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At just after 4pm on Friday, we left Middelburg, heading for the picturesque town of Kaapschehoop with our friends Laura and Bennie for a weekend of relaxed birding and hiking. Despite some slightly dodgy directions we found our accommodation – Karin's Kaia, a lovely 2-bedroom cottage with an upstairs lounge and balcony - very comfortable for the weekend. We quickly settled in, made dinner and enjoyed David Attenborough's Life of Birds for an hour or so. By that time it was getting late so we headed for bed, ready for an early morning start the next day.
Saturday morning we had a quick breakfast and then headed out to walk to the escarpment. It was unfortunately quite windy and overcast, so most birds were sensibly hiding away. However, a few ones did show themselves: Buff-streaked chat, Familiar chat, both Sentinel and Cape rock-thrushes, Yellow bishop and a number of Wailing cisticolas calling. We reached the escarpment very quickly and were disappointed to find the wonderful view covered by haze. The wind was not at all daunted by the cliff face and rushed up at us, so we turned around and headed back. We had some fun bundu-bashing and climbing the wonderful rocky boulders before getting back to town. On the outskirts we saw both male and female Amethyst sunbird, Southern double-collared and Red-winged starlings. We stopped off at the cottage for a quick breather, before we obtained a permit for Battery creek waterfall from Koek 'n Pan. We crossed the road and quickly dipped down into the kloof, where we followed the winding path alongside the stream. At one river crossing Pieter went on ahead while I waited for Laura and Bennie, who had become entangled in some thorny branches. Once free we turned to follow Pieter and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a Mountain wagtail flying low across the stream. I quickly pointed it out to Laura and Bennie since it was a lifer for them. We then spent a nice half hour at the foot of the falls taking numerous photos. Laura crossed the stream to get a better angle, but on the way back she slipped and fell into the stream, giving her elbow a nasty knock. Fortunately she had passed her camera to me before crossing, so the only consequences were wet clothing and a very nasty bruise. After that incident we headed back so Laura could get to some dry clothes. On the way back out we had fleeting glimpses of an Olive woodpecker before leaving the forest. Once home we rested for an hour before heading into town for an afternoon snack at the pancake restaurant. Dinner was a braai with potato salad and roast vegies followed by another hour or so of Attenborough’s Life of Birds before bed.
We had planned a nice breakfast of omelets and bacon, but unfortunately I could not partake due to a nasty tummy bug. Despite my best efforts, I could not even keep water down, and the mere thought of food had me gagging. Fortunately Laura had some handy Valoid so I dosed myself before we climbed in the car and headed back. We got home by lunch time where we settled in for a quiet afternoon. Despite all the incidents, it was a very relaxing weekend, and our only regret was that the inclement weather had made for a small birding count.
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