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Hi all
I have not been able to post this TR easily on the site, so will do it over 3 posts…
I was in Marakele for a few days in early Feb. To start with, unfortunately there is limited information about Marakele, and if you are not South African, the lack of info makes a visit to Marakele an even greater challenge. I did get the maximum info and knowledge about Marakele from this forum, so here is my bit to add to the info about Marakele.
I would like to make a suggestion for Sanparks – the map of Marakele needs some working on and you need to add distances between various points on the map – I did get confused more than once and while I am a bit daft when it comes to navigational skills, I would request some work to go into this.
Anyone wanting to visit Marakele should consider a 4x4 or at least a SUV with higher ground clearance. There are limited paths to traverse in the park and a normal sedan would struggle at some stretches.
We stayed at the Tlopi camp, which is in the ‘big 5’ section of the park. The ‘small 5’ section of the park has the popular Bontle Camping site and a fair amount of game in terms of zebra, giraffe, various antelopes and rhino. ( The terms big 5 and small 5 sections are from the park map and do not mean to offend anyone )Driving from the entrance gate thru the ‘small 5’ section we also spotted a baby rhino with Big Momma running away after a mud bath – unfortunately the pic is not sharp.





Once we crossed over into the ‘big 5’ section, it took ages for us to spot any animal in the thick bush and hilly terrain. We decided to leave the hill climb for the next day and instead drive around the Mdibi loop and there our first surprise sighting of the trip – a herd of eland . We saw the usual suspects but little else in terms of animal sightings which could in any way cause a cheer to be raised.




However the drive around was an experience by itself and the tented accommodation at Tlopi which is unfenced, more than makes up for the lack of game. It is serene and has a magnificent view. There was a resident cormorant – I am guessing resident since it did not leave its tree perch in the dam for the 3 days that we were there – but did not spot any fish eagles. Even though I read a fair bit about the monkey menace, we did not encounter any problems whatsoever – we did notice that someone had pushed a chair under the fridge handle , presumably to keep the monkeys at bay.

To be continued...

Oh please continue soon. We hope to pass that area on our way from knp to CT

..part 2...
The next day was a drive to the top of the mountain – Lenong drive – going by some of the reports on this forum, I had expected a tough drive with steep mountain sides, but it is a comfortable drive, yes the road is narrow and in places cars cannot pass side by side, but it is not that steep and if you do not suffer from vertigo, shouldn’t really be an issue. View while driving up



On the way up we spotted a single reedbuck stag and red hartebeest.





At the top the klipspringer did not disappoint, and he was expected thanks to this forum . We saw a dead cape vulture at the top with its skeleton partly exposed – no idea how long it could have been dead. Also saw the vultures flying and riding the thermals, but at a fair distance. The views around are tremendous and would recommend that you spend some time at the top.





On the way down saw these very pretty flowers – I have no idea about flowers, but just in case someone finds them interesting…



For those interested in raptors, the flavour of the trip was the steppe buzzard. To be honest it was the only raptor we saw, but there were quite a few of them. Wonder if anyone has ever worked out why they fly such a long distance when they can get the warmer climate without actually having to fly so much south…??? Would love to hear anyone’s views on this. Amongst the other birds, the white fronted bee eaters and the striped kingfisher were the highlights.













To be continued...

Lovely scenery and beautiful birds

the flower is a protea, don't ask me which one It is the south african national flower.

Sugarbush Protea - Protea caffra
I'm surprised there were so few raptors. We saw plenty on Welgevonden this past weekend. Most were Steppe Buzzards though.

We decided to do an evening game drive with the ranger and this report would be incomplete without a glowing reference to Sidney the ranger, whose cheerful disposition and immense knowledge made both the drive and the morning bush walk , well worth the experience. If anyone from Marakele reads this and can say hi to Sidney from my side, I will be most obliged.
The highlight of the evening drive was the time spent with a breeding herd of elephants. This was a large herd with calves of various sizes, shapes and temperaments . Seeing the young ones mock charge and play about was great. We were also lucky in spotting a brown hyena just off the Lekganyane drive, but did not get a pic since it disappeared into the bush far too quickly. We then had another slice of luck mingled with poor photographic luck – we saw a black rhino on the Mdibi loop, but he too went into the bush before we could ask him to pose for us. As it grew dark we switched on the spot lights and just before we got back to camp we saw a porcupine crossing the road – I had just mentioned that the sun was down and it was porcupine time











The next day was the morning bush walk, and the presence of a bull elephant who we chanced upon while getting close to 6 rhinos, added to the knowledge and charm of a bush walk.







While leaving the park we came across a rock agama and a tree agama - brilliant camouflage on the tree agama...







For those of you living in and around Jo’berg/ Pretoria, please feel blessed. It is only 3 and a half hours from one of nature’s hot spots. For those of us who may live thousands of miles away (like me), if you are looking for a quick fix, big 5 shot, then maybe Marakele is not the place for you, however it has everything that the bush has to offer plus a hilly terrain which is not like something you may have already done in places like Kruger. And then it has Tlopi tented camp which can be compared positively with any of the Sanpark rest camps.
Good luck to all those who will be lucky enough to visit Marakele in the days to come.
Cheers
Sandeep

Hi Sandeep!
Thanks so much for your report and your stunning pics!!!
We came back yesterday from a 3 nights stay at Tlopi Camp. We had the same feelings like you about the park and the roads!! We had to turn twice because suddenly the road ended, it was not in the map or the roads were too bad to continue our drive. And we had a 4x4!

Your pics and sightings are really amazing for Marakele. We didn´t see any rhinos but lots of ellies and giraffes which was really very nice! Also the Comorant entertained us at the camp which was very funny!

We booked a Morning Drive but the Guide didn´t picked us up so that was a little bit sad!

I will start my TR when we will be back home in Bavaria.

But I agree with you, Marakele is a perfect place to relax and just enjoy the nature, the hills and just to be out in the bush! We definitely enjoyed it!

Wish you a wonderful day!

MG

Thanks Micetta and Joshi for the flower identification - now wonder why your cricket team would be named after a flower .
I was at Welegovendon after Marakele and again it was steppe buzzards. Did spot a pair of eagles which we concluded were african hawk eagles, though we couldn't really get a good look before they flew away. But that is it, no more raptors .

Thanks MG. Comforting to know that I wasn't the only one who got confused with the roads. It was quite funny that in the small 5 section we did a loop and went on a path that we thought was taking us to the tunnel entering the big 5 section and ended up at the place where we started from - the reception:). I am surprised that you missed out on the rhinos though. We saw many and in both sections. I think they have a communication problem between the person who books the drives at the reception and the ranger who has to pick people up at Tlopi. Luckily the ranger was there when we booked. When we went for the morning bush walk, we had to go back to the camp after half an hour because the ranger got a call that he was supposed to take another couple. We went back and he banged on a few unhappy (I am sure) doors, but no one seemed to be the missing couple and so we carried on. But tough luck for you and I can imagine it must have beenso very frustrating. Look forward to your TR though
Cheers

sandeep, where did you see the eagles? Were they nesting?

Josh I would have no idea where since I do not really know Welgevonden and since one does not self drive, even less chance of knowing the area.
One of the eagles was on the ground and the other was on a branch. The one on the tree was not clearly visible - could just make out the shape. The one on the ground had its chest towards us and it was white like an imm martial or an african hawk eagle. I couldn't see markings on the chest which would have nailed it as an african hawk, but then the 2 flew and while I could not see it properly, the ranger with us felt that it was a pair of african hawk eagles. To be honest my initial take was an imm martial on the ground.

Cheers

This thread has definitely confirmed my desire to visit Marakele. It seems as though many think that Kruger is the prime game viewing destination but your photos tell a different story. It is quite difficult to receive information about this park but I guess you just have to go and give it a bash!!!
Thanks so much

Samster you are most welcome and if this is actually useful for you, then the effort has been well worth it. Enjoy the park for its own beauty, but would suggest that one does not compare it to Kruger. Kruger is the prime game viewing destination and the network of roads make large parts of the park accessible, which is not the case in Marakele. Some advantages of Marakele over KNP - chances are that you may well be the only vehicle on the road when you get a sighting, far less people as compared to KNP.

Cheers

Sorry for carrying on the TR, but for those bird lovers who are interested, forgot to post the pics of Gurney Sugarbirds taken at the top of the mountain - Lenong drive

Hhhmm, I wonder if those birds occur on Welgevonden as well, I've not seen them there.

Did not see them at Welgevonden either Josh, but interestingly I saw that someone else had seen them at the same place in Dec 2010 and has posted pics on the forum as well. So it looks like they enjoy the heights