Southern Africa - It's for the birds!

The diversity of its geography and eco-systems provides all of southern Africa with a wonderful environment for more than 500 bird species. It wasn't hard to spot them. In fact, sometimes it was hard to ignore them. Here's a sample of the birds we've seen in the past few days. The red bishop, a weaver so-named because red is traditionally the color of bishop's robes, flitted around in the reeds at the waterhole in Mlilwane. He was easy to spot because of his scarlet red color, but it was hard to capture a good photograph as he danced from reed to reed, then hid in the marshes.

I've talked about weavers previously. We saw village weavers at Mkhuze. They are the most industrious, creative, energetic birds we've ever seen. In Mlilwane, we saw lesser masked weavers who prefer to build their nests over water. Despite the heat and humidity, these little guys worked dawn till dusk plucking blades of green grass from the marshy area around the mudhole at Mlilwane rest camp.

Starlings are not usually my favorite bird. They're raucous, ill-mannered and not particularly pretty. Not so for this violet-backed starling I spotted in a tree near our hut at Sandzela.

This trumpeter hornbill was distinctive as he sat high up in a tree surveying his surroundings at Mkhuze. He was quite far away and the photo is not the best, but I wanted to share it anyway.

The little African pied wagtail we saw at the mudhole at Nisela in Swaziland  reminded us of the willy wagtails in Australia.

Red-billed oxpeckers spend their time riding around on the backs of other animals, picking off insects. The animals don't seem to mind and the oxpeckers get free lunch.

These lesser striped swallows gave me a run for my money at the Nsumo Hide in Mkhuse.

Beautiful European rollers were abundant in Mkhuse.

This white-fronted bee-eater was magnificent on the Shallows Trails at Mlilwane.

Midst the herons and egrets and Egyptian geese at the Mlilwane waterhole, we saw this single thick-knee water dikkop. Strange looking bird. He's got Betty Davis eyes.

No, we're not twitchers, but we do enjoy seeing different birds and then my identification-itis kicks in and I have to figure out what they are. I'm sure we'll see more  on this trip and I'll share with you later.

Relaxing at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary - Swaziland

A family of warthogs woke us up this morning. They were just outside the hut and we could see them  through the window. They scurried away when I opened the top of our Dutch entry door. In the near distance, I could see zebra, impala and bontebok grazing. A delightful way to start the day.

There was a thick mist hovering in the mountain valleys and it drizzled on and off during the morning. No matter. We were booked in for a couple of days and were quite content in our little hut, reading, writing, relaxing and watching the wildlife at our leisure.

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary was Swaziland's first protected area. The Reilly family first settled in the area known as Mliliwane (Swati for “little fires” caused by frequent lightning hits) in order to mine tin in late 19th century. Because of over-hunting and development, the local wildlife diminished rapidly. Ted Reilly, son of the owner and ardent conservationist, created the sanctuary on his family's farm in the late1950s as a private endeavor when the British colonial government saw no need for another park beyond the Kruger to the north and Hluhluwe to the south. Today, Mlilwane is one of three major wildlife sanctuaries and several nature reserves in Swaziland.

Mlilwane is crisscrossed with self-drive trails and walking paths. David needed a well-deserved rest from gravel road driving and our bodies needed some exercise. The morning mist cleared and we decided to spend the day hiking and relaxing within the park. This park differs from many in that it has no big predators, and therefore, walking amongst the animals is allowed. We chose the Sendzela Path, a short loop into the valley and up again to the main camp, then returning to the backpackers' lodge. It was quiet and serene. Zebra came quite close before heading off in a different direction. Bontebok and impala were not as trusting and bolted as soon as they heard us coming up the path. Warthogs were curious and came close, then darted away when we made eye contact.

At the main camp, we couldn't resist buying a half hour of internet time to check e-mails and see what was going on in the world. We had worked up a sweat with our walk and stopped in the Hippo Haunt Restaurant for a cold Sibebe, the local Swazi beer.  We chose a table overlooking the waterhole and had quite a show. David's keen eyes noted a croc almost at once … its staring, reptilian eyes barely poking above the surface of the water.

In the distance, sacred ibis shared a sandy piece of shoreline with moorhens, dikkops, egrets and Egyptian geese. We wondered if the birds became croc food now and then.

Not far away, bright yellow village weavers were busy making new nests which were artfully suspended from tree branches. They were very industrious birds as we watched them dart back and forth into the reeds to find the materials for nest-making. The male weavers build the nests as part of the courtship ritual for the females. If she likes the nest, she mates with the male. If she doesn't find the nest acceptable, she rips it apart and leaves him to start all over again. Sounds fair to me.

We were back to our hut in time for hot showers. We heard the dinner drums once again and headed for the braai area. Tonight's offering was a veggie bean stew with rice and salad for me and beef with rice and salad for David. We enjoyed chatting with a Dutch fellow who had just finished up working for Unicef in Kenya and a Danish fellow who was tramping around Africa studying Bantu tribes. Backpacker lodges are great places to meet interesting people.

Once again, we retreated to our cozy little hut. We could hear the monkeys chattering in the trees above, probably disappointed that we'd removed all the food that they'd been coveting since we had sat down. It was just beyond dusk and we could see the faint silhouettes of zebra and bonteboks still grazing on the fine, long grass on a nearby hill.

The days seem to be flying by, but each one is more enjoyable than the last.

Across the Border to the Kingdom of Swaziland

Swaziland? Where the heck is that? Get out your world globe or atlas to find us. After a wonderful night in our upscale chalet at the Shayamoya Lodge and a leisurely breakfast on the lodge patio the next morning, we headed north to the border towns of Golela and Lavumisa, to cross into Swaziland. “Why Swaziland?”, you ask. Well, because it's there, nestled between South Africa and Mozambique, and it's close and it sounded interesting when I read about it first in the Lonely Planet and then subsequently did my internet research.

The border crossing was easy enough. It was only 10km (6 miles) away. We stopped at South African Customs/Immigration for clearing out of the country. They stamped our passports and we drove a few hundred feet to the Swaziland Immigration/Customs offices to clear in. They asked no questions. They stamped our passports. We paid our R50 and voilá … we were visitors in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

We stopped at Nisela Safaris for lunch. It looked quite commercial, and it was, but it was the only place we saw for miles and we were hungry. Lunch was served on a patio overlooking a man-made waterhole. A sign warned of crocs, but we didn't see any. There were lots of birds and I spotted a meter-long water monitor lizard sunning himself on the shore.

The southeast part of the country is mostly agricultural with never-ending, undulating fields devoted to corn and sugar cane. At Big Bend (doesn't sound very Swazi, does it?), we spotted a sugar-processing mill along side the highway with heavy vehicle turnoffs, probably for cane trucks.

Swaziland, or just Swazi as locals call it, is a little country with a population of ~1 million people. We traveled north on the MR8, then west on the MR3, heading towards the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. We weren't sure what to expect, but the roads were well-paved highways with the usual cows milling along the side to add  a bit of excitement to the driving experience. The houses were not so different than the Zulu thatched huts we'd seen in South Africa.

We passed through Manzini, an unexpectedly modern small city with seemingly large stores and supermarkets and a 4-lane divided highway. We took the turn-off for Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and soon saw signs that we were getting close. Another turn-off onto a gravel road and a few kilometers more, and we were welcomed into the park.

We hadn't progressed more than a few meters past the cattle guard inside the entry gate when we saw a bontebok lazing in the grass and impala  relaxing in the middle of the road before us. A little further up and there were zebras on one side of us and bonteboks on the other. This park had lots of potential.

We could see a tall, orange mound just up ahead and recognized it as a huge termite hill. It's a protected mound, growing and thriving, its inhabitants providing food for several of the park's animals.

We arrived at the Reception area after a few minutes where we picked up a map and paid our fees.  Continuing on the rough, gravel road, we saw a sign advising us against fish poaching and another warning us to stay away from the water's edge because of crocodiles. As we crossed a tiny bridge just beyond the sign, we stopped to check out the water's edge. Sure enough … there was a croc just lying in wait. Our first ever sighting of a croc in the wild and this seemed to be the best viewing distance.

We passed through one rest camp and saw signs for Sandzela Backpackers … a high-end game lodge one night, a rustic backpackers the next. Up a hill, around ruts and potholes, through a mini-stream and we saw the huts of the backpackers' lodge. Vusi greeted us and showed us around the main building, showers/toilets, swimming pool (wow!), braai area and then took us to our little secluded hut a few hundred feet away from the main camp.

We were positively delighted with the accommodations. Though minimal and rustic, the hut was clean and tidy with two beds  (one was a double bed … hooray!), an overhead fan and light, and a sink with cold-running water. There was a Dutch entry-door and Vusi explained that we should keep the bottom closed at all times … warthogs like to explore!

We lugged our stuff to the hut and relaxed awhile. When we heard the “dinner drums”, we joined a  French couple and an Italian fellow at a long picnic table in the open  braai area. We enjoyed a supper of chicken stew with rice and salad served camp style  Monkeys were chattering nearby. Birds were chirping their dusk songs. Insects buzzed and flitted by.

We made our way back to our little hut just as darkness fell. We heard the night sounds of animals nearby for awhile and then all was quiet and the camp slept.