Blouberg Nature Reserve
Blouberg Nature Reserve is a protected area situated close to Vivo, west of Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province, of South Africa. It covers an area of from the eastern portion of the Blouberg mountain range down to the savanna near the Brak River, and is managed and administrated by the Limpopo Provincial Government.
Topography and habitats
Its topography renders a diverse array of habitats which in-turn accommodate numerous species of plant and animal life. This reserve is well known for the largest breeding colony of Cape vultures in South Africa on its mountainous sector. On the plain sector game is abundant with special mention of Cape buffalo, sable antelope and leopard. It is predominately bushveld savanna with baobabs and tambotis standing prominently on the northern plains. Natural forest occurs on the mountain's southern slopes, which includes a large Outeniqua yellowwood, which was given official protection in 2013.Visitor facilities
Current accommodation consists of chalets at Mashatu camp, Tamboti tented bush camp, Modumele Wilderness Camp and Molope Camp. A vehicle with high ground clearance is needed, especially for the southern part. Although it is an ideal stop over for the Tuli Block in Botswana, the Mapungubwe National Park on the Zimbabwe border or the northern part of Kruger Park, the reserve is worth a proper visit even by itself.Animals
Animal species found in the reserve:| Aardvark | Aardwolf | Southern African wildcat | Baboon | Black-backed jackal | Brown hyena |
| Buffalo | Bushbaby | Bushbuck | Bushpig | Caracal | Cheetah |
| Civet | Common duiker | Common dwarf mongoose | Eland | Gemsbuck | Giraffe |
| Honey badger | Impala | Klipspringer | Kudu | Rusty-spotted genet | Leopard |
| Mountain reedbuck | Pangolin | Porcupine | Red hartebeest | Sable | Spotted hyena |
| Steenbuck | Banded mongoose | Vervet monkey | Warthog | Waterbuck | Zebra |
Bird species found in the reserve:
| Acacia pied barbet | African black swift | African cuckoo | African dusky flycatcher | African firefinch | African fish eagle |
| African golden oriole | African goshawk | African grey hornbill | African harrier-hawk | African hawk-eagle | African palm swift |
| African paradise flycatcher | African pipit | African pygmy kingfisher | African red-eyed bulbul | African scops owl | Alpine swift |
| Amethyst sunbird | Ant-eating chat | Arrow-marked babbler | Banded martin | Barn owl | Barn swallow |
| Barred wren-warbler | Bar-throated apalis | Bateleur | Bearded scrub robin | Bearded woodpecker | Black cuckoo |
| Black stork | Black-backed puffback | Black-chested snake eagle | Black-collared barbet | Black-crowned night heron | Black-crowned tchagra |
| Black-faced waxbill | Black-headed heron | Black-headed oriole | Blacksmith lapwing | Black-winged kite | Black-winged stilt |
| Blue waxbill | Bronze-winged courser | Brown snake eagle | Brown-backed honeybird | Brown-crowned tchagra | Brown-hooded kingfisher |
| Brubru | White-browed coucal | Burchell's starling | Burnt-necked eremomela | Bushveld pipit | Cape batis |
| Cape rock thrush | Cape starling | Cape vulture | Cape white-eye | Cardinal woodpecker | Cattle egret |
| Chestnut-vented warbler | Chinspot batis | Cinnamon roller | Cinnamon-breasted bunting | Collared sunbird | Common bulbul |
| Common buttonquail | Common quail | Common scimitarbill | Common waxbill | Crested barbet | Crested francolin |
| Crested guineafowl | Crimson-breasted shrike | Crowned lapwing | Cut-throat finch | Dark chanting goshawk | Desert cisticola |
| Diederik cuckoo | Double-banded courser | Double-banded sandgrouse | Egyptian goose | Emerald-spotted wood dove | Eurasian spoonbill |
| European bee-eater | European nightjar | European roller | Fiery-necked nightjar | Fork-tailed drongo | Freckled nightjar |
| Gabar goshawk | Golden-breasted bunting | Golden-tailed woodpecker | Gorgeous bushshrike | Greater blue-eared starling | Greater double-collared sunbird |
| Greater honeyguide | Greater painted-snipe | Greater striped swallow | Green wood hoopoe | Green-backed camaroptera | Green-backed twinspot |
| Green-winged pytilia | Grey go-away-bird | Grey heron | Grey penduline tit | Grey tit-flycatcher | Grey-backed camaroptera |
| Grey-headed bushshrike | Grey-headed kingfisher | Groundscraper thrush | Hadada ibis | Hamerkop | Helmeted guineafowl |
| Hooded vulture | Hoopoe | Jacobin cuckoo | Jameson's firefinch | Kalahari scrub robin | Karoo thrush |
| Klaas's cuckoo | Knob-billed duck | Kori bustard | Kurrichane thrush | Lanner falcon | Lappet-faced vulture |
| Laughing dove | Lesser grey shrike | Lesser honeyguide | Lesser striped swallow | Levaillant's cisticola | Levaillant's cuckoo |
| Lilac-breasted roller | Little bee-eater | Little sparrowhawk | Lizard buzzard | Long-billed crombec | Long-tailed paradise whydah |
| Long-tailed widowbird | Magpie shrike | Malachite kingfisher | Marabou stork | Marico flycatcher | Marico sunbird |
| Martial eagle | Mocking cliff chat | Monotonous lark | Mountain wheatear | Namaqua dove | Natal spurfowl |
| Neddicky | Olive bushshrike | Orange-breasted bushshrike | Ostrich | Ovambo sparrowhawk | Pale chanting goshawk |
| Pale flycatcher | Pearl-breasted swallow | Pearl-spotted owlet | Peregrine falcon | Pied crow | Purple roller |
| Purple-crested turaco | Rattling cisticola | Red-backed shrike | Red-billed buffalo weaver | Southern red-billed hornbill | Red-billed oxpecker |
| Red-billed quelea | Red-billed teal | Red-breasted swallow | Red-capped lark | Red-capped robin-chat | Red-chested cuckoo |
| Red-crested korhaan | Red-eyed dove | Red-faced mousebird | Red-headed weaver | Red-winged starling | Retz's helmetshrike |
| Ring-necked dove | Rock kestrel | Rock martin | Rufous-naped lark | Rüppell's vulture | Sabota lark |
| Scaly-feathered weaver | Scarlet-chested sunbird | Secretarybird | Shikra | Sombre greenbul | Southern black flycatcher |
| Southern black tit | Southern boubou | Southern carmine bee-eater | Southern grey-headed sparrow | Southern ground hornbill | Southern masked weaver |
| Southern pied babbler | Southern pochard | Southern red bishop | Southern white-crowned shrike | Southern white-faced owl | Southern yellow-billed hornbill |
| Speckled mousebird | Speckled pigeon | Spectacled weaver | Spotted eagle-owl | Spotted flycatcher | Spotted thick-knee |
| Spur-winged goose | Steppe eagle | Striped kingfisher | Swainson's spurfowl | Swallow-tailed bee-eater | Tambourine dove |
| Tawny eagle | Tawny-flanked prinia | Terrestrial brownbul | Three-banded courser | Thrush nightingale | Verreaux's eagle |
| Verreaux's eagle-owl | Violet-backed starling | Violet-eared waxbill | Wahlberg's eagle | Wattled starling | White stork |
| White-backed vulture | White-bellied sunbird | White-browed robin-chat | White-browed scrub robin | White-browed sparrow-weaver | White-crested helmetshrike |
| White-faced whistling duck | White-fronted bee-eater | White-rumped swift | White-throated robin-chat | White-winged widowbird | Willow warbler |
| Woodland kingfisher | Yellow-bellied eremomela | Yellow-bellied greenbul | Yellow-billed kite | Yellow-breasted apalis | Yellow-fronted canary |
| Yellow-fronted tinkerbird | Zitting cisticola | - |
Site locations
- Main gate
- Office
- Mashatu camp
- Tamboti camp
- Molope camp
- Modumele camp
- Vulture Restaurant
- Big Tree
- Fig Forest
- Look-out point
- Fountain
- Rapanyana's Neck