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Leaving home just before 2pm, we made it to Oshoek border post just before 4pm. The South African side was quick but the queue on the Swaziland side took 20 minutes to clear. Finally through we drove the short distance to Malolotja National Park and arrived around 5pm. Our little cottage was neat and clean but due to some guy smashing into an electric pylon somewhere distant, without electricity. After bacon and cheese sandwiches for dinner we heard African wattled- and Black-winged lapwings calling in the early evening.
Waking at 05:30 we had sandwiches and rusks for breakfast, then drove out towards the Silotfwane viewpoint only learning afterwards that this was for 4x4s only. It was overcast, windy and stingingly cold. We started our birding with a few African pipits, Buff-streaked chats and Cape longclaws, but after only 10 minutes driving we spotted two beautiful Black-winged lapwings – having heard them yesterday for the first time, these were our first sighting of them ever! Before reaching the viewpoint we also encountered Cape rock-thrush, Jackal buzzard, Red-winged francolin and Cape grassbird. The road was indeed pretty bad and when we arrived at the viewpoint, we decided to rather hike from here instead of Logwaja as I initially planned. The hike started gently enough and a bunch of swallows overhead turned out to be Grey-rumped swallows – our first for the year. After about a kilometer the path started descending more steeply and we had to watch the overgrown patches carefully. We eventually reached the Malolotja river valley but as the track disappeared in thick undergrowth we had to do some bundu-bashing before finding the main valley path. We headed up the valley and reached Malolotja campsite quickly and took a short rest. From here we crossed the Malolotja river several times and I got a dunking at one of these as I slipped on a rock. No harm done except a bruised ego and off we went. In the forested patched we added Ashy flycatcher, Cape batis, Sombre greenbul and Bar-throated apalis. The clouds above now looked slightly more ominous than earlier and we moved on quickly. After a bit more bundu-bashing we reached Majolomba campsite and a few minutes later started the brutal ascent back to the top. The first 350m climb was very steep and loose and by the time we reached more gentle slopes I was buggered and so were my feet. I mistook an early turn-off for a later one but luckily realized the mistake after only 200m. We retraced our steps and then had to climb another 50m followed by a gentle descent before reaching the proper turn-off. At this junction a bubbling stream was a great relief as our water was getting very low. As it was also well past lunch time we took a short break and ate some crisps with ice-cold mountain water. Although not far from the car now, the slow ascent from here was just too much for my un-exercised legs and frequent cramps forced me to sit every few hundred metres to stretch out. Nicola had much more energy and went ahead to bring the car a bit closer to the trail-head where I arrived eventually. It was now 2pm and we were both very tired but with a good day’s hiking and birding done, we did not feel guilty at all returning to our cottage. The road back proved quite a challenge but after a few steep and rocky turns were negotiated, all was well and we got back by 3pm, also adding Mocking cliff-chat and Plain-backed pipit on the way. After a nice hot bath we spent the afternoon with books and tea and as dusk fell, a lonely Bokmakierie also made it onto our list.
Another early morning saw us driving some of the southern tracks of the Park under a very cold and cloudy sky. We did not add any new birds for the trip until we got back to the cottage where two White-necked ravens perched on a rooftop. We packed up quickly and left Malolotja just before 9am, driving north towards Pigg's Peak. The road from Pigg's Peak to Bulembu is horrendous and we spun tyres frequently in loose sand and dust on steep slopes. Through the border sometime after 10am we enjoyed the beautiful drive to Barberton where we ended our bird list with a lone Long-crested eagle. A few Stop/Go roadworks forced us onto the back road towards Machadodorp where we picked up the N4 and arrived safely home just after 2pm.
