An early morning encounter with a territorial black wildebeest bull, in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
“Silhouette” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
Silhouette
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Category Archives: Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Room to roam
Joubert exploring the Golden Gate Highlands National Park
“Room” is the theme for this week’s photo challenge from WordPress
March to Golden Gate
The 21st of March is a public holiday in South Africa, and with it falling on a Friday this year made for a very welcome long weekend; just the excuse we needed to head for our beloved Golden Gate Highlands National Park again.
Into a copse of Ouhout Trees at the start of the trail
We stayed in a cottage at the little Glen Reenen Rest Camp, but the glorious weather and brilliant autumn colours ensured that we were outside for most of the short time we had available in the Park.
Our regular readers will know this gem of a place quite well by now, seeing as we try to visit as often as possible and enjoy sharing our experiences there with everyone who cares to listen. For those new to de Wets Wild, or who would like to know more about the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, we think the special post we did in celebration of the Park’s 50th birthday would be an excellent introduction.
Golden Gate through the lens of a 4-year old
We often show photographs like these of Joubert, taking photos of anything and everything we come across.
Our weekend in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park came to an end today and we thought we’d share a couple of our little boy’s photos from the trip 😉
View from Glen Reenen
Golden Gate scenery
Little Caledon River
View from Glen Reenen
Golden Gate scenery
Golden Gate scenery
Black wildebeest
World Water Day 2014
The 22nd of March is World Water Day, and what better way to appreciate this precious resource than enjoying the crystal clear mountain streams right here in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park!
Long Weekend at Golden Gate (21/03/2014)
It’s a long weekend here in South Africa, and that’s just the excuse we need to spend a couple of days in beautiful Golden Gate Highlands National Park!
Selfie
We (the Wild de Wets), posing for a portrait, at Glen Reenen Rest Camp in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park
“Selfie” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
Golden Gate Highlands National Park – December 2013
Boxing Day 2013 saw us heading back to one of our favourite South African wild places – the spectacular Golden Gate Highlands National Park in the eastern Free State Province.
We had three nights booked at Glen Reenen Rest Camp. Our unit offered a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding us, and the camp is frequented by a wide variety of birds and animals. Sitting on the verandah we were surrounded by paradise.
Glen Reenen Rest Camp
Glen Reenen Rest Camp
Crested Barbet
Ice Rat
Ice Rat
Robin
Cape White-eye
Cape Weaver male
Cape Weaver female
Baboons often pass through camp looking for scraps and stealing from the accommodation units
Baboons often pass through camp looking for scraps and stealing from the accommodation units
Cape Canary
Cape turtle dove
Weaver
Red-winged Starlings
Glen Reenen Rest Camp
Difficult as it was to wrestle ourselves away from Glen Reenen’s peaceful surroundings, we made the most of all the activities available (when the weather allowed). Driving around, horse-riding or hiking – take your pick!
Gladstone stables
Hiking trails
Sandstone Valley viewpoint
Dolerite Dyke viewpoint
Thanks to the good rainfall all the streams in the park were flowing strongly.
A visit to a National Park would not be the same without the animals and birds that find sanctuary there! Our most special sighting of this trip? Two specimens of the rare bearded vulture passing overhead!
Blesbok crossing
Black wildebeest
Black wildebeest
Plains zebra
Plains zebra
Blesbok herd
Blesbok
Grey rhebok
Black wildebeest
Bearded vulture
Black-backed jackal
Black-backed jackal
Black-backed jackal
Black-winged Kite
Amur Falcon
Black wildebeest
We also posted a couple of pictures while we were in the Park. On the 26th of December a thunderstorm welcomed us back to the Park, on the 27th we chased the end of the rainbow and on the 28th we marveled at the cloud formations passing overhead.
Our regular readers will know that Golden Gate Highlands National Park has a very special place in our hearts. If you’d like to know more about this beautiful place, have a look at the special post we published on the occasion of the Park’s 50th birthday.
Our 2013 in pictures
As the year is rushing to its end, we’re looking back at all the wonderful places we stayed at in South Africa’s wild places during 2013:
Blyde Canyon, March 2013
Crocodile Bridge (Kruger), April 2013
Punda Maria (Kruger), September 2013
Tembe Elephant Park, May 2013
Olifants Wilderness Trail (Kruger), June 2013
Satara (Kruger), June 2013
Golden Gate Hotel and Chalets, July-August-September 2013
Ithala, December 2013
Bakgatla (Pilanesberg), November 2013
Mpila (Hluhluwe-Imfolozi), December 2013
Glen Reenen (Golden Gate), December 2013
Pretoriuskop (Kruger), April 2013
Letaba (Kruger), September 2013
Chelmsford, March 2013
Midmar, August 2013
Cloudy Golden Gate, 28 December 2013
Today was our last full day to spend in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park – of this visit in any case. 😉
Tonight we think the fantastic cloud formations that passed over the beautiful mountain landscapes deserves some special attention…
(you can click on any of the images to view them in a carousel gallery)
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Cloudy Golden Gate Highlands National Park
DeWetsWild 