Where to see the Wild Pear in South Africa

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Wild Pear at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, Welgevonden Game Reserve, Ithala Game Reserve and Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve. 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.

The Wild Pear is most recorded in Gauteng (46% of records), Limpopo (20% of records), North West (16% of records), based on 2,766 iNaturalist observations. 14 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Wild Pear on site or nearby.

The Wild Pear 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; Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park: year-round, dry season May-Sep; Welgevonden Game Reserve: May-Sep, dry season; Ithala Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

Dombeya rotundifolia, Dikbas or "South African wild pear" (it is not related to pear trees), is a small deciduous tree with dark grey to blackish deeply fissured bark, found in Southern Africa and northwards to central and eastern tropical Africa. Formerly placed in the Sterculiaceae, that artificial group has now been abandoned by most authors and the plants are part of an enlarged Malvaceae.