The Mokolo Dam Nature Reserve or Mokolo Dam Provincial Park is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

bushveld The Bushveld (from af, bosveld, af, bos 'bush' and af, veld) is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. It encompasses most of Limpopo Province and a small part of ...

in the

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It almost surrounds the

Mokolo Dam Mokolo Dam (previously known as the Hans Strijdom Dam) is a rock-fill type dam located on the Mokolo River, near Lephalale, Limpopo, South Africa. It was established in 1980. The Malmanies River and the Bulspruit River, two tributaries of the Moko ...

on the

Mokolo River The Mokolo River is a major watercourse in Limpopo Province of South Africa. This river collects much of the drainage of the Waterberg Massif and discharges it to the Limpopo River. The river's catchment area comprises . Course The Mokolo River a ...

. It is located 32 km south of

Lephalale Lephalale (formerly Ellisras) is a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa immediately east of the Waterberg Coalfield. The town was established as Ellisras in 1960 and named after Patrick Ellis and Piet Erasmus who settled on a ...

, just northeast of the

Marakele National Park Marakele National Park is a National Park, part of the Waterberg Biosphere in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Flora and fauna The park is accessible to all passenger vehicles, with the camp and tent sites on good roads. Also, approximately 80& ...

and not far from the

Lapalala Game Reserve Lapalala Wilderness is a 48,000 hectare Big 5 conservation area situated within the UNESCOWilliam Taylor, Gerald Hinde and David Holt-Biddle, ''The Waterberg'', Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa (2003) declared Waterberg Biosphere and ...

. The reserve is only 46 km and is surrounded by the

Waterberg Biosphere The Waterberg ( nso, Thaba Meetse) is a mountainous massif of approximately in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. The average height of the mountain range is 600 m with a few peaks rising up to 2000 m above sea level. Vaalwater town is lo ...

. There is both sourveld and sweetveld here, and attractions include

water sports Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, and

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

Largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

, and

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

can all be fished there, but one must watch for

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s. Among the birds that can be spotted here are the following: *

Crested barbet The crested barbet (''Trachyphonus vaillantii'') ('trachys'=rough, 'phone'=voice, sound') is a sub-Saharan bird in the Lybiidae family. Its specific name commemorates François Levaillant, a famed French naturalist. Description With its thick b ...

African fish eagle The African fish eagle (''Haliaeetus vocifer'') or the African sea eagle, is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply occur. It is the national bird of Malawi, Na ...

* Brown-hooded kingfisher *

Southern grey-headed sparrow The southern grey-headed sparrow (''Passer diffusus'') is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the grey-headed sparrow. It is found in savanna and woodland in Angola and Zambia southwards ...

Egyptian goose The Egyptian goose (''Alopochen aegyptiaca'') is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley. Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians, and appeared ...

* White-fronted bee eater * Magpie shrike

References

External links

Mokolo Dam Nature Reserve, LimpopoState of Rivers Report: the Mokolo River
Nature reserves in South Africa Limpopo Provincial Parks {{Africa-protected-area-stub

See also

References

External links