Makulu Birders Cottage is the original farmhouse of Wilds Uitvlugt, a 500 hectare family game farm in the Bushveld at Rust de Winter, about an hour's drive north of Pretoria. When the old folk moved on, the farmhouse was turned into accommodation specifically for people with an interest in birding and nature. The self-catering house sleeps 10, with a beautiful lapa for evenings around the fire and a lovely long porch from which the garden's birds can be spotted at leisure. The lush garden holds some 70 indigenous trees, most of them established especially for the birds.

The farm sits on the doorstep of the Dinokeng nature reserve and the Rust de Winter Dam, both prime birding spots, and keeps its own downloadable lists for birds (over 330 species recorded), trees, grasses, butterflies, snakes and mammals. In the garden expect flycatchers, sunbirds, shrikes and woodpeckers, with nightjars and owls calling at night. Specials for the area include Grey-headed Kingfisher, Greater Painted-snipe, African Finfoot, Fairy Flycatcher, Bushveld Pipit, Flappet Lark, Great Spotted Cuckoo and Half-collared Kingfisher, and across the road a smaller gem on the Elands River is a reliable spot for the elusive finfoot.

You have the whole farm to walk or drive, with organised game drives on request. Kudu occur naturally, and the farm carries impala, waterbuck, red hartebeest, blue wildebeest, zebra, nyala and sable. Whether you come for the dawn chorus, the night sounds or simply the quiet of the Bushveld, this corner of the earth smiles on its guests.