Fauna

The variety of habitats at Mattaponi gives rise to a fascinating diversity of wildlife.
The dense bush provides good shelter for a number of smaller mammals including mongooses, dassies, the striped mouse and Chacma baboons. Other mammals include the Cape clawless otter which has been known to make its way up from the coastline to look for frogs, of which there are many, in our pool.
Of the reptiles here frogs are the most plentiful. All of the frogs in the swimming pool, which is never filtered or chlorinated and fed by the mountain stream, are cape river frogs. Without doubt the most interesting frog here is the micro frog, an endangered frog endemic to the Western Cape. These are usually heard but not seen - the male can be very vociferous at breeding time, in fact his inflated vocal sac is the same size as his body! As the name suggests these frogs are indeed tiny - 1 - 1.8cm.
Birdlife is abundant at Mattaponi