South Africa – Mount Sheba, Ngwenya and Kruger Park

Atlasville, 28 May 2010

My wife and I decided to fit in a few days in the Lowveld before heading to London for our granddaughter’s 1^st birthday. I managed to get bookings for 3 nights at Mount Sheba Lodge near Pilgrim’s Rest and 2 nights at Ngwenya Lodge. The ulterior motive was that I needed to try out my new toys, having upgraded to a Canon 1D MkIV with 300mm f2.8 prime lens.

This time there were no day trips into Kruger Park from Mount Sheba. I spent the first day walking some of the trails at Mount Sheba and on our second full day we did the tour of the scenic attractions along the Panorama Route north of Graskop, The Pinnacle, God’s Window, Lisbon and Berlin Falls, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, Lowveld View and Three Rondawels Viewpoint.

The Mount Sheba Nature Reserve is home to some birding specials, one of the best places to see Chorister Robin-Chat, White-starred Robin and Orange Ground Thrush. It also one of the best places to see South Africa’s only forest-dwelling monkey, the Samango Monkey. I didn’t have to go too far to see them. I just walked out the back door of our cottage and they were sitting in the trees waiting their turn to drink from the bird bath at which a Chorister Robin had been minutes earlier.

Other birds seen on this leg of trip included Olive Thrush, Cape Robin-Chat, Gurney’s Sugarbird, Bar-throated Apalis, Sombre Greenbul, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Southern Double-collared Sunbird and Amethyst Sunbird.

Over the next two days in the Kruger we covered most of our usual haunts in the Crocodile Bridge-Skukuza-Tshokwane triangle. Perhaps I am trying to convince myself that the money spent on the new camera and lens was money well spent but I do feel that many of my images have a clarity and crispness that I have not been able to achieve so far. Time will tell.

Some of the birds seen in Kruger and at Ngwenya included African Darter, African Hawk-Eagle, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, African Harrier-Hawk, African Woolly-necked Stork, Common Bulbul, Lilac-breasted Roller, Little Bee-eater, Helmeted Guineafowl, Magpie Shrike, Laughing Dove, Grey Go-away-bird, White-headed Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, White-browed Robin-Chat, African Dusky Flycatcher, Terrestrial Brownbul, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, White-crowned Lapwing, Green-winged Pytilia, Village Indigobird, Red-billed Oxpecker, Cardinal Woodpecker and Black-headed Heron.

Mammal photos included an old bull elephant, a White Rhinoceros with an impressive horn and some young Waterbuck. However, best sighting had to be the old male lion with bloodied forelegs and muzzle, probably from feasting on his pride’s latest kill, on his way to find somewhere comfortable to sleep.