Mokala National Park

[Flutterby]

Mokala is South Africa’s newest National Park, situated approximately 80km south-southwest of Kimberley, and west of the N12 freeway to Cape Town. Nestled in the hills, Mokala's landscape boasts a variety of koppieveld (hills) and large open plains, and is home to 7 indigenous plant species and conserves the interface of two biomes, Savanna Biome and the Nama-Karoo Biome.

©south-africa-tours-and-travel.com

A big surprise awaits when you pass through the hills and are confronted by the large open sandy plains towards the north and west of the Park. Drainage lines from the hills form little tributaries that run into the plains and drain into the Riet River. Mokala is a Setswana name for a Camel Thorn (Kameeldoring). The Camel Thorn trees occur in dry woodland and arid, sandy areas and are one of the major tree species of the desert regions of Southern Africa. This immensely important species has a great range over the Northern Cape and varies from a small, spiny shrub barely 2m high, to a tree up to 16m tall with a wide, spreading crown. The Camel Thorn is an incredible resource to both wildlife and humans who survive in often harsh conditions characteristic of this area. Traditionally, the gum and bark have been used by local tribes to treat coughs, colds and nosebleeds. Some even use the roasted seeds as a coffee substitute.

©science.photo.com

©blogspot.com

Wildlife you can expect to see within the Mokala National Park include black and white rhino, Tsessebe, Roan Antelope, Mountain Reedbuck, Giraffe, Gemsbok, Eland, Zebra, Red Hartebeest, Blue Wildebeest, Black Wildebeest, Kudu, Ostrich, Steenbok, Duiker and Springbok.

©kalahari-tours.co.za

©magical-southern-africa-safaris.com

Lilydale Rest Camp is located at the heart of Mokala offering guests a secluded getaway, enveloped by unspoiled nature. Cozy self-catering accommodation is provided in the form of 5-bed bungalows, 3-bed chalets and 3-bed bungalows. All units are en-suite and have hotplates and fridges. Outdoor activities range from adventurous mountain biking, canoeing, night or day game drives and day walks to viewing san rock art, star-gazing and fly fishing on the river.

©krugerpark.com

©krugerpark.com

Mosu Lodge is a stone safari affair nestled into the local woodlands and shrubbery. The bungalows are rugged, rustic, and thatched in a style highly evocative of the area's stylistic history. There are luxury bungalows, semi-luxury bungalows, bungalows and family bungalows to choose from. All units are en-suite with fully equipped kitchens and braai facilities.

©krugerpark.com

©krugerpark.com

Motswedi Camp Site is comprised of six camping spots, all located with a stunning view of the waterhole. The rustic campsites fit Mokala’s ‘touch-the-earth-lightly’ conservation principles, accommodating visitors in comfortable surroundings while maintaining a balance with the surrounding habitat.

©krugerpark.com

Haak-en-Steek Rest Camp is a self serving camp site with 4-bed rustic en-suite cottages, and camping facilities. This camp has no electricity but the cottages have a gas fridge/freezer and a gas stove/oven.

©krugerpark.com

©sanparks.org.za

For accommodation enquiries go to: http://www.sanparks.org.za/

[Toko]

Map of Mokala

[Toko]

[Toko]

[Toko]

[Lisbeth]

Must be a nice and quiet place, Toko; at least that is was your lovely pics are telling.

[Toko]

Yes, it is, Lis 8-)

But I don't like Mosu Lodge (except of the very good restaurant), there is no bush flair, it's like a tourist village. Lillidayle is nice, but it's in the area where the wildlife is not interesting.

[Toko]

SANPArks Mokala National Park Brochure

mokala_online_brochure_2012.pdf

(781.51 KiB) Downloaded 543 times

[Lisbeth]

And the Ultimate National Park Camp in South Africa is… not what you'd expect

It's not in the Kruger, it's not in Addo. It's not in Table Mountain National Park and it's not on the West Coast...

This year's 'Ultimate National Park' camp in South Africa has kicked dust in the eyes of all major rest camps in SA's national parks!

Mosu Lodge in Mokala National Park in the Northern Cape ousted competition far and wide, from the Kruger to Addo Elephant National Park, when it was crowned by Safari Index as SA's ultimate national park rest camp for 2016.

According to Nadia Lemmetuis for the Arid Parks regions, where Mokala National Park is situated, the award is a breath of fresh air for the park following a tough year.

"We are very excited about the award, especially following the rough year Mokala has had. The drought of the past season affected the park severely,"Lemmetuis told Traveller24.

Several SANParks camps were nominated as finalists in this year’s Tusker Ultimate Safari Experience Awards in the ‘Ultimate Park Camps’ category, aimed at showcasing South Africa’s best national park camps.

South Africa’s Ultimate Park Camps finalists were:

Addo Main Rest Camp, Addo

[Alf]

Ok I'm confused here

We visited Mosu lodge in our 2011 trip and found the place average.......

Firstly there's a huge parking area right at reception and you need to carry or load all your luggage onto a trolley and walk with a paved walkway until you get your accommodation. The trolley worked ok when we offloaded but the morning we were leaving we started packing very early as we had to travel far that day, the trolley makes a huge noise on the paved walkway at 5am in the morning. So I tried not waking up the other people so carried all our luggage to the bakkie..

Also the bungalows are build very close to each other so not much privacy. We also found the fridge to be small and couldn't even fit in all our frozen packs together with the meat.

Secondly the accommodation types are limited. Only 2 bed units available if I remember correctly which makes it difficult for a family to visit.

Yeah reception were very friendly and we received a welcome drink but I won't visit them again