Continuation on Barry trip to Namibia............

From Epupa, the long road "home" to Phalaborwa, begins firstly by retracing our route back along the C43 road and on to Opuwa, which is a major Himba center, together with some traditionally dressed Hereroes too.  Opuwa is the first town to stock up at since Ruacana village.  Still on the C43, heading south, and skirting to the west of Etosha Park, the road runs through the Joubert Mountains with impressive scenery and lots of baobab trees each side of the road, we saw Brown Snake and Martial Eagles along the way.  The scenery soon changes back to mixed Mopane and grassveld which then changes to acacia savannah around Sesfontein.  We took the short turn off road into Sesfontein, stopping off at the old fort, now a modern lodge/hotel, for a cold beer.  Continuing south to Palmwag, the veld becomes dryer, but is still very scenic, and springbok and gemsbok appear in increasing numbers.  Sesfontein and Palmwag are popular tourist destinations for people wanting to find the desert rhinos and elephants.  Camping at Palmwag Lodge at N$90 p.p.p night is reasonable for the good facilities.  Having permanent water around, there is plenty of bird activity, and a Bokmakierie was calling loudly from first light.

Just south of Palmwag the road (C40) branches off to the Grootberg Pass which ascends up to the summit in a distance of about 20 Km, going through beautiful scenery, including some rivers which were still gently flowing.  We turned around at the summit and started to retrace our route to the C43 when Marja spotted 2 desert elephants as well as gemsbok in the valley opposite us.  To watch the elephants manoeuvre through the steep rocky terrain was impressive.  About another 40 kms south the road joins, and becomes, the C39.  Along this stretch we found a Benguela Long-billed Lark at the roadside.  We visited Twyfelfontein National Heritage site to see the famous rock engravings and spent the night at the Aba Huab  community camp site which is another popular stop-over for tour groups visiting the local attractions.  The camp site is along the Aba.Huab dry river embankment which has impressive sized Ana trees and evidence of desert elephants having been there recently.  In this same area we passed several groups of Ruppels Korhaan in the dry grassveld.

From here we continued south, skirting the impressive Brandberg Massive to Uis and then turned south west on the C35 main road through the desert to Henties Bay and down the coast road back to Swakopmund to complete a trip within our greater trip!!

After a few more days in Swakopmund, we said goodbye to our friends and departed for South Africa.  We again went through Walvis Bay and the desert to Solitaire where we saw a group of 3 Lappet-faced Vultures feeding in the veld in the middle of the desert.  It just shows how these birds must be "patrolling" over enormous distances in this environment.  We continued via Maltahohe to Hardap Dam, near Mariental, staying overnight here.  Hardap is another Namibia Wildlife Resort (NWR) and once again expensive for the facilities.  Bird wise, I found Black faced Waxbills, Pririt Batis and lots of pelicans which were feeding in the waterway under the dam wall.

From Hardap, the following day, we went into Mariental and then took the main B1 road south via Keetmanshoop, Grunau and the border at Noordoewer/Vioolsdrif.

We turned off the main road to Cape Town (N7) at Steinkopf and headed for the Richtersveld National Park but as it was getting late we diverted to Port Nolloth instead.  Port Nolloth is an interesting little town; a center for the diamond dredging business and with quite some history.  At the museum we met Johann, an ecologist who has written the local birding guide.  From him (and the bird guide) we found out that Barlows Lark is locally common, although hybrids with Karoo Larks also occur.  Also, Damara Terns breed at the local salt pan from November to January.   However, we didn't manage to find   these species, the terns having migrated.  What is common in the town is the European Starling.  This again shows how this species colonizes even to the extreme north west of RSA

All along the roadside various raptors perch and nest on phone lines and poles, with Jackal Buzzard being common.  Of note is the pale coloration of some of these, reminiscent of the Augar Buzzards that we found further north.  The road north from Port Nolloth up to Alexander Bay is through the diamond area and therefore restricted entry.  However, bird viewing along the road is OK.  At Alexander Bay, we entered the mine area and visited the mouth of the Orange River.  This, together with some good rehabilitated areas support a lot of bird life and we found African Shelduck and another African Marsh Harrier.

From Alexander Bay to the Richtersveld the road continues through the "diamond areas" to the Park H.Q. at Sendingsdrif where there is rondavel accommodation as well as a camp site.  The ferry across the Orange River operates from here to the Fish River Transfrontier Park in Namibia.  From the Namibian side the road continues to the north to join the main Luderitz to Keetmanshoop (B4) road.  In the Richtersveld Park it is essential to have 4X4 with good ground clearance and worth buying the guide book to ensure that you do not lose your way!!!   The whole Park is quite extraordinary with unique plant life/habitat in unforgettable scenery..  There is a good selection of dry habitat birds, Karoo chats, Karoo Long Bill Lark, Black and Pied Crows, Verreaux Eagle (Black) and more Jackal Buzzards.  There are also many Bokmakaries which are particularly confiding and appear to have larger bills than normal.  There are other camping sites within the Richtersveld N P and those we checked were basic but adequate

From the Richtersveld we returned by the same route back to Port Nolloth, then, taking the bye-roads and keeping as near to the coast as possible we headed south to Kleinzee, then inland following the strongly flowing Buffels River.  Due to the early and heavy rains there were plenty of veld flowers of all colours.  We were headed for Kamieskroon via the Namaqualand National Park. From this direction the "entrance" to the Park is only a cattle grid with a sign board indicating the Park boundary.  Along the road we stopped and watched 2 separate pairs of Lanner Falcons.  There were also Spike Heeled Lark, Malachite Sunbird and Black Headed Heron.

At Kamieskroon we booked into the hotel, well known as a center for “doing the flowers”.  Due to the good and early rains, the flowers were already prolific, so we took advantage and spent the day visiting local areas for flowers as well as birding.  Cape Weavers were already nesting and Yellow Rumped Widow and Red Bishop were in breeding plumage, indicating that the rains rather than the warmer weather start the new breeding cycle.  Also in this area we found Karoo (Spotted) Prinia, Large Billed Lark, Southern (Lesser) Double Collared Sunbird, Yellow Canary and Southern Grey Tit.

From Kamieskroon we used the main (N7) road south to Vanrhynsdorp.  We turned off and went up the impressive Van Ryns Pass to Nieuwoudville, stopping on the pass to see Pied Starling and Red Wing Starling, which replaces the White Winged Starling that had been so abundant further north on the top of the Bokkersveldberge.  At Nieuwoudville, with the rise in altitude, it was much cooler and so the flowers in the “flower reserve” were only just starting to bloom.  We decided to push on towards the Cedarberge, our next destination.  To get to Clanwilliam we took the R364 gravel road via the Botterkloof Pass.  Soon after starting along this road we saw 3 large birds flying away, which I took to be Ludwigs Bustards, but wasn’t able to confirm.  These were followed by a group of Southern Black Korhaan.  The habitat around Botterkloof Pass is suitable for Cape Rock Jumper, as is much of the Cedarberg area, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find one.

With the heavy rains in the area the rivers were flowing strongly and the roads rutted and muddy.  We found hutted accommodation on a farm in the Cedarberg, as camping , for the “boss” , in the Cape winter, was definitely  OUT.  The following morning we awoke to the sound of the river in spate through the valley, just below our hut.  Despite the gentle rain the birds were active all around.  Cape Robin, Southern Bou Bou, Rameron Pigeon, Cape White Eyes and Cape Bulbuls were all close to the hut.  I spent the day driving and walking in the area, going up the Uitkyk Pass in such thick mist and cloud cover that it was impossible to look for birds.  My plan was to search suitable areas for the Cape Rock Jumper, but no such luck.

The following day we departed for Marloth Nature Reserve outside of Swellendam, going over the Nieuwoudt Pass, crossing through (another) Olifants River to Citrusdal and rejoining the main (N7) road to Cape Town.  We traveled the N7 as far as Picketberg, turning off to Porterville, passing a flock of 7Blue Cranes, followed by another pair further on.  By now we were in the heart of the Cape wheat growing region.  We continued on to Tulbach, then Wolseley, where, incidentally, there is a preserved British block house dating from the Boer war, guarding rail and river crossings.  We crossed the N1, Cape to Pretoria road, at Worcester and continued via Robertson and Ashton to Swellendam, with most of the higher mountain peaks snow covered..  At Marloth Reserve we found the accommodation was fully booked so ended up at the municipal camping/caravan park.  I can confirm that the Wood Owls call each night as described  in the Bird Finder book.  Also Swee Wax Bill and Fiscal Fly Catchers are common here.  Marloth N R preserves some remnant patches of coastal forest which has birds typical of this habitat.  We found plenty of Cape Sugar Birds and Greater Double Collared Sunbirds feeding on Proteas at the parking area and in the forest Blue Mantled and Crested Flycatchers, Forest Canary and Olive Woodpecker and Gymnogene and Cape Canary could be seen.

For anybody interested in S African history the Old Drostdy and Museum complex are well worth a visit, including the Ambagswerf; recreated workshops showing all the original trades necessary for pioneer living.  The Drostdy itself is impressive with lots of antique furniture and old maps.

From Swellendam we traveled along the N2, coastal road, to Gouritsmond, staying with friends and checking out the area. The only new bird added to my trip list was a Spotted Thick Knee (Dikkop), but there were more Blue Crane flocks in the grasslands along the river and plenty of Black Oyster Catchers on the beach.

From Gouritsmond we continued on to the Boss’s brother in Jeffreys Bay for a few days, passing the Mossgas Refinery outside of Mossel Bay and visiting the museum complex in town, again well worth a visit.  My original plan was to spend some more time visiting parks and reserves in the Cape but after so long away from Phalaborwa the Boss was getting homesick.

Whilst staying at Jeffreys Bay I visited  the Gamtoos River  mouth, which is normally an excellent birding spot.  However, there was much less water there than 2 years ago.  There were still some good birds to see – African Marsh Harrier, Osprey, African (Ethopian) Snipe and Whimbrel.  On the dunes were Cape (Orange throated ) Longclaw and in the thick bush area were Bully Canary and Sombre Bulbuls.  At the sea fast flying terns were foraging.  They appeared to be Arctic Terns, but I couldn’t be sure.

From the Eastern Cape we traveled along the coast via Transkei and Natal South Coast, Durban and North Coast adding my first Yellow Billed Kite of the season (13/8/08) and a Half Collared Kingfisher, fishing in a salt water pool next to the sea.  The last bird for my ‘trip list” was a Common Indian Mynah at Machadorp,  The total distance of the trip was just over 16,000 km and a bird list of 311 species with 40 new species (Lifers) for me.

In conclusion, should anybody else be interested in visiting the areas that I’ve described  I will be happy to help them