| Marakele National Park | |
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 View of the Waterberg massif, Marakele National Park | |
 Location of the park | |
| Location | Limpopo, South Africa |
| Nearest city | Thabazimbi |
| Coordinates | 24°23′07″S27°38′08″E / 24.38521°S 27.63542°E |
| Area | 670 km2 (260 sq mi) |
| Established | 1994 |
| Governing body | South African National Parks |
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  Marakele National Park (South Africa) | |
Marakele National Park is a National Park, part of the Waterberg Biosphere in Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Marakele is home to the big five (buffalo did not exist in the park, but 20 disease-free buffalo (nine cows and eleven bulls) were re-introduced on 15 October 2013) [1] as well as sixteen species of antelopes and over 250 species of birds, including the largest colony of Cape vultures in the world (around 800 breeding pairs)[ citation needed ]. The Matlabas River runs through the park. [2]
The park contains a mix of vegetation types representative of fynbos and forest systems, with half the park covered by Waterberg Moist Bushveld and 42% covered by Mixed Bushveld. [2] The 8-hectare Apiesrivierpoort Forest is found to the east of Tlopi Dam. The forest is mainly composed of Red ivory and African olive; other plant species found within the forest are: [3]
Other significant plant species found in the park:
The area now constituting Marakele was home to several iron-age settlements which are not yet open to public viewing. Prior to its foundation as a National Park, it was home to naturalist Eugène Marais. Marakele was founded as Kransberg National Park in 1994 with the purchase of 150 square kilometres (58 sq mi), and was shortly after renamed to its current name. By 1999, the park had expanded to 670 square kilometres (260 sq mi).
The park is accessible to all passenger vehicles, with the camp and tent sites on good roads. Also, approximately 80 km of roads within the park are accessible to all vehicles, with the remaining requiring a four-wheel drive vehicle. There is a 4x4 eco trail, along with morning and sunset game drives. [2]
A tarred mountain pass leads up to the top of the Waterberg massif.
The park contains bird hides, picnic sites and multiple viewing points at the Bollonoto, Bontle and Tlopi dams. [2]
There are morning and sunset bush walks.
There is an annual birding census organised by the Marakele Honorary rangers. [2]
Two tented camps are laid out in Marakele, namely Tlopi and Bontle.
Bontle has 36 camping spots, along with 10 tented units.
Tlopi is situated on the banks of the Apiesrivierpoort Dam. [2]
Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. Table Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in South Africa, attracting 4.2 million people every year for various activities. The mountain has 8,200 plant species, of which around 80% are fynbos, meaning fine bush. It forms part of the Table Mountain National Park, and part of the lands formerly ranged by Khoe-speaking clans, such as the !Uriǁʼaes. It is home to a large array of mostly endemic fauna and flora. Its top elevates about 1.000 m above the surrounding city, making the popular hike upwards on a large variety of different, often steep and rocky pathways a serious mountain tour which requires fitness, preparation and hiking equipment.
Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² of hilly topography 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Durban in central KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts. Operated by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found.
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Lephalale, formerly known as Ellisras, is a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa immediately east of the Waterberg Coalfield. The town was established as Ellisras in 1960 and named after Patrick Ellis and Piet Erasmus who settled on a farm there in the 1930s. In 2002, Ellisras was renamed Lephalale by the provincial government of Limpopo, after the main river that crosses the municipality. Lephalale is derived from the setswana language meaning "to flow".
Tankwa Karoo National Park is a national park in South Africa. The park lies about 70 km west of Sutherland and along the border of the Northern Cape and Western Cape in Succulent Karoo habitat; a biodiversity hotspot and one of the most arid regions of South Africa.
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The Waterberg is a mountainous massif of approximately 654,033 hectare in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. The average height of the mountain range is 600 m with a few peaks rising up to 2,000 m above sea level. Vaalwater town is located just north of the mountain range. The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion to yield diverse bluff and butte landform. The ecosystem can be characterised as a dry deciduous forest or Bushveld. Within the Waterberg there are archaeological finds dating to the Stone Age, and nearby are early evolutionary finds related to the origin of humans.
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The wildlife of Zimbabwe occurs foremost in remote or rugged terrain, in national parks and private wildlife ranches, in miombo woodlands and thorny acacia or kopje. The prominent wild fauna includes African buffalo, African bush elephant, black rhinoceros, southern giraffe, African leopard, lion, plains zebra, and several antelope species.
The wildlife of South Africa consists of the flora and fauna of this country in Southern Africa. The country has a range of different habitat types and an ecologically rich and diverse wildlife, vascular plants being particularly abundant, many of them endemic to the country. There are few forested areas, much savanna grassland, semi-arid Karoo vegetation and the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region. Famed for its national parks and big game, 297 species of mammal have been recorded in South Africa, as well as 849 species of bird and over 20,000 species of vascular plants.
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Mabalingwe , is located 28 km west of Bela Bela, in the Limpopo province of South Africa, and is about 8 800 hectare in area. It is in an easily accessible, malaria-free area of the Transvaal bushveld, around an hour-and-a-half drive from Johannesburg.
The Mokolo Dam Nature Reserve or Mokolo Dam Provincial Park is a protected area of bushveld in the Limpopo province, South Africa. It almost surrounds the Mokolo Dam on the Mokolo River. It is located 32 km south of Lephalale, just northeast of the Marakele National Park and not far from the Lapalala Game Reserve.
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Agapanthus coddii, the Waterberg agapanthus or Codd's agapanthus, is a rare flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae restricted to the western Waterberg around the Marakele National Park.
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