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I have quite a long relationship with the Bontebok National Park. The spark that initiated my love for this little park was discharged during my first visit to Kruger as an 11 year old boy (in 1965). No, I am wrong; it was actually my second visit to Kruger. But I cannot remember anything about the true first visit as I was only 2 years old (in 1956). But I still have a photo of a cute little toddler, standing in Skukuza with the Selati railroad bridge in the background.

But let’s come back to the 1965 Kruger visit and how that set my love for Bontebok in motion. As we entered Kruger, my father bought a book at Phalaborwa gate, “Mammals of the Kruger- and other National Parks”. Only after being back home (in Tulbagh in the Western Cape), and longing back to the fantastic holiday we had in Kruger, I really started “studying” the mentioned book. I was exited to learn that we had a National Park rather nearby, namely the Bontebok National Park, where even buffalo roamed. I remember a short news report in the local Afrikaans paper about the excitement when the first buffalo calf was born in Bontebok.

It was not too difficult to persuade my father that we should pay a day visit to Bontebok – only 179 km from our home town. I recall that first visit so well. I had such high hopes to see the buffaloes in the park. But in all our visits (until they were removed) I never had the privilege to see Bontebok’s buffalo. By the way, the buffalo were removed because of the many times they broke out and came into contact with neighbouring cattle. And moreover, the authorities decided that the park was primarily founded to protect the few bontebok left over, from extinction and that it does not really have the carrying capacity to accommodate other large herbivores. Thus being the reason for the removal of eland a few years later.

After my marriage we lived in Swellendam for one year (1976). And this was when my real relation with Bontebok started. Very few weekends passed without being in the park on a Sunday – either for an afternoon drive or a braai at Lang Elsieskraal (those days it was still very uncommon for visitors to camp as overnight visitors). Every family member or friend who visited us was introduced to this little haven of us. The then park warden (Van Zyl) was transferred to Golden Gate during 1976 and succeeded by Harold Braack. Harold and his wife were without doubt filled with a lot of enthusiasm for their new job (coming from Kruger). During their time an excellent information exhibition was set up in the rest camp/picnic area. Unfortunately this exhibition dwindled over a period of time, after Harold was transferred to Addo, that it actually was a blot on SANParks’ name during the last few years (until it was finally closed, or rather demolished, when the present new chalets were built).

But over all the years my love for Bontebok just grew fonder and fonder. For the last number of years we try to camp as regular as possible over weekends. And our last visit was during the weekend of 22 – 25 October 2010. Although the weather forecast for the weekend did not sound promising, we hooked our caravan and set off for Bontebok – a 160 km journey. Until the turn-off from the N2, it is quite a pleasant journey. But the gravel road to Reception and from there to Lang Elsieskraal (10 km in total) is always taken at a creeping speed. It takes me about 45 minutes to drive the 10 km as I am very protective of my caravan – it still has to serve many years of duty.

After the normal entrance formalities, we arrived at Lang Elsieskraal at 13:00. We were lucky to find our favourite site (No 12) unoccupied. At 15:15 we were sitting with our stretched legs, enjoying a nice cold golden frothy drink. The wind was coming from the south-west, but our caravan was standing in a way that the wind did not bother us in the least. On site No 12 you are well protected against wind from most directions.





To be continued.

We woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful sunny morning. The fantastic birdlife that Bontebok has to offer was in its element right from the early morning hours. It actually started the night before when we lied in bed and listened to the ‘whiew-whiew-whiew’ of the Dikkop and the ailing ‘good Lord, deliver us’ of the Fierynecked Nightjar.

From the river’s side (but high up in the air) came the distinctive ‘kiow-kou-kou’ from a pair of African Fish Eagles. A pair of Blue Cranes passed over. The omnipresent smaller feathered folks surrounded the caravan – obviously full of expectation to a morsel or two to come their side. The Cape Robin started his/her melodious singing at the very first peep of dawn (and was still to be heard long after the sun met up with the western horizon in the evening). The beautiful Southern Boubou’s and Southern Tchagra’s are quite common visitors around the caravan. I have never seen the latter in any other place than in Bontebok.

After ‘drinking in’ the tranquility of the wonderful birdlife (together with a few cups of coffee), it was time to go for a shower. But I had to turn around to fetch my camera as the locals came to welcome us at their home. Three bontebok were grazing and lazing in the rest camp.







To be continued.

Great start Stoffel! We discovered Bontebok a few years back - what a real little gem! The perfect place for a weekend getaway to unwind and enjoy nature.

What a lovely tranquil scene with the three bontebokke just so relaxed in the campsite
Really enjoying your report, especially your birdsong imitations

more please

Oops! Did not see your second post! Lovely early morning visitors! We were also astounded by the prolific birdlife around camp - nothing better to be woken up by birdsong!

Hi Stoffel
What a lovely story Once again, I now long to return to Bontebok, an ALL time favorite of many many years with our family, BUT we have not been there since the renovations and our visit is LONG overdue!!
Only thing, this time it will be in a tent, and not out faithful caravan that accommodated us there for a time period of more than 10 years
How we miss those bird sounds.... the fiery necked nightjar an all time favorite too

As the day progressed the sky became greyer as the clouds gathered together. This did not worry us at all, as we came to our little haven just to relax. Bontebok is one of those parks where your visit is not about searching for the exciting things. It is a fynbos paradise with a limited variety of antelope species like bontebok (obviously), red hartebeest, Cape mountain zebra, grey rhebok, steenbok and Cape grysbok. In all my visits over all the years I have never seen a grysbok in the park. Some smaller carnivores like aardwolf, bat-eared fox, Cape fox and caracal also occur, but I have only seen bat-eared fox on one occasion. I have seen many signs of Cape clawless otter next to the river, but have never seen one yet.

Talking about the river – Lang Elsieskraal is situated at an exceptionally beautiful bend in the river. It is a popular place for children to swim, and angling is also allowed (if you possess the necessary permit available at Reception).









Mid-winter is one of the most scenic times to visit Bontebok when the aloes are in full bloom. But there is hardly a time of the year that you will not find something blooming in the park.

At our caravan we had some Angulate tortoise (also known as Bowspit tortoise) grazing around and I was quite surprised to hear the repeated soft ‘hiee-jee’ of a Klaas’s cuckoo. Unfortunately it succeeded in eluding me very successfully. This time we did not see Stanley’s bustard or secretary birds, but both species are commonly seen in the park. At one occasion I even saw an secretary bird nesting in a tree.

To be continued.

Hi Stoffel. What a wonderful story. We are on our way this weekend, 12 November 2010, to Bontebok for the first time. After reading your story, I am more excited visiting the camp. Hope to see you at nr 12. We go camping in our tent. See you there.

Firstly, thank you for the compliments on the report so far. I hope to find the time to place the last part today or tomorrow.

Fynbos, no unfortunately I will not be there this weekend. I wish I could be. Therefore you can go for No 12. But then you should be there early.

Just remember (everybody who does not know Bontebok) - you don't go there to expect a lot of game and the wild things you would normally associate with some bigger National Parks. This is a small little park (the smallest National Park in South Africa) surrounded by cultivated farms. Actually Bontebok is like a small fynbos island in a big farming community.

I go to Bontebok to experience the peaceful benignity of Lang Elsieskraal.

We were thankful for the weather giving us a chance to enjoy our traditional braai on Saturday night, as the sky started looking grimmer as the day developed. Consequently it was no surprise when I woke up in the early morning hours with the sound of rain on the caravan roof. And for a change the weather forecast was absolutely correct. I felt sorry for the campers who had to pack up in the rain. It was clear that some people waited to see if the rain will not maybe clear up. But the later it got, the harder the rain came down. Only at about 2 pm we saw our way open to leave the caravan for a shower. I surely have another item on my caravan packing list now – an umbrella. However, the four-striped grass mice were not put off by the rain. They carried on feeding in front of the caravan, not even bothered by our presence.



With all the mice at Lang Elsieskraal I am quite surprised that in all my visits I have never seen a snake in Bontebok.

When the sun finally broke through the thick layer of clouds, the speckled mousebirds showed their appreciation by sitting with their legs wide apart (actually hanging in a certain way) with their chests and bellies facing the warming sun.







Only in the late afternoon we decided to take a short ride in the direction of the day visitor’s area, Die Stroom (The Stream) – upstream in the Breede River from Lang Elsieskraal. To get there you pass the new Reception (still not in use) and conference facilities. My opinion is that SANParks failed terribly with the aesthetics of this brand new building. I don’t like it – but it is just a personal perception. Too me it looks like some sort of industrial building.



The new entrance to the park is completed from the new gate to this brand new reception building, but is still not open. A friend of mine, farming next to the park, told me a while ago that SANParks cannot get the “okay” from the Western Cape roads department to use the new entrance. It forms a staggered crossing with another street into Swellendam’s industrial area. The roads department wants the two roads to form a proper crossing with the N2 (not staggered).

But once this problem has been sorted out (I hope it will be as the new gate and Reception have been completed for quite a few months already) it will certainly be a much more convenient entrance to the park. It will be a quite shorter distance from the N2 to Lang Elsieskraal, and also a better and more scenic road as the last part will follow the Breede River for a few kilometers.

It rain on and off that night. Thanks to my little “Smokey Joe Weber” (which has saved me on many occasions when nobody else was able to light a fire because of poor weather conditions) we were able to prepare a wonderful dinner under the veranda of our caravan. The next morning we also had to pack up wet camping gear. And the wet road to the N2 took me a hour to complete. But once again it was a soul refreshing weekend.

If everything goes according to plan, I hope to be back in the park during early December. Those who have not experienced Lang Elsieskraal yet – do yourself a favour and visit this little haven. The park also offers great chalet accommodation for those who are not campers.

Till next time.

Nice mousie! They are cute as long as you don’t see the tail

Could be a stable too. It certainly has not “nature” written on the front

“Smokey Joe Weber”

A week end trip almost anywhere in the middle of nature is a cure-all

Thank you for this nice introduction to Bontebok Park

Your report has brought back pleasant memories of my Bontebok visit last year, Stoffel


For anyone interested, there are pix of the chalets and more in my Bontebok trip report.

@Micetta: Weber is a brand of grill enclosed with a top. I'm sure you can find info about them if you Google

Micetta, lets call it a miniature Weber. It is a geniune Weber product (which I won in a competition) and is called the "Smokey Joe" for some or other reason. But it works on the same principle as any other Weber kettle braai, except that it is much smaller.

As mentioned, it helped me out of many predicaments before. We have experienced many cases were the weather would not allow you to make an ordinary wood fire (always my first choice), but we were able to braai. I've told my SO many times that I'll never be without a Smokey Joe again.

Arks - Thanks for giving the link to your report. You have taken some great photos.

Here's some more photos as promised.

The following photos were taken from Aalwynkop (Aloe Hill) over the rest camp.





This is a photo of the ablution block with one or two of the non-electrified camp sites in the foreground.



Here follows a few photos of the camp sites in general:







Another one of my favourite site (No 12):



On a previous occasion when we stood on No 3. Also not a bad one.







Unfortunately the sites down at the river were all closed after the flood a few years ago. These were very popular sites (no power). The following photos were taken when it was still in use. Nowadays it is just an open area for picnics.







Angling is popular amongst the children:



The park also offers very neat chalet accommodation:





Chalet No 7 has a spectacular view:







Die Stroom (The Stream) is the day visitors area:







October is a good month to visit as it is about the peak of the bontebok's lambing season:



The next two photos is just landscape photos with the Langeberge (Long Mountains) in the back, taken in 2005.