem of a book has become a collection of international memories and travel tales that will have you laughing out loud and entertained for hours.
Here are a few of our favourite excerpts:
This entry from 2016 caught our eye, and although it won’t win any prizes for neat handwriting, it gets 10 out of 10 for it’s entertainment value.
Translation: Had a puncture just short of the camp. My wife decided to look for help, walked past the camp and got lost. Having fixed the puncture the problem was to find my wife. With the help of a visiting farmer in a Toyota bakkie we were unable to locate her. Took about an hour and a half calling and hearing our voices echoing off the mountains. Eventually gave up and found her back at the camp drinking our wine.
Translation: Hennie – Fix the road. Trudie – Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. John – Fantastic, layout of the camp is perfect, no inconvenience endured. With the help of the rangers, Ntsikilelo and Robin, our accommodation was absolutely pleasant – shower is awesome.
At this point, I must interject and say that John is the only person in this guest book (and probably the only visitor ever) to find Narina’s shower bakgat. Interesting, yes. Unique, yes. A talking point, definitely. But even though this paraffin operated “scud” geyser sounds like a missile taking off when it is lit, it only delivers a few seconds of insanely boiling water every now and again which means you get scorched in between being frozen with icy water. We have taken to rather hand washing with a steaming bowl of hot water in our tent, than to braving this monster. Rest assured though, this wonderfully different inconvenience in no way mars our enjoyment of the lovely camp.
Narina’s “scud” shower – brrr, ouch, brrr, ouch!
We love looking back and remembering our visits to Narina. I have now made a mental note to always take a coloured pen along with, as our first pink entry is super easy to find.
We only stayed one night on this visit, and that was unanimously not long enough!
Here are some photos of our latest overnighter at the uber-awesome Narina Bush Camp:
The central kitchen lapa is surrounded by dome tents in the thick forest
En route to the “Scud”
Taking a hike up the mountain (and some pics!)
Fun along the way up the mountain trail
We made it to the top – what a view!
Stunning flora on the mountain – including lots of Zuurberg cycads
The rickety bridge to Narina, we hope to walk across it again soon!
So there you have it, if you are lucky enough to visit the beautiful Narina Bush Camp, send us a pic of your visitor’s book entry!
Yours in travel
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