Category Archives: Limpopo Province

Our experiences in the reserves of Limpopo, South Africa

A more demure Marakele

We jump from one side of the size scale to the other, as in today’s post we’re taking a closer look at some of the more diminutive inhabitants of the Marakele National Park that crossed our path when we visited last week.

Where there’s big herbivores, like those we featured yesterday, roaming free you’re sure to find Dung Beetles going about their important work.

Dung Beetle

Just because they’re a lot smaller doesn’t mean that the predators featured in the next few paragraphs are any less fierce! Watching this Solifuge inspect every nook and cranny of a zebra dung pile for an unwary prey was every bit as exciting as watching a lioness stalk her prey.

Solifuge on the hunt

This Yellow-and-Black Kite Spider is a lot more laid back with her hunting technique!

This Yellow-and-Black Kite Spider was hanging around in Bontle Camp

And this Puff Adder might be slow to cross the road, but that’s just because it is so confident of its own notoriety.

Puff Adder crossing a road in Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Lizards and chameleons put in regular appearances as we traveled through the Park

Flap-necked Chameleon

Speckled Rock Skink inside a tree stump

At night, Red Toads hunt around the ablution blocks and other artificial lights spread around the camping area.

Red Toads hunt around the ablution blocks at night

With so many dangerous creatures around it’s no wonder this millipede decided to go underground!

A particularly interesting sighting in Bontle Camp was a multitude of butterflies, flies, moths and beetles congregating at and around a fallen-over Marula tree stump oozing sap.

Guinea-fowl Butterfly

Foxy Emperor butterfly

Demon Emperor Butterfly

Pearl-spotted Emperor

Foxy Emperor butterflies

Foxy Emperor butterfly

Bushveld Emperor butterfly

A very nondescript moth blending very well with the dying wood

Marbled Fruit Chafer beetle jostling for position with a trio of flies at the saphole

Yellow Pansy

Foxy Emperor butterfly

Pearl-spotted Emperor

Foxy Emperor butterfly trying to chase off a Demon Emperor butterfly

Guinea-fowl Butterfly

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with a reservation and planning if you’re interested in visiting Marakele National Park and making the most of your visit.

Marakele’s Behemoths

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There’s no denying that Africa’s mega-mammals are a great attraction for visitors to our national parks, and being in close proximity to these majestic and charismatic animals remains a thrill we cannot ever tire of, no matter how often we have the pleasure to see them up close.

The Cape, of African, Buffalo may not box in the same weight division as the rhinos and elephants that also call Marakele National Park home, but they have a well deserved fearsome reputation, especially the cantankerous lone males, of which we saw quite a few while we were exploring the Park on our short visit last week.

A lone Cape Buffalo bull sauntering along the road in Marakele National Park

An old Buffalo bull staring at us from behind a bush

With our white and black rhinos being so severely threatened by poachers it was heartening to have several good sightings of these prehistoric-looking animals at Marakele, and we realised again what a great debt of gratitude we owe the rangers who keep these animals safe on a daily basis.

White Rhino family in Marakele National Park

White Rhino family in Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Enormous White Rhino bull walking straight at us (photo by Joubert)

Enormous White Rhino bull walking straight at us

Young White Rhino by its mother’s side (photo by Joubert)

White Rhino family in Marakele National Park

Big White Rhino Bull (photo by Joubert)

Big White Rhino Bull

An elephant roadblock is always a wonderful experience, but in Marakele, where the elephants are less used to having vehicles in their space, it can be downright exciting! It is important to give the grey giants lots of space and respect, so I am grateful that I can trust Joubert to get the shots while I keep the car pointing in the right direction!

Elephant claiming the right of way in Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Joubert taking pictures of the elephant

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with a reservation and planning if you’re interested in visiting Marakele National Park and making the most of your visit.

More to Marakele’s Birdlife than Hornbills

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The rich variety of habitats protected within the borders of the Marakele National Park harbours an amazing variety of bird species (besides the hornbills we showed you yesterday). These are just a few of the other species we saw and photographed in the two days we spent at Marakele last week.

Cape Vulture in flight over Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Black-winged Kite

Black Stork (photo by Joubert)

Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting

Immature Marico Flycatcher

Immature Gabar Goshawk (photo by Joubert)

European bee-eater

Cape Turtle-Dove

Crested Barbet (photo by Joubert)

Mocking Cliff-chat (female)

Red-backed Shrike with a dung beetle in its beak

Female ostrich striding through Bontle camp (photo by Joubert)

Helmeted Guineafowl

Black Flycatcher

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with a reservation and planning if you’re interested in visiting Marakele National Park and making the most of your visit.

Bontle’s Hornbills

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Yellow-billed Hornbill

A few days ago the image we posted of a Yellow-billed Hornbill (re-posted above) elicited quite a bit of interest. Hornbills, particularly the Yellow-billed and Red-billed varieties, are very common at the Marakele National Park’s Bontle Rest Camp, and they already came to welcome us as soon as we started pitching our tents soon after arriving. They’re used to having humans around and have very expressive faces, making for wonderful photographic opportunities. Enjoy this little gallery of other hornbill pictures taken in Bontle while we put together a few more posts about our recent short visit to Marakele and have a read here if you’d like to learn more about these charismatic creatures.

Red-billed Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Red-billed Hornbill

Yellow-billed Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Red-billed Hornbill

Yellow-billed Hornbill (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-billed Hornbill

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with a reservation and planning if you’re interested in visiting Marakele National Park and making the most of your visit.

A Marakele First

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“The harder I practice, the luckier I get.”

Famous South African golfer Gary Player’s words can certainly be applied to searching for South Africa’s wild animals as well, for today, having visited Marakele National Park regularly for 20 years, we had our first encounter with one of the Park’s elusive leopards. These shots were taken by Joubert this afternoon.

Our first sighting of a leopard in Marakele National Park

Marakele in Autumn

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It’s the autumn school holidays in South Africa and we’ve managed to escape Pretoria for a couple of days camping at beautiful Bontle in the Marakele National Park.

Yellow-billed Hornbill

Several groups of Banded Mongooses are to be seen in the Kwaggasvlakte section of the Park

Guinea-fowl Butterfly

Flap-necked Chameleon

Marakele scenery

Our camping setup at Bontle in Marakele National Park, March 2023

Our 2022 in pictures

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Join us for a look back at the wonderfully wild South African destinations we visited during 2022. May 2023 be a blessed year for you and your family, memorable for all the best reasons.

Satara Bungalow B50, December 2021 – January 2022

First sunrise of 2022

Tlopi Tent #1 (Plover), Marakele National Park, February 2022

Tlopi Tented Camp, Marakele National Park, seen from the Mbidi Loop

Beautiful scenery around Lake Mankwe in the Pilanesberg National Park (20 February 2022)

Chalet 12 in Mantuma Camp, uMkhuze Game Reserve, Isimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022

uMkhuze scenery

Log Cabin 25, Cape Vidal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022

Sunset over Lake St. Lucia

Hilltop Chalet 47, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

View from Hilltop Chalet 47, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

Chalet 16, Mpila, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

White Umfolozi River

Joubert interacting with an elephant at African Hills Safari Lodge, June 2022

Cottage #18 in Leokwe Rest Camp, Mapungubwe National Park, June 2022

Iconic Mapungubwe: baobabs, elephants and rocky outcrops

Tent #10, “Loerie”, at Tlopi Tented Camp in Marakele National Park (June-July 2022)

Sunset at Tlopi

Sunrise over Marais Dam in Rietvlei Nature Reserve

Sandy Place unit 21, St. Lucia Town, October-November 2022

National Women’s Memorial in Bloemfontein

Looking out over Lake Saint Lucia and the forested dunes on Indian Ocean coast

Chalet #17 in Karoo National Park, December 2022

A normally dry Karoo streambed transformed into a flowing river

Van Breda Cottage in the West Coast National Park, December 2022

Salt marsh in the West Coast National Park, dominated by Perennial Glasswort

Tietiesbaai

West Coast Fossil Park

Table Mountain towering over Table Bay

Rhodes Memorial

Eland Cottage, Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain National Park, December 2022

Hout Bay harbour

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, 23 December 2022

Aloe Canyons Guest Farm, December 2022

Koppie Alleen Beach in De Hoop Nature Reserve

Waskraalvlei in the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area

Protea Glamping, Kleine Windpompie Guest Farm, Klein Karoo, December 2022

View from our tented unit at Kleine Windpompie.

Marakele National Park

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Marakele National Park – the Setswana name meaning “Place of Sanctuary” – traces its existence to the proclamation of a 150km² tract of the Waterberg as the Kransberg National Park in 1986. Over the years, more land was added and today the expanded protected area known as the Marakele National Park covers 670km² of bushveld plains and soaring mountains.

Marakele Landscape

Marakele Landscape – the top of the Waterberg

Marakele Landscape

Without a doubt the highlight of a visit to Marakele is the vista from Lenong Viewpoint high up on the mountain.

Lenong viewpoint is up there, at the towers, in Marakele National Park

Lenong viewpoint marker

The view from the road to the top of Lenong Viewpoint on the mountain

The view from the top of Lenong Viewpoint on the mountain

Marakele’s name is well deserved, considering that it is home to 91 kinds of mammals (including the famed “Big 5“), 363 kinds of birds (including an important colony of Cape Vultures), at least 62 species of reptiles, 27 amphibians and as many as 20 species of fish.

Vervet Monkeys gossiping (photo by Joubert)

White-crested Helmetshrike (photo by Joubert)

Beautiful Lion in Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Elephant cow that made sure we were well and truly out of reach of her family (photo by Joubert)

Buffalo bull (photo by Joubert)

Klipspringer

Buffaloes visiting Tlopi (photo by Joubert)

Giraffe on the Kwaggasvlakte near Bontle in the Marakele National Park

Green-backed Heron (photo by Joubert)

Hamerkop (photo by Joubert)

Rock Hyrax

Grey-backed Camaroptera

Redbreast Tilapia in the dam at Tlopi

Sharptooth Catfish (photo by Joubert)

Southern Boubou

Crimson-breasted Shrike

Banded Mongoose

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake

Burnt-necked Eremomela

White Rhinos going for s stroll

Elephant roadblock at sunset (photo by Joubert)

Black Rhino (photo by Joubert)

Cape Vultures in flight over Marakele – the Park is home to the world’s biggest colony of these birds.

Southern Pied Babbler (photo by Joubert)

The South African National Parks provides a range of overnight options to suit almost every taste and budget in the malaria-free Marakele National Park. Bontle Rest Camp is located just a kilometre into the Park, very near the main gate and reception office. Here guests can camp in their own tents and caravans or rent one of the fully self-contained safari tents that sleep either 2 or 4 people. The camp is unfenced and regularly visited by various kinds of animals and birds. Guided drives and walks can be arranged through the reception office, and a swimming pool was added to the camp’s facilities in March 2023.

Welcome to Bontle!

Bontle Safari Tent

Bontle Campground

Better safe than sorry

Warthogs at home in Bontle

Ostrich at home in Bontle, Marakele NP

Bontle ablution block

Our camping setup at Bontle in Marakele National Park, March 2023

Bontle Swimming Pool

One of the three ablution blocks serving Bontle’s campers

Motswere Cottage, in a remote woodland corner of the Park, is the most secluded option available to overnight guests. It is a revamped farmhouse that can accommodate groups of up to 8 guests.

Motswere Cottage, Marakele National Park

Tlopi Tented Camp is Marakele’s most popular accommodation option, with the ten two-bed tents (an additional stretcher is available for kids) situated beautifully on the bank of a dam that attracts a constant parade of wildlife day and night.

Tlopi Tented Camp, Marakele National Park, June 2021

Tlopi Tented Camp’s setting on the dam

Tlopi Tented Camp, Marakele National Park, seen from the Mbidi Loop

Tent #10 (Loerie) at Tlopi Tented Camp, Marakele National Park, June 2021

Tlopi Tent #1 (Plover), Marakele National Park, February 2022

Tent #10, “Loerie”, at Tlopi Tented Camp in Marakele National Park (June-July 2022)

Elephant visiting at Tlopi

Visitor at Tlopi

Elephants arriving at Tlopi’s dam

Tlopi scenery

Sunset at Tlopi, with the smoke from our braai fire wafting over the dam

Sunset at Tlopi

Early evening at Tlopi (photo by Joubert)

Joubert got this photograph of a Vervet Monkey sneaking into Tlopi Camp by jumping across the electric fence spun over the entrance to camp

Vervet monkey waiting for a gap at our tent in Tlopi Tented Camp

The Thutong Environmental Centre provides dormitory-style accommodation for up to 128 people and is ideal for big organised groups from family reunions to schools and church groups.

Thutong Environmental Education Centre, Marakele National Park, September 2017

Thutong Environmental Education Centre, Marakele NP, April 2019

Thutong view

Thutong Environmental Education Centre, Marakele National Park, September 2017

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with a reservation and planning if you’re interested in visiting Marakele National Park and making the most of your visit, whether you intend staying at Bontle, Tlopi, Motswere or Thutong.

Marakele National Park is within easy reach of Gauteng’s major urban centres, lying just 220km north of Pretoria along good tarred roads. The town of Thabazimbi, just 10km from Marakele’s gate, provides all the necessary amenities one might need, from shops and fuel stations to medical facilities. Inside the Park guests are able to explore along a network of rough gravel roads, with the route up to Lenong viewpoint being the only stretch of tarred road in the Park.

Mapungubwe National Park

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The treasure we know today as the Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site has a troubled recent history. In 1918 already the corner of our country where the borders of South Africa, Botswana (then the British protectorate of Bechuanaland) and Zimbabwe (then still the British colony of South Rhodesia) met was set aside as a botanical reserve due to the area’s unique plant communities. It soon became known as the Dongola Botanical Reserve. In March 1947, with its size much reduced to placate the local farming community, the South African government proclaimed the Dongola Game Reserve at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers. A change in government the following year however resulted in the fledgling conservation area being deproclaimed in its entirety almost immediately. A tiny portion of it, surrounding the Mapungubwe Hill, became a provincial nature reserve, Vhembe, in 1967. Then, in 1995, with South Africa now a multiracial democracy and Botswana and Zimbabwe independent countries in their own right, and after many years of a strict military presence on the border, this arid corner of our country was once again afforded the highest level of protection as the Vhembe-Dongola National Park. In September 2004, the park was opened to visitors and renamed the Mapungubwe National Park, in recognition of the fact that this area and its rich cultural heritage centred on Mapungubwe Hill was inscribed as a World Heritage Site the year before.

Misty morning along the Limpopo River

Interesting rock formation in Mapungubwe

Mapungubwe scenery

High hills towering over fertile plains

A herd of wildebeest in the foreground appears tiny in Mapungubwe’s vastness

Mapungubwe’s human history dates back to hundreds of years before the colonial period however and is extremely fascinating. Visits to the interpretive centre near the gate and the archeological site on Mapunguwe Hill are not to be missed. Read more about it here.

Mapungubwe’s interpretative centre has a model of the famous golden rhino

Mapungubwe Hill seen from the northwest

Today, Mapungubwe covers 28,000 hectares and consists of two distinct parts, with private farming land isolating the two sections. Both sections adjoin the Limpopo River; the eastern portion is rugged and hilly – with beautiful baobab trees – while the western section is flat and dominated by a very different community of plants. Mapungubwe’s an arid place, with average annual rainfall below 400mm and summer temperatures that easily soar above 40°C.

Impala Lily (photo by Joubert)

Bushveld Candelabra Euphorbias

Eland silhouette in Mapungubwe National Park

Mapungubwe Baobabs

Baobabs dotting the Mapungubwe landscape

Iconic Mapungubwe: baobabs, elephants and rocky outcrops

Poacher’s Corner is an especially beautiful stretch of road through the riverine forest on the southern bank of the Limpopo.

Tree-lined banks of the Limpopo River at Poacher’s Corner

A rainy day at Poacher’s Corner

Cliffs on the Zimbabwe side of the border loom over the Limpopo River

Poacher’s Corner, on the Limpopo River

Near Poacher’s Corner is Zebra Pan, itself a delightful place to park your vehicle and gawk at the constant stream of wildlife

Zebra Pan near Poacher’s Corner

The Maloutswa Pan and Hide in the west of the Park is yet another great spot to spend a few peaceful hours waiting for the birds and animals to come quench their thirst within easy reach of your lens.

The Hide at Maloutswa Pan

Maloutswa Pan

Wildebeest and impala nervously approaching Maloutswa Pan

Set atop a hill several lookout decks have been constructed from which to view the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers where the borders of the three countries meet. Near the car park there are also a few picnic tables and braai (barbeque) stands which are very popular with visitors to Mapungubwe.

Meeting place for three countries: The confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers

Limpopo River at sunrise

A deck with a view over the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers

The Picnic Area at the Confluence Viewpoint

The Treetop Walk on the bank of the Limpopo River is another place visitors to Mapungubwe National Park should not miss.

Elephants at the Treetop Walk

Mapungubwe’s Treetop Walk on the bank of the Limpopo River

Mapunbuwe is home to a rich variety of wildlife, with records indicating a tally of 34 fish species, as many as 36 kinds of frogs, up to 75 species of reptiles, 460+ species of birds and 94 species of mammals, including the famed “Big 5“.

Kudus, wildebeest and zebras mingling in Mapungubwe National Park

Nile Monitor (photo by Joubert)

Southern African Tree Squirrel

Plains Zebras in Mapungubwe National Park (photo by Joubert)

Large-spotted Genet (photo by Joubert)

Fully grown elephant bull (photo by Joubert)

Mating pair of Lions

Pel’s Fishing Owl (photo by Joubert)

Lilac-breasted Roller (photo by Joubert)

Meves’s Starling

Yellow-spotted and Cape Rock Hyrax sharing the sun in Mapungubwe

Mocking Cliff Chat

Gemsbok

Crested Barbet (photo by Joubert)

Lappet-faced Vulture (photo by Joubert)

White-fronted Bee-eater (photo by Joubert)

Steenbok ewe

Blue Wildebeest in Mapungubwe National Park

Warthog in Mapungubwe National Park

Kudu Bull

Rough-scaled Plated Lizard (photo by Joubert)

Newly born Giraffe calf with its mother

Eland bull in Mapungubwe National Park

Banded Mongoose

Baboons in Mapungubwe National Park (photo by Joubert)

Black Crake

Kudu Bull

Impala (photo by Joubert)

The South African National Parks provides an assortment of self-catering accommodation options in Mapunguwe National Park, ranging from camping sites at Mazhou in the riverine forest along the Limpopo River to the top-of-the-range Tshugulu Lodge. Remember that DeWetsWild can assist you with your reservations for a visit to Mapungubwe. Guided drives and walks, including visits to the Mapungubwe archeological site, can be booked at reception, while there are several gravel roads available for exploration in your own vehicle (even more if you have a 4×4). Simple meals and firewood is available from the interpretive centre, but the nearest available fuel, and other services, to the Park is in the towns of Alldays or Musina, both about 70km from the gate.

Cottage #18 in Leokwe Rest Camp, Mapungubwe National Park, June 2022

View from Cottage #18 in Leokwe Rest Camp

Leokwe’s swimming pool

Leokwe Rest Camp

Limpopo Forest Tented Camp

Mazhou Camping Area

Vhembe Wilderness Camp

Tshugulu Lodge

Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site lies right at South Africa’s northernmost corner, roughly 470km north of our capital Pretoria.

Location of Mapungubwe National Park (Google Maps)

Limpopo Ramble 2022: Yellow-spotted Rock Dassie

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A fact that is not well-known, even among South Africans, is that our country is home to two different kinds of Dassie, or Hyrax, that live mainly in rocky terrain. We’ve already featured the species most people are acquainted with, the Rock Dassie (Procavia capensis), which is widely distributed throughout all our provinces. By contrast, in this country the Yellow-spotted Rock Dassie occurs only in our northernmost province, Limpopo, and often in mixed communities of both species numbering from a few to more than a hundred. The rugged Mapungubwe National Park is an excellent place to see them.

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-spotted Rock Dassie, or Hyrax (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyraxes

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax (photo by Joubert)

A yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax hiding in a crevice secured by the roots of a Large-leaved Rock Fig

Heterohyrax brucei

Like their better known relatives, Yellow-spotted Rock Dassies are herbivores that feed on a wide variety of plant material, with leaves forming the bulk of their diet. They are fairly independent of drinking water. Yellow-spotted Rock Dassies are also diurnal and love basking in the sun. They’re excellent at climbing around in trees, which they do mostly for feeding as they’d usually take cover among the rocks in case of danger. One of the group is always on sentry duty while the rest feed.

The basic social unit of a colony of Yellow-spotted Rock Dassies consist of a dominant, territorial male with a harem of adult females and their young. They breed throughout the year, females usually giving birth to 2 babies. Adult Yellow-spotted Rock Dassies weigh between 1.5kg and 3.5kg and measure between 30cm and 50cm in length. They seldom live to older than 11 years in the wild, and usually much shorter.

With its distribution extending northwards well beyond Limpopo Province all the way to Sudan, the IUCN considers the Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax to be of least concern.