Afternoon at Moreletta Kloof nature reserve
May 2014
Background
Another 'champagne' activity on a 'coke' budget, is to visit one of the many Municipal nature reserves all over Pretoria. Moreletta Kloof Nature reserve is one of these reserves. How many cities can boast a nature reserve? Pretoria actually has several.
Entrance is free and there are zebras, ostriches, game, etc roaming around.
Rademeyer's is a quaint old farmhouse converted into a restaurant, with outside gazebo's overlooking the valley, which gives you that colonial "Out of Africa' feeling. I wish I had a farm in Africa.......
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| The Moreletta kloof Nature reserve |
About Pretoria
Pretoria (Tshwane), in Gauteng Province, is the administrative capital of South Africa. Known as "Jacaranda City" for its thousands of Jacaranda trees, it's also home to universities and government buildings (Wikipedia).
About Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve & Rademeyers Restaurant
The Reserve occupies the rolling foothills of the Moreleta Kloof and covers a total area of about 100 hectares. It is under the management and protection of the Tshwane Metro Council’s Department of Nature Conservation.
Jacobus and Cornelia Erasmus owned a dairy farm here in the early 1800’s. Carel Erasmus bought the farm in 1877 and built a three-roomed house which today is the chapel. In 1903 his son-in-law Johan Marneweck built his house on the land which now has been converted into the Rademeyers restaurant.
The nature reserve boasts a number of residents that have made it their natural habitat, namely impala, blesbuck, springbuck, ostrich, and zebra. There are also a number of bird species and ostriches.
The Moreleta Spruit has a tributary that winds its way through the reserve and provides a welcome watering hole for many of the birds and other wildlife, as well as water for the surrounding greenery.
There are a number of walking trails through the Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve. These are of different lengths and intensities to suit a range of walking requirements.
