Gauteng Nature Reserves

The South African province of Gauteng is thought of as the major economic power in the country. Things that come to mind when thinking of this area are more along the lines of urbanized, well developed, fast paced lifestyles, money flowing freely, large shopping centers, and other typical city thoughts. Gauteng, maybe because of the associations people have placed on it, has put a lot of effort into giving the people who reside and travel in the area places where they can get back to nature and rest their weary bodies. These places of rest and relaxation, set in the beautiful and diverse South African landscape are the various nature reserves and game parks within the Gauteng province. Some of reserves can even be found within the city limits of Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Pretoria Nature Reserves

The Rietvlei Nature Reserve, for example, can be found within the borders of the city of Pretoria and is one of the world’s largest urban nature reserves, 3800 hectares. Within the city of Pretoria you can also find the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary, the Pretoria Botanical Gardens and the National Zoological Gardens, which receives around 600 000 visitors a year.

If you venture outside of Pretoria’s city limit you can head towards the Roodeplaat Dam, originally built to help the nearby landowners with irrigation, but which has now developed into the Roodeplaat Dam Nature Reserve and is home to a whole range of bird, plant and animal life. The Wonderboom Nature Reserve is a little further away, but is also a little bit larger and offers a more back to nature experience than the Roodeplaat Dam, definitely worth a visit. The last nature reserve that is associated with Pretoria is the Tswaing Nature Reserve. This reserve is home to a whole host of wildlife, but is better known for the massive crater that lies at its centre. This 220 000 year old crater was made by the impact of a meteor, between 30m to 50m in diameter.

Johannesburg Nature Reserves

Just like Pretoria, Johannesburg has its own Botanical Garden and Zoo. The Botanical garden is one of the youngest of its kind in South Africa and is a good place to spend an evening listening to one of the local or international musicians that often hold concerts there. Johannesburg is privileged enough to also have a nature reserve within the city limits. Melville Koppies Nature Reserve is not only a beautiful animal sanctuary located just off the centre of South Africa’s busiest city, it is also a World Heritage Site.

All these reserves and sanctuaries are to be found within easy driving distance of the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria; some of them are even within walking distance of the city centers. A little further away than the already mentioned reserves is the Magaliesberg mountain range, which is home to as many, if not more nature reserves than Johannesburg and Pretoria combined.