Drakensberg (Amphitheatre) hiking and birding, Feb 2012

Links

• List of birds

After picking Nicola up from work, we drove without incident down to Phuthaditjaba, arriving at Sentinel car park around 19:30. The hut was virtually fully booked so we decided to sleep in the back of the car.

Day 1 (25 Feb): After a reasonable night, we woke to clear skies. With breakfast over, we signed the mountain register, packed our bags and took a slow walk up the zig-zags. Resting on top of the zig-zags we saw Bearded vultures and Alpine swifts and while on the contour path, two Verreaux’s eagles flew across the face of Sentinel. Shortly before Sentinel cave, a confiding female Drakensberg rockjumper sat still for a few pictures. We dropped our packs in Sentinel cave and packed a daypack with snacks, water and rain gear before we set off to the chain ladders. Past the chain ladders we still had sunny weather but clouds were building up on the Amphitheatre. Across the Tugela bowl we spotted some pipits and after some careful scrutiny of the habitat and habits, we concluded it can only be Mountain pipit. We climbed slowly but steadily towards the summit of Mont-aux-Sources, adding Greater kestrel, White-necked raven and Cape vulture as well. Finally we reached the summit cairn around 11:30 and had a quick rest and some snacks before setting back down in the gathering clouds. Low in the Tugela bowl we spotted a very streaky canary-looking bird that we later easily identified as a female Drakensberg siskin – lifer number 3 for the trip! Back down the chain ladders we arrived in Sentinel cave just before 2pm, made some Game and settled into our sleeping bags for an afternoon rest. Barely 15 minutes after we arrived, it started raining and we were very glad to be warm and dry! Dinner was done early and we sat down to watch the fading light with a cup of tea, before going to bed.

Day 2 (26 Feb): A quick breakfast and fast packing saw us on the move by 06:30. It was an easy walk down to the car and we arrived back before 8am. On the way back home, disaster struck when I got sideswiped by a taxi in Phutaditjaba. Luckily there was a police station right around the corner but it still took an hour to make the accident report and get all the driver's details. Back on the road we stopped in Harrismith to get some marsala chips and eventually got home before 3pm.

An enjoyable weekend with both our hiking and birding targets met!

Oom Paul's hiking trail, Feb 2012

Nicola had her left elbow cubital tunnel syndrome operation on Tuesday and was still in heavy bandages by the weekend. Consequently she decided to stay home, while I joined the Eddie, George and Brian for the weekend hike. I left around 14:30 and drove leisurely, arriving just after 4pm. The others had just arrived as well and with dark clouds looming, we made a fire inside for our braai and after dinner, headed straight for bed.

Day 1 (18 Feb): Despite heavy fog and cloud around, we were up early and left shortly after breakfast. The footpath was cut open through the tall grass and reasonably well-marked but when it ran through a rocky patch, we temporarily lost it. Back on the path we followed the markers until we reached Candlewood huts. We were confused by the legion of trail and hut names and the obvious discrepancies between the map and reality but since we all knew the area quite well, we soon agreed on where to go and followed the track down to the bottom of Bride’s Leap waterfall, the second highest in Mpumalanga and the one I abseiled a few years ago. Down in the forest it was cool but still humid and the sweat poured from us. The path twisted through the trees until eventually we started climbing up towards Bermanzi hut, just as another group of hikers came from the opposite direction. George and I had pulled away from Eddie and Brian at this point but soon George also pulled away from me. I took it slowly up the steep slopes but when I finally reached the rock cracks at the top, my right leg started cramping. Soon though I was at the Stables hut and able to rest. Eddie and Brian arrived almost an hour later and after lunch we spent the afternoon chasing the hordes of flies around the hut. After a few drips of rain we decided to make a fire quickly as we didn’t have an inside braai at this hut. We had just enough time to warm up our meat before the rain came down. After some dinner and tea it was into bed.


Day 2 (19 Feb): It rained some more during the night and we woke to rolling fog and cloud. But the temperature was very comfortable and we set out in shorts and T-shirt, ready for crossing the valley. Down the valley we went and back into the forest. Our path diverged from the previous day’s walk and George and I pulled away on the uphill. Through the forest we climbed steadily but it was tough-going in places with low tree branches and slippery rocks. Halfway up the hill we waited for Brian and Eddie to catch up and as soon as they did, it started raining. We covered our packs and put on jackets or ponchos and then climbed on. George and I took the lead again and soon reached the top of the first cliffs. From here the path’s gradient eased and we had a short breather before steadily moving on. The path wound up the mountain through very pretty rock formations and scenery but soon it was obvious that they (the owners) wanted to show us every single rock on the mountain. As the path circled into cracks and around trees making about turns every so often and we got more and more irritated until finally we were fed-up with the path. I was further disappointed when the path never reached the trig beacon I was hoping to summit. With the heavy fog around, we could rarely see for more than 50m so we wouldn’t even know where to begin looking for it. Eventually we got through the top of the mountain and walked through upland grass to another gully. Cruelly the path went down into the gully and up the other side instead of skirting around. I reached the hut shortly before George and quickly got rid of all the wet clothes and shoes. Realizing it was going to be a long time before Eddie and Brian arrived, I said goodbye to George and was on my way.

All things considered it was a good hike and the rock formations at the top of the mountain on Day 2 was certainly worth walking through. Unfortunately the owners don’t seem to have any idea about goal-oriented hiking and the endless circles we traced on top was just plain irritating.