Meerkat National Park

Meerkat National Park is the odd one out in the SANParks list. Declared on 27 March 2020, it covers about 135,245 hectares of Nama Karoo in the Northern Cape, roughly 80 to 90 km north-west of the small town of Carnarvon. It exists to protect the radio-quiet zone around the MeerKAT, HERA and SKA-Mid telescopes, and to put some Nama Karoo, quiver trees included, under formal protection. The land belongs to the National Research Foundation and SANParks manages the conservation side. You cannot visit it on your own.

Getting there

Do not drive out expecting a gate. Public access is limited to a handful of open days a year run by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, and those start in Carnarvon itself, where visitors assemble at the Sassa Hall and are bussed to the site. Carnarvon is a small Karoo town a long drive from any city, so plan fuel and an overnight stop around it.

When to go

Only when an open day is scheduled. SARAO publishes dates on its open-days page with an online booking form and signed indemnity paperwork due five days ahead; capacity is small, 60 to 100 people, so register your interest early. Visits run from about 07:00 to 16:00. The Karoo is bitterly cold on winter mornings and fierce in summer, and the organisers ask for a hat, closed shoes, a packed lunch and at least a litre and a half of water.

What to do

An open day is a guided tour of the telescope site with talks from the engineers and astronomers, exhibits on how a radio array works and a question session; there are children’s activities for ages ten and up. It is a science outing, not a safari. The park’s wildlife (29 mammal species and over 200 bird species, including Karoo endemics) is real but incidental; there is no self-drive network, no hiking trails and no camps. The Northern Cape is, however, building astro-tourism around the dark Karoo skies that made the site suitable in the first place, and a programme to train local astro-guides in Carnarvon is part of that.

Good to know

The single rule that matters: no mobile phones, digital cameras or other electronics on site. They interfere with the telescopes and must be locked in your vehicle in town. Drones and anything else that transmits are prohibited, and the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act of 2007 gives the government wide powers to regulate the area. Alcohol is not allowed on open days. A Carnarvon Science Exploratorium with an SKA visitor centre, planetarium, restaurant and stargazing amphitheatre has been designed for a 4.5 hectare site at the town entrance, with ground-breaking targeted for 2025; once it opens there will be something to see without waiting for an open day.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, SKA Observatory, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (open days), South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, Tourism Update, SA Hikes.