Tag Archives: picnic spots

Autumn Mountain Moments (part 2)

We made it safely back to Pretoria and I think before anyone noticed we were missing. We enjoyed a glorious morning in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, bringing to a close a wonderful, if whistle-stop, visit to one of our favourite destinations.

Blesbok at sunrise

Skittish blesbok

Springbok at sunrise

Blesbok herd on the run at sunrise (photo by Joubert)

Big herd of blesbok at Golden Gate

Blesbok in the golden light of a Golden Gate sunrise

Plains Zebra on a hill at Golden Gate

Springbok in the Golden Gate landscape (photo by Joubert)

Springbok in the golden light of a Golden Gate sunrise

Sunrise scenery at Golden Gate

Joubert captued this spider sunning on a rock in the early morning

Sunrise scenery at Golden Gate

Bewildered Black Wildebeest (photo by Joubert)

Common Meadow White

Black Wildebeest dwarfed by the majestic landscape

Plains Zebra

Cisticola

Beautiful bloom

Golden Gate scenery

Herd of Black Wildebeest dwarfed by the majestic landscape

Plains Zebras and Red Hartbeest mixing on the slopes

Golden Gate scenery

Red-throated Wryneck

Red-throated Wryneck (photo by Joubert)

Autumn Mountain Moments (part 1)

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Pssst…

We sneaked out of Pretoria at five this morning and headed for a quick weekend breakaway at the beautiful Golden Gate Highlands National Park.

Gladstone Dam

Jackal Buzzard

Common Sandman

Geranium Bronze butterfly

Eland hiding in the shade of an overhang

White-necked Raven

Dolerite Dyke

Jackal Buzzards

Cape Wagtails

Golden Gate scenery

View from our cottage

Pied Starling and chick

Inquisitive Cape Weaver

Pied Starling chick (photo by Joubert)

Crystal clear water of the Little Caledon

Crested Barbet

Red River Lilies

Golden Gate scenery

Crystal clear water of the Little Caledon

Brandwag Buttress

Little Caledon River

Eland

Plains Zebra

Shy Black-backed Jackal

African Monarch

Mushroom Rocks

Golden Gate sunset

Black-backed Jackal

Summertide Diary: Exploring iSimangaliso (part three)

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19 January 2021

The Grassland Loop is the first turnoff from the main tarred road you reach after leaving Cape Vidal. And because we just love taking the backroads while exploring South Africa’s wild places that is invariably the route we opt for – it criss-crosses a variety of habitats (from forest to grassland to swamp) and skirts the shores of Lake Bhangazi, which always has something interesting to see.

Hippo walking back to Lake Bhangazi

African Green Pigeon

Buffalo bull (photo by Joubert)

Buffalo bull

Long-crested Eagle

This morning we were particularly lucky with what we found on the Grassland Loop – a pack of four Spotted Hyenas who showed just a mild interest in a few Plains Zebras and Blue Wildebeest grazing nearby.

Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyena (photo by Joubert)

Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyena (photo by Joubert)

The Grassland Loop completed and now heading to our breakfast spot, an extended family of Crested Guineafowl crossed our path – not something we get to see often and very excited at the pictures we got of them.

Crested Guineafowl family

Crested Guineafowl chicks

Joubert’s picture of a baby Crested Guineafowl taking off quite strongly!

Crested Guineafowl

Crested Guineafowl family

Passing through a forested patch we were entertained by a troop of Vervet Monkeys and, while watching them, a few other denizens of the forest also came into view.

Trumpeter Hornbill

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Grooming Vervet Monkeys

Alarmed Vervet Monkey

Vervet Monkey

Eastern Coastal Skink

Unidentified bloom

We needed to stock up on our fresh food and drinking water supply today, so headed south to Bhangazi Gate and the holiday town of Saint Lucia.

Kudu

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Blue Pansy

Tassel-berry

Rufous-naped Lark and Black-collared Barbet

Impala ewe

Right at the Bhangazi Gate the Crocodile Centre is always a worthwhile place to stop and learn more about the Nile Crocodile – a key component of the ecosystem of Lake St. Lucia. The centre houses some really impressive specimens, many of them rescued from poachers’ traps or after becoming problematic in nearby communities, and their progeny are then released back into the wild. Furthermore there are two other species of crocodiles from equatorial Africa and American alligators on show, and a myriad of other animals and birds have also made themselves at home at the centre.

Little Warthogs

Little Warthog

Immature Elegant Grasshopper

Nile Crocodile

Nile Crocodile (photo by Joubert)

Nile Crocodile

White-eared Barbet

Red-capped Robin Chat

Dwarf Crocodile (photo by Joubert)

Nile Crocodile (photo by Joubert)

Dwarf Crocodile

Slender-snouted Crocodile

Alligator

Nile Crocodile

Black-bellied Starling

Yellow Weaver

After a relaxed hour or so at the Crocodile Centre we tackled the 4km round trip hike from the parking area at Sugarloaf to the mouth of Lake St. Lucia. While the distance isn’t daunting at all the heat and humidity and trudging through the hot, deep sand proved more of a challenge than we anticipated, and the sight of a huge Nile Crocodile basking on a sandbank was all the convincing we needed not to dare cool our feet in the water. In the end the beautiful scenes we enjoyed more than made up for the heat-stroke risk though.

Tailor Ant nest

Osprey in flight

White-fronted Plover

St. Lucia mouth

The mouth of Lake St. Lucia, with the Umfolozi River coming in from the front and the lake from the right, with the ocean to the left of the image

Common Whimbrel

Little Terns congregating on a sandbank

Little Terns in flight

Fish Eagle in flight

Nile Crocodile at the mouth of Lake St. Lucia

Interesting plantlife on the beach at St. Lucia

Cocktail Ant nest

Our shopping completed we headed back to Cape Vidal. In the midday heat there wasn’t much to be seen along the way. Only mad dogs and Englishmen… and the de Wets… venture out in the midday sun. An outing to the beach was on the cards for the afternoon. Yellow-billed Kites flying overhead regularly swooped down to catch an unwary crab, but they knew better than to trifle with the bluebottles drifting in the waves.

Yellow-billed Kite

Ghost Crabs on the beach at Cape Vidal

Bluebottle – note the stinging tentacle lying to the right

Yellow-billed Kite

Walking back to our cabin there was an enormous commotion in the tree-tops owing to screeching Vervet Monkeys and alarm-calling Hadedas. Looking up, we’re just in time to see a Crowned Eagle flying off with a large prize in its talons and an empty hadeda nest… We then noticed another Crowned Eagle surveying the area from high in a Cassuarina-tree and watched it until it flew off in the direction of the cabins. More about them tomorrow…

Crowned Eagle

Crowned Eagle in flight

Map of the eastern shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (from https://isimangaliso.com/)

Summertide Diary: Exploring iSimangaliso (part one)

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17 January 2021

It’s a cloudy start to the day at Cape Vidal and the route for our morning drive takes us along the Grassland Loop and then to the viewpoint at Catalina Bay on the shores of Lake St. Lucia. Recent rains have swelled the lake to proportions I don’t think we’ve seen on any of our numerous previous visits to the area.

Little Bee-eater

Youngish Waterbuck bull

Cheeky Kudu calf

Catalina Bay, Lake St. Lucia

Adult Antlion

We’re slowly making our way to the picnic site at Mission Rocks for breakfast.

Waterbuck with oddly shaped horns

Fan-tailed Widowbird

Dominant male Vervet Monkey

On arrival at Mission Rocks we delay our breakfast of coffee-and-rusks just a little to first walk down to the rocky beach and look out over the ocean. But its windy and drizzly so we don’t stay at the seaside too long before going to hide in the forest, where the picnic tables are also frequented by some colourful birds with the same aching for something to eat that we had.

Spotted Hyena track at Mission Rocks

Mission Rocks

Common Whimbrel

Large crab of unknown species at Mission Rocks

Natal Rock Crab

Red-capped Robin Chat

African Pygmy Kingfisher

Driving further south the sun finally puts in appearance and the bush becomes alive as birds and animals come out of hiding.

Barn Swallows

Rattling Cisticola

Warthog

Vervet Monkey

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

We turn for camp at Amazibu Pan, where the hippos are kept from their sleep by a raucous assortment of birdlife.

Fan-tailed Widowbird

Spur-winged Goose (photo by Joubert)

Spur-winged Goose

White-faced Whistling Duck

Hippos lazing at Amazibu Pan

Heading back to Cape Vidal there’s three short loop roads that offer an alternative to the busier tarred main road, and each of them offers a glimpse into a different ecosystem. The first of these is the Vlei Loop that passes several open pans where animals congregate to drink.

Dung Beetle with his bounty

Herd of buffaloes

Steppe Buzzard

Water Thick-knee (photo by Joubert)

The Forest Loop passes the kuMfazana Hide, where we discover a butterfly paradise – more about that tomorrow!

Eastern Coastal Skink

Novice butterfly

Common Tigertail dragonfly

Unidentified moth species

A turnoff from the Dune Loop leads to the Kwasheleni Tower – a new facility opened after our previous visit to iSimangaliso that we were very curious to see – but a sour old buffalo bull tried his best to keep us from reaching it.

Wild Date Palms

Water Monitor lizard

Buffalo road block

Our patience paid off when the buffalo eventually relented and we could reach the viewing tower without further hindrance (unless you see the climbing up the dune and then the tower as an obstacle). The views afforded over Lake St. Lucia and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park from up the top of the tower was amazing.

Kwasheleni Tower

Kwasheleni Tower and view

The view southwards from the Kwasheleni Tower

Arriving back at Cape Vidal around the same time the clouds did, we nevertheless didn’t want to pass on the opportunity to explore the rock pools at low tide.

Cape Vidal beach

Rock pools at Cape Vidal

Intertidal rock pools at Cape Vidal

Little fish in an intertidal rock pool at Cape Vidal

Having lunch on the deck of our log cabin we were visited by a variety of the local wildlife.

Greying old bushbuck ewe

Black-bellied Starling

African Monarch

We didn’t take a very long afternoon drive, just a two-hour excursion along the Grassland and Dune Loops and back to camp.

Shy European Honey Buzzard

European Roller

Warthog

Two of the “Big Five” in the same frame

Brown Snake Eagle (photo by Joubert)

Fan-tailed Widowbird

African Pygmy Kingfisher

Wasp of the genus Stizus

Map of the eastern shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (from https://isimangaliso.com/)

Ghost Crabs

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Subfamily Ocypodinae

The beach at Cape Vidal is alive with Ghost Crabs, a good indication as to the health of the intertidal ecosystem thanks to minimal human impact on this stretch of coast.

Ghost Crabs on the beach at Cape Vidal

Ghost Crabs at Cape Vidal

Ghost Crabs

Ghost Crabs are omnivorous scavengers, living on any carrion, debris, and even small living creatures up to the size of turtle hatchlings that gets washed onto the beach.

Ghost Crab with a piece of seaweed

Being semi-terrestrial and living in burrows they dig for themselves in moist sand, Ghost Crabs can breathe oxygen from the air through their gills, provided they can keep them wet which requires the crabs to scuttle into the waves every so often. However, they can’t stay in the water too long or they’ll drown.

Ghost Crab outside its hole

Ghost Crab going into its hole

Ghost Crab tunnel – note the crab’s tracks leading to and from the hole

Ghost Crab on the beach at Cape Vidal

Ghost Crabs

Ghost Crab scavenging at the water’s edge

This necessity for the Ghost Crabs to go into the water at regular intervals had us quite amused during our recent visit to Cape Vidal in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The crabs would run towards the approaching wave, stand their ground, get pounded, and then re-appear when the wave retreats, still standing in the same spot. Not once did we see one of the crabs loose its footing and get tossed around by the wave action!

Daredevil Surfing Ghost Crab

Ghost Crab engulfed by the wave (spot the eyes?)

Ghost Crab emerging above the retreating wave

Ghost Crab in the surf

Ghost Crabs in the surf at Cape Vidal

Ghost Crab in the surf at Cape Vidal

Summertide Diary: Exploring Mountain Zebra (part two)

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2 January 2021

When dawn found the Mountain Zebra National Park under heavy skies this morning we were already underway along the Kranskop Loop.

Black-backed Jackal

The view westwards from the western leg of the Kranskop Loop

Grey Rhebok

The view eastwards (towards the camp) from the western leg of the Kranskop Loop

When we arrived at the start of Rooiplaat Loop we found a male lion lying there, flat on its right-side. We sat there as the minutes passed, studying it through cameras and binoculars and finally coming to the sad conclusion that this lion was dead – there wasn’t even a twitch of an ear or any movement of its stomach to indicate a breath being taken. Disheartened, I started the car to drive off.

King Roy, fast asleep

The sound of the Duster’s engine had a miraculous effect. The lion lifted his head, sleepily. He rested his head on his paws for a while, then gave a mighty yawn before getting up, stretching his legs and then lying down again to look at us in irritation. He is magnificent, known as Roy, and despite his advanced age one of the ruling coalition of lion males here at Mountain Zebra National Park, along with Nomad whom we saw at a distance the day before .

King Roy, awoken

King Roy, in repose

King Roy, yawning

Male lion at Mountain Zebra National Park

King Roy, contemplative

Male lion at Mountain Zebra National Park

When the next vehicle arrived at the lion sighting we moved of so that those visitors too could have a private audience with The King. The skies have cleared and it’s turning into a glorious day. On our way back to camp we passed Roy again, and he was fast asleep again.

Springbok dot the Rooiplaat Plateau

Young Springbok

Black Harrier

Black-shouldered Kite

Mountain Wheatear

Red Hartebeest trio

Eland cow

Red-billed Quelea

Blue Cranes in flight

Meerkat

River crossing in Mountain Zebra National Park

South African Shelduck

Southern Rock Agama

Steppe Buzzard

King Roy, asleep again…

With it being our last afternoon at Mountain Zebra we opted to visit all our favourite spots along the Ubejane and Rooiplaat Loops and the Link road between them again. There’s just something so indescribably peaceful about driving around wild Africa as dusk approaches.

Young Springbok rams testing their strength (photo by Joubert)

Blue Crane

Cape Mountain Zebra

Thirsty Secretarybird

Mountain Zebras

Cape Longclaw

Kopieva

Springbok on the wide open plains of the Mountain Zebra National Park

We posted a special feature about Mountain Zebra National Park following a previous visit, if you’d like to learn more about this special destination.

Map of Mountain Zebra National Park from the SANParks website (https://www.sanparks.org/images/parks/mountain_zebra/mznp-map.jpg)

Summertide Diary: Exploring Addo (part two)

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29 December 2020

The first leg of our route through the Addo Elephant Park this morning, again managing to leave camp as the gates opened, went past Gwarrie Pan and Rooidam towards Hapoor Dam. Still being early in the morning there was little animal activity around the watering holes but lots to see along the way nevertheless, both big and small.

Bush Karoo Rat

Warthog

Elephant cow and calf

It was on arrival at Hapoor Dam that the morning turned really exciting as we came across spotted hyenas feeding on the carcass of a buffalo calf, soon to have their feast interrupted by a very annoyed elephant bull. More on that tomorrow!

Annoyed elephant spoiling the hyena feast

I think by now the birds inhabiting Jack’s Picnic Spot started to recognise us as friends, for they were very eager to join us at our breakfast table and didn’t let any rusk crumbs that dared drop to the ground go unpunished!

Southern Boubou

Cape Robin-Chat

Terrestrial Brownbul

Bar-throated Apalis

From “Jack’s” we headed south-east as far as Arizona Dam before turning back to camp along the same way we came, just in case there was still some drama at Hapoor (which there was, but this time it involved elephants waiting for a work crew to fix an errant water pump so they could get their morning drink).

Another cute elephant calf

Scrub Hare

Jackal Buzzard

Elephants waiting at Hapoor Dam for the humans to finish fixing a pump

Angulate Tortoise

Red Hartebeest (photo by Joubert)

Red Hartebeest

Malachite Sunbird with Pig’s Ear flowers

From the moment we left camp for our afternoon drive it was noticeable that there was a sudden explosion in the Park’s Warthog population, as seemingly every sow we saw was accompanied by little bundles of joy – not something we noticed on any of our previous drives.

Warthog piglets with their mom

Warthog piglets with their moms

Warthog piglets

Warthog piglet

Warthog piglets

Warthog boar

Another notable encounter in the afternoon, which by then turned exceedingly windy, was with a family of foraging Meerkats, a perennial favourite with visitors to our parks.

Meerkat sentry

Meerkats foraging

Meerkat sentry

Meerkats searching for food

But warthogs and meerkats weren’t all that we crossed our path that afternoon and we returned to camp very pleased with our day – again!

Karoo Boer-bean flowers

Elephant drinking at Spekboom waterhole

Leopard Tortoises are commonly encountered in Addo

Curious young kudu bull

If you’d like to learn more about the Addo Elephant National Park’s history and all it has to offer visitors, why not have a read through this post we compiled after our previous visit? And to follow along on our travels through Addo, you might find this map (from the SANParks website) most handy.Addo map from https://www.sanparks.org/parks/addo/tourism/map.php

Summertide Diary: Exploring Addo (part one)

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28 December 2020

This morning we’re just in time for the gates opening at of 05:30 and ready to search and explore everything Addo Elephant National Park has to offer. The signs along the way give a good indication of what we might expect to see…

Taking care of dung beetles at Addo Elephant National Park

Addo signs

We head for the Gorah Loop in the east, where the more open vistas make game-viewing much easier than in the thickets that predominate over other sections of the park.

Ant-eating Chat

Bat-eared Fox

Pied Crow strutting his stuff!

Black-backed Jackal

Scrub Hares

Plains Zebra

Addo Flightless Dung Beetle

Having left so early meant no breakfast before we headed out the door, so by now there was only one logical place to head to – Jack’s Picnic Spot – so that we could fill up on coffee and rusks. Jack’s is well frequented in the early morning, and not only by humans!

Plumbago flowers

Cape Bulbul

Southern Boubou

Brimstone Canary

Heading back to camp we have some wonderful encounters with elephants and buffaloes, the two members of the “Big 5” most commonly seen here at Addo.

Sleepy elephants

Big old buffalo

Red-billed Teals

Back at camp there’s ample opportunity to walk around, and there’s few better places to do that inside Addo Main Rest Camp than on the Discovery Trail, where interesting information is provided on the park’s fauna and flora as you amble along.

Southern Masked Weaver female

Southern Boubou

Cape Bulbul

Cape Glossy Starling

African Common White

Pig’s Ear flower

African Squill (Drimia altissima) flowers

African Squill (Drimia altissima) flowers being devoured by caterpillars of the (probably) Heliconiinae family of butterflies

Spekboom

Vygie

Kraal Spike-thorn flowers

Kraal Spike-thorn

Mother-in-law’s tongue

I’m still trying to figure out which tree this belongs to!

Vygie

Cape Batis male

Karoo Num-num flowers

African Small White butterfly on Karoo Num-num flowers

Baboons

Red-winged Starling female

Red-winged Starling male

A big elephant bull almost disappears in the wide open spaces of the Addo Elephant National Park

Malachite Sunbird

Vervet Monkey drinking from an airconditioner outlet

For our afternoon drive we opt for another jaunt along Gorah Loop, and again it doesn’t disappoint!

Black-headed Heron

Karoo Boer-bean buds

Jackal Buzzard

Brimstone Canary

Red-capped Lark

Helmeted Guineafowl

Small group of Kudu ewes

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Herd of Eland

This young kudu bull was in quite a hurry – why and where it was headed to was less clear.

Kudu on the run

Summertide Diary: Arriving at Addo

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27 December 2020

After spending a lovely three days over Christmas at home with Marilize’s parents, whom we haven’t seen in person since they retired to Jeffreys Bay 15 months ago, we all headed together to the Addo Elephant National Park‘s Matyholweni Gate, just an hour’s drive away, for a four night visit to this very special place.

It takes a few hours of leisurely driving to travel through the Park from Matyholweni to the Main Camp where we were booked to stay, and this of course means there’s wonderful sightseeing, bird-watching and game-viewing along the way! Jack’s Picnic Spot, just a little over halfway, is a great place to stretch tired legs while enjoying visits from all kinds of birds and other small creatures at your picnic table.

Steppe Buzzard (photo by Joubert)

Fiscal Flycatcher

Plains Zebra stallion close-up (photo by Joubert)

Playful Plains Zebra stallion

Scenic road snaking through Addo Elephant National Park

Yellow Mongoose

European Roller

Yellow Pansy butterfly

Jackal Buzzard

Looking out over Addo Elephant National Park to Algoa Bay in the background

Brown-veined White butterfly

Cape Weaver female

Big elephant bull being very protective of a youngster at the Marion Baree waterhole

Sombre Greenbul at Jack’s Picnic Spot

Speckled Mousebird at Jack’s Picnic Spot

Karoo Sandveld Lizard at Jack’s Picnic Spot

Karoo Prinia at Jack’s Picnic Spot

The future is secure for Addo’s elephants

One of the elephants that Addo is famous for

In the afternoon, and after getting settled into our comfortable chalet, we have a little time to take a drive along a few loop roads close to camp before the gates close.

Family Chalet 16 at Addo Main Rest Camp

Cape Bulbul coming to welcome us at our cottage

Red-throated Wryneck

Juvenile Black-winged Stilt at Rooidam

An Eland, our biggest antelope

One of the elephants that Addo is famous for

Summertide Diary: Nature’s Valley (Garden Route National Park)

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22 – 24 December 2020

Located at the mouth of the Groot River, the small holiday town of Nature’s Valley is surrounded by the western reaches of the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park. The town is connected to the N2 national highway by the Groot River Pass which makes for a magnificent drive as one descends through the forest canopy to the town below.

South African National Parks manages the De Vasselot Rest Camp, which offers two fully-equipped chalets, ten rustic forest huts and a camping area on the outskirts of town. Private holiday homes are available to hire in town where there’s also a small general store and restaurant. Several hiking trails traverse the forests and beaches around Nature’s Valley, and canoes can be hired to explore the river and lagoon.

We spent two nights at the De Vasselot Rest Camp at Nature’s Valley during our 2020-21 Summertide Ramble, arriving in the early afternoon on the 22nd and departing again late morning on the 24th of December 2020. Our chalet on the bank of the Groot River had a lovely setting from which we could wonder at the beauty of Nature’s Valley.

Chalet 12 at Nature’s Valley Rest Camp

The view from chalet 12 at Nature’s Valley Rest Camp

A view downstream from the island in front of Chalet 12

Forest Buzzard circling over the Groot River

Pied Kingfisher

Collared Sunbird

Knysna Turaco visiting us at our chalet in Nature’s Valley (photo by Joubert)

Tsitsikamma forest at Nature’s Valley

Yellow-billed Duck

African Dusky Flycatcher

Young Fish Eagle overhead

Bushbuck ewe

When the sun was out we enjoyed the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets from our stoep. When it was raining, the sound of the drops hitting the river and the quacking of the raucous toad beneath the deck combined to make a soothing lullaby, lulling me to sleep right there on the veranda.

Sunset at Nature’s Valley

It’s raining! It’s pouring! It’s Dries that you hear snoring…

The “golden hour” at Nature’s Valley

We didn’t see the sun very often during our time at Nature’s Valley and couldn’t explore as widely as we wanted to due both to the very rainy weather and government restrictions imposed to clamp down on South Africa’s “second wave” of COVID-19 infections, and we’ll definitely have to return to remedy that. Still, there were many trails that we did explore in between (and sometimes during) the rain showers, and even walking in the camp and town proved very rewarding.

The Groot River Pass is a beautiful drive through the forest at Nature’s Valley

Driving through the forest at Nature’s Valley

Ode to a tree

Outeniqua Yellowwoods (Podocarpus falcatus) towering over the road near Nature’s Valley

Majestic Outeniqua Yellowwood (Podocarpus falcatus)

Groot River and the Tsitsikamma

The Groot River at Nature’s Valley

Groot River

Groot River at De Vasselot Rest Camp

A side-loop of the Groot River

A side loop of the Groot River

Groot River at De Vasselot Rest Camp

Groot River estuary at Nature’s Valley

Groot River near its mouth, with the forested foothills of the Tsitsikamma range in the background

The deserted beach at Nature’s Valley

Vygies

Cape Chestnut

I’m still trying to identify the tree bearing these fruit

Not sure about the identity of these flowers either

Pincushion

Not sure about the identity of these flowers either

Not sure about the identity of this plant either

Leprous Grasshopper

Old Man’s Beard lichens abound in the forest at Nature’s Valley

Bushbuck ewe

Cape Brown butterfly

Black-headed Oriole

Cape White-eye

Levaillant’s Cisticola

One of our hikes took us on a forest trail in the early morning, and we were hoping to reach a cliff-top vantage point overlooking the Indian Ocean. But we got lost in the forest. Thankfully we could trace our steps back after realising that we lost our way. And we could swing on monkey vines (yes, strong enough to hold even me!). And we got soaking wet after it started raining. And yet there was so much life to marvel at that the hike really was still more than worth the effort. The fact that we really do want to go see that viewpoint is just another reason why we have to return to Nature’s Valley!