Ken Borland

It’s always sad going back to a place and discovering that it has become an awful tourist trap and a rip-off. Unfortunately, that was my over-riding impression of Hluhluwe Game Reserve.

My family has a connection with Hluhluwe because my grandfather was camp warden there and my father a game ranger. So I feel an affinity for it, and Zululand in general.

The actual park is beautiful – golden sunlight dappling on grassy hills – but I would not recommend the place for any South African tourist. In fact, it embarrasses me that many overseas tourists will leave our country thinking Hluhluwe is the best we can offer.

The cheapest accommodation at Hluhluwe is R640 a night in one of their rondavels … literally a small room with two beds, a basin, a table, a fridge and cutlery/crockery. My wife, as beloved by bugs as by me, was quick to point out that the “mosquito netting” in the windows actually had gaps that were a good centimetre wide – only the most gluttonous, overfed mosquito would fail to fit through there!

Staying at the rondavels also means you have to use the communal bathroom and kitchen facilities, which is fine, but surely one shouldn’t have to pay R640 a night for that!

Anyway, the worst experience was the restaurant.

I’d promised my long-suffering, not overly camping-keen wife that we could eat at the restaurant the night we stayed in Hluhluwe. It was a Friday night so the only option they offered was a braai buffet … at R175 a head!

I reluctantly agreed to pay, expecting the sort of buffets you get in hotels … plenty of choices, great food.

In fact, the braai was a disgrace. I’ve had better braais at a drunk mate’s house in my student days.

The salads were three bowls of boring looking lettuce, beetroot chopped to smithereens and coleslaw. The putu was cold.

On the menu, it promised beef fillet, lamb chops and chicken … Instead, all they offered when we arrived, at 7.30pm for the 6.30-8.30pm buffet, was a scraggy piece of chicken fillet and boerewors. Apart complaint, they also offered us beef kebabs. The chops were as old as the ancient hills around Hluhluwe and as tough as the goats wandering around outside.

Borland being Borland, I decided on an act of civil disobedience in protest and brought my own bottle of Windhoek Lager into the restaurant. Only to discover, to my horror, that they were only serving Windhoek in cans … and my bottle would stand out somewhat …

So I had to hide the bottle – after I had poured its most-beneficial contents into my glass, of course – in the pocket of my jacket, which I had hung over my chair.

Of course, during the course of the evening, the bottle falls out of the pocket and bounces – not once, not twice, but three times on the hard floor and miraculously did not break!

Of course I then had to recover the bottle with the eyes of the restaurant on me … and my wife disowning me!

Anyway, it was lovely going for a couple of drives around the park and the highlights in terms of sightings were a Brownthroated Weaver well-spotted by Lauren, Woollynecked Stork (also Lauren), Orangebreasted Bush Shrike, Blackcrowned Tchagra and a posing Striped Kingfisher.

There were friendly Bushbuck, Red Duiker and Natal Robin in the camp, while we had lovely sightings of a Square-Lipped Rhinonoceros and her calf, as well as a lone Elephant on a hill on our drives.

One of my goals on this Zululand trip was to spot Black Coucal or find suitable habitat for it, and the area around the Memorial Gate in the north, on the Gontshi Loop, certainly looks promising.

Sightings list

Blackeyed Bulbul

Yellowfronted Canary

Brownthroated Weaver

Wattled Plover

Nyala

Warthog

Forktailed Drongo

Speckled Mousebird

Plains Zebra

Square-Lipped Rhinoceros

Hamerkop

Crested Francolin

Blackbacked Puffback

Redbilled Firefinch

Redfaced Mousebird

Natal Francolin

Woollynecked Stork

Emeraldspotted Wood Dove

Glossy Starling

Yellowthroated Sparrow

Orangebreasted Bush Shrike

Crested Barbet

Hadeda Ibis

Bushbuck

Red Duiker

Whitebacked Vulture

Redeyed Dove

Egyptian Goose

Blue Waxbill

African Pied Wagtail

Threebanded Plover

Blackcrowned Tchagra

Rattling Cisticola

Burchell’s Coucal

Goldenbreasted Bunting

Striped Kingfisher

Nile Crocodile

Little Bee-Eater

Cape Turtle Dove

Natal Robin

Trumpeter Hornbill

Blackheaded Oriole

European Swallow

Elephant

 

 

–

One of the main delights of birdwatching is the thrill of the hunt, tracking down your target, especially if it happens to be a lifer!

Going to Ndumo Game Reserve, on the Mozambique border in northern Zululand, about 60km from the coast is an absolute thrill in itself and something I do every summer. The remoteness is a big plus … even though you are aware there are other people around, you never see them! The last few years have not brought any lifers in amongst the hordes of birds, but this year was different!

While the wife – on her first camping trip with me! – was having a mid-day nap (yes, I wore her out with all the birding), I was pottering around camp, spotting what I could.

The scream of a Goldentailed Woodpecker alerted me to its presence in the trees a little way from our camp, but then we had a very special visitor in a Neergaard’s Sunbird in the tree in front of me. He hopped around quite low for a bit, giving me probably my best ever views of this sought-after bird that is restricted to the tropical east coast.

Shortly thereafter, there seemed to be a lot of activity going on up towards the car park so I thought I’d go have a squizz. Four Crowned Hornbill were dashing around in animated fashion so I kept my eye on them … They were mobbing a small raptor and actually chasing it.

I followed the melee for a good 300 metres, from tree-to-tree, the raptor often hiding in thick leaves on top of the trees … before it was eventually driven away from the main camp.

But the telltale grey back, brownish streaks below and heavily banded tail left me in no doubt that I had my first Sooty Falcon. It was a juvenile, but to get it in such exciting fashion also made it a special sighting.

Arriving on April 10, the bush was actually pretty quiet and most of the summer migrants had already left, although I did get a good sighting of a female Diederick Cuckoo sitting on a stump on our way to the main camp on the first afternoon.

The ubiquitous Nyala was the first creature we saw and we had a lovely Pale Flycatcher as our companion at our campsite.

The first morning was spent driving around the acacia woodland in the south-west and we spotted Green Pigeon, Bearded Woodpecker, Crested Guineafowl and Striped Kingfisher, as well as Giraffe, Red Duiker and Kudu among the more common animals.

We had our first look at Nyamithi Pan that afternoon and, although it sounded rather quiet walking down to the hide through the prickly sand forest, accompanied by our ever-present B52 dragonflies, the water levels were receding and there was quite a bit of life around.

Stacks of Yellowbilled Stork were nesting in the Fever Trees on the far side of the pan, while a couple of Pied Avocet, sweeping side-to-side, were a highlight. Wiretailed Swallow had a nest in the hide and there were also Openbilled Stork, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron, Woollynecked Stork, Pinkbacked Pelican (sharing the Yellowbilled’s tree) and Purple Heron.

The second morning was spent driving through the sand forest to Red Cliffs, where we had the traditional breakfast overlooking the Usuthu River and Mozambique, at one of the most tranquil spots on earth!

There initially weren’t many birds around though, apart from a White-Eared Barbet sitting high above the river, but then a bird party arrived and Fantailed Flycatcher and Black Saw-Wing Swallow were among the busyness.

On the way back to camp, I finally spotted a Whitebrowed Scrub Robin, which had been calling from hidden lairs for ages, and was interested to note very cinnamon flanks – a bit like the ovamboensis sub-species of northern Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe.

After the thrill of Neergaard’s Sunbird and Sooty Falcon at main camp, we returned to Nyamithi Pan without adding much except some European Swallows which were still around. We did some night driving to see what we could spot before 6pm and, as I turned the car around to head back to camp, there frozen in the headlights, not much bigger than a cat and standing on spindly little legs, was a Suni! It was only my second sighting of this elusive miniature antelope!

We did a guided walk to Paradise Pan, a north-eastern extension of Nyamithi, on our final morning and, on the drive down, spotted Lesser Blackwinged Plover and Palmnut Vulture where we always get them, at the vulture restaurant.

We went on foot from the second hide at Nyamithi, almost immediately flushing a Blackcrowned Night Heron. Water was not flowing over the concourse where the crocodiles normally wait but, in the pool below were two African Finfoot who dashed off in great alarm in a splash of wings and big orange feet.

There was also a Goliath Heron nearby and, after passing a quiet, but promising-looking Paradise Pan, we walked along the shore of Nyamithi Pan, passing close to the trees where all the Yellowbilled Stork, Pinkbacked Pelican and Whitebreasted Cormorant were nesting and allowed us a remarkably close approach without kicking up much fuss.

A delightful group of Whitecrowned Helmetshrikes were our fluttery companions for a while, before Joseph, our excellent guide, spotted that the “wood sandpiper” we were looking at didn’t have the white eyebrow extending beyond the eye – making it a very exciting Green Sandpiper. I was thinking it looked quite dark for its more common cousin, which was lurking just a little further along.

Kittlitz’s Plover was also present in the drying mud, while Yellowbilled Egret completed the set of egrets for us and we were able to marvel at the efficiency of dung beetles in turning piles of warthog poo into finely cut slivers of grass!

On the way back, I spotted Bluecheeked Bee-Eaters wheeling about and there was another sighting of Finfoot! Even Joseph was excited.

The final packing up at camp yielded Scarletchested Sunbird and one last look at the trees at the office yielded two favourites – Plumcoloured Starling and Yellow White-Eye.

A Bateleur was a farewell present from one of my favourite places on earth.

Sightings list

Nyala

Blackbacked Puffback

Crowned Hornbill

Impala

Diederick Cuckoo

Southern Black Flycatcher

Kurrichane Thrush

Blue Wildebeest

Forktailed Drongo

Crested Francolin

Pale Flycatcher

Vervet Monkey

Yellowbreasted Apalis

Blackeyed Bulbul

Spurwinged Goose

Chinspot Batis

Green Pigeon

Emeraldspotted Wood Dove

Rattling Cisticola

Southern Greyheaded Sparrow

Bearded Woodpecker

Giraffe

Warthog

Sombre Bulbul

Red Duiker

Crested Guineafowl

Greenbacked Camaroptera

Blue Waxbill

Lilacbreasted Roller

Yellowbilled Hornbill

Blackshouldered Kite

Whitefronted Bee-Eater

Yellowfronted Canary

Spottedbacked Weaver

Striped Kingfisher

Plains Zebra

Redfaced Mousebird

Cardinal Woodpecker

Striped Skink

Yellowthroated Sparrow

Whitebellied Sunbird

Little Swift

Southern Black Tit

Hadeda Ibis

Kudu

Crowned Plover

Greenbacked Heron

Yellowbilled Stork

Whitebreasted Cormorant

Egyptian Goose

Pied Avocet

Nile Crocodile

Blackwinged Stilt

Wiretailed Swallow

Sacred Ibis

Great White Egret

Blacksmith Plover

Whitefaced Duck

African Spoonbill

Openbilled Stork

Grey Heron

Hippopotamus

Glossy Ibis

Squacco Heron

Woollynecked Stork

Pinkbacked Pelican

Pied Kingfisher

Purple Heron

Gymnogene

Common Scimitarbill

White Helmetshrike

African Pied Wagtail

Threebanded Plover

White-Eared Barbet

Collared Sunbird

Fantailed Flycatcher

Paradise Flycatcher

Longbilled Crombec

Trumpeter Hornbill

Black Saw-Wing Swallow

Goldenbreasted Bunting

Whitebrowed Scrub Robin

Common Duiker

Goldentailed Woodpecker

Neergaard’s Sunbird

Sooty Falcon

Redeyed Dove

European Swallow

Suni

Lesser Blackwinged Plover

Palmnut Vulture

Blackcrowned Night Heron

African Finfoot

Goliath Heron

Hamerkop

Black Crake

African Fish Eagle

Redbilled Woodhoopoe

Green Sandpiper

Kittlitz’s Plover

Wood Sandpiper

Little Egret

Yellowbilled Egret

Slender Mongoose

Grassveld Pipit

Nile Monitor

Common Sandpiper

Bluecheeked Bee-Eater

Scarletchested Sunbird

Speckled Mousebird

Plumcoloured Starling

Yellow White-Eye

Bateleur

The Canterbury Crusaders have been cleared off all charges of eye-gouging by SuperRugby ruling body Sanzar following the issuing of two white cards against them after allegations made by the Northern Bulls in their match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Although there has been no official word from Sanzar, Bulls spokesman Ian Schwartz issued a statement on the franchise’s website on Monday saying “no evidence of eye-gouging was found by Sanzar’s judiciary system”.

According to the statement, no evidence was found by citing commissioner Freek Burger by analysing various video replays of the two incidents in which Bulls hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle and lock Flip van der Merwe claimed they were fouled by the Crusaders.

Schwartz said there would be no apology by the Bulls, despite comments by Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder after the game that he expected an apology if the allegations were not proven.

“For them to suggest we must now apologise, just because there is no video evidence available, would mean we have lied. It is ridiculous to suggest that every time there is a citing and there is not enough evidence, the other team should apologise,” Schwartz said.

“The rules are clear and we applied them 100% correctly. We had the right to raise the matter with the referee and we accept the fact that there was no video evidence.

“I just want to say that our players’ integrity is just as important to us as the Crusaders’ players integrity is to them. I feel the players will not make unfounded accusations unless something has happened,” Schwartz added.

The Rajasthan Royals attack called the tune as they dismissed the Kolkata Knight Riders for 142 to win their Indian Premier League match by 22 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.

– http://www.supersport.com/cricket/indian-premier-league/news/120408/Rajasthan_Royals_bowlers_do_the_job

The Knight Riders were chasing 165 for victory, but a top-class opening burst by seamer Amit Singh and left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan saw them lose three wickets off three balls.

At eight for three in the third over, Kolkata were looking like fish out of water and, despite a classy, defiant half-century from Manoj Tiwary and a late onslaught from Brett Lee, the victory was a most comfortable one for the Royals.

Jacques Kallis (5) was the first to fall, driving a slower ball from Amit straight to deep mid-off. The 30-year-old followed up the wicket of South Africa’s greatest batsman by having Indian star Gautam Gambhir caught behind for a duck off the next delivery.

Brendon McCullum (2) then seemed oblivious to the crisis as he walked across his stumps to the first ball of the next over and was trapped lbw by Chavan.

The Rajasthan team needed to use just five bowlers as the Knight Riders continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.

Yusuf Pathan briefly threatened as he scored 15, but the big-hitting Gujarati is frustratingly inconsistent and he skied Siddharth Trivedi to midwicket to leave Kolkata on 66 for five in the 11th over.

Lee is a dangerous striker of the ball and he hammered a pair of fours and sixes in his 25 off 11 balls before being bowled by a good slower ball from Kevon Cooper.

Tiwary finished with 59 off 49 balls, with seven fours, but it was not enough to prevent the Knight Riders from being bowled out in the final over.

Chavan took 2-23 and Amit 2-30 to set the early tone, while Trivedi claimed 2-25 to undermine the middle-order.

Cooper then grabbed 3-28 to earn himself the Purple Cap for the leading wicket-taker, while South African Johan Botha eventually bowled Tiwary to end the innings and finish with 1-34.

Brad Hodge and Ashok Menaria were the inspiration earlier with the bat as the Rajasthan Royals posted 164 for five.

Rajasthan had been sent in to bat and were hampered by both their openers being run out as they reached 62 for three after nine overs, before Menaria scored 40 off 30 balls and Hodge 44 off 29 deliveries as they shared a fourth-wicket stand of 64 in 7.3 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane, the hero of Rajasthan’s comprehensive opening win over the Punjab Kings XI, surrendered his wicket in the second over when he was run out by Gambhir for a duck, before Rahul Dravid and Shreevats Goswami added 43 for the second wicket in five overs.

Their stand was ended, however, by Dravid’s run out, by Iqbal Abdulla, for 26 and Rajat Bhatia, their most economical bowler, then struck a major blow for the Knight Riders as he bowled Goswami for 23.

Menaria and Hodge owned the middle overs, however, giving the Royals a competitive total in the process.

Hodge was content to set off at his own pace, scoring at a run-a-ball for his first 13 deliveries, before getting stuck into off-spinner Pathan in the 14th over.

The Australian cooked up two sixes and a four in the over of pies and the run-rate continued to rise as he smashed Kallis for successive boundaries in the next over.

Hodge eventually fell trying to scoop compatriot Lee and being caught behind, but Englishman Owais Shah immediately got down to business, facing two balls before hitting two fours and a six off his next four deliveries.

Lee bowled Menaria in an eventful penultimate over that also included a six and a four by Shah, as well as a no-ball that just cost two more runs off the free hit by the Western Cape Cobras batsman.

The Kolkata bowlers stuck to their game plans well, with Lee taking 2-29 and spinners Sunil Narine, the IPL rookie from the West Indies, (4-0-29-0) and Bhatia (4-0-27-1) systematically stifling the batsmen.