Mannyelanong Game Reserve
Enquire NowMannyelanong is a small Game Reserve near Otse, established in 1985 to protect one of Botswana’s last major breeding colonies of the endangered Cape vulture, whose numbers here have fallen from over 500 pairs to fewer than 100. Its quartzite cliffs provide ideal nesting ledges and thermals for the birds, alongside smaller wildlife like steenbok, rock hyrax and birds of prey. With basic viewpoints, a feeding station and interpretive signage but no accommodation, it’s a spot best suited to birdwatchers and quiet walkers rather than big-game visitors.
Old Mannyelanong, also known simply as Mannyelanong Hill, is one of Botswana’s most important sites for wildlife conservation rather than human history. Located in the South-East District near the village of Otse, about 30–40km south of Gaborone, it was set aside in 1985 as a Game Reserve for a single, specific purpose: protecting one of the last breeding colonies of the endangered Cape vulture in Botswana. The name Mannyelanong roughly translates to “place of vulture droppings,” a direct nod to the birds that have nested on its cliffs for generations.
The hill itself is built from tough Precambrian quartzite and metamorphic rock, part of the Transvaal Supergroup, which resisted erosion long after the softer rock around it wore away. The result is a set of steep cliff faces and rocky ledges that create exactly the right conditions for Cape vultures to nest and raise their chicks, along with the thermal updrafts they rely on to soar. Summer temperatures here regularly climb past 35°C, and rainfall is modest at 450–500mm a year, falling mostly between October and April.
Historically, the surrounding land has been home to the Bangwaketse people, who traditionally valued vultures for their role in clearing carcasses from the land. Concern about the colony’s survival grew from the 1980s onward, as numbers fell from over 500 breeding pairs in earlier decades to fewer than 100 today, prompting BirdLife Botswana and others to take up long-term monitoring and protection work. Threats include poisoning, both intentional and accidental, collisions and electrocutions on power lines, disturbance during breeding season, and a shrinking food supply as farming practices change.
Beyond the vultures, Mannyelanong is home to Verreaux’s eagle, lanner falcon and jackal buzzard, as well as steenbok, common duiker, rock hyrax colonies and reptiles such as black mamba and rock monitor. Facilities are basic, limited to a parking area, viewpoints below the breeding cliff, a supplementary “vulture restaurant” feeding station and interpretive signage, with no accommodation on site. The best time to visit is during the May–December breeding season, ideally in the morning when the vultures leave their cliff roosts to ride the day’s first thermals.
It is a place best suited to birdwatchers and those interested in conservation and quiet, scenic walking, rather than big game viewing.