Back to the bush

If you are planning to swim the Midmar Mile, which I did 8 or 9 times this is what awaits you at the start line.  You aim for a concrete slip way to the left of the boats...........

.............though there's usually a dog-leg in the course to get the right distance.  If you're lucky you won't get collided with, swum over or kicked in the face...............much.

There's something about water that just makes sunsets more spectacular.

Took the BM out several times for rides, especially along the R102 toward Nottingham Road and as the weather was decidely nippy went to check if there was snow on the berg, but nothing.  In the hazy distance is Giant's Castle.

Little Skwag became a regular feature pitching up late afternoon and screeching for food.  Play time involved a ball of paper on a string but he was still pretty feral.  And I did feel bad about leaving him but it would have involved a trap and lacerations.

When I finally got the bakkie back I took it on some punishing roads to see if anything fell off.  Somewhere near Giant's came across this plume of smoke wafting it's way over the landscape.

The low sun accentuated the tasseled heads of this very pretty grass.................

.............and just when I was beginning to despair at the lack thereof, a magnificent pair of Secretary birds striding through the grassland.

There was a place somewhere along this stretch of road where the sleeping giant of Giant's Castle was clearly visible but try as I might I couldn't find it, so you'll have to take my word.

The low sun at this time of year adds a cobalt sparkle to every stretch of water.

And a final flourish to herald my departure after a rather lenghty stay at Midmar.

Retracing my downward passage I headed back to Mtunzini where up to eight red duiker at a time wander around the camp site.  There was quite a lot of chasing going on, but it wasn't until I heard the meaty crack of colliding skulls and I witnessed a pair of males having a go, that the penny dropped.  Even in a species as tiny, cute and innocuous as this, the men are idiots!

Therer's now a boardwalk though the mangroves which makes life a lot less muddy but a section along the bank of the estuary is no longer.  Some loon decided to make a fire too close and the recycled plastic boards are highly combustible.  Result, a goodly section of dead mangroves.

Was there late one afternoon and a bird which alighted on a dead branch caused a bit of a conundrum.  Though obviously a honeyguide, it was a toss up between Scaly-throated or Lesser.  Consultation with oracle Boon followed and we settled on Lesser, which I consider something of a coup as it is rarely seen let alone photographed.

There's been a lot of flooding recently and a place that was easily accesible before has become something of a mission to get to.  Was determined to visit though as we used to know it as Finfoot alley and saw the birds there fairly regularly, alas no longer.

However by way of compensation in flew this little beauty, a Half-collared kingfisher - stunning.

Most of Mtunzini is parked up on a ridge some way from the sea as a lot of the coastal strip is nature reserve which includes the estuary of the Mlalazi River (in the foreground), coastal dune forest and a massive beach before the ocean (background).

My last foray into Ongoye was disappointing but I'd heard there was another way to reach it and with a bit of trial and error I found a large tarred road that cuts through the extreme western edge of the forest.  Though I didn't get to see it, there was a green barbet calling from high in the canopy so it's comforting to know that they are still around.

Not much to look at but as it only occurs in this one patch of forest in RSA and a few isolated patches 2000 km to the north it is worth seeing.  Thanks for the picture Wikipedia.

This is part of the forest that you drive through though heaven knows how they got to build the road.

On a fruitless finfoot pursuit I headed upriver in the hopes of a glimpse from the old bridge.

Having a lie-down one afternoon, this massive head appeared at the window, where this lady (photographed later) had decided to join me for a ziz.  She proceeded to rip off a series of farts of such magnitude that even my ex would have been impressed.