Dream Birding In The Green Kalahari

Be surprised by the bounty of birds at Tswalu reserve

- Tania Anderson

Many birders aren’t aware of what awaits in the Korannaberg hills that run through a jewel of the Northern Cape’s Green Kalahari called Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. At 114 000 hectares, it’s South Africa’s largest private reserve, and one where our birding group expects to find many arid-adapted bird species in its grasslands, duneveld and the lilac-hued hills.

In a year of good rainfall, Tswalu is a sanctuary where more than 200 bird species can be found. In drier times, the species count can still reach 100. We’re also looking forward to seeing the fascinating geological formations of this area, and the 400 000-year-old petroglyphs made with hammerstones.

We approach the reserve along the R31 from Kuruman, and the iron and manganese mining operations and dumps loom large until we turn off towards Van Zylsrus, about 20 kilometres from Hotazel. There our spirits rise as we encounter mostly unspoilt natural Kalahari duneveld. Unexpectedly, high hills soon appear on the horizon and we know we’re almost there.

Tswalu means ‘a new beginning’, which is the vision of the owners, the Oppenheimer family, who took ownership in 1998. Over time, neighbouring farms were acquired and transformed, and many homesteads and buildings removed. “Expansion has meant more diversity, and the reserve now has more of the Korannaberg hills, as well as linear dunes and ephemeral pans,” says Gus van Dyk, general manager of Tswalu. In 2014, Tswalu Kalahari was declared a Nature Reserve and given formal protection.

Here conservation is foremost, and the management team and staff are returning this section of the Kalahari to its historical diversity by restoring degraded areas, re-establishing biological diversity and maintaining the natural ecological processes of the Kalahari. Nature, ever forgiving, is also making repairs to the damage done, and this is evident at Tswalu.