Tour Report South Africa – Natural Highlights of South Africa 1 – 15 October 2018

Cape gannet Southern right whale

Lion Pied kingfisher

Compiled by Geoff Crane

01962 302086 [email protected] www.wildlifeworldwide.com Tour Leaders: Geoff Crane

Day 1: Arrival & Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens Tuesday 1 October 2018

The group was met at Cape Town’s International Airport and transferred through to Hout Bay for a chance to freshen up after their long overnight flight. We saw helmeted , Egyptian goose, Hartlaub’s gull, rock dove and African sacred on the way to the lodge. Once refreshed and replenished, we drove up Chapman’s Peak Drive for our picnic lunch. The wind had picked up, so we had a shortened windy picnic. From our vantage point that overlooked the bay and beach of Hout Bay we could see a Cape fur seal in the waves by the beach and water ‘twisters’ being whipped up off the ocean. After our lunch we drove through to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, which was protected to some extent from the wind.

We took a slow walk through the gardens up to the protea section and then back through the gardens via the tree canopy walk – the Boomslang. We had great views of orange-breasted sunbird and southern double-collard sunbirds on the yellow pincushion flowers; Cape Sugarbirds were also seen, Cape francolin, Cape robin-chat, Hadeda ibis, sombre greenbul, karoo prinia, southern masked weaver, red-winged starling and Cape white-eye were seen and some good photos were being taken. We also saw a spotted eagle owl sitting on a nest and a very brave striped mouse, which was close to the owl’s nest.

We had some time at the information centre, gift shop and coffee shop so that some of the group could buy their postcards and new field guides. A few of the group took the opportunity to visit the glass house / conservatory that houses a selection of plants from the semi-arid areas of South Africa. We had an early dinner at Hout Bay’s local fish restaurant, followed by an early night.

Day 2: Rondevlei Reserve & the Cape Peninsula Wednesday 3 October 2018

It was still very windy, but not a cloud in sight. We first went to Rondevlei Nature Reserve, where we spent the morning going through the various hides. Rondevlei Nature Reserve is in the heart of Cape Town. It has always been a naturally occurring wetland and is still rich in bird diversity. We watched the many from the five hides and two observation towers and we admired the rare Cape Flats flora from the pathway. Waterbirds were well represented with over 40 seen in our two hours here, notably the South African shelduck, yellow-billed and two out of range Hottentot teals. Other birds seen here were speckled pigeon, laughing dove, red-eyed dove, pied crow, common moorhen, red-knobbed coot, water thick-knee, three-banded plover, blacksmith lapwing, Levaillant’s cisticola, karoo prinis, Cape white-eye, kelp gull, , African marsh harrier, little grebe and a pair of great crested grebes. There were a series of island reedbeds, which were providing a safe haven for breeding birds. Black-headed , grey heron and purple , little egret and , and sacred ibis, reed and white-breasted cormorant were all busy either building nests or feeding chicks. Just before we left we found a beautiful Cape dwarf chameleon by one of the hides.

The colony at Simon’s Town was very crowded but we still managed to spend an hour here. The African penguins were going about their morning routine – which does not entail much! The penguins were just coming out of their three-week moult so there were downy everywhere. In addition to African penguins, we saw African black oystercatchers on the rocks offshore and Cape wagtails searching the beach for sand hoppers. We then continued to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.

En route to Cape Point we had our picnic lunch at Miller’s Point. Here we did some botanising – lachenalia, gladiolus, babiana, erica, oxalis and mesems were all well represented. After lunch we drove to Olifantsbos, in the Cape of Good Hope Reserve, stopping to see the green snake-stem pincushion. This sprawling ground pincushion has the wonderful botanical name of Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron subsp. hypophyllocarpodendron. We watched an enormous leopard tortoise making short work of a purple

01962 302086 [email protected] www.wildlifeworldwide.com flowering vygie. En route to Olifantsbos we found a Cape mountain zebra and a little further on some Bontebok antelopes. A troop of Chacma baboons was also seen.

The birds at Olifantsbos were feeding frenetically on the sand hoppers. We had glossy and sacred ibis, little egret, Cape spurfowl, grey-headed, Hartlaub’s and kelp gull, African black oystercatchers, common tern and sandwich terns. Around the car park we saw the ‘noordpol’, Euphorbia caput-medusae. The flower heads always twist around on the plant so as to face north, hence its Afrikaans common name. It is also called ‘Medusa’s head’ as it looks like a head of snakes. We saw many different plants that it would be impossible to list them all, but some of the highlights were the Salvia aurea with its brown flowers, the pink spikes of Watsonia humilis and the Albuca cooperi with its ground hanging flowers.

At Cape Point we walked up to the old lighthouse. The wind had abated a bit and we had panoramic views across the whole of False Bay and the Boland Mountains beyond. We had good views of Cape siskin and nesting Cape from the viewpoints at the end of Cape Point. Cape bunting, house sparrow, Cape white-eye and red-winged starling were seen on our walk back from Cape Point. We had a fleeting glimpse of a striped mouse as it ran across our path and good views of the Cape girdled lizards as they sunned themselves on the sandstone rocks. We also saw a skaapsteker snake, a few Cape skinks and an angulate tortoise. We stopped to have a good look (and smell) at the wild rosemary Eriocephalus africanus and the cancer bush Sutherlandia frutescens.

We drove back to Hout Bay via the Atlantic coast road and the famous Chapman’s Peak Drive. We had a quick stop to watch a Cape dune mole-rat cross the road and then again for a few photos of the dramatic coastline. Once back at the lodge we all had a well deserved drink, whilst we filled in our various check lists and we then went out for a wonderful dinner in Hout Bay at a local restaurant.

Day 3: West Coast National Park Thursday 4 October 2018

We had a slightly earlier start this morning so as to maximise our time up at Langebaan Lagoon and the West Coast National Park. We set off through Cape Town in perfect still sunny conditions. We stopped a few times for photos arriving at the Abrahamskraal waterhole in the West Coast National Park by 10am. This waterhole is the only fresh water in the park and so attracts a large diversity of birdlife. Namaqua dove, Cape turtle dove, brown-throated martin, greater-striped swallow, white-throated swallow and , African and purple gallinule were seen here. There was a constant stream of passerines coming to the waterhole to drink. Streaky-headed seedeater and yellow-romped widow were a few to mention.

We had our picnic lunch at the coast at Tasseskraal, where we watched the terns and gulls dodging the crashing waves. The Cape gannets and cormorants were flying off shore and the African black oystercatchers were on the rocks.

Langebaan Lagoon is an internationally recognised reserve for migrant waders; the tide was receding as we arrived an we walked out to the main Geelbeck hide. Once we were installed in the hide, we saw grey plovers, ringed plover, Kitlitz's plovers, white-fronted plovers, sandpiper, little stint, bar-tailed godwit, marsh sandpiper, common sandpiper, sanderling, greenshank, whimbrel, Eurasian curlew and ruddy turnstone, pied avocet and black-winged stilt. A pair of South African shelduck gave us a fly past and we saw both species of flamingo, , African black oystercatcher and Caspian tern.

We also saw ostrich, black-shouldered kite and yellow-billed kites, steppe buzzard, rock kestrel, African marsh harrier and the endemic black harrier during the course of the day.

01962 302086 [email protected] www.wildlifeworldwide.com Day 4: Hermanus & the southern coast Friday 5 October 2018

We left Hout Bay in good time and set off along the spectacular coastline out of False Bay to the Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens. We stopped at the little hamlet of Rooiels. Here we watched a troop of Chacma baboons before we continued to the Botanical Gardens, where we took a short walk through the gardens. This area has one of the densest concentrations of fynbos in the Western Cape. The ericas, pincushions, restios, pelargoniums and proteas were looking beautiful. We saw a few new birds here including the brimstone canary, common waxbill and African dusky flycatcher. After our tour of the gardens we continued following the coast through Kleinmond to the town of Hermanus.

Hermanus’s reputation as the world’s best land-based whale watching site, was held up to the test! We arrived to find a number of southern right whales just offshore. We had our picnic while watching the whales and after a while we saw a number of whales breaching. We also saw Cape fur seals in the surf and the rock hyraxes were on the cliff rocks. An hour later everyone was still watching, but unfortunately we had to ‘make tracks’ (as the saying goes), for Swellendam.

Just as we started towards the old town of Swellendam through the region’s undulating farmland, we had an emergency STOP! A little karoo dwarf chameleon (Bradypodion gutturale) was crossing the road! We continued on to Swellendam stopping here and there to see what was flying or flowering. Blue cranes were in a field next to the road. Blacksmith lapwings, pied starlings, African stonechat, capped wheatear and various larks were seen en route. At one of our stops we saw a spur-winged goose. on arrival at our accommodation stop we saw an olive woodpecker and speckled mousebird. There was plenty of activity in the shrubs and trees of the lodge. The group was staying at the Swellendam Country Lodge and we had dinner next door at the Old Mill restaurant.

Day 5: Swellendam to the Little Karoo Saturday 6 October 2018

We went for a pre-breakfast early morning walk around the grounds of the lodge. We saw some great birds that included: African goshawk, African paradise-flycatcher, swee waxbill, pin-tailed whydah, olive thrush, Cape white-eye, Cape bulbul on a nest, white-rumped swift, little swift, Cape robin- chat, amethyst sunbird, greater double-collard sunbird and white-backed mousebirds. After a great ‘Egon Ronay’ style breakfast we drove off towards the mountains.

We stopped on a bridge over a small river and were rewarded with many different bird species, which included malachite kingfisher, African black duck, common fiscal, brown-throated martin, white-throated canary, greater striped swallow and pied starling. We drove through the Tradouw Pass at a leisurely pace, stopping to take photos of the gorge and the magical mountain scenery. We came out of the pass into the little Karoo and continued to Oudtshoorn and the Swartberg Pass. We stopped for a café-style lunch at a local farmstall. Here we had a few new birds, Cape sparrow and karoo thrush. A little bit down the road we saw crowned lapwing, pale chanting goshawk and a pale morph booted eagle. At the top of the magnificent Swartberg Pass we found a pair of Cape rockjumpers, grey-backed cisticola, niddicky and a small berg adder. We were staying in the town of Oudtshoorn and we had a very good dinner at the hotel.

Day 6: Little Karoo to the Garden Route Sunday 7 October 2018

The day dawned bright and sunny. At breakfast we saw karoo thrush again and speckled pigeon and European starling. As we left Oudtshoorn we saw plenty of ostrich (seeing as we were in the ostrich capital of the world!). We drove through Oudtshoorn to the Outeniqua Mountain Pass; we didn’t see much as there was a thick low cloud hanging over the mountains. The drive down the other side of the mountain range opened up a totally different habitat, namely the forests of the Garden Route. We took a leisurely drive up through the Garden Route, past inland lakes, beautiful sweeping beaches and large estuarine mud flats, the final destination of many migrating birds from Europe and western Asia. We stopped at a few

01962 302086 [email protected] www.wildlifeworldwide.com places and also at a local bird hide. Here we saw many red-knobbed coots, little grebe and great crested grebe. we could hear the high-pitched call of the Cape clawless otter coming from the extensive reed beds but it was a no show. We had a stop for lunch at ‘The Old Nick’ and then went to Nature’s Valley for a forest walk. It was very hot by now with no wind, so the birds were not really showing. We decided to head for our riverside lodge accommodation so that we could have a cup of tea and a birdwatching walk around the grounds. The wetland next to the lodge had a nesting pair of blue cranes and we could see the two on a very rudimentary excuse for a nest.

On our late afternoon birdwatching walk by the wetland we saw Cape shoveler, yellow-billed duck, south African shelduck, Egyptian goose, brown-hooded kingfisher, pied kingfisher, knysna turaco, red-knobbed coot, common moorhen, wood sandpiper, black-winged stilt, pied avocet and three-banded plover. The gardens around the lodge had fork-tailed drongo, African dusky flycatcher and an active southern masked weaver colony. the white-rumped swift, little swift, African black swift and white-throated swallows were having a feeding bonanza on the flying bugs coming off the river!

Day 7: Nature’s Valley & the Tsitsikamma National Park Monday 8 October 2018

We had plans to go on an early morning birdwatching walk, but the walk turned into a ‘sit by the river with a cup of coffee and watch what happens’. The river acted as a corridor for birds flying up and down the river. We saw amethyst sunbird, greater double-collard sunbird and southern double-collard sunbird, a knysna turaco flew through the trees and a group of speckled mousebirds were busy feeding. We also had a very active Cape weaver building, marketing and then destroying his nest above the riverside table.

After breakfast we went for a walk through the leafy evergreen forests of Nature’s Valley. This particular forest walk is excellent for identifying the trees – as they are labelled! Yellowwoods, ironwoods, hard pear, assagai, tree fushia, Cape beech and wild saffron to name but a few. Forest buzzard, black-backed puffback, green-backed camaroptera, African dusky flycatcher and green wood-hoopoe were seen. The ‘piet-my- vrow’ call of the red-chested cuckoo and the ‘hello geor-gie’ of the African emerald cuckoo were heard but they were too far into the forest to see them. We had very close views of a shy bushbuck, quietly going about its business and totally unconcerned by our close proximity.

From Nature’s Valley we took the old Cape Road towards the Tsitsikamma National Park. This road took us through a couple of deep forested valleys. At our café lunch stop we found a huge black millipede about 6 inches long and there were some beautiful emerald blue swallow-tail butterflies. After lunch we continued to the Tsitsikamma National Park. The ocean was calm but we still had crashing rollers coming in from the Indian Ocean. We walked along the boardwalk to the mouth of the Storms River through Cherrywood, Wild Saffron and Milkwood trees. Lemon dove, collard sunbird, black-bellied starling, African paradise flycatcher, black-backed puffback, yellow-throated woodland-warbler, olive thrush, knysna turaco, sombre greenbul, green-backed camaroptera, Cape white-eye, Cape batis, terrestrial brownbul and a fleeting view of the chorister robin-chat were seen from the walk.

We arrived back quite late in the afternoon so we had a quick turnaround, before heading out to find another good restaurant for dinner in Plettenberg Bay.

Day 8: Local flight from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg Tuesday 9 October 2018

Knysna turaco, grey cuckooshrike, African paradise-flycatcher, white-necked raven, black-bellied starling and Cape batis were some of the birds seen before breakfast (with a cup of coffee in hand!) We set off for Port Elizabeth after our early breakfast so as to catch our local flight to Johannesburg. The only distraction on the way was white-winged tern over the wetland as we left the lodge and on the way to Port Elizabeth we saw a Denham’s bustard.

01962 302086 [email protected] www.wildlifeworldwide.com The vehicle drop off, airport paperwork and flight all went to plan and in the early afternoon we were on our way in good time out of Johannesburg. We drove east looking at big black rain clouds in the distance. Then the heavens opened with a seriously heavy downpour. Vehicles were taking cover under bridges and we slowed to a ’s pace. This delayed us quite a bit so when we arrived in Dullstroom we went straight in to dinner and then went to our accommodation afterwards.

Day 9: Blyde River Canyon & Kruger National Park Wednesday 10 October 2018

We packed our bags and loaded the vehicle and then drove to the village of Dullstroom for breakfast. We watched an African Goshawk while we waited for the coffee to arrive. Our route this morning took us over the Robbers Pass, through Pilgrims Rest and Graskop to the Blyde River look-out point. Here we had great views over the Three Rondavels and the river below. Familiar chat, red-winged starling, Cape wagtail, Cape rock thrush, rock martin, lazy cisticola, dark-capped bulbul, rock kestrel and mocking cliff chat were seen at the view point.

We drove down the pass to the Lowveld where the temperature increased by 10°C. We stopped at a local farmstall for lunch and from the cool shade of a big old fig tree we watched black-headed oriole, lesser masked weaver, red-billed buffalo-weaver, long-tailed widowbird, Cape canary, African stonechat, scarlet- chested sunbird, Kurrichane thrush, Cape robin-chat, icterine warbler, Cape white-eye and southern boubou – and that was before our lunch order arrived!

As soon as we entered the Kruger National Park we started seeing new birds; Burchell’s starling, red-billed oxpecker, magpie shrike, Wahlberg’s eagle, brown snake eagle, black-shouldered kite, yellow-billed kite, grey go-away bird and Swainson’s spurfowl. The 20 kilometres to the camp from the entrance gate we saw ten mammal species – that’s a new mammal every two kilometres! We checked into our accommodation at the camp and enjoyed some ‘down time’ before dinner.

Day 10: Kruger National Park Thursday 11 October 2018

We had an early start this morning with the hope of finding one or more large cats. We headed east on the N’wanetsi River road, driving slowly and looking hard. We saw plenty of plains game and there was a ‘new’ bird on just about every branch – so the progress was slow. We passed elephants, impala, blue wildebeest, giraffe, Burchell’s zebra, warthog, Chacma baboon, vervet monkey, tree squirrel, greater kudu, Nyala, bushbuck, common duiker, steenbok and waterbuck. We watched a pair of saddle-billed in a small waterhole, green-backed heron, hammerkop, three-banded plover, brown-hooded kingfisher and black crake were also there and a large crocodile was warming up in the morning sun. We returned to camp by 9am for a late breakfast. The hornbills, sparrows and starlings were all searching for restaurant treats!

We had a short rest before going out again on a shorter game drive, with the intention of being back before lunch. We headed up towards Olifants Camp on the main road. Just before the Ngotso Dam we came across a natural waterhole which was teeming with game. Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, blue wildebeest, impala, Chacma baboons and in the distance a couple of large bull elephants.

We spent the afternoon at leisure relaxing as the group was scheduled to go on a night-drive. At 34°C some of the group relaxed in the air-conditioned rondavals and some went birdwatching. Birds seen in the camp were: chinspot batis, Burchell’s starling, African hoopoe, grey turaco, grey-headed sparrow and their overseas friends the common ‘English’ Sparrow, red-billed buffalo weaver, dark-capped bulbul, white- breasted and scarlet-chested sunbird, little swift, Natal spurfowl, yellow-billed kite, Bennett’s woodpecker, crested barbet and lesser-masked weaver.

01962 302086 [email protected] www.wildlifeworldwide.com The group went on a night drive this evening seeing lion, scrub hare, side-striped jackal, black-backed jackal, large-spotted genet, civet, spotted hyena, an unidentified nightjar and the usual plains game – in the dark!

Day 11: Kruger National Park Friday 12 October 2018

We went for a short early morning game drive around the Nsemani Dam. The dam was dry but we still saw plenty of game and new birds like crested francolin, pearl-spotted owlet, red-crested korhaan, kori bustard, little sparrowhawk, white-crested helmet-shrike, white-crowned shrike, arrow-marked babbler, chestnut- backed sparrowlark and Burchell’s coucal. After breakfast we packed the vehicle and set off south to our new camp in the south of the park.

We stopped and started as we drifted slowly south, birding and game watching as we went. Just before the Tshokwane picnic area we came across a large pack of African wild dogs. This pack had obviously recently fed well as they were well rounded and resting up in the shade of a big sausage tree, with no intention of moving. Our wild dog sighting was over a 45-minute period as we watched and photographed the individuals. This was part of a research project that the rangers were conducting in the park – they had asked for photos of each individual.

We had seen 20 different mammal species by the time we arrived at Skukusa Camp for lunch. After lunch we added a new mammal to our list – an epauletted fruit-bat under the eaves outside the restaurant.

After lunch we spent some time at Lake Panic bird hide. A large was trying its best to ambush a bushbuck – with no luck! The hippos were active in and out of the water and the birdlife provided nonstop entertainment. A pied kingfisher with a small fish was being pursued by an African fish eagle; white-faced were watching the progress of the crocodile. African jacana, water thick-knee, pied wagtail, black crake, blue waxbills and little egrets were also all seen.

The temperature was now in the mid-thirties so we put on the air con and drove south. Just before the Afsaal picnic spot we came across a few spotted hyena, with pups. It looked as if they had a den in the culvert that went under the road, and on the rocky koppies we saw a Klipspringer pair sitting out the afternoon in the shade of a tree. Just before our camp we saw a white rhino, which was to become the first of many.

Day 12: Kruger National Park Saturday 13 October 2018

The morning was overcast with low ominous looking rain clouds. We took a circular route to the Majula waterhole and then back to camp via the Matjulu loop. It was very quiet, with very few mammals about. On the dirt road we came across a Schlegel’s beaked blind snake, which was a first for me. On the bridge over the dry Majula river bed we stopped to watch a busy birding party. Southern black tit, fork-tailed drongo, yellow-throated sparrow, dark-capped bulbul, brown-crowned tchagra, crested francolin, cardinal woodpecker, willow warbler, glossy starling, blue waxbill, chinspot batis and long-billed crombeck.

We went back to the camp for breakfast and then we set out again to the Gardenia Hide. Unfortunately the hide waterhole was dry so we didn’t stay for long. We followed some back roads with the plan to have lunch at the Afsaal picnic spot, with the vervet monkeys. there was a large bull elephant just 20 metres away from the unfenced picnic tables – when it took one step towards the Chinese tourists there was a rush for cover and safety!

We had lots of new birds and many better views of already seen birds. En route back to our camp we took the Steilberg road. From the top of the Stilberg we had great views over the koppies and plains of the Berg- en dal area. We saw lion, spotted hyena, black-backed jackal, white rhino, tree squirrel, a family of dwarf

01962 302086 [email protected] www.wildlifeworldwide.com mongoose, Cape buffalo and plenty of plains game. It had been threatening to rain all day and it started raining mid-afternoon. It felt like we had a slow day but by the end of the day we had seen 72 bird species and 16 mammal species.

Day 13: Kruger National Park Sunday 14 October 2018

We started today with a birdwatching walk around the inside of the perimeter fence of the camp, with the breakfast restaurant as our destination. We saw many birds and it was good to be walking for a change. We saw three woodpecker species: Bennett’s cardinal and bearded, as well as black-collared barbet, striped kingfisher and brown-hooded kingfisher, brown-headed , brubru, orange-breasted bush-shrike, brown-crowned tchagra, chinspot batis, white-browed scrub-robin and tree squirrel.

After breakfast we set off on plan ‘A’…. but we ended up on plan ‘C’. The plan was to head towards Lower Sabie where we would have lunch. We got so delayed with sightings that we ended up at Skukuza for lunch. We did, however, see a lot of new birds including trumpeter hornbill, coqui francolin, lilac-breasted roller, African wattled lapwing, bateleur, white-backed vulture and hooded vulture, tawny eagle, golden-breasted bunting, pearl-breasted swallow, black saw-wing and our first barn swallow of the season. The mammals for the day were a large herd of elephants, the same spotted hyenas under the road culvert, (the lions from yesterday were nowhere to be seen) white rhino, hippo, Cape buffalo, lots of impala, blue wildebeest, giraffe, Burchell’s zebra, warthog, chacma baboon, vervet monkey, tree squirrel, dwarf mongoose, greater kudu, bushbuck, common duiker, steenbok and waterbuck.

Day 14: Kruger National Park to Johannesburg Monday 15 October 2018

We had a leisurely start to the day with breakfast in the camp before loading the vehicles with our luggage for our last game drive in the Park. Our last mammal in the park was a graceful old bull kudu. We set off on the road back to Johannesburg and the flight home to the UK. We had a café lunch en route, only to find that the road ahead was closed!! We had to back track 100 kilometres to find another route. Unfortunately, this detour didn’t leave any spare time for birdwatching en route. We arrived at the airport in good time with thousands of photos to edit and many great memories.

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