With Nicola still having to get some work done at the in-laws' place, I was going to Suikerboschfontein hiking trail with Highveld Hikers on my own. Arriving in the are with a couple of hours daylight left, I did some birding along the road in the trail's home pentad, picking up common highveld birds like Amur falcon, Yellow-fronted canary, African pipit, Pin-tailed whydah, Zitting-, Cloud-, and Wing-snapping cisticolas, Ant-eating chat, Cape longclaw etc. A nice new bird for the year were a couple of Banded martins on the telephone wire. At Oom Japie's hut, Cape robin-chat and Familiar chat were obvious and Bokmakierie was calling close-by. As soon as I arrived, a stray cat made a big nuisance of himself and was to become a real irritation throughout the evening, despite all of us giving him a substantial dinner to try and keep him away. Eddie, Shirley and Lawrence arrived not long after I did and Eddie quickly got the braai-fire going. We chatted and reminisced around dinner and hit bed not long after 8pm, hoping the cat would not come and curl up on our sleeping bags.
Saturday morning started with a chilly air and fog rolling in from the valleys. Neighing horses got us out of bed but the cool morning kept us from starting the day's 10km walk before 7am. as can be expected, the grass was sopping wet and since the trail hasn't been walked too much lately, the grass was also long and our pants were also pretty wet after half an hour. We made good distance in the first hour to get to our first break just before Baboon hotel and while Red-chested and Diderick cuckoos were calling in the background, a Cape batis showed well in some wattle trees. With the halfway mark in sight we reached top of a ridge and did some easy walking - but the morning's fog had now disappeared and it was warming up rapidly. The trail descended down to a pleasant little stream and with a 6.6km marker just opposite us, we sat for a tea break just before 11am. So far my new boots and feet held up nicely but I knew there was a long climb ahead and with the intention of getting out of the sun, I started walking again 20 minutes later. The climb started slow and steady and traced the edges of the "Chariot temple of the dying sun" - some old ruins scattered along the slope. Up the trail climbed and the sun beat down harder and harder. I was just starting to overheat when the path climbed into a thickly wooded kloof with some very welcome shade but here the path was steeper still and halfway up, i started cramping a bit. A few stretches and slowing the pace sorted it out and eventually I made it to the top of the kloof at noon. It was now really hot, despite an occasional breeze wafting in from the south. Luckily I knew exactly where the hut was and only 300m later and slowly walked into camp, desperate to get into some shade. Less than five minutes later I was enjoying an ice-cold shower and then sat in the kitchen area eating lunch, waiting for the others. The rest walked in about forty minutes later, equally hot and tired and equally happy with a cold shower. The afternoon really hot and probably pushed into the low thirties. But a male and female Mocking cliff-chat kept us entertained and in the early evening a cute dormouse appeared and sat very tamely for some close-up pictures. With the sun below the horizon the temperature finally dropped and we enjoyed the perfectly clear skies and fresh evening air. As I was flying to Cape Town the next afternoon, I intended to start walking very early so I was in bed in my own hut not long after 8pm.
My alarm was set for 04:45 but at 4am I was already wide awake, thanks to some continuous pattering feet on my roof - probably a number of the dormice. With just a hint of slightly lighter skies and a few less stars visible, I ate a quick few bites before packing my bag in five minutes and got on the road. Still nursing a mysteriously sore ankle (about a week now), I decided to rather stick to the easier track back out to Oom Japie's hut, knowing that I couldn't risk missing my flight later that afternoon. With dawn still quite far away but not really needing a flashlight anymore, I took to the road that steadily climbed the ridge Rooikrans camp was on. It was obviously quite humid as despite the cool early morning, I was pouring with sweat within five minutes. I made it to the junction of the main road to Oom Japies camp just as the sun peeked over the horizon and happily ticked my 48th bird for the pentad - loudly calling Common quail. Now properly on the ridge, the walking was easy and straightforward and not long after 7am I turned into the gate to Oom Japies. The annoying cat was very happy to see me and quickly made himself a nuisance again. With home barely more than an hour away, I decided to forego a shower or even taking my boots off and just dumped my pack in the car and left.
It was a very pleasant and relaxing weekend and great to have Eddie, Shirley and Lawrence's company again. The birding was not bad at all but I accidentally dropped my binoculars halfway through Saturday's walk and the left lens's prism shifted enough to make them virtually worthless. Hopefully i can get it repaired before the next birding trip!
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