Bontebok National Park

Bontebok is the smallest SanParks reserve and again, another little gem.   This is the view from our campsite but there is a price to pay in that there is no power and ablutions are 300m+ uphill.  Andrew said that it is ‘well worth the morning butt clench to be by the river’, ah – you can see he is truly a catch !!!!!!!!

Bontebok was originally a farm but was proclaimed a national park in 1931 to save the bontebok species – only 30 were remaining…….  It has been a highly successful venture and Bontebok now supplies other parks including Cape point. 

 

As well as fynbos, proteas and an abundance of trees, we came across this beautiful granadilla flower in the campsite.  Not something we expected.

 

The park is only 6kms from Swellendam, so in-between birding, walking some of the trails and enjoying the peace and quiet we decided to take a trip into town to see what Swellendam had to offer.   The first thing we noticed was that Toyotas were the predominant vehicles (unlike Cape Town where Land Rovers rule!!), this is probably due to the number of farmers around.  Whilst it is a clean and fairly pretty town, you do get the distinct impression that genetic diversity is an issue.  If there was a reality show called ‘Boer soek a vrou’ (Farmer seeks a wife) then it would be filmed in Swellendam.  After all, as Andrew said, there are only so many times you can marry your cousin !!!!!!!!…….  For those of you who know Mark Trollip (no relation, despite what he says) you will understand why he is choosing to retire here. 

We really enjoyed Bontebok and yes, it is on our re-visit list, however it is now time to explore the Garden Route (last visited over 15 years ago).