17-Dec-2004 -- My sister Marieta, friend Gys, his two sons, and myself were returning from a scuba diving holiday at Morrungulo, Mozambique. We planned to use the roads less travelled and enter South Africa at Pafuri, the most northern part of the Kruger National Park.

Travelling from Massinga to Funhalouro on an average gravel road by African standards, we reached the office of the local State Forester. This was most useful as he could speak some English, read Portuguese and understood what we were after visiting 23S 34E. He directed us to a trail used by the foresters that would lead us close to the Confluence, 34 km away. This was great. The track was sandy but smooth winding through dense indigenous forest.

With 8 km to go, Lady Luck smiled on us again when we found a strip cleared some time ago leading towards the Confluence. It turned out that the clearing was the result of SASOL, the South African petrol company having laid a pipeline from Mozambique to South Africa for pumping gas. We followed the clearing at snail's pace. The pipeline passed the Confluence by 2.98 km. We left the vehicles and proceeded on foot. Hiking was difficult with the soil sandy and the forest dense. After an hour we reached the Confluence, our second during this holiday. Another great day in Africa!