Meerkats in Africa
The Best five Places to Spot a Meerkat
Meerkats, for the uninitiated, are small, twitchy desert accountants who stand bolt upright as if perpetually awaiting an audit. They live in mobs (also called gangs, clans, or if you’re particularly uncharitable neighbourhood watch committees with fur), usually numbering around twenty individuals. Super-families of fifty or more exist, but these tend to resemble dysfunctional parliaments where everyone has dirt on everyone else.
Despite their size (roughly that of a 30cm ruler with delusions of grandeur), meerkats are deceptively fast32 km/h, if sufficiently motivated by hunger, curiosity, or the sudden appearance of an eagle with murder in its eyes.
Their daily life involves a precise division of labour: a few stand as sentries, scanning the skies for winged assassins, while the rest forage for their highly varied diet of fruit, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, small reptiles, and anything else that doesn’t move fast enough or shout “I’m endangered!”
A particularly endearing fact is that meerkat pups are so terrified of birds that the shadow of an Airbus A380 will send them diving for cover, presumably convinced that the Mother of All Eagles has arrived to exact vengeance.
They inhabit elaborate underground complexes burrows that are cooler than a gin and tonic in the Kalahari and come with enough rooms to make most London renters weep. Families share childcare duties, teaching the young to play, forage, and treat every overhead silhouette as a death warrant.
Top five places to spot a meerkat
And now your Five Best Places to spot these furry melodramatists:
1. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa & Botswana)
Think of it as the Meerkat Vatican, minus the Pope but plus a lot more digging. Here the meerkats live in their natural state suspicious of everything, prone to sudden disappearances, and operating an unspoken code of conduct only they understand. The scenery is dramatic: red dunes, open skies, and enough predatory birds to keep every meerkat cardiologist in work for decades.
2. Tswalu Kalahari Private Game Reserve (South Africa)
If meerkats had an exclusive spa retreat, this would be it. Here, selected mobs have been ‘habituated’ a polite word meaning humans have loitered nearby for so many years that the meerkats have grudgingly accepted us as part of the décor. Sunrise tours let you watch them emerge bleary-eyed from their burrows, stretch, and immediately appoint someone to stand guard (often on the nearest tourist’s head).
3. Central Kalahari Game Reserve (Botswana)
This is meerkat country on an epic scale: endless sand, sky, and the occasional surprise in the form of a lion wondering why you’re bothering with small furry snacks when bigger, juicier options are available. Patience here is essential meerkats don’t keep to appointment times but if you find them, the payoff is seeing entire families bustling like over-caffeinated suburban commuters.
4. Makgadikgadi Pans (Botswana)
A landscape so flat it makes pancakes look topographical. Here you can visit lodges like Camp Kalahari, Jack’s Camp, and San Camp, where meerkat mobs have been gently coaxed into tolerating humans. Tolerating, not befriending there’s still a distinct air of “you may remain in our presence, but no touching.” It’s the closest you’ll get to being accepted into their society without having to dig for your supper.
5. The Little Karoo (South Africa)
The meerkat equivalent of a suburban cul-de-sac, except everyone lives underground and bites beetles for fun. These lodges offer sunrise encounters so intimate you may find yourself serving as a sentry post. (Don’t move. The meerkat will know. The meerkat will judge.) Perfect for photography, provided you’re comfortable with a small mammal’s backside in the frame.
Advice for the Aspiring Meerkat Spotter:
- Be Patient: They are wild animals, not employees at a safari theme park.
- Be Early: Sunrise is prime meerkat hour. After that, they’re busy.
- Be Prepared: Wear something neutral. Turn up in neon lycra and you’ll be mistaken for a predator, a rival, or a new type of cactus.
Whether you find them in the wild or on a habituated tour, the suricata suricatta is worth the effort. They’re not just “mere cats” they’re small desert operatives living lives of perpetual vigilance, comedy, and underground real estate development.
And if one climbs on your head? Accept it. You’ve just been promoted to Assistant Lookout, Class Two.
