Kammanassie Nature Reserve

About Kammanassie Nature Reserve

Lying 10 km north of Uniondale and 20km from De Rust in the Little Karoo between the Swartberg and Outeniqua Mountains, lies an inselberg or monadnock - an isolated hill or small mountain that rises abruptly from the surrounding plain - called Kammanassie Mountain.

Did you know? Kammanassie Nature Reserve is a sanctuary for a small herd of endangered Cape mountain zebra, said to be descendants of the original herd that made this mountain their home.

The entire mountain catchment area, and a large portion of state land, make up almost 50 000 hectares of nature reserve, known as the Kammanassie Nature Reserve, and structurally, the range forms a long, oval shaped and asymmetrical dome.

Kammanassie is assumed to derive from the Khoisan word meaning ‘mountain of water’, and it is true that the reserve receives rain almost throughout the year, with slightly drier periods between November and February.

Kammanassie Nature Reserve is a sanctuary for a small herd of endangered Cape mountain zebra, said to be descendants of the original herd that made this mountain their home.

Streams and rivers flow in deep narrow kloofs, and the flora includes fynbos, waboomveld, arid fynbos, kloof shrubland and afro-montain forest. No fewer than 66 bird species make the reserve their home, including sugarbirds, and raptors like the black eagle.

Kammanassie Nature Reserve has two day hikes that are regarded as well worth the effort, despite the fact that there are no overnight facilities in the reserve. On the hikes it is not uncommon to catch sightings of klipspringer, duiker, grey rhebok, kudu and the odd baboon.

The Kammanassie reserve has a special abundance of butterflies, including the Kammanassie blue, which belongs to the same genus as the Karkloof blue and Brenton blue, both endangered.