Malolotja in Swaziland

Thanks for the pics and info on Malolotja Stijn. Have been wanting to go there for sometime. Can you give us anymore info on things like where to get a good map, a route you would recommend, etc.?

The 1:35000 Malolotja Hiking Map is no longer in print but there is an online version available at the Footprint Hiking Club website: www.footprint.co.za/malolotja.htm

For a first trip to the reserve, I would head down the Malolotja Valley from the Malolotja Falls to the Upper Potholes (see photo on 1st page of this thread). You could then spend a day exploring down to the Lower Potholes or climb Silotfwane Peak and head back via the Mhlangamphepha Valley.

I'd also highly recommend the area around the Ngwenya mine and Ngwenya Peak. You could do it as a separate day hike, weekend trip, or link from the route above on a longer 4-5 day hike.

Many of the paths and campsites marked on the map are overgrown and no longer exist. So a healthy appetite for adventure is a prerequisite. Having said that, the entire Komati valley (north of the potholes) is very overgrown so if you head there, keep your daily distances low. We also took about an hour to find Siweni campsite on the Western slopes of Silotfwane Peak - look out for the large free-standing tree above where the path should be in the drainage basin.

Thanks for the info, Stijn. I know this thread is old, but we're heading to Malolotja at the end of the month for a 3-4 day hike and I was wondering if you had any GPS points or tracks for the campsites/routes you took?

We are considering the following route:
Day 0: Pretoria -> Malolotja Main Camp
Day 1: Malolotja valley (Majolomba -> Malolotja -> Mahulungwane for the night)
Day 2: Mahulungwane -> Silweni
Day 3: Silweni -> Ntabamhlope
Day 4: Ntabamhlope -> Main Camp -> Pretoria

Does it seem reasonable or is it taking on too much?

I've attached the Google Earth file I traced out prior to our hike. So not based on actual GPS track data, but close enough. We had planned to follow the route as attached, but ended up following an almost identical route to yours:

Day 1 - Main camp to Upper potholes camp
Day 2 - Upper potholes to Siweni Camp (path non-existent most of the day)
Day 3 - Siweni camp back to Main camp via the Ranger's hut and Timbeleni (path dies when crossing the main Malolotja River)

Oh and your planned route is perfectly doable, as long as your party is happy with a bit of path-finding and bundu-bashing at times (ok, almost all the time!).

Thanks Stijn, this is very useful! We'll look out for the tree to find Siweni campsite, and will otherwise take our bushwhacking gear .

rudivs, have you got space for more friends?

Hi All
I picked up a thread where abdavies,Stijn & rudivs shared info on Malolotja in Swaziland dated 19 Jun 2012.
I'm looking to spend a a few winter nights in the area, as its close for us Lowvelders
Does anyone have GPS co-ords for the camps or routes covered. The official web page has tons of info, maps explanations etc but no GPS matarial.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanx!
Redshift3

I'm hoping to revive this thread to gain some more up to date info. Looking to do an overnight hike in Malolotja next weekend with a couple of mates. I'm planning on one-night camping at base camp and then two long days of hiking with wilderness camping, preferably near an epic waterfall. Has anyone been there lately? Any advice, tips or GPS tracks would be much appreciated.

AfricaBen1, the last time I was there was January 2016. Before that was our hike in 2014. Both times the reserve was beautiful, with some of my favourite hiking anywhere! As Stijn said, the campsites are pretty basic (basically just a marker on the ground) and can be a bit overgrown, but we didn't struggle to find a place to pitch our tents. The paths can be hard to find the further you go from the main camp, especially if you leave the main valleys like we did on the second day. There are generally cairns which can help, but we did rely on our 1:35000 hiking map, which is no longer available. I've attached our gps route. We stayed in these campsites (sorry, don't have the numbers with me):

First camp (along the river, flat, recommended): -26.0728446, 31.1056156
Second camp (no water, not flat, not recommended): -26.1033139, 31.0756520
Third camp (up on the hillside but flat and has water, beautiful view, recommended): -26.1311146, 31.0988166

We also passed through a few other campsites on the way (little red barrel-shaped cement markers) but I can't find their GPS coordinates now. We didn't go to the potholes on our hike (swimmy/jumpy waterfalls - sounds like the sort of thing you're after), but we did go past the path to get to them, so you could follow our day 1 route, and then split off after that.

The main camp is comfortable, but don't expect much from the facilities. The ablutions are a bit dingy and when we were there there were no toilet seats (but there were toilets at least). The chalets at the main camp are very comfortable and not too expensive (if I remember correctly) if you want a bit more comfort for the first night. The restaurant has good cold beer, and their food was cheap and decent.

One last word of caution - when we were there last January there was a herd of elephants that had crossed the border from South Africa. Keep your eyes out for them and be ready to change your route if necessary.

Malalotja is always worthwhile, and I hope you have a wonderful hike!

Edit: if you plot our route and Stijn's route, you'll see we made a bit of a dogs-leg towards South Africa near to Siweni Campsite. Follow Stijn's route here, not ours!

Rudivs, Thank you so much for the detailed information and GPS track. This forum is a mine of information.

How long did it take you to hike from the main camp to your first camp, wondering if we could make it their in half a day and avoid camping at the main camp. I guess i'm wondering how accurate the time estimates on the park's map are?

Cheers,
AfricaBen