Botswana�s National Monuments and Protected Areas
Correspondent | Friday November 6, 2015 15:01
Otse Manyelanong Educational Game Reserve
The 300-hectare Manyelanong Game Reserve, situated outside Otse village, approximately 50 kilometres south of central Gaborone, was established in June, 1985 to protect the Cape vulture colony living there. One of four educational Game Reserves in Botswana, it is administered by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP).
The Cape Vulture Study Group and the Botswana Bird Club assisted in setting up the reserve. In Setswana, Manyelanong means ‘where vultures make their droppings’. A mere 45-minute drive from Gaborone on the main Lobatse Road brings you face-to-face with four impressive, acacia covered hills rising up from the eastern hardveld. They are comprised of sandstone and grit sedimentary rocks. Otse Hill – the second to be seen from the main road traveling towards the turn off to Otse (on the western side) - is recorded as the highest point in Botswana, at 1,491 metres (4,891 feet). On the eastern side of the main highway, your first view is of Maladiepe Hill, followed by Manyelanong Hill, which lies behind Otse village.
To get to the foothill of the vulture colony, follow the main tar, then dirt road through Otse village. The breeding colony of the Cape griffon vultures is on the rocky hills east of the village. The massive birds nest on a sandstone hill with a sheer and high cliff-face at its southern end. The lower slopes of this hill are well wooded. The reserve is fenced off; and there is no public access within the fenced area. Visitors must sign in at the DWNP office, sign-posted at the Otse turn-off, and entrance is free. Visitors are reminded to refrain from behaving in a way that might disturb the nursery of this globally threatened species. Manyelanong Hill is one of three localities regularly used by Cape griffon vultures in Botswana at present; the other smaller colonies are found at the eastern Tswapong Hills, and at the eastern Moremi Gorge, near the village of Gootau.
The Cape vulture is fully protected under the laws of Botswana; and DWNP monitors the colony on a daily basis. Cape vultures have nested in Manyelanong for hundreds of years; but in the last 40 years or so, their numbers have diminished considerably. In the late 1960s, the population dropped to 50 pairs. It recovered to a total of 70 pairs in 1976. Following the establishment of the reserve and strict conservation measures, the vulture population today has stabilized at around 65 breeding pairs per season.
Lovely bush walks can be had in the areas surrounding the reserve; bring a picnic box for lunch. The vultures can usually be seen flying high in the area and some distance beyond. When in season, young chicks can be seen sitting on the rocks. Lanner falcons and rock kestrels also call Manyelanong their homes; and a pair of black storks, as well as a single pair of black eagles, breeds on the cliffs. The game reserve and the nearby Sakutswane area, along the border with South Africa, holds many other species of birds as well as wildlife, including kudu, mountain reedbuck, klipspringer, duiker, impala, steenbok, baboons, vervet monkey, hyrax, caracal, jackal, genet, porcupines and even leopard. Early morning is best for wildlife viewing.
Nnywane Dam Sanctuary
Situated in the South – East District, about 70 kilometres south of Gaborone on the road to Lobatse, take the right turn to the Water Utilities Nnywane Reservoir and sign in at the gate. The dam was constructed in 1970 and has a Nnywane River catchment area of 238 square kilmoetres.
The Nnywane Dam supplies drinking water to Lobatse. The Sanctuary was also proclaimed in 1970 and occupies 1.65 square kilometres, incorporating a 1.6 square kilometre envelope surrounding the dam. The dam is 2,800 metres long and 170 metres across. The Dam occupies a steeply incised, rocky valley which is home to a wide biodiversity, mammals and birds alike. Typically, more than fifteen species of birds are seen on the Dam, including the not so common black duck. Mammals have to be adapted to climbing the steep, rocky valley sides, and include Klipspringer and Bushbuck amongst others.
Pelotshetlha
One of the plants declared a national monument is the Pelotshetlha Lithops also known as Mesembrathemaceae Aizoaceae found near Pelotshetlha village in the Southern District, about 25 kilometres south-west of Lobatse and 50 kilometres south of Kanye. These smooth succulents textured with ridges and warts are rare to find in Botswana and are so far known to occur only in the hillside location near Pelotshetlha village.
Lithops is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words λίθος (lithos), meaning “stone,” and ὄψ(ops), meaning “face,” referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. The formation of the name from the Greek “-ops” means that even a single plant is called a Lithops.
They are commonly called flowering stones or living stones and are true mimicry plants that their shape, size and colour resembles small stones in their natural surroundings. Pelotshetlha Lithops are species known in Setswana as Tlhakwana or marago a banyana describing their joined Siamese appearance. According to Segadika, Pelotshetlha village is located about 25 kilometres south west of Lobatse and 50 kilometres south of Kanye.
It is a botanists dream since it is the only known occurrence of lithops in Botswana.
The leaves of lithops are mostly buried below the surface of the soil, with a partially or completely translucent top surface known as a leaf window which allows light to enter the interior of the leaves for photosynthesis.
During winter a new leaf pair, or occasionally more than one, grows inside the existing fused leaf pair. In spring the old leaf pair parts to reveal the new leaves and the old leaves will then dry up.
The most startling adaptation of lithops is the colouring of the leaves. The leaves are not green as in almost all higher plants, but various shades of cream, grey, and brown, patterned with darker windowed areas, dots, and red lines. The markings on the top surface disguise the plant in its surroundings.
*Taken from a new book called, Wild About Botswana, to be released at Christmas