Surrounding Towns

The Wakkerstroom of those days was a wild place.  Not only did the nightly roars of lions compete with the calls of the frogs in the wetland, but there were many pretty lawless human inhabitants as well. The first Police Officer, Richard Donague, was only appointed in 1864 and there was quite a contingent of people who managed to avoid settling in Australia by getting out of their leg irons and jumping ship in Durban.  These folk settled in Wakkerstrom outside the jurisdiction of the Natal Colonial Police and would retreat into the Colony whenever the ZAR Police decided to look for them.

Wakkerstroom, a sleepy little village nestled among the hills and wetlands of the Mpumalanga/KwaZulu-Natal border country has capitalised on this abundance of endemic bird life.  From being an archetype no-hoper South African country “dorp” on a slippery downhill economic slope the town has a fast growing if embryo tourism industry based entirely on it being in the centre of one of the few remaining relatively pristine grassland areas of the country.  It is fast become a household name among international birders.  The town has a host of accommodation establishments ranging from the relatively luxurious country hotel and lodge type accommodation through B&B and self-catering to caravan and camp sites.