South Africa Parks
Philip lives in South Africa and has authored many guidebooks to African destinations, including the Rough Guide to Game Parks of South Africa.
Mokala is a recently established national park, protecting sandy plains dotted with impressive camel thorn trees. The small park isn't a prime wildlife-viewing destination but offers a range of activities. Rhino, buffalo and several antelope species have been re-introduced, but numbers are relatively low, and animals are still quite skittish as they are getting used to their new environment.
Pros & Cons
Wildlife
Mokala was stocked with wildlife from the closing of Vaalbos National Park. This conservation project involved an amazing translocation of 863 animals. Black and white rhino and buffalo have been re-introduced. None of the big cats are present, but several small predators, such as brown hyena, black-backed jackal and caracal can be seen.
Scenery
Mokala's main habitat is sandy plains hemmed in by isolated dolerite (magmatic rock) hills. Camel thorn is the predominant tree in this arid, sandy environment. The main objective of the park is to protect the unusual interface of two biomes (large, naturally occurring communities of flora and fauna): Savanna Biome and the Nama Karoo Biome.
Weather & Climate
Occasionally during the summer (October to April), big storms blow in and unload torrential rain onto the park. But for the most part, conditions remain dry. It’s also consistently hot in summer, but everything starts cooling down with the arrival of winter (May to September). At this time of year, it gets very cold at night.
Best Time To Visit
Mokala can be visited throughout the year. Due to the semi-arid conditions, wildlife viewing isn’t much affected by the seasons. The days are pleasant during the winter months (May to September) and this time might be slightly better for wildlife viewing too. Midday can be unbearably hot during the summer months (October to April).
