If you’re spending a weekend at Sandveld Nature Reserve, give yourself one morning to see where the gravel roads take you.
Sandveld Reserve, Bloemhof, North West Province / Bernard DUPONT / Wikimedia Commons
On this side of Bloemhof Dam, where the Vaal and Vet rivers meet on the edge of the Free State, you can start among camelthorn trees and be down by the water before your coffee’s gone cold.
It’s worth taking the drive slowly. A flash of red near camp might be a crimson-breasted shrike, while down at the dam, a Goliath heron could be standing so still in the shallows you’d miss it if you drove straight past.
A slow drive through the thornveld
The sandy ground gives Sandveld its name, and the gravel roads wind through Kalahari thornveld, open grassland and patches of Karoo scrub. Look up into the camelthorns as you go. Those big bundles of grass in the branches are communal sociable weaver nests. If you’re lucky, you might spot a Verreaux’s eagle-owl nesting on top of one.
There’s plenty to look for at ground level, too. Giraffe, zebra and blue wildebeest live here, along with sable and roan antelope. Take your time where the trees open up and give yourself a moment to see what’s moving in the grass.
Down by Bloemhof Dam
From the main camp, take the gravel road north along the shore. If the water has pulled back enough to expose a strip of mud or sand, watch for three-banded plovers picking their way along the edge. Look farther out for great crested grebes, and keep an eye out for visiting sandpipers in summer. What turns up depends partly on the dam level, so the same stretch of shore can look quite different from one visit to the next.
If you’d rather spend the morning with a fishing rod in hand, carp and barbel are among the fish found in the dam.
Staying over at Sandveld
The reserve entrance is on the R34 between Hoopstad and Bloemhof, about 10 km from Bloemhof. The province lists self-catering chalets and campsites with electricity, as well as unpowered sites along the shore. Bring your groceries with you, as there’s no shop in the reserve. For bookings and visitor information, see the official Sandveld Nature Reserve website.
If you stay the night, leave a little time before you pack up for one more look around camp. You might pick out a Kalahari scrub robin or hear an African fish eagle calling from the dam. And if that’s enough to send you back down the shore road for one last look, so much the better.
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