A short trip to Tankwa*

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Tina
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A short trip to Tankwa*

Post by Tina »

On our 2011 trip to South Africa we stayed two nights at Elandsberg cottages in Tankwa Karoo NP.

Unfortunately we only had a 2x4 and did not dare to drive the 4x4 roads. Nevertheless, I like the park. We had a very relaxed stay and the starry sky was gorgeous.


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Tina
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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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Tankwa Karoo National Park is a Scientific National Park in South Africa. The park lies about 70 km due west of Sutherland near the border of the Northern Cape and Western Cape, in one of the most arid regions of South Africa, with areas receiving less than 100 mm of average annual precipitation, moisture-bearing clouds from the Atlantic Ocean being largely stopped by the Cederberg. Other low areas receive little more, as the Roodewerf station (coordinates: S32°14’27.9” E20°05’44.5”) with 180 mm of mean annual rainfall. In the hottest areas of the park, the mean maximum temperature in January is 38.9 °C, and in July the mean minimum temperature ranges from about 5 to 7 °C. Before this Park's proclamation, the only protected area of Succulent Karoo was the 2 square kilometre patch of the Gamkaberg Nature Reserve. Succulent Karoo has, together with the Cape Floral Kingdom, been declared a Biodiversity Hotspot by Conservation International.
Tankwa's area has been increased from an initial 260 to 1436 km². It is bounded on the east by the Roggeveld Mountains, on the west by the Cederberg, to the north by the Kouebokkeveld Mountains and on the south by the scattered foothills of the Koedoesberge and Klein Roggeveld Mountains, and the Tankwa River. The park's headquarters are located at Paulshoek on the Renoster River in an old farmhouse converted to offices and a visitor reception area.
In 1998 Conrad Strauss sold 280 km² of sheep farm to the South African National Parks. The park has started with the reintroduction of game that used to occur naturally in the area. Research was done beforehand to ensure that introduced animals would survive on the overgrazed veld. The vegetation in the park falls within the Succulent Karoo biome and has been described as very sparse shrubland and Dwarf Shrubland. The park is home to a large variety of birds, such as the Black-headed Canary, Ludwig's Bustard, and the Black-eared Sparrow-Lark. Peak birding season is August to October. (from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankwa_Karoo_National_Park)


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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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The cottages

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we stayed in no. 2

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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

Post by Tina »

Do not expect too much, Toko and Mel.

We were there for two nights only and somehow I lost all my pictures from the first day (the landscape) O/ O/

Thus I only can show you the accomodation and some birds and plants.

If you have some landscape pictures, Toko, please add them \O

But staying here we really enjoyed the silence and the stars. It made us decide to visit KTP for the first time.

@ nan: Tankwa is about 300 kilometres north of Cape Town.


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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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more pictures of our cottage

the braai area ( I have no idea why my SO is looking so grumpy :-0 )

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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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the bath room

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shower with a view

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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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view from the living room to the kitchen

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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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the view from the cottage

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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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there were some birds trying to drink from the pool

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not an easy task

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Re: A short trip to Tankwa

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yellow canaries

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