My top 10 places to view Wildlife in South Africa

We lived in Centurion, Pretoria for 4 years and welcomed numerous visitors every year to South Africa, including family, friends and work colleagues. We were regular visitors to the first 6 places and enjoyed annual trips to 7-10.
In no particular order, other than closest to our home at the time, are the following places to view game, wildlife and birds.

1. Reitvlei Nature Reserve just off the R21. Fantastic for picnics, bird watching and viewing Rhino.

2. Groenkloof on the outskirts of Pretoria where the M18 and the R21 join. Get out your car and take a walk with Giraffes, Zebras and Gnu’s. Hire bikes, ride horses or experience the awesome 4x4 route. Picnic, camp and experience authentic African food at Moyo’s restaurant.

3. Walter Sisulu Gardens in Johannesburg. Enjoy a picnic, a stroll through the gardens, view the nesting Eagles and walk to view the waterfalls.

4. Krugersdorp Lion Reserve, best to visit on a Sunday and experience the feeding habits of the Lions in a semi wild habitat. Picnic site and camp site with restaurant.

5. Pilanesburg Game Reserve. The closest place to view the Big 5. A two hour drive from Pretoria or stay over in a lodge, Sun City or camp site. Take a picnic or eat at Pilanesberg Centre. View Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo and a Leopard if you’re lucky. Self drive or game drives available.

6. Kruger National Park. Nearest entrance is Malelane, nr Leopards Leap Golf Course, stay inside or outside the park in a lodge or camping. Drive along Crocodile River and take a walk with a ranger to view the hippos. Visit one of numerous restaurants in the park or take a picnic and braai.

7. Take a road trip to Cape Town via Port Elizabeth and visit the Addo Elephant National Park, there’s a variety of lodges nearby at reasonable prices. Spend the day viewing Elephants and other game.

8. Port Elizabeth Light house and visit the SAMREC Penguin Sanctuary. Learn about the plight of the penguin and the good work they do to rehabilitate penguins and return them to the wild. Take a walk on the beach to the light house and view the Oyster Catchers in their natural habitat.

9. Visit Oudtshoorn, inland of Mossel Beach and George. There is a great restaurant and gift shop and take a guided tour of the Ostrich farm and learn about their environment and the trade in feathers. Finish the day off with an Ostrich ride.

10. Finally visit the Cape of Good Hope, where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet. Take a walk on the beaches with the free roaming antelope.

The Special Needs Penguin

 

All the about the Penguins

 

 

We spent the morning at the Lighthouse and Penguin sanctuary in Port Elizabeth.

This is Arg, he is a special needs penguin.

 

They believe he is brain damaged after underwater explosions and he was in the vicinity and was stunned by the shock wave. He was found on the beach and taken to SAMREC. South Africa Marine Rescue and Education centre. Unlike the rest of the penguins there is little chance of rehabilitation and he will remain at the sanctuary for the rest of his life. There is another penguin called Jay who they’ve tried to release several times who seems to think the water is too cold, he dips his toe and returns back up the beach.

There are many reasons that more penguins are being brought into the sanctuary and they are because of man. The seas are getting warmer which means the penguins have to swim out further to get food for their young, by the time they return they’ve used up the food in energy and there is nothing left to regurgitate, meaning the chicks aren't getting enough food. Also man has harvested the guano from the rocks to use as fertilisers and other chemical derivatives eg certain industrial disinfectants.  Penguins are also being affected by pollution, carrier bags, plastic drinking straws that they mistake for pipe fish and fishing wire and nets abandoned at sea.

In Boulders Bay, near Cape Town, on Foxy Beach, where we are heading next week, there is one of only a few on land Penguin colony and for a small fee you can walk on the raised platforms and see the work they are doing to protect the penguins. They have made them artificial housing just like they’d make for themselves from the guano in which they can lay their eggs without the fear of predators eating them.

 

 

 

 

 

Travel The Wild Coast. from Durban to Addo, Nr Port Elizabeth

Road Trip from Centurion to Cape Town and back via Durban and Port Elizabeth

 

 

We’ve been to Durban and the surrounding areas and driven the Garden Route but we’ve never explored the East Coast and have been told that’s where we find the most spectacular beaches.

We spent 3 days travelling from home to reach Addo, North of Port Elizabeth and we did see the most amazing sites, from driving through the homeland of the Xhosa people, where Nelson Mandela is from, and their painted houses to the rugged coast line. Called The Wild Coast.
 

It’s a very long journey with an average of 7 hours a day on the road, but it’s a must. Locals warn you of the dangers on the road, people and animals. It is constant, from goats wandering across the roads to cattle delaying the traffic and not just the side roads but the National roads also.

 

I was told in advance about the Xhosa peoples green houses, today I’m assuming they’ve got a job lot of various shades of green paint, but originally their houses were decorated by extracting the green from copper in the mud.

 

We didn’t spend a lot of time in any of the places to explore but what we saw from our brief stop over in Ramsgate, Coffee Bay, visit to Port Alfred we really liked it and plan to return another time.

 

The coast line down here is peaceful and tranquil in terms of activities and visitors. If you enjoy chilling out, reading, walking and bird watching then I can’t think of a better place to visit.

Coffee Bay involved a 2 hour, return, drive on an unpaved road for 75kms. I think they should put signs up to say ‘no pot holes for the next 100 yards, otherwise they’re everywhere’

 

Thankfully the hotel was ‘All Inclusive’ as there was no village centre or local shops, the hotel owned what appeared to be the only Fuel station and banking facilities in the area.

Coffee Bay took its name after a ship carrying a cargo of coffee beans was shipwrecked in 1893, some of the beans took root but none survived the salty soil.

There is so much history to explore in regards to ship wrecks and fascinating to discover that 8 years after the English ship The Grosvenor sank in 1782, an expedition to find the survivors uncovered over 400 people of non-African descent living along the Mngazi River, believed to be the remnants of various ship wreck survivors along the wild coast.

The trip to Port Alfred took us on a detour off the N2 of around 40 minutes. We drove through a range of small villages full of bars, restaurants, craft shops and small cheese and dairy farms, to the coast. It’s obviously quite windy there judging by the size of the sand dunes and despite the constant drizzle we’d had for the past 3 days, the air was warm and we took a walk on the beach collecting shells from the Indian Ocean.

 

Back in the car for another 2 hours and we reached Addo, where we are staying for 2 nights to explore the Addo Elephant national Park.