Gondwana Game Reserve, Private wildlife reserve near Mossel Bay, South Africa.
Gondwana Game Reserve is a private wildlife reserve near Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, situated between the Langeberg and Outeniqua mountain ranges. The terrain is covered mainly by fynbos scrubland and open hills, and it is home to the Big Five as well as many bird species and smaller animals.
After European settlers arrived in the region from the 17th century onward, the land was turned into farmland and the original wildlife disappeared. Toward the end of the 20th century, the area was converted back into a reserve and native animals were reintroduced.
The name Gondwana refers to the ancient supercontinent that once connected southern Africa to other landmasses, and it gives the reserve a sense of deep time. Visitors today can watch the Big Five moving through fynbos and renosterveld, two plant communities that are found almost nowhere else on Earth.
Most visitors explore the reserve on guided game drives held in the early morning or late afternoon, when animals are most active. Staying overnight in the reserve generally gives better chances of seeing more, since animal behavior shifts a lot depending on the time of day.
The elephants here form Africa's southernmost elephant population, and the first calves born in the southern Cape in 200 years arrived in this reserve. Many of the animals seen today were born within these boundaries and have never known any other landscape.
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