Delana & I drove the short distance (114 kms) to the Mount Sheba Hotel on the morning of 11th April. It is only a short distance, but it is in a different world from the bushveld. The road is steep & full of sharp bends, as one twists up on to the escarpment. There is a lot of commercial forestry here, but among this green desert are patches of native forest & grasslands.
The lodge & grounds are very nice.
It is in a very scenic setting.
The lodge is full of old world charm & it makes for a very comfortable base to explore the afro-montane forest & grasslands. We were here for a three night stay as part of my birthday treat from Delana.
The lodge is surrounded by montane,
evergreen forest.
Birding the forest on
the approach road.
We found birding the forest to be hard work & we missed a lot of the forest specials. Few species were calling & despite our best efforts, few species were seen!
Samango Monkey
They are used to people & quite tame.
Speckled Rock Pigeon is common
in the resort grounds.
Chorister Robin easy to hear but not to see!
Dark-capped Bulbul
Sombre Bulbul
Yellow-streaked Greenbul
Cape White-eye
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
We spent the morning of 12th April birding the resort grounds, the entrance road & one of the trails through the forest.
The grasslands on the Sheba Lookout Trail.
Buff-streaked Chat
Male singing.
In the afternoon we explored the lookout trail. It was a scenic area, but the walk was steep & slippy. We only managed fleeting glimpses of a Gurney's Sugarbird & more obliging Buff-streaked Chats. Then our walk was cut short by the oncoming rain.
We enjoyed a lovely evening in the
restaurant, complete with an excellent meal.
The next day we again birded the forest trail & then the upper road. It was a dark & overcast day making photography difficult & we saw very little apart from Olive Thrush & Mountain Wagtail.
One slowly climbs up out of the forest on to the
open high altitude grasslands.
Female Grey Rhebok inhabit these upland areas.
Looking down on the Mount Sheba Lodge.
The Lost City!
Photographing those pesky Cisticolas!
A distant Cape Rock Thrush
Bar-throated Apalis.
Note the colour of the underparts.
Wailing Cisticola
Rock-loving Cisticola
As it's name suggests, closely tied to
its rocky habitat.
Wing-snapping Cisticola
A high altitude grassland specialist.
Drakensberg Prinia
Then it was only a short drive to our next destination. Mount Sheba is a wonderful place to stay but we found the birding to be difficult, with the forest being largely silent. We will have to return in early summer when the birds are singing.
We left reasonably early on 14th April to take the short drive to our next destination Crystal Springs Mountain Resort. However, first we had to pack our little car! On the way out we decided to explore the so-called Lost City, which is a massive collection of rocks on the nearby hillside. Birding is very different here, with very few species, but some good open country high altitude specials.
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