Marloth Nature Reserve
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Marloth Nature Reserve
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 View over Swellendam in the Marloth Nature Reserve |
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| location | South Africa |
| surface | 141 km² |
| Geographical location | 33 ° 57 ' S , 20 ° 26' E |
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| Setup date | 1928 |
| administration | CapeNature |
The nature reserve Marloth Nature Reserve is located in the Overberg District , Western Cape Province in South Africa , 230 km east of Cape Town and 220 km west of George above the town of Swellendam at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains . It spreads between the towns of Swellendam, Ashton , Barrydale and Suurbraak . The entrance and visitor center are above Swellendam in the Swellendam State Forest . The rains are fairly regular throughout the year, with June / July being the driest months and October / November being the rainiest months. For multi-day hikes on the Swellendam Hiking Trail with an overnight stay in the protected area, you should reserve in advance; this is not necessary for a day visit.
The reserve was established in 1928, is 14,123 hectares and is operated by CapeNature Conservation Agency. In the meantime, an additional 16,532 hectares of privately owned adjacent area are also managed.
The vegetation consists mainly of mountain fynbos with isolated patches of aero-montane forest. The fynbos contains different types of Protea and over 25 types of Erica , typical representatives of the trees are broad-leaved stone yew ( Podocarpus latifolius ), stinkwood ( Ocotea bullata ), Cape beech ( Rapanea melanophloeos ), wild olive ( Olea europaea subsp. Africana ) , Assegaaibos ( Curtisia dentata ), cherrywood ( Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus ) and hardpear ( Olinia ventosa ).
A number of smaller mammals can be seen such as deer antelope , klipspringer , crown duiker , baboon , caracal , mongoose , porcupine and hyrax . Birdlife is described so far with 114 species such as fish eagle , Black Eagle , Woodford owl , Rotflügelfrankolin , tambourine dove, four types of woodpeckers, Cape Vulture and Narina trogon . Puff adder , cape cobra and mountain viper are the most popular snakes.
Marloth Nature Reserve is named after the botanist Rudolf Marloth (1855–1931), who, together with a delegation of Swellendammer citizens, wrote a petition to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 1928 for part of the mountains (190 ha) as a nature reserve to be shown.
The following hikes can be undertaken in the protected area:
- Marloth Flower Route, length 5.5 km,
- Koloniesbos, length 6 km
- Duiwelsbos. Length 5 km
- The Plaat, length 8.5 km
- Tienuurkop Trail, length 11.5 km
- Twaalfuurkop, length 8.5 km
- Swellendam Hiking Trail, multi-day hike 80 km
Web links and sources
- ↑ CapeNature page ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ 6 day tour (English)
