Tag Archives: wildlife

Dlinza Forest Nature Reserve

The Dlinza Forest Nature Reserve is a 319-hectare pocket of indigenous forest, rich in a stunning variety of trees, other plants, birds and other wildlife – several species of which is rare or endangered.

View from the Dlinza Reserve’s Aerial Boardwalk

The Aerial Boardwalk is Dlinza’s main attraction, extending a distance of 125m and allowing easy access to the lower, middle and upper stories of the forest, thereby providing visitors with a glimpse into a world they’d seldom be able to experience otherwise. The boardwalk ends at an observation tower 20m high that emerges above the treetops.

Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk

View of the forest from the Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk

Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk

Observation tower on the Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk

Red-eyed Dove seen along the Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk

Ferns growing in the fork of a huge tree along Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk

Two walking trails, the iMpunzi (1.3km) and uNkonka (1.8km), lead through the forest – be warned though that there are some steep sections along the way and sturdy footwear would be an advantage. Along the way you’ll be enchanted by the sights, sounds and smells of the forest and you really do not want to be rushed while hiking at Dlinza, so be sure to allow yourself enough time! Roughly half-way along the uNkonka trail you’ll reach a lovely clearing in the forest called Bishop’s seat as it was a favourite spot for a local clergyman in years gone by.

Golden Orb Web Spider female

Forest sunlight lighting up a spider’s web

Grey Cuckooshrike

Bishop’s Seat

White-eared Barbets at their nesting hole

Mushrooms flourishing on the forest floor

Guttural Toad

Bloom of the Natal Bride’s Bush

Red-backed Mannikin

Common Bush Brown butterfly

uNkonka Trail through the Dlinza Forest

Expert local bird guides can escort visitors through the forest – best to arrange this before your visit. Aside from the boardwalk and trails, visitors can enjoy a leisurely picnic in the grounds at the visitor centre. A rough and narrow road, the Royal Drive, passes through the forest but attempting it in a vehicle with low ground clearance would not be advisable.

Situated in the town of Eshowe in northern Kwazulu-Natal, the Dlinza Forest must be one of the most accessible of its kind in the country, although being entirely surrounded by the town does bring with it several management problems, not least of which is feral pets straying into the forest and killing wildlife, and exotic garden plants establishing themselves within the reserve. There’s no accommodation in the reserve, but the town has a number of lovely bed-and-breakfast establishments or you could drive through from nearby towns, as we did from Mtunzini while staying in the Umlalazi Nature Reserve half an hour’s drive away.

Returning to Umlalazi Nature Reserve

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Our December holidays kicked off with a five night stay at Umlalazi Nature Reserve on the north coast of Kwazulu-Natal Province and conveniently right on the outskirts of the small holiday town of Mtunzini. It is quite a drive from Pretoria, and by the time we arrived in stifling heat and humidity we were thankful for being allowed to check in a bit earlier than the “official” 14:00 time.

Umlalazi Log Cabin #1, December 2018

Of course we can’t sit still for long and with the relative coolness of the evening setting in we decided to go for a walk through the mangrove swamp and then through the forest to the beach before returning to our cottage.

A quiet spot in the mangrove swamp

Beautiful bloom of the Powder-puff Tree at Umlalazi

Water berry bloom at Umlalazi

CMR Blister Beetles

Channel in the mangrove swamp at Umlalazi

Mangrove Tree

African Mudhopper

White-breasted Cormorant

Crabs abound in the mangrove swamp

Grasshopper

Dune Forest road at Umlalazi

Sunset at the beach

Forest canopy at Umlalazi

Common Tropical House Gecko

After the previous day’s long drive Marilize and Joubert were a little late to wake for my liking, so I set off on a hike while they lay in. Upon returning to the cottage they were thankfully already up and ready, so we could set about exploring Umlalazi and surrounds as a family for the remainder of the day.

Yellow-billed Kite

Common Bush Brown

Vervet Monkey female with baby

Crabs abound in the mangrove swamp

Hadedas

Fallen Powder-puff Tree flower at Umlalazi

Kosi Raphia Palms and Joubert

Three-banded Plover

Plains Zebra

Yellow-bellied Greenbul

African Hoopoe

Violet-backed Starling (female)

Bronze Mannikin

Beautiful blooms at Umlalazi

Immature Fish Eagle in flight

Egyptian Goose

Wood Sandpiper

Common Ringed Plover

Vervet Monkey

Red-capped Robin-Chat

Gravel road through the dune forest at Umlalazi

Umlalazi’s lawnmower working in the campsite!

Common Tropical House Gecko

Diverse White

Red Duiker ram

Red Duiker ewe

Eastern Natal Green Snake

Guttural Toad

Early on Sunday morning we set off inland to Eshowe and the Dlinza Forest – we’ll tell you more about Dlinza in our next post. Just after returning to Umlalazi and a quick lunch, I set off on the longest trail in the reserve – the one leading to the mouth of the Mlalazi River where it meets the Indian Ocean. In retrospect starting the trail in the heat of the day was probably not the best idea, but the further I walked the more intrigued I became by what scenes were still waiting around the next corner, and by the time I started questioning my sanity it was too late to turn around anyway. This particular trail leads through the forested dunes and along the river course to the mouth and one can then choose to return to the camp along the same way or along the beach – all in all a round trip of around 9km or so. I chose to return along the flat beach with the cool waves lapping my overheated feet… 😀

Epiphytic plant on a tree at Umlalazi

Mlalazi River

Eastern Coastal Skink

Trail to the Mlalazi River mouth

Common Dotted Border

Near the Mlalazi River mouth

Mlalazi River mouth

Ospreys flying above the mouth of the Mlalazi

Huge schools of small fish swim in the mouth of the Mlalazi River

Mouth of the Mlalazi River

Common and Lesser Crested Terns on the beach at Umlalazi

Waves at Umlalazi

Flock of Sanderlings

White-fronted Plover

Dead dragonfly being buried by the sand on the beach at Umlalazi

Grey-headed Gull

With Monday the 17th of December being a public holiday, we expected that the beach would soon be packed with throngs of sun-seekers, and with sunrise coming so early in summer, we were out the door by 04:20 to first enjoy the emergence of the sun over the horizon of the Indian Ocean and then have a bit of beach fun-and-games. By the time the day started heating up around 08:00, with a steady stream of people heading for the beach, we had our fill of seaside-fun and headed back to the cottage. In the afternoon the mangrove swamp and Mlalazi river begged further exploration.

Early morning fun on the beach

Sunrise over the Indian Ocean at Umlalazi

Sunrise over the Indian Ocean

Crab along the shore on the beach at Umlalazi

Main beach at Umlalazi

African Pied Wagtail

Lesser Swamp Warbler

Purple Heron

Beautiful flowering plant growing on a beach dune at Umlalazi

Fever Tree

Boardwalk through Umlalazi’s mangrove swamp

Mlalazi River

Channel through the swamps at Umlalazi

Great White Pelicans

Little Stints

Woolly-necked Stork

Mlalazi River

Violet-backed Starling (male)

Joubert and I got an early start to our final full day at Umlalazi to go looking for interesting birds, and we were certainly not disappointed. A rain shower in the afternoon cancelled any plans we had of spending more time in Umlalazi’s forests, but brought welcome respite from the oppressive heat and humidity. The next morning we were moving to Mpila in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park and of course we’re going to tell you about that part of our trip soon!

Black-backed Puffback

Pink-backed Pelican in flight over Umlalazi Nature Reserve

Trumpeter Hornbill

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Red Duiker lamb that hung around our cottage at Umlalazi

African Wattled Lapwings

Yellow-throated Longclaw

Common Ringed Plover

Purple-crested Turaco

White-eared Barbets

This was our second visit to the Umlalazi Nature Reserve. After our first visit in 2016, we blogged about the reserve, the mangrove swamps, the beach, the forests and the Mlalazi River – follow the links if you’d like to learn more about this beautiful and underrated destination.

How to reach Umlalazi

Joubert’s photos of the playful piglets

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While we were still visiting Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park recently I shared a sneaky photo I took of Joubert busy photographing a pair of playful warthog piglets in Mpila Camp. Now that we’re back home I can share a few more of the photos he took of their playful antics. They also tried involving a young nyala ram in their games, but he wasn’t interested in childish games.

These are all Joubert’s photos. He turned 9 in August.

Playful warthog piglets at Mpila (photos of Joubert)

Joubert’s cute and cuddly photographic subjects

Playful warthog piglets at Mpila (photos of Joubert)

The King and Prime Minister of Imfolozi

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This morning we spent some time with two magnificent male lions in the far western reaches of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

One of them was bruised and battered with battle scars all over his body. Obviously he’s the enforcer for the King; the light-maned male with the relatively unscathed hide and face.

Sadly, today was our final full day here at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi. Tomorrow we only have the distance between here at Mpila Camp and the Memorial Gate to savour this pristine wilderness one last time before heading back to Pretoria.

Morning coffee, with a view

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This was the scene we enjoyed our first cup of coffee, rusks and biscuits with this morning, here in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

I’ll grow up my way…

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If there’s any good advise experienced parents can give newly expecting ones, it is that none of the thousands of parenting guide-books on the bookstore shelves will apply to your child 100%. You have to find what works for you, and go with it – your kid will turn out just fine.

The same seems true in the animal kingdom.

This afternoon while having lunch at Mpila in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, we noticed this mother Vervet Monkey and her baby coming past in a most unconventional manner. Normally the newly born babies would hang below the moms tummy, within easy reaching distance of her mammary glands. This little one however clung to the fur on his mom’s behind with all his might, and it obviously hurts her to quite some degree, as she regularly took him off and gave him a harsh hiding, to which he then responded with a terrible tantrum, screaming to high heaven until she relents and he gets back onto her buttocks. It was such a funny sight, and if she was human I would have given her a knowing wink of the eye in sympathy.

I did it my way…

Just in case you were wondering, this is the more usual way female Vervet Monkeys carry their babies; an example from another mom in the same troop that walked past our accommodation unit.

Vervet baby suckling (photo by Joubert)

Cute and Cuddly

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Today I sneaked a photo of Joubert while he was taking pictures of two playful warthog piglets outside our cottage here in Mpila in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

9 Years old: December 2018. Joubert the photographer, Mpila, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Joubert’s cute and cuddly photographic subjects

What a welcome at Mpila

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We had only just arrived at Mpila Camp in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park this afternoon, when we were welcomed by this Spotted Bush Snake on the mosquito screen of our kitchen door – What a welcome!

Umlalazi Airshow

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While exploring the mangrove swamps here at Umlalazi Nature Reserve this morning, this Pink-backed Pelican treated us to a low-level flypast.

Today was our last day here at Umlalazi. Tomorrow, we head for the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. If we have a good enough connection well try to post a daily update from there as well.

African Firefinch

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Lagonosticta rubricata

The shy African Firefinch is a tiny (11cm, 10g) seedeater inhabiting humid thickets in savanna and riverine woodland. They are usually seen in pairs or small groups.

Pairs are monogamous and the male is responsible for the building of the small ball-shaped grass-nest in a densely-leaved bush or dense grass during the summer months. Both parents share the incubation duties for the clutch of 2-5 eggs, which hatch after about two weeks. The nestlings are fed on small insects and fledge when they about 3 weeks old. The chicks become independent around 2 weeks after leaving the nest.

The African Firefinch has a rather patchy distribution across much of sub-Saharan Africa. The IUCN lists it as being of least concern. In South Africa they can be found from the Eastern Cape, through Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo and into Gauteng and the North West Province.