Mountain Zebra National Park

Nice, but not superb, experience for an European

As a biologist, I enjoyed African Nature in many diverse places in South Africa; also in Mountain Zebra National Park, of course. Landscapes are beautiful, not very different to African savanna, I think. There were very few tourists when I visited the Park, so it was a good moment to relax and enjoying driving through it.
Apart from this, I have to say that mammals diversity was not too high, so we had to drive a long way to see "big" animals (gazelles and zebras, most of them). I can imagine that the most of urban citizens, unused to Nature, prefer to find wilder animals like rhinos, lions, cheetahs,... and that could be the reason why we saw so few tourists there.
My final impression was that Mountain Zebra is a good park, sure, but it shouldn'be a priority for visitors

A quiet park with lovely scenery

This tranquil little park in the Eastern Cape is one of the few places you can see its namesake: the Cape mountain zebra. The population of these animals dropped to zero in the 1940s, but through a very successful reintroduction programme, the park now boasts more than 700 Cape mountain zebras.
(Burchell’s is the most common zebra in southern Africa. The Cape mountain zebra is smaller than its common cousin, and has bigger ears. Its stripes are bolder than the Burchell’s, and its belly is white. There are no shadows on the stripes, as with the Burchell’s.)
Mountain Zebra National Park is also home to cheetah (which I didn’t see) and a lot of plains game: hartebeest, buffalo and black rhino, springbok and blesbok. When I visited, there were only two roads you could drive on – both one-ways, which take you along the beautiful open plains of sweet grass that stretch off into the distant hills. There are, however, a few 4x4 trails, and some walking trails too.
The night skies out here on the edge of the Karoo are exceptionally clear, so take a star-gazing reference book or download a night skies app, and take your safari into another dimension. There is an overwhelming sense of tranquillity in Mountain Zebra National Park, and while game-viewing doesn’t compare with many of South Africa’s other parks, it is a wonderful place to put your feet up, take out a good book and soak up life in the lovely Karoo.

A very nice smaller reserve and easy to travel around in one or two days at a leisurely pace

Very beautiful karoo scenery and especially when seeing those beautiful boulders gleaming in the setting sunset. A fair amount of animals and lovely to see the zebras. Upholstery in chalets needs to be cleaned. Some of the crockery/cutlery was missing, such as braai tongs and salad servers. A nice 2km walk from the chalets up the hill. Monkeys a nuisance have to keep everything closed.

A pleasant surprise

The Mountain Zebra National Park was recommended to us by people we met in another park. We weren’t too convinced, but decided to go see for ourselves. What a pleasant surprise.

The park is surrounded by beautiful mountains, with a central grassland plateau, covered with wild flowers during the time we were there (April). Although most of the roads within the park are gravel, it’s well maintained and accessible to all motor vehicles. The rest camp has a number of cottages and a beautiful camp site. The cottages are quite modern, comfortable and well equipped for self-catering. The cottages are serviced daily. There is a restaurant and a well-stocked shop in the rest camp. The restaurant has a very basic menu. We did not visit the restaurant, as we self-catered. There is a swimming pool in the rest camp and another swimming pool in the separate picnic area.

We saw an abundance of mountain zebra, black wildebeest, springbok and blesbok on the grassland plateau. In the thicket surrounding the plateau, we saw gemsbok, hartebeest, kudu and eland. Most of the antelope in the park are easy to spot and they generally go about their business without giving much attention to the visitors. We fleetingly saw some black-backed jackals and two of the rhinos in the park. The best sighting however, was the two male lions. They walked within touching distance past our vehicle. To complete our list of sightings, we also saw monkeys, baboons, ground squirrels and a number of different bird species. Not seeing the cheetahs, hyenas or buffalo, was a bit of a disappointment. I would therefore recommend visitors to go on the guided game drives to improve their chances of seeing the more elusive animals.

I have visited a number of national parks in South Africa and would definitely recommend this park for its accommodation, beautiful scenery and abundance of animals. It is a small park and a three - to four night stay should be sufficient to explore the park and enjoy the scenery.

Very nice place where to see mountain zebra

A most pleasant and rewarding experience

We were there with our Bird Club and the birding was fantastic. It is nice to see Mountain Zebras, Black Wildebees and Springbok which you don't always see in other National Parks. The accommodation is good though there was a bit of noise at times due to the ongoing building of new chalets. The scenery is magnificent despite very dry conditions. Wonderful view from our chalet patio. The staff without exception were friendly and so helpful. We had a tasty dinner in the restaurant on one of the nights of our stay.

Very nice isolated park

Our morning in the Mountain Zebra Park was great, there is not as many animals as in the north of the country but I was surprised to see so many.
There is less animals but there is also less tourists, we went in November and we were nearly the only ones in the park which was a much appreciated luxury.
We did the cheetah walk and once our guide found the cheetah we walk until we were 10 meters from it and while looking for it (by car, not foot) we saw all the other animals so it was really great.

Landscape panoramic heaven

The landscape scenery is absolutely stunning at any time of the day or in any weather condition. As a photographer there are plenty of opportunities to indulge photographic interludes. Parking your vehicle in one spot and taking a photo of the same landscape of a period of time results in a kaleidoscope of images.
Birds are plentiful, especially in the short grasslands and around the campsite in the shrubs more small and medium sized birds are to be discovered. The regal Blue Crane is present in the grassland areas as well as the Secretarybird. Verreaux's Eagle can be seen soaring along the cliff tops.
Antelope is to be found in all the biomes represented in the national park with plenty of the Cape Mountain Zebra too be seen as well. Predators such as the Lion and Cheetah are more scarce to be seen, unless you are prepared to pay for the Cheetah Tracking safari. The smaller mammals such as the Ground Squirrel, Meerkat and Mongoose are seen in the shorter grassland areas and are a delight to watch.
We splashed out on an evening game drive. Our guide was knowledgable on all topics of the park and conservation and environmentalism in general, as well as super friendly. I wanted to see owls and he obliged by taking us past a know Spotted Eagle Owl nest. The vehicle was comfortable and extra warm poncho's were provided to keep us warm in the cold night air.
The camping site was neat and tidy and the ablution facilities were sufficient for our short stay. A kitchen with a fridge, freezer, cooking tops and microwave oven was available for all the campers use as needed.
We made use of one of the picnic sites situated outside the restcamp area for one lunchtime barbecue. The children used the ample space to bicycle around and swam in the natural rock pool at the site.

A place with a vast memory

Mountain Zebra National Park is one of those places that leave a lingering memory of beauty. Amazing sunrise and sunset landscapes and the first place I ever saw the Aardwolf. A must for anyone planning to stay over for a few days.

This is an enchanting, small park, with a wide variety of animals and birds, easily viewed by car.

Quite small by South African game park standards, the Mountain Zebra NP has a wide range of wild animals and birds, easily viewed from a good road network. Although there are a small number of Lion and Black Rhino, which one would be lucky to see, we saw large numbers of Red Hartebeest and Cape Mountain Zebras, also Kudu, Springbok, Buffalo and Wildebeest. There is also a special walk available to track Cheetah. The birdlife is varied and quite beautiful, generally quite easy to spot and photograph, either from the car or on walks around the camp.

As a spectacle, this is a peaceful park, perched in the beautiful mountain areas of the eastern Karoo. It has a unique beauty, which is not spoilt by humans, as the numbers of visitors are limited. There is a variety of accommodation types. The two bedroom chalet that we stayed in, near the main reception building, was comfortable and well equipped for self catering. There is a restaurant and small shop in the main reception area, which was well patronised when we were there. As we were self catering, we did not have the opportunity to sample the fare. We walked around a well maintained camping site, with a large ablution block, so campers are well catered for.

The fenced camp is quite extensive, with two short, but enjoyable mountain side walks and a large swimming pool, which was well patronised when we were there.

All in all, a wonderful natural location for a peaceful 2 or 3 night break.