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Where to see

Where to see the Great White Pelican in South Africa

Hosts have recorded the Great White Pelican at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Phinda Private Game Reserve and Rocherpan Nature Reserve.

Pelecanus onocrotalus

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Great White Pelican
Photo: (c) Kostas Zontanos, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kostas Zontanos

Planning a trip

When and where to find the Great White Pelican

Hosts have recorded the Great White Pelican at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Phinda Private Game Reserve and Rocherpan Nature Reserve.

Best hours of the day

  • The first hours after sunrise, and late afternoon. Birds call and feed most in the cool.
  • Midday. Quieter, especially in summer heat.

Where to base yourself

  • Limpopo

    Limpopo

    Kruger

    Self-drive
    Stays in Limpopo
    Limpopo
  • KwaZulu-Natal

    KwaZulu-Natal

    Phinda · Hluhluwe-Imfolozi · iSimangaliso Wetland

    Guided drives
    Stays in KwaZulu-Natal
    KwaZulu-Natal
  • Western Cape

    Western Cape

    Rocherpan · De Hoop

    Self-driveMalaria-free
    Stays in Western Cape
    Western Cape

Ways to look

Drive yourself

Your own vehicle and pace, on the park's roads.

Where hosts record it

KrugerRocherpanDe Hoop

Guided drives from a lodge

A guide who knows where to look, with off-road and night drives in the private reserves.

Where hosts record it

Phinda

Species

Pelecanus onocrotalus

Records

1,169

iNaturalist observations

Every booking on Spekboom supports conservation.

Questions travellers ask

A record means a host has seen the Great White Pelican on the property or nearby. It is never a guarantee of a sighting.

Which parks and reserves are best for the Great White Pelican in South Africa?

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Great White Pelican at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Phinda Private Game Reserve, Rocherpan Nature Reserve, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park and iSimangaliso Wetland Park and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

Where can you see the Great White Pelican in South Africa?

The Great White Pelican is most recorded in Western Cape (86% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (11% of records), based on 1,169 iNaturalist observations. 39 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Great White Pelican on site or nearby.

When is the best time to see the Great White Pelican?

The Great White Pelican is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Phinda Private Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep; Rocherpan Nature Reserve: Winter and spring for birds and flowers, Jun-Oct; De Hoop Nature Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

What is the Great White Pelican?

The great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow lakes.

Stays that give back

Where to stay for a chance to see the Great White Pelican

Every stay on the Great White Pelican page lists the species its host has recorded on or near the property. A record is a sighting, never a promise.

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