South Africa/NC: Mokala NP – Exploring the Park
You can explore the entire park by self-driving – many dirt tracks run around the park and spotting wildlife is quite common. We saw a large group of giraffes, springboks, and many usually elusive steinboks, plus birds and lizards. You also get to see spectacular desert landscapes and vistas. The Augrabies NP is 1.5 times larger than the more famous Kruger NP, it’s roughly the size of the greater NYC, and larger than Singapore. One of the most interesting attractions are the kokerboom trees – also known as the Quiver Tree (Aloe dichotoma),an iconic species native to South Africa and Namibia, particularly thriving in arid regions like the Northern Cape and Augrabies Falls NP. The name comes from the Afrikaans word “koker” meaning quiver -the indigenous San people bushmen hunters used its hollowed-out branches as quivers for their arrows. Kokerboom is not an actually a true tree – It’s a giant aloe, with a succulent stem that stores water. They can survive extreme heat and have reflective bark, and they can leave up to 200 years. It’s also super photogenic!
