Our long weekend at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park has come to an end, but please “stay tuned” in the weeks to come as we’ll share some of our latest experiences from this spectacular world heritage site.
Apart for Cape Vidal and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, we can’t think of any other place in South Africa (or the world) where you can end a day of fun at the beach with a fantastic sighting of a leopard walking mere centimeters away from your car window. And that’s exactly how our day played out!
Grey-headed gull taking flight at Cape Vidal’s beach
Leopard sighting on the Grassland Loop – 15th June 2015
Today we joined a tour of Lake Saint Lucia aboard the Santa Lucia cruiser, and this low level flypast by an African Fish Eagle was just one of the highlights!
We were the first car into the iSimangaliso Wetland Park through Bhangazi Gate this morning, before sunrise. And this leopard sighting was just one of the day’s highlights!
We’re spending three nights at picturesque Cape Vidal, and can’t wait to experience all that iSimangaliso has in stall for us tomorrow…
Time away from work and school.
Time to allow the warm glow of an African sunset to rejuvenate body and mind.
We’re spending a long weekend in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park!
“Off-Season” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge
The Waterbuck is the largest member of the family Reduncinae, which also includes the Southern Reedbuck, Mountain Reedbuck, Grey Rhebok and several other species occurring elsewhere in Africa.
The race occurring in South Africa, the Common Waterbuck (K.e.ellipsiprymnus) is characterised by a white circle around their tails, distinguishing them from the Defassa Waterbuck (K.e.defassa) which has a solid white patch on their posteriors. These shaggy antelope weigh up to 270kg and adult bulls are up to 1.7m high at the shoulder. The gracefully curved horns of the bulls can reach a meter in length.
As their name suggests, the waterbuck is seldom found far from a permanent water source, requiring to drink around 9 liters of water daily. Waterbuck inhabit open savannah, grasslands, floodplains, marshes and reedbeds, where they feed predominantly on long grass. They occur in mixed herds with up to sixty members, though normally much smaller. Most calves are born in the rainy season, and remain hidden for up to four weeks before joining their maternal herds. When pursued by predators, waterbuck will often take refuge in deep water, being good swimmers. They’re a favourite prey of lions, though calves fall victim to all of Africa’s large predators, and have a life expectancy up to 18 years.
The waterbuck is one of South Africa’s most common and well-known antelope, occurring naturally in most of the Northern and Eastern provinces and introduced widely outside its natural range on private land. The biggest population occurs in the Kruger National Park, with sizeable herds also at Ithala Game Reserve, Pilanesberg National Park and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, among the many private and public protected areas in which they can be found. It is also widespread in the rest of Africa, with the IUCN estimating a total population of around 200,000 for the continent.
The Cape Glossy Starling, as brightly coloured as they come…
“Vivid” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge.
It is hard to imagine a more peaceful mountain retreat than Kgaswane, especially so close to the maddening cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Kgaswane sunrise, taken by Joubert!
Located in the western Magaliesberg mountain range, the Kgaswane Mountain Reserve forms an integral part of the Magaliesberg Protected Environment, an inspiring collaboration between private and state land owners and agencies to protect this beautiful ecosystem from exploitation. Proclaimed in 1967 as the Rustenburg Nature Reserve, incorporating the farm Rietvallei that once belonged to Paul Kruger (legendary president of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek), Kgaswane today covers an area of 5,300 hectares and is managed by the North West Parks and Tourism Board.
The reserve is a popular hiking destination, with two overnight hikes; the Summit Route of 25km and the Baviaanskrans Route of 20km, each trail with two overnight hutted camps accommodating twelve hikers at a time. For day visitors, the 5km Peglerae Trail and 2km Vlei Ramble (which incorporates a bird-viewing hut overlooking the marshlands below the main visitor centre) is an excellent introduction to Kgaswane’s varied topography and habitats, with wonderfully shaded picnic sites available at the visitor centre. While the road network may be limited, it is tarred and in good condition, allowing for easy game and bird-viewing from vehicles and mountain bikes. There’s three spectacular viewing points along the way into the mountains from the entrance gate. Joubert and I spent a night on one of the twenty-two spacious camping sites and found the ablution facilities well maintained and entirely adequate (just remember to bring your own bath and sink plugs). There are no powerpoints at the camping sites but each site has a braai (barbeque) stand and picnic table and there’s a communal freezer available in the scullery. Best of all, there’s little to no cellphone reception in the camping area so no telemarketers can interfere with your rest and relaxation! Accommodation is also available in a self-catering cottage and two rondavels that sleep a combined 14 people and a group camp that can house up to 50 people in dormitory-style.
The Magaliesberg dominates the scenery at Kgaswane with rocky ridges, stacked boulders and deep ravines. The vlei (marsh) on the plateau is the largest in the Magaliesberg, and an important catchment area.
The reserve hosts good, though skittish, populations of a variety of game animals; we encountered black-backed jackal, baboon, warthog, eland, red hartebeest, plains zebra, oribi, reedbuck, blesbok, impala, kudu and waterbuck. The reserve’s birdlife is even more diverse, with 320 species recorded, including a breeding colony of endangered Cape vultures. Kgaswane’s most prized residents are the herds of the magnificent and rare sable antelope. It was here in the Magaliesberg that these regal animals first came to the attention of the scientific community, thanks to explorer Major Sir William Cornwallis Harris, in the 1830’s. But unlike Harris, we were not lucky enough to find the sable on our first visit to Kgaswane. And that’s just one of the excuses we’ll use to visit again, soon…
Kgaswane Mountain Reserve lies on the outskirts of the city of Rustenburg, in the North West Province, an easy 3km from the R24 offramp on the N4 highway and 134km from our home in Pretoria.
Pretoria to Kgaswane
(map drawn with Google Maps)
The Grey Rhebok is an antelope almost endemic to South Africa, with only two small populations outside our borders, in Lesotho and Swaziland.
Often confused with the mountain reedbuck, with which it shares its mountainous habitat, the grey rhebok differs in having a duller coat and overall more slender appearance. The horns of the rams are straight, not curved as in those of the mountain reedbuck. Grey rhebok stand up to 80cm high at the shoulder and weigh on average around 20kg.
Grey rhebok are mixed feeders, taking both grass and browse depending on the season. Unlike mountain reedbuck they are not dependant on drinking water. Rams are territorial and surprisingly aggressive, being known to have killed rival males and even sheep, goats, mountain reedbuck and dogs traversing their areas. Small herds consisting of females and their young often remain within the territory of the same ram for considerable periods of time. Most lambs are born in the wet, warm, summer months. Grey rhebok are extremely fleet-footed and agile and yet they do fall prey to predators ranging from eagles and jackals to leopards. Their life expectancy is only 8 to 10 years.
The IUCN considers the grey rhebok to be safe, with a population of between 10,000 and 18,000 in Southern Africa, with up to 3,000 occurring in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park alone. We’ve also seen them at Karoo and Mountain Zebra National Parks, but we’ve had our best sightings at Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
Joubert and I have just finished unpacking the car, after returning from a weekend camping at Kgaswane Mountain Reserve, at Rustenburg in the North West Province. Set high in the Magaliesberg range, the reserve abounds in magnificent scenery and interesting formations like this stack of boulders that looks almost like a toppled fortress. Of course, we’ll tell you all about Kgaswane in an upcoming blogpost.
“Broken” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge.
DeWetsWild 