Tag Archives: wildlife

Cape Vidal, the most beautiful beach

28 Replies

To us, there is no more beautiful a beach in this country than Cape Vidal. Miles of sand stretching as far as the eye can see, lined between densely forested dunes and the warm blue water of the Indian Ocean (in the waves of which dolphins and whales can often be seen), with rock pools harbouring fascinating marine life exposed at low tide.

Cape Vidal
Cape Vidal
Littoral life at Cape Vidal
Cape Vidal rock pool
Littoral life at Cape Vidal
Crab on the beach
Enjoying the beach
Cape Vidal by Starlight
Dolphins in the waves at Cape Vidal
Dolphins in the waves at Cape Vidal
Crystal clear Indian Ocean
Littoral life at Cape Vidal
Rock pools at Cape Vidal
Grey-headed gulls
Grey-headed gull in flight
Grey-headed gull taking flight at Cape Vidal’s beach

Cape Vidal is named after Alexander Thomas Emeric Vidal, captain of the British surveying ship HMS Leven, that mapped this coastline in 1822. Today, this pristine area falls within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, is one of the most popular destinations in the reserve and an excellent base from which to explore the Eastern Shores of Lake Saint Lucia. The accommodation and campsite is managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and often booked out months in advance. There’s a fuel station and a small shop selling only basic essentials, so it is best to stock-up on your groceries at St. Lucia town before entering through Bhangazi Gate 35km to the south of Cape Vidal. Apart from all the activities that the beach caters for, Cape Vidal is also one of the best spots in the country to easily see a wide variety of otherwise very shy forest birds and animals (like Samango Monkeys and Red Duiker).

Cabin 18 at Cape Vidal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park
The road to Cape Vidal
Banded mongoose
Dark-capped Bulbul
Thick-tailed bushbay
Natal Red Duiker
Samango Monkey

The rugged beauty of Mission Rocks

13 Replies

Today a very popular picnic and fishing spot north of St. Lucia Town in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Mission Rocks is named for a Catholic mission station established in the area in 1888. The path leading from the parking area to the beach opens onto a scene of rugged, rocky beauty, revealing rock pools teeming with life at low tide and impressing with the thundering of crashing waves at high tide. There’s a sandy, open beach 500m northwards of the rocks, with a sea-cave where thousands of bats roost.

Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks picnic spot
Mission Rocks
de Wet family shadows at Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Keep an eye open for the vervet monkeys while having a picnic at Mission Rocks
Natal Rock Crab at Mission Rocks
Mission Rocks
Fiscal flycatcher

On the way to Mission Rocks, the uMziki viewpoints and picnic site, set right in the coastal forest, is a worthwhile stop. From atop the dune there’s views over Lake Saint Lucia to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east, and down below in the forested picnic site there’s an astounding variety of birds that would normally be very shy but here seems quite habituated to having humans around. There’s also usually a couple of red duiker to be seen.

uMziki viewpoint over Lake Saint Lucia
uMziki viewpoint over Indian Ocean
uMziki viewpoint
Golden-tailed woodpecker
White-eared barbet
Livingstone’s turaco
Red-capped robin-chat
Red duiker
Red duiker

 

Cruising Lake St. Lucia

30 Replies

Participating in a guided launch tour of Lake St. Lucia is one of the most memorable experiences to be had in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Several operators offer tours lasting about two hours and departing at different times of the day. In this time the cruisers move about 8km up into the lake from the jetties in St. Lucia town, bringing visitors close to a variety of aquatic life and giving an interesting glimpse into the ecology of the lake system.

During our recent visit to iSimangaliso, we enjoyed a tour on the 80-seater Santa Lucia, a joint operation between Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Thompsons Tours. A cashbar on board sells drinks and snacks while a guide gives detailed explanations of the surroundings and wildlife encountered along the way. We passed several pods of hippos (witnessing one naughty youngster chewing on another tourboat), a few crocodiles, numerous birds, wildlife on the shore, got a chance to view the mangrove marshes and even saw a shark’s dorsal fin briefly break the water’s surface.

This gallery should give you some idea of what you can look forward to on a guided launch tour of Lake Saint Lucia!

Santa Lucia
Getting up close to a crocodile
Tours on the lake
Mangrove stand
Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia jetty at Siyabonga Market
Hippo close-up
Hippo
Baby hippo
Swimming crocodile
Swimming crocodile
Crocodile on shore
Great white egret
Curious hippos
Crocodile on shore
Mangrove roots
Goliath Heron
Hippo
Pod of hipos
Egyptian Goose
Making waves
Mangrove roots
Buffalo o the shore
Caspian Tern
African Fish Eagle flypast
Hungry hungry hippo!

Muse

39 Replies

Out in South Africa’s wild places it’s very difficult not to be enamoured with our magnificent sunrises and sunsets. This photograph was taken at Lake Panic, near Skukuza in the Kruger National Park.

Muse

“Muse” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge

Samango Monkey

21 Replies

Cercopithecus mitis

The Samango Monkey is one of South Africa’s less well-known primates, being restricted to the densely vegetated habitats along the coast and adjacent hinterland of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal and the escarpment forests of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.

Samango Monkey (5)

Males are considerably stronger built than females, and weigh up to 11kg.

Male Samango Monkey
Female Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey (photo by Niel de Wet)

Samango Monkeys are to be found only in indigenous forests and on their edges, where they feed on fruits, flowers, leaves, seeds, insects, bark, eggs, nestlings and small mammals and reptiles. Troops number up to 70 individuals, though usually far fewer with 20 being the average, and are lead by between one and five adult males. They are strictly diurnal and much more arboreal than the vervet monkey, their better known and more widely distributed South African cousin. Single babies are born in the summer months. Forest predators, like leopards, crowned eagles and pythons, are their biggest natural enemies.

Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Male Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey in Hilltop Camp
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkeys grooming in a treetop
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey (photo by Marilize)
Samango Monkey
Male Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey (photo by Joubert)
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey (photo by Joubert)
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey

Known elsewhere in Africa as the Sykes’ or Blue Monkey, with several recognised subspecies, the race of Samango Monkey occurring in South Africa is considered “vulnerable” by the IUCN, as they occur mostly in small numbers in highly fragmented habitats, with little genetic exchange between subpopulations. We’ve encountered Samango Monkeys in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, Tembe Elephant Park and in the Oribi Gorge, but it is only at Cape Vidal in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park that you’d be virtually guaranteed to see this special species as they’ve become quite habituated to the human presence and boldly raid even the best protected picnic basket…

This leucistic Samango Monkey is a familiar inhabitant of Cape Vidal
This leucistic Samango Monkey is a familiar inhabitant of Cape Vidal
This leucistic Samango Monkey is a familiar inhabitant of Cape Vidal
This leucistic Samango Monkey is a familiar inhabitant of Cape Vidal
This leucistic Samango Monkey is a familiar inhabitant of Cape Vidal
This leucistic Samango Monkey is a familiar inhabitant of Cape Vidal

These are all camera trap photos of samango monkeys at Cape Vidal

Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkeys with a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkey with a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkey with a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkey with a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkeys with a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkeys with a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkey with a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkeys with abushbuck in the background
Samango Monkeys and a bushbuck in the background
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkeys
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey
Samango Monkey mom and baby
Samango Monkey mom and baby
Samango Monkey mom and baby
Samango Monkey mom and baby
Samango Monkey mom and baby

Variegated Slug Eater

22 Replies

Duberria variegata

While visiting the iSimangaliso Wetland Park recently, we came across this tiny snake at  the Amazibu Hide between St. Lucia Town and Cape Vidal.

Variegated Slugeater (2) Variegated Slugeater (4)

Referring to our copy of the Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa (Bill Branch, Third Edition 1998), Marilize suspected it to be a Variegated or Spotted Slug Eater, an identification confirmed with the assistance of the helpful people at the SA Reptiles Forum.

These snakes are endemic to a very small piece of South Africa’s north-eastern and Mozambique’s southern coastline, occurring in dune forests and grasslands (habitat in abundance at iSimangaliso). It burrows in leaf litter and sandy substrates and, as its name suggests, feeds on slugs and snails. Females give birth to between 7 and 20 live young, about 10cm in length, in late summer, which would mean the 12cm-long specimen we encountered was still quite young (Adults grow to between 22cm and 34cm).

Just goes to show that no matter how much time you spend in natural environments, there’s always something new to discover and interesting to learn!

 

Hungry Hungry Hippo!

28 Replies

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…

Well, when it’s Lake Saint Lucia you’re talking about then it is never safe to go into the water, thanks to the hippos, crocodiles and sharks that populate this aquatic environment. Better to be safe ON the water then? Only if you don’t encounter this playful young hippo, seemingly intent on making a meal of the tourist launch!

Hungry hungry hippo!

Luckily for the tourists on the boat, mom intercedes and calls him to order, dispensing quick discipline hippo-style with a bite and a roll on top of the little delinquent.

Hippo showing enormous gape

This delightful scene played out while we were enjoying a guided launch-tour of Lake Saint Lucia aboard the Santa Lucia, during our recent visit to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. We’ll share more photos and memories from the cruise in an upcoming edition of de Wets Wild.

No place like Cape Vidal…

20 Replies

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

Grey-headed gull taking flight at Cape Vidal’s beach

Leopard sighting on the Grassland Loop - 15th June 2015

Leopard sighting on the Grassland Loop – 15th June 2015

St. Lucia flypast

8 Replies

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!

St Lucia Flypast

Cape Vidal, 13 June 2015

26 Replies

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…

Cape Vidal Leopard 20150613