Tag Archives: Bontle

Our 2023 in pictures

Join us for a look back at the wonderfully wild South African destinations we visited during 2023. May 2024 be a blessed year for you and your family, memorable for all the best reasons.

Jakhalsfontein Guest Farm

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

Chalet #1 in Lilydale Rest Camp

Hut #107 in Pretoriuskop Rest Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)

Hut #46 in Lower Sabie Rest Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)

Tent #10 in Tamboti Tented Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)

Guest House, Shingwedzi Research Camp, Kruger National Park, June 2023

Buffelshoek Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023

Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023

Twanana Research Camp, Kruger National Park, September 2023

House #32, Kudu Private Nature Reserve, October 2023

The beach at the estuary of Lake Saint Lucia

Cape Vidal at low tide

Western Shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Rest Hut #3, Mantuma Rest Camp, uMkhuze Game Reserve, November 2023

Camping at Nyl River Bush Camp, December 2023

Continuing our Marakele Game Drive

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So far we’ve seen a leopard, beautiful birds, elephants, rhinos and buffaloes, creepy crawlies of all description, and inspiring scenery. Let’s see what else we might encounter as we continue our explorations of Marakele National Park.

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

Giraffe portrait (photo by Joubert)

Kudu cow

All ears! Kudu calf (photo by Joubert)

Kudu cow

Kudu bull (photo by Joubert)

Kudu bull

Coy Baboon (photo by Joubert)

Impala Ram

Rock Hyraxes are usually to be seen up top at Lenong Viewpoint

Warthog youngster with a mouth full of food

Warthog

Black-backed Jackal

Plains Zebras on the aptly named Kwaggasvlakte (photo by Joubert)

Plains Zebra

Plains Zebra on a hillside

Mountain Reedbuck

Klipspringer pair

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 Magic

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The Marakele National Park, and the Waterberg Mountains it protects, is a beautiful place.

Marakele scenery

Plectranthus hereroensis – the Herero Spur Flower

Stand of Plectranthus hereroensis – the Herero Spur Flower

Plectranthus hereroensis – the Herero Spur Flower – thrives on the rocky slopes of the Waterberg at Marakele’s Lenong Viewpoint

I suspect this is the blooms of a type of Senecio

Traveling on the plains below the Waterberg reveals a very different community of plants

Marakele’s Magic!

Towering cliffs of the Waterberg

Looking down into the valley from atop the Waterberg

Beautiful woodland lining a road through Marakele National Park

A small river running through Marakele

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 more demure Marakele

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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.

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.

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

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.

Our 2016 in pictures

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Looking back on another year of enjoying South Africa’s beautiful wild places!

Camping at Bakgatla, Pilanesberg National Park, February 2016

Golden Gate Hotel & Chalets, February 2016

Ntshondwe Chalet 34, Ithala Game Reserve, March 2016

Ntshondwe Chalet 15, Ithala Game Reserve, March 2016

Umlalazi Log Cabin, March 2016

Our camping setup at Bontle, Marakele National Park – April 2016

Bungalow 12 at Lower Sabie, May 2016

Olifants bungalow 23, May 2016

Satara Cottage 85, June 2016 (photo taken on a visit in 2012)

Mopani Cottage 43, July 2016

Haak-en-Steek Cottage, Mokala National Park, August 2016

Camping at Kgaswane, October 2016

Nyathi Camp unit #3, Addo Elephant Park, October 2016

OuKlip’s luxury safari tents (in Dinokeng Game Reserve)

Glen Reenen, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Unit 27, December 2016

Thendele Chalet 27, Royal Natal National Park, December 2016

Mpila Chalet 21, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, December 2016

Exploring Marakele

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A “Place of Sanctuary”; that Marakele National Park certainly is. As its Tswana name suggests, this Park of around 650km² in size offers protection not only to some of the most awe-inspiring scenery one could hope to find, but also to an impressive variety of fauna and flora. Humans too can find a safe and peaceful haven here in the malaria-free Waterberg range, as we were reminded again on our recent visit.

A public road splits Marakele into two sections. Kwaggasvlakte in the south-western corner is much smaller than the main portion of the Park lying to the east. Kwaggasvlakte is where the Park’s entrance gate and Bontle Camp is located, and is characterised by flat, sandy plains on which mixed bushveld is the main vegetation type.

Marakele scenery

Blue wildebeest

Plains zebra

You’ll often see troops of banded mongoose crossing roads in the Kwaggasvlakte section of Marakele National Park

Female ostrich

Acacia seedpods

Sickle Bush seedpods

Black-backed jackal

Black-backed jackals

Little sparrowhawk

Young impala

Young giraffe

Overlooking a waterhole in the northern corner of the Kwaggasvlakte section, Bollonoto Hide offers a great place from which to enjoy the constant stream of game and birdlife arriving to quench their thirst.

Well-hidden Bollonoto Hide

Impala ram near the hide

Young nyala bull near the hide

Bollonoto waterhole

Blue wildebeest drinking from Bollonoto

Blacksmith Lapwing at Bollonoto

This impala with a malformed right horn is a regular at Bollonoto

A subway connects Kwaggasvlakte to the bigger, eastern portion of the Park. It is in this more mountainous section of the Park where elephants, buffaloes and lions also occur, just some of the 91 species of mammals that the Park hosts. Tlopi Tented Camp is available to guests who’d like to overnight in this section of the Park, which is dominated by a wholly different type of vegetation, described as “Waterberg Moist Bushveld”. A good network of roads allows visitors to explore widely – some of Marakele’s roads are only accessible to 4×4 vehicles, but most of the Park’s 80km road network can easily and comfortably be traversed in a sedan.

Marakele scenery

Waterbuck bull

Tlopi Tented Camp in its waterside setting

Seen from Mbidi Loop, Tlopi far below seems tiny next to the grand mountain shadow

Marakele scenery

Kudu calf

Crested francolin

Kudu bull

Natal spurfowl

Impala bachelors

Plains zebra stallion

Roan antelope trying to hide

A very narrow tarred pass leads to Marakele’s most impressive attraction, the Lenong View Point on top of the Waterberg massif. Lenong lies at an altitude of 2050m, over a kilometer higher than Bontle on the Kwaggasvlakte below – a fact you become well aware of when your ears pop on the very steep and winding ascent. From the viewpoint you normally have fantastic views over the plains below and the mountains around, and perhaps get a close-up glimpse at Marakele’s prized colony of Cape Vultures soaring on the thermals. Unfortunately the weather didn’t play along when we went up to Lenong on our latest visit, the top of the mountain being cloaked in a thick and teeth-chatteringly cold fog. However, dipping below the clouds on our way down we did get glimpses of the wonderful views to be had from up there.

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

Halfway up

Lenong shrouded in thick fog

Lenong viewpoint marker

Lenong shrouded in thick fog

Klipspringers are plentiful up at Lenong

Descending the pass

Our latest visit to Marakele was just 3 nights long, and honestly we found that too short to fully savour all the Park had to offer. The broken terrain does make game-viewing a little more challenging than in many other parks and reserves, especially if you are mostly after the “Big 5” (which we luckily aren’t, we just enjoy being “out there” and enjoy anything we find along the way), but as far as spectacular scenery and serenity is concerned Marakele has few equals.

Marakele National Park is managed by South African National Parks, and the access gate is located just 12km outside the town of Thabazimbi, which offers most of the modern conveniences. Thabazimbi is easily accessed from Gauteng along the N1 and R516 via Bela-Bela or via the R511 through Brits.