Conscious Safari Activities
The focus at Roam is to restore, ‘rewild’ and conserve the delicate biome of the area and to rehabilitate a variety of wildlife that once thrived in the Great Karoo’s arid conditions. There are a number of conservation activities on the reserve, and various projects that guests are welcome to get involved in.
Track Wild Cheetah
The cheetah were relocated to the arid Great Karoo region as part of a conservation project that ultimately seeks to increase the population numbers of cheetah in the wild, and the Karoo forms part of the cheetah’s historic range. Roam is the first place to have free-roaming cheetah in the region for over 150 years. The cheetah at Roam are fitted with GPS collars and are monitored using a combination of telemetry, and traditional track and sign methods developed by the Khoi and San bushmen, the original inhabitants of the area. The cheetah roam free in the wild, which means you will spend time tracking the cats with qualified guides before getting within close proximity to these wild animals.
Bird Ringing
Bird ringing, or bird banding as it is known elsewhere, is the process where birds are captured in mist nets, fitted with an identification ring and released. The species, sex, age, weight and measurements of the bird are all recorded and sent to a central database (in South Africa SAFRing manages this database). Guests will learn about how to tag birds and the process behind bird-ringing.
Meerkat Mornings
Although meerkats have been studied in great depth in the kalahari and northern parts of South Africa, there have been few studies done on their behaviour in the semi-desert region of the Great Karoo which covers two-thirds of our beautiful country. Roam aims to change this and we have begun a meerkat monitoring program to bring much needed research to how these special creatures survive and interact in this vast biome.
General Activities
In conjunction with the conscious safari activities, there are plenty of
other activities synonymous with your typical safari experience, which include:
• Guided game drives in open game viewer
• Guided wilderness walks
• Spectacular sunsets and sundowners
• Star gazing
• Delicious country style cuisine
• Bush delights
