South Africa – Giant’s Castle and Kiara Lodge

Atlasville, 03 Sep 2007

Just back from a 6-night trip to the Drakensberg, with 3 nights at Giant’s Castle and 3 nights at Kiara Lodge adjacent to Golden Gate Highlands National Park.

The trip got off to a good start with Blue Crane, Secretarybird and a lifer in a pair of Barrow’s Korhaan all seen near Sterkfontein Dam, and Olive Thrush and Cape Rock Thrush on the Oliviershoek Pass, on the journey down to Giant’s Castle. We had not been to Giant’s Castle Camp before and arrived with plenty time to spare before sunset to take in the view from our chalet. That view of the mountains alone is worth coming back for, although the birding is good too. I didn’t have to move from the chalet to photograph Cape Weaver, Dark-capped Bulbul, Cape Robin-Chat, Southern Boubou, male and female Red-winged Starling, and a magnificent Greater Double-collared Sunbird.  

Highlight of the trip was the 2 mornings spent in the vulture hide at Giant’s Castle. This must be pre-booked with your accommodation and gives you the exclusive right to occupy the hide. However, you must have your own 4×4 vehicle to negotiate the steep track up to the Lammergeier Hide, perched on the edge of a steep cliff at an elevation of about 1,880 m above a valley which is favoured by Cape and Bearded Vultures. Of course to make it more attractive to the vultures Natal Parks personnel lay out fresh cow carcasses in front of the hide on a regular basis. The first morning turned up no fewer than 17 Cape Vulture, all in the air at the same time, at least 1 juvenile and 2 immature Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier), and several Lanner Falcon. A flock of White-necked Raven were rather possessive of the laid out carcass and took it upon themselves to chase off all raptors and I witnessed many instances where 2 or 3 ravens would join forces to harry either a Cape or Bearded Vulture in flight. Often the ravens would land next to a single Cape Vulture and try to intimidate it into flying off, but if another vulture arrived the ravens flew off. The second morning added a magnificent adult Bearded Vulture, a Jackal Buzzard that posed with outspread wings before flying off, and an immature Verraux’s Eagle, as well as several fly-pasts by small flocks of Southern Bald Ibis. The only other birds to put in an appearance at the hide were Speckled Pigeon, Dark-capped Bulbul (now regarded as a sub-species of Common Bulbul) and Drakensberg Prinia. So, while not exactly a species-rich couple of mornings in the hide, what a privilege it was to watch Bearded Vultures gliding past such a spectacular mountain backdrop.

The hutted camp was teeming with Red-winged Starling, Greater Double-collared and Malachite Sunbird, Southern Boubou, Cape Weaver, Cape Rock Thrush and Cape Robin-Chat. A walk to the Main Caves added Cape Canary, African Yellow Warbler, Drakensberg Prinia, Wailing and Levaillant’s Cisticola, Bokmakierie and Ground Woodpecker among others, and waiting for me as I returned to my chalet was a Red-necked Spurfowl.

The drive from Giant’s Castle to Kiara Lodge was also quite eventful, with Jackal Buzzard almost every 5km from Giant’s Castle to Bergville. Two separate Long-crested Eagles were seen and a pair of Grey Crowned Crane near Sterkfontein Dam. Also seen was Plain-backed Pipit.

From Kiara Lodge a morning was spent in Golden Gate Highlands National Park. The Vulture Feeding Scheme site proved very fruitful, with 29 Cape Vultures and a single adult Bearded Vulture present at the carcasses. From there next stop was near Witsieshoek, the car park (at an elevation of about 2,550 m) for the hiking trails to The Sentinel and Mont-aux-Sources , where my intended target bird was the Drakensberg Rockjumper. I had added Buff-streaked Chat before even getting out of the bakkie at the car park, then to my amazement I found a Rockjumper no more than 10 m through the gate onto the hiking trail! So, mission accomplished, I would return to Kiara without having to put my vertigo to the test of the hiking trail, although I did venture far enough to take in the breathtaking views looking down into Royal Natal National Park and south to The Amphitheatre. I have stayed in the Tendele Camp at Royal Natal a few times in the past 3 decades and I can guarantee that the reverse view, looking up at the Amphitheatre is just as spectacular.

 The following morning a sortie along the secondary gravel roads between Kestell and Clarens produced large numbers of Secretarybird and both Red-winged and Grey-winged Francolin, and in the afternoon a nesting Rock Kestrel was located on the sandstone cliffs behind Kiara Lodge.

Only a trip total of 92 species, but given the time of year and the fact that half of the veld was burnt to a crisp at both Giant’s Castle and Golden Gate, probably not too bad. There were some real big ticks on the list, so I can’t be too unhappy.