Spekboom

08/10/2026

Elephants in the desert, and the camp where they drink 🐘

Namibia’s desert-adapted elephants walk the dry Ugab riverbed, outside any park, through farms and villages. Elephant-Human Relations Aid has worked here since 2003, building stone walls around village wells so people keep their water and the elephants keep theirs.

Tsaurab Valley Eco Camp is EHRA’s own base camp on the Ugab, 50 km outside Uis: a treetop platform, a braai under the camelthorns, the stars. The herds visit the water point near camp, if you are lucky. Sightings are never guaranteed.

Stay there and the proceeds go to the elephant work.

Book on spekboom.org (link in bio)

Photos: Elephant-Human Relations Aid and Tsaurab Valley Eco Camp.

06/10/2026

If you can’t ask Rassie, ask Dassie

“Where can I hear Pel’s Fishing Owl?” Pafuri Camp in the far north of Kruger, Kosi Forest Lodge at Kosi Bay, and Plains Camp at Rhino Walking Safaris.

“Where can I see Ludwig’s Bustard in the Karoo?” Aasvogelkrans near Nieu Bethesda and Karoo Secret Farm Stay near Aberdeen.

“Where can I find Rudd’s Lark?” Forellenhof Guest Farm and Wetlands Country House in Wakkerstroom.

“Somewhere to see the Cape Rockjumper?” Zwartberg View Mountain Lodge and Eight Bells Mountain Inn.

Every answer comes from real bird records, at stays affiliated with BirdLife South Africa. Sightings are never guaranteed.

Which bird next? spekboom.org/ask-dassie

05/10/2026

Jacaranda season. For about four weeks every spring, Pretoria and Johannesburg turn purple.

Pretoria: the streets around the Union Buildings and the older eastern suburbs. Go early on a weekday and walk.
Groenkloof: look for the white jacarandas on Herbert Baker Street.

Johannesburg: look out from any ridge, then look up. Blue sky, purple canopy.

Mid-October to mid-November, peaking around the end of October. The trees came from South America, and Pretoria has had them since 1888.

Stay among them in Parkview: Rose on Kerry, Remote Corner, Lemon and Fig at 52 on Wexford and The Parkwood Boutique Hotel. Every one funds Friends of Zoo Lake, BirdLife South Africa and the Johannesburg Wildlife Vet.

spekboom.org

05/10/2026

Plan a trip on Spekboom now opens on a whole route, drawn on the map with every stop: Route 62 from Cape Town to Calitzdorp, the Garden Route from Mossel Bay to Plett, the Whale Coast from Pringle Bay to Gansbaai, and 13 more.

Tap a route to see where it runs. Start with it, swap any stop, add a night wherever you like. Or tell us where, when and who is travelling, and someone who knows these places sends you a first itinerary within two working days.

Every booking funds a local conservation, community or education cause you choose.

Plan yours: spekboom.org/plan-a-trip

05/10/2026

Arrivals, October. Now on our homepage.

Every spring, birds fly in from Europe, Asia and the rest of Africa to spend summer here. So we built an arrivals board into spekboom.org.

Barn Swallow, from Europe: arriving.
Steppe Buzzard, from Russia: arriving.
Red-chested Cuckoo, from Central Africa: landed. Piet-my-vrou.
Amur Falcon, from Mongolia, over the Indian Ocean: en route.

The board changes with the season. Tap a bird to see where it flew from and the stays where it has been recorded.

Records, not promises. Sightings are never guaranteed.
spekboom.org

24/09/2026

22/09/2026

Pafuri Camp 📍Northern Kruger, Limpopo

The top corner of the Kruger, where the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers meet, looks nothing like the rest of the park. Fever tree forests, baobabs, sandstone gorges, floodplains. More than 450 bird species recorded here, which makes it one of southern Africa’s great birding destinations - Pel’s Fishing Owl, Racket-tailed Roller, Narina Trogon, African Finfoot.

The camp is 19 tented suites under thatch, linked by raised walkways beneath giant jackalberry and nyala berry trees, looking down onto the river.

Run by RETURN Africa in partnership with the Makuleke community, on community-owned conservation land. Walking trails, game drives, and the Iron Age site at Thulamela.

Book on spekboom.org

18/09/2026

Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve 📍Cederberg

A 7,500-hectare wilderness reserve and wellness retreat at the foot of the Cederberg mountains, three hours from Cape Town. Open plains and ancient rock formations, more than 130 rock art sites, and days that move from game drives to riverside picnics to the spa. Rooms and suites at the main lodge, or Koro Lodge for the whole family, private, exclusive-use, with its own chef and guide.

Book on spekboom.org