The third national park we visited on our month-long road trip was Mokala National Park, located in the Northern Cape Province and South Africa’s newest national park. Mokala is the Setswana name for the majestic camel thorn tree, which grows in dry, sandy areas such as this one. 

Land & Sky – This was our first time in the 28,500 or so hectacres of hills and large open desert plains that make up the park. We stayed in the fairly new Mosu Lodge rest camp, which includes separate thatched-roof buildings for accommodations and a restaurant. A few days before our visit a large rain storm created washouts on some of the sandy roads, so driving at times was doubly challenging: watching for wildlife and not getting stuck in deep ruts or ditches. The park road crews were hard at work while we were there and we drove by the road grader and driver several times. 

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Feathers – We stopped at the few ponds several times and once at the bird hide to photograph more varieties of colorful South African birds. While at the hide we learned that visitors can stay overnight there with advance reservations. We want to do that on our next visit to this beautiful place. 

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Monkeys and More – At South African national parks we love to watch the animals, especially monkeys. On our first day in Mokala we were able to find a few vervet monkeys and baboons sitting in the top of a camel thorn tree while eating and watching the cars go by. Impala and springbok are the most commonly seen animals in South African national parks. And at this park we spotted our first tsessebe and two rare black springbok!

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