September 2024

You will remember that last week we gave an overview of the Mountain Zebra National Park which we visited a few weeks ago (read here). Today we are going to introduce you to this park’s beautiful wildlife – sit back and enjoy the ride.

Three types of zebras:

But before we do that, it might be a good idea to just remind you that there are actually three different species of zebras:

  • The Grévy’s zebra (found in Ethiopia and northern Kenya)
  • The Mountain zebra
  • The Plains/Burchell’s zebra – this is the most common of the three species.

On our visit to the Addo Elephant National Park in June this year, we saw the Plains/Burchell’s zebra and here in the Mountain Zebra National Park it is of course the Mountain zebras’ territory.

Plains/Burchell’s zebra (left) and Mountain zebra (right)

The Burchell’s zebra can easily be mistaken for the Mountain zebra, but the Mountain zebra have white bellies and longer ears. They are also smaller than the Burchell’s zebra.

Ok, enough of the Zoology lesson, let’s see what the animals in the park look like!

The first animal we saw was one that has eluded us for a long time now, namely one of the largest antelopes, the Eland.

A well camouflaged Eland among the rocks

Just a short distance away, a few Kudu cows were grazing. Besides Springboks, these were the antelopes we saw the most.

Kudu cow

I was very excited to see our first Mountain zebra. After reading how this particular zebra was saved from near extinction, it was wonderful to see so many of them in the park.

Mountain zebra

Mountain zebra

Mountain zebras

What? Would you like to see more zebras? No problem!

And more Mountain zebras

We love Springboks – and not only because it’s the name of our country’s national rugby team, but also because it is one of the most beautiful smaller antelopes. And they are quite photogenic.

Springboks (with Blesbok in the background)

Springboks

Springbok

Grazing Springbok

Such a beautiful animal

The Blesbok is a medium-sized antelope with a prominent white blaze on the face. This is an antelope that we often see in the West Coast National Park near Langebaan and we were happy to see them here in the Mountain Zebra National Park as well.

Herd of Blesbok

We couldn’t resist stopping again when we saw more Springboks and Zebras standing in the field.

Springbok

Mountain zebra

We also saw quite a few Black Wildebeest. A fun fact about the Wildebeest is that when a person approaches a herd within a few hundred meters, they will snort and run a short distance before stopping and looking back. They will repeat this behaviour if approached further. I think that’s the reason why we could never get a decent photo of them!

Black Wildebeest

Mountain zebras and Blesbok

We read in the park’s brochure that we might see the Blue Crane – the national bird of South Africa. And we were very happy to see two of these elegant birds not far from the road in the field.

Blue Crane

We saw a couple of Vervet Monkeys near our cottage earlier in the morning, but were too late to take photos of them. But we were rewarded with two Chacma baboons relaxing on a rocky area in the field.

Chacma baboons (also known as the Cape baboon)

Seeing Kudu bulls is always a highlight. They have the largest horns of any antelope species and I find the graceful twists fascinating.

Kudu bull

I admire the Red Hartebeest that they can run up to 65km/h (and maintain that speed over a long distance), but I think it’s their long narrow faces with a half-confused expression that always makes me want to laugh when I see them.

Red Hartebeest

Just look at that facial expression

You will remember that in our previous post I mentioned that we heard there were four lionesses lying by the river. We drove very slowly along the river hoping we would see them too. Our first sight was that of Kudu cows and while I was taking a photo of them on my side of our vehicle, Berto gasped while looking the other way …

Kudu cows

About 50m from the road, four beautiful lionesses laid stretched out next to each other. We took quite a few pictures (which all look exactly the same because they didn’t move an inch). But that didn’t matter and we just sat and watched them for a long time – seeing lions in their natural habitat remains a wonderful moment.

Four lionesses

It’s a good day to be a lion

As we drove away from the four lionesses, I said to Berto that it would take a special animal to top the lions we had just seen. And what did we see? One of the smallest animals that stole my heart! A small Ground Squirrel sat and scratched in the dirt by the side of the road and didn’t even move when we stopped right next to him.

Cute Ground Squirrel

You may also remember from our previous post that we drove one of the 4×4 trails in the park. We didn’t think we would actually see animals in this area, but were surprised to see a beautiful Gemsbok within the first kilometer.

Gemsbok

We also saw the elusive Black Wildebeest again – this time we were able to take a photo when he stopped running and turned around to look at us.

Black Wildebeest

It was once again great to see a herd of Springboks. But the golden moment was when we saw a lamb drinking from its mother – right next to our vehicle. I looked at Berto and said: “My day could not have ended better!”

Springboks

A lovely moment

When we left the park the next morning, we didn’t expect to see any animals. But we were greeted by a beautiful Kudu cow by the side of the road and also an Ostrich shaking out its puffy feathers.

Kudu cow and Ostrich

A lovely cottage, beautiful scenery and amazing animals ensured that we had an unforgettable visit at the Mountain Zebra National Park.

Oh, and do you know what you call a group of zebras? A dazzle of zebras – I can’t think of a better description.