South Africa Trip Report
15th - 29th October 2022
Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) on guard duty
After having had two autumn(their spring) trips to South Africa cancelled due to Covid, I was finally on my way to Cape Town. My previous visits had been in the middle of the South African winter so I was really looking forward to photographing some of the superb amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates to be found in the far south of the continent... with the bonus of a few birds and mammals thrown in!
Cape of Good Hope
Once again, I chose to start by spending a day with Dominic Chadbon, 'The Fynbos Guy' (www.thefynbosguy.com), a local naturalist with unrivaled knowledge of the region and its wildlife. The strong wind and rain showers sweeping across the cape when I arrived weren't exactly perfect weather for reptiles and insects, so Dominic spent the day showing me where to go and what to look out for in the various hidden coves and inlets that make up this facinating reserve.
I'd planned four days on the cape, having booked into the excellent Cheriton Guest House, ten minutes drive from the reseve and right next to the large colony of endangered african penguins at Boulder's Beach. When I woke early the next morning, the skies had cleared and the wind had dropped so after a superb 5:00am full breakfast, I was driving into the reserve as it opened at sunrise.
Mother and baby Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus)
Cape Sugarbird (Promerops cafer)
Eland (Tichodroma muraria)
Dominic's advice certainly paid dividends and I spent a wonderful three days photographing butterflies and huge grasshoppers in the unique fynbos vegetation, sugarbirds and sunbirds supping nectar from proteus flowers, and elegant bontebok and eland patrolling the hillsides.
The highlight for me though was the reptiles; beautiful blue-headed rock agama lizards, lumbering angulate tortoises, and best of all the incredible, hightly venomous puff adders... basking in the sunshine and looking as if someone had just come along and inflated them with a bicycle pump!
Southern Rock Agama (Agama atra) displaying
Koppie Foam Grasshopper (Dictyophorus spumans)
Puff Adder (Bitis arietans)
Tankwa Karoo National Park
From the cape I headed north to Tankwa Karoo National Park with it's special semi-desert, succulent vegetation. The park was interesting, with excellent self-catering accommodation and some good birds and invertebrates, but it was ruined by the dreadful rutted roads, many of which were completely undrivable.
Rather than risk wrecking all my camera equipment as well as the hired SUV, I cut my stay short and returned to Cape Town. After having replaced a damaged camera, paid a visit to the penuin colony and spent another night at the Cheriton Guest House, I set off early the next morning for Karoo National Park.
Cape Hare (Lepus capensis)
Namaqua Sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua)
Lobed Argiope Spider (Argiope lobata)
Karoo National Park
In my view, South Africa has some of the best managed national parks in the world, and Karoo is typical of the high standard. There is an extensive network of roads, most of which are accessible in a 2-wheel-drive vehicle and take you through miles of mountains, scrub and karoo desert. There's also a fenced-off area containing excellent accommodation, visitor centre and hiking trails.
The wildlife is equally impressive, with large numbers of mammals including carnivores like lion, aardwolf and bat-eared fox and herbivores such as black rhino, mountain zebra and klipspringer. Birds include the majestic verreaux's eagle and beautiful red bishop and there's a host of reptiles including five species of tortoise!
Male lion (Panthera leo)
Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis)
Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix)
Mountain Zebra National Park
I included Mountain Zebra National Park in my itinerary in the hope of seeing some high grassland species, but without very high expectations. In fact it turned out (together with the Cape of Good Hope) to be the highlight of the trip with the biggest list of mammals as well as beautiful birds and insect life.
I arrived in the middle of a huge thunder storm with lightening forks jagging into the hills and torrential rain drumming down. Ten minutes later, the rain had stopped and there was insect life everywhere, persued by energetic gangs of meerkats and yellow mongoose..
Young meerkats (Suricata suricatta) play-fighting
Cape Ground Squirrel (Geosciurus inauris)
Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra)
Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis penicillata)
Like Karoo, Mountain Zebra has excellent accommodation and facilities, including a large fenced-off area with hiking trails leading up into the hills. I spent several hours wandering the trails in search of insects and reptiles, watched by rock hyrax and baboons perched on the cliff-tops.
There's a broad range of habitats inlcuding lakes, woodland and steep cliffs but it's in the grassland that the most birds and mammals can be seen, including the strange-looking black wildebeest that almost became extinct in the 19th century.
Bat-eared Fox (Otocyon megalotis)
Four-striped Grass Mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio)
Addo Elephant National Park
The last National Park of my tour was Addo Elephant National Park, which again is a very well-managed park with an impressive species list, though I have to admit to being a little disappointed. There were certainly plenty of elephants and I did see my first rhino of the trip, but the dense woodland covering most of the park made it difficult to spot smaller animals.
Again the accommodation and facilities are excellent, but I didn't see a lot from the hides or on the walking trails cut through dense scrub. There's one superb invertebrate that's easy to see though... the darth vader look-alike flightless dung beetle, which feeds and lays its eggs in mounds of elephant and rhino dung lining the park's roads.
African Savannah Elephants (Loxodonta africana) drinking
Flightless Dung Beetle (Circellium bacchus)
De Hoop Nature Reserve
From Addo Elephant Camp it was time for the long drive back to the airport, stopping off in Plettenberg for a windswept whale-watching trip... sadly without a single Whale. I was due to stop for the night at de Hoop Nature Reserve but blew a tyre on the rough track leading there, eventually being rescued by some kind reserve staff.
De Hoop is another superb fynbos reserve with excellent facilities, teeming with wildlife and well-worth staying several days. But Rwandair had decided to cancel my flight home at the last minute so I had to rush back to the airport to try and organise replacements.
Capped Wheatear (Oenanthe pileata)
Pair of Blue Cranes (Grus paradisea)
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip. Despite its many problems, South Africa is definitely my favourite country on the African continent, and the Cape of Good Hope is one of my favourite wildlife watching destinations in the world. I'd stronly recommend anyone visiting the area to start by spending a day with Dominic, not just for the great wildlife he can show you but also for general advice about the dos and don'ts of travelling in this facinating, but challenging country. I'd also recommend the Cheriton Guest House which is in the perfect location for the penguin colony, whale and shark-watching trips and of course the Cape of Good Hope nature reserve. Away from the cape the accommodation in the various national parks is impressive and can easily be booked on the Sanparks website... and of course the more people who visit the country's national parks, the more money they'll have to secure the future of the incredible wildlife tht lives there.
Mammal Species
Cape of Good Hope
Eland (Tichodroma muraria)Grey Rhebok (Pelea capreolus)
Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus)
Cape Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra)
Cape grey mongoose (Herpestes pulverulentus)
Cape Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus)
Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus)
Karoo National Park
Eland (Tichodroma muraria)Steenbok (Raphicerus campestris)
Grey Rhebok (Pelea capreolus)
Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)
South African Oryx (Oryx gazelle)
Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis)
Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus)
Red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus)
Cape Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra)
Lion (Panthera leo)
Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus)
Addo Elephant National Park
African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana)Black Rhino ( Diceros bicornis)
African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)
Red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus)
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)
Common Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia)
Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)
Meerkat (Suricata suricatta)
Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis penicillata)
Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon)
Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatiles)
Tankwa Karoo National Park
South African Oryx (Oryx gazelle)Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis)
Cape Hare (Lepus capensis)
Mountain Zebra National Park
Eland (Tichodroma muraria)Steenbok (Raphicerus campestris)
Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)
South African Oryx (Oryx gazelle)
Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis)
Red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus)
Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus)
Black Wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou)
Cape Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra)
African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis)
Cape Porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis)(Camera Trap)
Western Rock Elephant Shrew (Elephantulus rupestris)
Meerkat (Suricata suricatta)
Yellow Mongoose (Cynictis penicillata)
Bat-eared Fox (Otocyon megalotis)
Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus)
Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis)
Cape Ground Squirrel (Xerus inauris)
Four-striped Grass Mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio)
Vlei Rat (Otomys irroratus)
De Hoop Reserve
Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus)Common Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia)
Cape Hare (Lepus capensis)
Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus)
Cape Ground Squirrels (Geosciurus inauris) in Mountain Zebra National Park