GPS Mapping Punda Maria Mahonie Loop Drive Kruger National Park South Africa
30 km drive in a wondrous natural hilly and woodland setting and notes on GPS waypoint data collected
To see the previous section of the Kruger drive please click this link
Many images on this Kruger Park GPS (global positioning system) and map-based site will be in thumbnail view so click these to see the enlarged image.
Some information on waypoints and date recorded by my GPS
On all the drives described on this website I have recorded every point at around every 10 second interval. In other words the exact (within +- 3 metres at times when WAAS was activated) spot was automatically recorded by the Garmin 60CS GPS unit that was located on the windscreen of my car. All I had to do at any point of interest was click the waypoint button. The Garmin GPS would then place a marking at that spot and these markings are identified by blue flags on the various maps shown on the site. Such waypoints were then mixed with the 10 second track recordings so that the points could be identified relative to the drive.
The image above shows an extract for the data recorded for this particular Mahonie Loop drive. You can see the loop on the second map below (click the small image to see a larger version)
Lets consider what this table says and how it helps me remember the drive and describe it in as much detail as I want to without completely boring the reader. ...
The drive started at waypoint 051 at 07.31 at co-ordinates 22.69353 degrees South and 31.02240 degrees East. The altitude above sea level was 445 metres.
The drive ended (waypoint 062) upon joining the road from the Punda Maria Camp at 09.23 and altitude was 424 metres.
The highest waypoint was recorded at 476 metres which was waypoint 060. By
referring to the map to the left (click to enlarge) I can remind myself that I
was driving along between a wooded hill to my left that rose up to 580 metres
and ultimately to 600 metres.
To my right was also a hill which rose steadily but less steeply to about 560 metres and was also wooded at the top. The highest point that could be seen on the entire drive was a wooded hill top that was about 3 kms slightly north of east from waypoint 060. This hill top was approximately half way as the crow flies between waypoint 060 and Punda Maria camp.
Why did I make a recording of what I saw at waypoint 060 and what was it?
Well at the time of writing I still don't exactly know what it was but it is an
example of a very interestingly coloured and shaped fruit. This bright orange
spiky cylindrical fruit was being feasted upon by a range of
insects including
ants. This was just another small piece in a massive Kruger Park jigsaw puzzle.
It also goes to prove that a GPS does not tell you everything ...
The point of this short diversion is to try to illustrate how much more interesting a drive in a wonderful place like the Kruger can be when you are armed with a GPS, camera, some way of recording the events and mapping software.
Waypoints 051 to 062
This is a map of the Mahonie drive close to the Punda Maria camp. In fact it is a drive that goes around the hills surrounding Punda Maria. It takes you through some beautiful wooded and hilly country scenically stunning in the autumn morning light.
