Drakensberg advice (1 Viewer)

I will be going to South Africa beginning of November for 5 weeks, starting off with one week in the Cathedral Peak Valley in the Drakensberg mountains. As i have not been in this area before I would be grateful if anyone can give me any advice on birding places to check out. I will be staying at the Drakensberg Sun.
Many thanks.

drakensberg Sun

I would suggest you do the Grotto walk from the Drakensberg Sun into the yellowwood forest, for grassland species take a walk up from the hill behind Drak Sun - behind the "Bergview houses". If you are driving along the R600, look carefully on the farmland between the KwaZulu Weavers/Waffle hut and the 4-way stop - should see cranes there at this time of year. Try and also make time to go to Spionkop Game Reserve - its about 45 minutes drive from Drak Sun - from Winterton towards Ladysmith. But whilst you are in that Valley, you may as well visit Monks Cowl - great walks and hikes both along the river and up to the little 'berg (avoid weekends so you can enjoy birding without hoards of hikers). Then for a cheesy but great CLOSE up shot of birds of prey - you may want to go to Falconhurst (Bird of Prey Centre), nothing like birding in the wild but awesome to marvel at the size of our birds of prey.

glazzers said:

I will be going to South Africa beginning of November for 5 weeks, starting off with one week in the Cathedral Peak Valley in the Drakensberg mountains. As i have not been in this area before I would be grateful if anyone can give me any advice on birding places to check out. I will be staying at the Drakensberg Sun.
Many thanks.

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Trailsafari

brilliant advice, many thanks for the input and your time.

Hey Glazzers
For a fab day out and to see all the area's endemics, you've gotta go up the Sani Pass. Need a 4WD to do it, but there is an excellent guide that charged us just £50 for the whole day and we scored on all the birds. Contact Stuart at:
http://www.birdsandbeyond.co.za/
I'm not the best one for using guides, but he was excellent! He also does a 2-day special that cleans up on the other specialities: Blue Swallow, Wattled Crane, Orange Groundthrush etc....
Nearby Marutswa Forest Reserve at Bulwer (c30kms from Himeville) is also well worth a visit, esp for Cape Parrots
The Amur Falcons should be coming to roost in the eucalypt trees in Himeville too by Nov - look out for the big sign!!

Thanks Adam, I looked at that but I think I am a bit far from Himeville where the trip leaves from. I will investigate further as I have never been to Lesotho.

birdboybowley said:

Hey Glazzers
For a fab day out and to see all the area's endemics, you've gotta go up the Sani Pass. Need a 4WD to do it, but there is an excellent guide that charged us just £50 for the whole day and we scored on all the birds. Contact Stuart at:
http://www.birdsandbeyond.co.za/
but he was excellent!

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If you can get to Himeville - Stuart is worth his weight in gold!
I agree with Adam - Stuart is a tip top birder and he knowsthe area and where the birds are.

Corinna

thanks

Thanks for the comments. I have looked at the distance from Drakensberg Sun to Himeville and unfortunately it is more than a three hour drive. I dont fancy driving down there in the dark so it looks like a no no.