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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!
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