Easter at Marakele

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If you thought we were a bit quiet over the Easter Weekend you’d be right, as we disappeared into the Marakele National Park in the Waterberg Mountains of the Limpopo Province, celebrating the cornerstone of our Chrisitian faith with good friends and family surrounded by awesome scenery and beautiful wildlife.

Welcome to Marakele National Park
The full moon rising over the Waterberg (photo by Joubert)
Early morning at Marakele
The view from the road to the top of Lenong Viewpoint on the mountain
Everlastings thrive on the mountain
Marakele scenery
Impressive cliffs looming over Thutong
Marakele scenery
Marakele scenery
Marakele scenery
The view from the top of Lenong Viewpoint on the mountain
Marakele scenery
The plains and Tlopi Dam below Mbidi Loop
Marakele afternoon sun
Common Sugarbush bud (photo by Joubert)
View over the valley and Waterberg range from Thutong

Marakele’s such a treasure chest of diverse wildlife that it is hard to decide what to show and what to leave out. Let’s start then with a few of the “creepy crawlies” that we encountered while exploring the Park.

Adult Blotched Antlion
Broad-bordered Grass Yellow
Guinea-fowl Butterfly
Common Orange Tip butterfly (male)
Zebra White butterfly
Large moth
Praying Mantis
Two-spotted Tyrant Beetle
A Velvet Ant female – the females are flightless
Flattie Spider against a bathroom wall
Grass Funnel-web Spider
Red Toad
Baby Turner’s Giant Gecko
Turner’s Giant Gecko
Speckled Rock Skink (photo by Joubert)
Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake

WIth Autumn now in full swing in South Africa most of the summer visiting migrant birds have departed for warmer environs already, but bird watching at Marakele over Easter was still a special treat!

Black-crowned Tchagra
Cape Bunting
Cape Robin Chat
Cape Rock Thrush (male)
Cape Vultures in flight over Marakele – the Park is home to the world’s biggest colony of these birds.
Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
Familiar Chat
Fork-tailed Drongo
Freckled Nightjar
Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
Lesser Striped Swallow
Long-tailed Paradise Whydah (shortly before molting)
Mocking Cliff-Chat male
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Rock Kestrels in flight
White-fronted Bee-eater
Yellow-fronted Canary

What would a National Park be without some charismatic large mammals? Marakele certainly didn’t disappoint on that score, even though the lush vegetation following the rainy season did make game-viewing a bit trickier than usual.

Blue Wildebeest
Cantankerous Buffalo bull
Dassie (Rock Hyrax)
Dassie (Rock Hyrax)
Elephant visiting us at Thutong one night (caught on our camera-trap)
Elephant teenager showing off!
This elephant cow didn’t appreciate our presence one bit, even though we gave her plenty of space!
Giraffe bull
Impala ram
Impala lamb
Klipspringer ewe
Klipspringer ewe
Klipspringer pair
Kudu bull
Kudu calf
Kudu cow close-up
Majestic Kudu Bull
Juvenile Kudu
Kudu cow
Lioness (photo by Joubert)
Young male lion at Marakele
Nyala calf
Plains Zebras
Plains Zebra close-up
Vervet Monkey (photo by Joubert)
Warthog
White Rhinos

Altogether we spent 4 nights in Marakele on this trip, arriving late on the 18th and departing again on the morning of the 22nd of April 2019. When visiting Marakele in a big group there’s no better option than to stay at the Thutong Environmental Education Centre (as we did) in a remote corner of the Park.

Special friends and family sharing a beautiful piece of our country
Thutong Environmental Education Centre, Marakele NP, April 2019

We’ve covered Marakele extensively in previous posts on de Wets Wild, so why not have a read through all of them if you are interested to learn more about this magical piece of our country.

30 thoughts on “Easter at Marakele”

  3. Liza M Roux's avatarlizamroux

    I adore Marakele, especially for the birdlife! Wish I could go back! You saw a lot of animals. We never saw that much, but we always went for day visits!

    Reply ↓
    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      Ons enigste troeteldiere is n tenk met tropiese visse, Tina, en dit is baie maklik om vir hulle te sorg selfs al is ons so dikwels weg van die huis af.

      Reply ↓
      1. rondomtaliedraai's avatarrondomtaliedraai

        mmmm maar mens kan hulle nie drukkies gee… maar ek verstaan Mens kan nie so baie weggan as jy diere tuis het nie Of jy moet dit soos Perdrbytjie hulle altyd saamneem

  6. Pingback: Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake | de Wets Wild

  7. naturebackin's avatarnaturebackin

    Best Easter wishes to you all. Looks to have been a great time at Marakele. We are yet to visit there. I particularly like some of the antelope photos. And those elephant look to be somewhat feisty!

    Reply ↓
    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      Thank you, Carol!’
      That one cow was particularly irritated – She seemed to have been lactating, but we didn’t see any calves near her at any point – our suspicion is that the calf met an untimely demise and that’s the reason for the cow’s distress.
      Marakele’s a wonderful place untainted by the Kruger’s crowds – if ever you find yourself anywhere in the vicinity you really should spend a night or two there.

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      1. naturebackin's avatarnaturebackin

        Sad possible reason for the elephant’s agitation. We tend to forget that the animals we see even in protected areas may have complicated experiences that colour their view of people and vehicles.
        Thanks for the encouragement to visit Marakele. We may well be heading that way in a year or two’s time.

    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      You really should consider a few nights at Marakele next time you’re in these parts, Liz. And thank you, I’ll pass your kind comment on to Joubert

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    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      Thanks, Tracy. Joubert really is becoming quite adept with his camera, and what a joy it is to share this hobby with him!

      On the subject of my illness, I thankfully received a partial diagnosis the day before we left for Marakele. Still more blood tests scheduled for a month from now and hopefully we’ll have all the answers then. Thank you for caring!

      Reply ↓
    1. DeWetsWild's avatarde Wets Wild Post author

      I hear you, Julie – our flatties can grow to the size of a cake plate and still are flat enough to hide in the thinnest crevice, to emerge when the sun goes down. Fascinating really, but I’m not going to try and pick one up either…

      Reply ↓

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