Exploring Golden Gate

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As wonderful a place as Glen Reenen is, and as terrific as the trails that lead into the mountains from there are, to really experience all the Golden Gate Highlands National Park has to offer you also must take a drive along the Lichens Pass road that leads through the Park all the way between the eastern and western boundaries, the gravel road to Kestell to the northern boundary, and the Oribi and Blesbok loops that meanders up and over two plateaus near the camp. Along the way you can appreciate magnificent scenery and you could encounter some of the almost 200 species of birds and 60 species of mammals that occur here, including the bald ibis, crowned crane, guineafowl, secretarybird, cape and bearded vulture, blesbok, eland, hartebeest, oribi, grey rhebok, springbok, black wildebeest and plains zebra. Here’s just a few of the photographs we took while exploring the larger Park area during our December 2016 visit.

Golden Gate scenery
Golden Gate scenery
Golden Gate scenery
Golden Gate scenery
Golden Gate scenery
Golden Gate scenery
Golden Gate scenery
Black-headed Heron
Black-backed Jackal trying to hide from the camera
Plains zebra
Plains zebra
Plains zebra
Blesbok herd
Eland and blesbok
Southern bald ibis
Cape Canary
Levaillant’s Cisticola
Black-backed Jackal
Grey Rhebok
Cape Robin-Chat
Black-backed Jackal

20 thoughts on “Exploring Golden Gate”

  2. Penne Cole

    Stunning shots. We have locked in a week in Cape Town and 4 nights at an eco camp in Kruger but we still have one week to fill. Thank you for all the ideas on your blog 🙂

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    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      It did get good downpours AJ, but Golden Gate was still a lot drier than we’ve seen it on previous December visits. A lot more rain is needed before this terrible drought can be considered over.

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