Summertide Diary: Exploring the Karoo

20 Replies

17 December 2020

As the sun rise over the Great Karoo on the 17th of December we’re joined at the breakfast table by a very tame Cape Bunting hoping for a few crumbs.

Cape Bunting
Karoo National Park Rest Camp

Now that we are all wide awake and with full tummies thanks to our coffee and rusks, we set off on our morning drive, again taking the Klipspringer Pass and Potlekketjie Loop, but this time the other way around.

Mating ostriches
Very satisfied male ostrich (photo by Joubert)
White-throated Canary
Klipspringer
Grey Rhebok
Karoo Scrub-Robin
Gemsbok
Grans vistas in the Karoo National Park
Steenbok
Rufous-eared Warbler

By the time we reach the Doornhoek Picnic Site all three of us are in need of a leg stretch.

Sweet Thorn in Doornhoek Picnic Site
Cicada shell
Doornhoek Picnic Site
Doornhoek Picnic Site

The second leg of our morning drive delivers even more encounters with the wild inhabitants of the Karoo.

Young Vervet Monkeys
Gemsbok
Gemsbok
Karoo Korhaan
Steenbok pair
Secretary Bird on the hunt
Springbok (photo by Joubert)
Karoo Sandveld Lizard
Baboon

Back in camp by midday we explore as much of it as we can – from the interpretive centre and camping site at the one end to the swimming pool and bird hide at the other.

Speckled Pigeon
White-backed Mousebird
Black-throated Canary
Rock Martin nest
Cape Sparrow (female)
Leopard Tortoise
Bird Hide at Karoo National Park
Bird Hide at Karoo National Park
Marsh Terrapin
Common Moorhen
Leopard Tortoise cooling off
Red-knobbed Coots
Three-banded Plover
Cape River Frog
African Reed Warbler
Red Bishop females
Cape Wagtail
Well camouflaged grasshopper, presumably from the genus Sphingonatus
Rest Camp in the Karoo National Park
Red-winged Starling (female)
Red-winged Starling (male)
Bowker’s Sapphire
Familiar Chat
Red Bishop male
Immature Cape Robin-Chat
White-throated Canary
Cape Bunting
Male Southern Masked Weaver

For our final afternoon drive of this visit to the Karoo National Park we opt for a leisurely amble through the Lammertjiesleegte; the open plains between the rest camp and the park’s eastern border which, despite its foreboding name (translated directly from Afrikaans it means “empty place of the lambs”, which sounds like a sequel to a horror movie), is actually a section of the park very rich in wildlife.

Rock Kestrel
Nervous Kudu bull
Nervous Kudu bull (photo by Joubert)
Mountain Zebra
Mountain Zebra

If you’d like to learn more about the Karoo National Park, have a read through this earlier post of ours detailing the natural and man-made features of the Park.

Map of the Karoo National Park showing Potlekkertjie Loop, Klipspringer Pass and Lammertjiesleegte, from the official guide book published by SANParks

20 thoughts on “Summertide Diary: Exploring the Karoo”

  4. Anne

    If it is to reveal its treasures to one, the Karoo requires patience and sharp observation skills. Between the three of you there is obviously a lot of both – and we can enjoy the results.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Agreed, Anne – I think most people’s wrong impression of the Karoo as being a desolate, empty place is down to them rushing through there to get to the coast and not allowing it to slowly percolate under their skin and into their souls…

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  8. H.J. for avian101

    Wow! Your crew was busy with so many animals! It’s fantastic! ~ Jy het ‘n wonderlike dag gehad! ~ Tell me if this is correct. Dankie, D. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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