Marakele National Park

First of all, a hearty thanks to everyone who visited our blog and also to those who left comments. It is not easy to answer everyone individually due to the very poor reception/connectivity but it is good to hear from you all.

On Monday afternoon we left Pretoria (again!) and headed out to Marakele National Park. The Park is situated in the Waterberg IBA and is home to a large colony of endangered Cape Vultures. Once again we managed to secure a lovely campsite, right next to the ‘non-fence’ between humans and animals. It never ceases to amaze us that the animals in Marakele are clearly literate. They are supposed to stay on their side of the poles and we stay on ours!

The next morning we set out to the Lenong view point to try and spot some vultures. Halfway up the very steep road we were stopped by an on-coming car warning us that the road was blocked by a fallen tree, caused by elephants during the night. We told them that we will simply drag it out the road, much to their shock and amazement. Being visitors from a foreign country they were not about to get out of their car, which by the way we should also not have done. However, desperate situations call for desperate measures, and we were not about to miss out on going to the top of the mountain! We no sooner got to the tree than the other guys joined us (they had turned around!) and with a collective effort the tree was dragged to the side of the road and we could pass.

We did see a number of vultures (too far and high to photograph) and a host of other birds at the view point.

 

We were lucky enough to have a number of klipspringer sightings. This was very special as one does not regularly see them at such close range.

We met Theo and Bernice van der Merwe from Pretoria and had a long chat with them. It is always such a pleasure to meet like-minded people! It turns out they are also Friends of Nylsvley so we are sure to cross paths again in future.

And of course, as always, one does not have to venture out of the campsite in order to enjoy special sightings.