Atherstone Nature Reserve

About Atherstone Nature Reserve

The Waterberg - a unique wilderness area - is regarded as game country and is no stranger to game reserves like Atherstone Nature Reserve. You'll find it on the border with North West and just south of the border with Botswana.

Did you know? In addition to the natural beauty that characterises Waterberg, there is also a deep cultural significance to the region. It has long been occupied by tribes of hunter-gatherers, who have lived off the produce of the land for centuries.

Visitors head to Atherstone Nature Reserve because the 23 500 hectare bushveld reserve is a mere 160 km west of Thabazimbi, making the reserve ideal for long weekends. But the regular sightings of elephant and black rhino that mean 'action' in terms of game spotting do the reserve's popularity no harm either.

Other more regular plains game, like zebra, antelope, buffalo, warthog and giraffe, make the savanna plains and Kalahari grasslands their home. And various birds like the kori bustard, Cape vulture, white-backed vulture, martial eagle, lilac-breasted roller and secretary bird make it popular amongst birders.

There may not be lion but predators are not in short supply: Leopard, cheetah hyena, caracal and black-backed jackal all make slightly less flashy, but no less remarkable appearances.

The reserve is named after its former owner, Norman Edward Atherstone, who owned a portion of the reserve as a cattle farm. His switch to game farming, where he did a lot to re-introduce game into the area, was the initial impetus of the reserve. His will left the farm to the local conservation department, who later incorporated private farms in the vicinity into the reserve to increase its capacity.

The Atherstone Nature Reserve allows self-drive game viewing.