A Lazy Sunday At Rietvlei

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Rietvlei Nature Reserve is the largest of the natural areas within the Pretoria city limits, protecting 3800 hectares of endangered bankenveld grasslands and reedbeds around the Rietvlei Dam. Rietvlei offers sanctuary to an astounding variety of indigenous game and birdlife just minutes away from our home, and was the perfect destination for a picnic with a good friend on the last Sunday of August. The gallery that follows comprises some photos we took on the day, and is a perfect introduction to what this special reserve has to offer – in the few hours we spent there we ticked 13 kinds of mammals (including plains zebra, eland, waterbuck, reedbuck, buffalo and white rhino) and 53 different birdspecies.

Blesbok
Yellow-billed Duck
Rietvlei sunrise
Eland
Helmeted Guineafowl
White rhino
White rhino
Red hartebeest
Red hartebeest (juvenile)
Pied starling
Waterbuck
African Wattled Lapwing
Eland
White rhino
Crimson-breasted Shrike
Waterbuck
Zebra
Well hidden Reedbuck
Zebra
Zebra
Ostrich male
Anteating Chat
Springbok ram at Rietvlei Nature Reserve
Capped Wheatear
Baby white rhino
Baby white rhino and mom
Buffalo
Wet Cape Robin-Chat
Red-knobbed Coots
African Stonechat

The Rietvlei Nature Reserve, on the southern outskirts of Pretoria, is owned and managed by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and is very popular, especially over weekends and on public holidays. The reserve offers chalet accommodation and camping, self-drive game- and birdviewing , photographic hides, picnic sites, a coffee shop, lion camp (guided tours only), guided night drives, fishing, sailing, rowing, hiking, mountain biking and horse trails.

Rietvlei location

Rietvlei lies roughly 19km south of the Pretoria City Centre (drawn with Google Maps)

 

32 thoughts on “A Lazy Sunday At Rietvlei”

  8. Daniël Bezuidenhout

    We sold a small holding there just last year. We never visited the area as we don’t live in the country. Always had people renting the houses on the small holding. They loved it – and we had the same people renting for years. Eventually the rentees bought it from us. Looking at your photos I realize maybe it was a huge mistake. I definitely did not know there were any rhino’s there. As a child I remember riding my horse around a smelly vlei and hunting tarrentaal in Rietvlei area. Hindsight is such an exact science…

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    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      And there we were thinking just how lucky those people who live in houses overlooking the reserve are! It’s good to know some of them appreciate it. Had we known, we could have advised you Daniel 😉

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