When I booked my first trip to Africa in 2017 I had an “animal bucket-list” and after 2 months overlanding, numerous safaris across 10 countries I was fortunate enough to tick off most animals on that list!
One animal that I was not lucky enough to see was the elusive Meerkat. I quickly learnt on my trip exactly why they are one of the shy five. For those of you that don’t know the shy five animals of Africa are Aardvark, Aardwolf, Bat-eared Fox, Meerkat and Porcupine. The reason they are called the shy five is pretty self-explanatory… shy and notoriously hard to see in the wild.
Now as someone who has always wanted to see a meerkat in their natural habitat that just wasn’t good enough.
Fast forward a few years later, in Jan 2020 I flew into Cape Town with no real plans except…
- maybe I’ll work my way up the coast to Johannesberg
- maybe I’ll hang out in Cape Town
- maybe I’ll 4WD into Namibia
So yeah… no plans.
BUT I did still have in the back of my mind that I would love to see meerkats in the wild, that sent me down a rabbit-hole of finding the best, easiest and most affordable way to see meerkats in the wild!
Best places to see Meerkats in the wild.
1. Kalahari Desert, Botswana
If you look up best place to see Meerkats in the wild, straight away the Kalahari Desert in Botswana will come up. After finding this out I went into research mode and was starting to feel a bit deflated. Could I see meerkats in the Kalahari? Yes. Was it going to cost me a bucketload of money? Also, yes. Between flights and accommodation it was already looking like it would be in the thousands. I could not justify that amount of money when I was still travelling on a budget (although in hindsight if I knew what was coming with the pandemic I would’ve said stuff it and booked the trip).
I decided to shelve the idea for the time-being and reassess.
2. Oudtshoorn, South Africa
About a week later my friend Sarah I’d just been travelling with in India told me she was booking a flight to South Africa to do a bit more travel with me (yay). I started making a plan for what we would do, the short version was “hire a car and drive up the coast, see animals, beautiful scenery, do some hikes, drink wine”. I was Googling cities all up the coast and making notes of things we could do. When I got to Oudtshoorn imagine the shock I felt when I saw one of the top experiences in Oudtshoorn on Tripadvisor was a Meerkat tour.
Hold. The. Phone. And I know what you’re thinking “how did you not find this when you were searching for where to see meerkats in the wild?!”. BECAUSE if you look up ‘where to find meerkats in Africa’ you are NOT going to see Oudtshoorn unless you go deep into the pages, the first few pages of search results are fully dominated by links to tours and lodges in Botswana. I mean you gotta hand it to them – their SEO is on point.
So with this exciting bit of new information, Oudtshoorn was on the list for our South Africa road trip! Meerkats here we come!
How to see meerkats in Oudtshoorn
The only way you can see meerkats in Oudtshoorn is to book a tour through Five Shy Meerkats.
Meerkat Tour Details
- The tour is self-drive, the day before you will be sent GPS co-ordinates and instructions on where to meet your guide. The reason for this is the evening before one of the rangers will check where the meerkats have settled for the night and then advise you of the closest meeting point.
- Meeting time is at sunrise, they will confirm the exact time with you the day before. We were advised to arrive at 5:15am.
- Included in the tour is a cup of rooibois and rusk biscuits at the meeting point. I saw people complaining on Tripadvisor that their drink was ‘luke warm’. I’m sorry but I didn’t book my meerkat experience for the tea, I couldn’t care less what the tea and biscuits were like – I’m here for the meerkats!
Is the Meerkat tour ethical?
Yes – and that was my main criteria for booking the tour.
I love seeing animals as much as the next person, I don’t love seeing animals in unethical situations. For that reason every tour/safari/experience I book I do a bit of background research to ensure that I am not financially contributing to unethical animal experiences.
Best Time of Year to See Meerkats
Fortunately you can see this meerkat colony at all times of the year. They emerge from their burrow early morning at sunrise so that means in summer you may need to set your alarm clock earlier and in the winter months they will rise a bit later in the day. They also don’t love rain so if it’s raining your tour will probably be cancelled.
How much does it cost to see meerkats in the wild?
660ZAR! (approx $60AUD at the time).
Once you add in transport and accommodation lets round that up to a very generous $500. A far cry from the thousands I was looking at for seeing meerkats in the Kalahari in Botswana!
Pro tip: If you stay at De Zeekoe Guesthouse you can get 100ZAR of the cost of the tour.
The Meerkat Experience
Ok now the good stuff! What was it like seeing meerkats in the wild?!
Without a doubt, one of the best travel experiences I’ve had!!
After our group gathered at the meeting point and had our rooibois tea (which may or may not have been good), we drove in a procession to where the meerkats had bedded down for the night.
Piling out of our cars we were each given our own chair and advised to walk single file and keep quiet as we approached the meerkats den.
We got to where the meerkats were and lined our chairs up in a row facing mounds in the dirt and waited for the sun to rise.
I can not even explain the excitement I felt when the first meerkat head popped up. Oh my god! I was internally squealing with excitement and jumping up and down, I gave Sarah my most meaningful look in the eyes that said HOLY SH*T BEST DAY EVER!
For the next hour we watched the meerkats waking up, they slowly came out of their den. The sentry was always on alert, keeping an eye out for predators. But it was mostly the meerkats crawling out of the den, sunning themselves, warming up, yawning and stretching.
The hour went way too quickly and once the gorgeous little creatures had warmed up they scuttled off into the distance for a day of hunting, snoozing and who knows what!
Walking back to the car I was practically skipping with excitement!
How to get to Oudtshoorn
Car/Rental
By far the easiest way would be to drive your own car or to hire a car. While I was in South Africa I hired a car a few times and always with Hertz. At the time Hertz was the best option with cars as low as $35AUD/22USD a day. Driving in South Africa is super easy, especially in the Western Cape area.
Oudtshoorn is located about an hour drive inland from George or a 4-5 hour drive direct from Cape Town. As we did this as part of our road trip we drove 3 hours from Aquila Private Game Reserve where we’d spent the night before.
BazBus
BazBuz is a hop-on hop-off bus service for tourists and backpackers that runs between 40 different towns and cities between Cape Town and Johannesburg. They offer two different types of tickets, one for unlimited stops for a set amount of days (8, 14 or 21 days) the other one allows you to travel in one direction only but you have 12 months to use it. Tickets start from $199.
It’s worth adding that they don’t go directly to Oudtshoorn but you can get a free shuttle from their recommended accommodation in George.
Public Bus
As of Dec 22, Intercape had daily buses running from Cape Town to Oudtshoorn via Bloemfontein. Departing 11am and arriving the following day at 7:30am (20.5hrs). Prices start from 1500ZAR (approx $130AUD).
Flight
The nearest airport to Oudtshoorn is in George (1 hour away).
Airlink is the only airline with direct flights from Cape Town. Prices start from 2500ZAR one-way (approx 230AUD)
Would I go again?
100% as I mentioned earlier. One of THE best wild animal encounters I’ve had!
To be honest that day I was on a high, and here I am almost 3 years later still getting excited just thinking about it. If this isn’t on your bucket list, put it on there asap!
Fun Facts about Meerkats
- Meerkats are exceptionally social animals, often seen in meerkat colonies, which are actually family groups.
- Meerkats are well adapted to living in harsh conditions, thriving in the arid landscapes of Southern Africa, including the vast plains of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans and the semi-desert regions of the Little Karoo.
- Their ability to stand on their hind legs offers them a great vantage point to spot potential danger, from birds of prey to the rare pangolin.
- They are part of the mongoose family.
