#1: [31-May-03]

#3: [21-Dec-04]

19-Jul-2003 -- My family and me set off to visit the confluence point 24S 27E on 19 July 2003. We own a small game farm about 30 km east of this point and we have been talking about the visit for a long time. Being a land surveyor, I am pretty used to searching for precise points in the middle of nowhere, but for my family it was a real adventure. Even the dog. A German Shepherd went along for the ride although he was nowhere on any of the photos. Using a little Garmin and a 1:50,000 topographical map, we quickly came to within a kilometre of the point. With an 8 feet game fence between the confluence point and us we started driving up and down looking for a gate. Gates in this area are normally locked to keep the poachers out. Luckily we found the closest gate unlocked and proceeded through to look for the owner. About 200 meters further we met the owner, Mr. Victor Wentzel. On a farm of more than 1000 hectares, this was quite surprising. Mr. Wentzel was extremely friendly and helpful and we were soon in the general area of the confluence point. He also told us that somebody visited the same point some three months before. Some of the adventure was lost at this stage, but we were there, so we could just as well finish the job.

We navigated through the trees to as close to the confluence point as the Garmin could guide us. At what we identified as the exact spot, we found the rock left there by our predecessors. This confirmed that they and us actually identified the same point and that we were at the right spot. A few pictures were taken and after a visit to the Wentzel's game lodge we returned home.

Mr. Wentzel operates a hunting/game farm, Kirabo Game Lodge, where he and his family mainly cater for hunters from Europe and America. The lodge is very beautiful and makes it clear that you are visiting Africa. Various game trophies around the lounge confirm this and the whole atmosphere says African Bushveld. We were "intruders" not guests and immediately felt very welcome. Thank you for an experience my family and me will always remember.