Apparently there were only 17 bontebok left in the 1930s, and the Bontebok National Park was formed to continue the efforts of local farmers to save them from extinction. This has worked, and the bontebok is now no longer vulnerable to extinction. It’s the smallest national park in South Africa, but it’s a gem, and our visit in August was luckily perfectly-timed for the wild flowers, and all the happy birds who’d been waiting all year for them.

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A cape white-eye perched on a branch next to aloe flowers with a blurred green background.
Close-up of red and orange flowers with a spider web covered in dew drops.
Yellow flowers with a spider web among green leaves and branches.
A close-up of a juvenile bontebok grazing on grass with yellow flowers.
Two bontebok walking through a grassy plain under blue sky and distant rolling hills.
A red hartebeest standing among dense pink and green foliage.
A solitary yellow and red flower with spiky green leaves growing among pink flowers and blurred background in a natural setting.
Purple wildflowers growing among tall grass in a field on a sunny day.
A bontebok resting in a grassy field with a blurred background of small bushes and trees.
A cape robin-chat perched among blue daisies in a grassy field.
A cape robin-chat perched on a piece of tree bark with yellow flowers and a green blurred background.
Close-up of a field of wildflowers, including yellow daisies, pink poppies, and small blue and white flowers, with a blurred background of more flowers and grass.
A close-up view of a patch of purple and yellow daisies in a grassy field.
A jackal buzzard in flight over a hillside with green grass, bushes, and some aloe plants, under a cloudy blue sky.
A spiderweb covered in dew droplets, suspended between tree branches in the early morning sunlight.