Skimming Stones | Sula's Blog | Sula1968 A South African poet, potter and mother
I would love to recommend Phudufudu camp at Borakalolo National Park, but I can’t. This bushveld getaway is only 2 hours drive from home in Jo’burg. The park has a beautiful dam, well stocked for fishing. The picturesque scenery and natural beauty should make for a special game reserve experience. Sadly the accommodation is simply an embarrassment.
Perhaps I was more disappointed with the accommodation at Phudufudu because it is a gross waste of potential. The pool is an asset and the staff went the extra mile to be friendly and helpful. Sadly the state of our ‘luxury’ tent was shameful.
Looking around I felt sea-sick. The bath had come adrift from its tiled mooring, lying collapsed at an angle. The kitchen shelf sloped toward the floor. Who ever tiled the kitchen and bathroom never experienced the joys of working with a spirit level. Everything felt precarious.
With a little google info under my belt, I’m sure that I could have done a better job of installing the electrics which were a muddle of loose connections. The kitchen light had no switch, to turn it off the bulb had to be removed.
The air of neglect was depressing. It seems that no attempt at maintenance has been made since initial construction. Little things could have made a big difference. The geyser outside the tent in front of ours let off showers of wasted water. The wooden side of the tent next to ours was rotting due to pipe constantly spewing water. Cliff showed me how simple it would be to replace that pipe. Only the canvas of the tents seemed intact. The structures supporting them almost need to be torn down and built from scratch.
I get no pleasure writing this, it feels so wrong to complain about a beautiful place, which should be supported. How could parks management have let things get this bad? If repairs or renovations are done, please let me know. I would so love to write this again from a brighter perspective.
We got lost finding Borakalolo, here are the GPS co-ordinantes : S25°09’34.6″ E027°48’21.1″
Oh My word, that is terrible and you shouldn’t feel bad about complaining. They should not be letting people stay there, especially with the electrical wiring in such a state
Oh gosh, we were thinking of going there but thanks for the warning.
Maybe the other camp with no electricity is better, I don’t know. It really makes me sad