Wakkerstroom, Grass & Wetlands

A once sleepy village, Wakkerstroom is set in a peaceful valley surrounded by panoramic views. Nowadays, an ever-growing stream of visitors and holiday makers wanting to get away from city life, are coming to Wakkerstroom to indulge in the many exciting activities on offer. There are a number of restaurants, pubs, shops and salons to pamper your better half, as well as a museum and many historical buildings to cater for the more culturally inclined.

Wakkerstroom offers the birder the best of South Africa’s grassland endemic and other grass-loving bird species. A good cross-section of water birds and a reasonable complement of forest birds are found throughout Wakkerstroom and make for some exhilarating South African bird-viewing.

Within easy range of Wakkerstroom are several seasonal pans that support quite a different water bird community. These pans only fill with water after periods of good rain. There is an explosion of life on these pans when they fill with the first good summer rains and numbers of such species as Whiskered Tern, Great Crested and Black-necked Grebes can be spotted. Also to be seen are the White-backed and Maccoa ducks that come to these pans to breed.

There was a time when Wakkerstroom ranked as one of the least known places in South Africa, tucked away in the hills on a road to nowhere. Things have certainly changed and Wakkerstroom is now a popular tourist destination with plenty to offer the exploring traveler.