South Africa trip with Naturetrek (10-18 March)

[Michaeljf]

I’ve wanted to travel to South Africa for about the last 6 years so last year we decided we’d take the plunge (before money and time ran out!) and booked up a guided trip with Naturetrek from March 10th-18th to South Africa (2012). The trip was advertised as a 'Butterflies of South Africa' with also a general wildlife bias for 10 days that would take in at least three reserves on the north-east section of the country. Seeing as we’d never gone to South Africa a guided tour seemed to be our best choice. It’s worth noting that I had briefly met Steve Woodhall in Oxfordshire in 2010 and stayed in touch (Steve now lives in SA and had written the excellent book on Butterflies of South Africa published by Struik) and I had asked for a few tips on where best to go given that the trip had been scheduled for Mkuze reserve (edge of the Kruger National Park) and then to Saint Lucia and finally to Eshowe (we would move down the coast as the trip progressed). The dedicated Naturetrek butterfly guide had pulled out about a month before the trip started, and had been replaced by more ‘general’ guide so I had forwarded some detail on via the Naturetrek contact that Steve had given me.


Friday 9th March – Saturday 10th March – Cardiff to Johannesburg & drive to Wakkerstroom

Karen and I left Heathrow Airport on our flight to South Africa at 5:50pm on Friday 9th March. Although our ‘economy’ seats were a bit cramped there were plenty of films to watch (I plumped for the recent bird film ‘The big year’ which I found great fun). We arrived in South Africa at Johannesburg Airport at around 8 am the next day (March 10th) – a flight of about 12 hours (SA time is currently 2 hours ahead of the GMT time). Our local South African guide, Bert, was waiting for us at arrivals and we also met the other 3 members of our group at the same time (Richard from Wiltshire, and John and Linda from Oxfordshire). Soon we were on our way to Wakkerstroom in the Naturetrek minibus, with Bert giving us plenty of pointers along the way on the many birds we could see from the motorway or smaller roads.

The early SA morning weather was already pleasantly hot and a bit humid and a welcome contrast to the British temperatures we’d left (it was already about 85 degrees) – also, we were quite lucky as in the previous week there had been floods from tropical storms and cyclones. We stopped a couple of times just off the smaller paths from the main road to see what was flying. The landscape leaving Johannesburg is quite dry and there weren’t a lot of wild flowers, though there were plenty of the Cosmos flowers that had apparently spread from Australia – it looked like there weren’t any butterflies on these, so it may not be a nectar-rich flower. There were some small yellows and blues at the roadside verges and a few fast-flyers we couldn’t ID. The birds we saw included Herons, Egrets, Doves, Swifts, unidentified Weavers in the roadside trees and several birds of prey.


First stop between Jo'burg and Wakkerstroom were some dirt tracks off the main road. This Spotted Blue remained behind the wires.


Cosmos flowers were the most obvious splash of colour beside the motorways.


Even in SA whites are obviously abundant. This is the Meadow White.


Even at the roadside stop there were plenty of birds visible: these Grey Crowned Cranes were just in the scrub opposite our first stop.


An Amur Falcon was keen to keep an eye on the fields beside the motorway. Too far to get a good shot though.


There were several of these small yellows which I am fairly sure are Broad Bordered Grass Yellow.


There were a few Sunflower fields that looked welcoming on our first morning's drive.


I've noted this down as a Short-Toothed Blue, another of the small butterflies next to the dirt tracks / Sunflower fields.

[Michaeljf]

Wakkerstroom (Mpumalanga) – Saturday 10th March

Wakkerstroom is about 4 hours drive south-east from Johannesburg and we arrived there in the early afternoon without a hitch (Bert is an excellent driver and the roads in SA seemed to be fairly good condition). Wakkerstroom is a well-known wetlands reserve which is particularly good for birding. Our guesthouse and rooms were very nice (the rooms even had a bath, thank god!) – and our room had some nice views of the bit of scrubland outside the back of the guesthouse. The service was very pleasant and quick as we had a quick, light lunch and then nipped out in the minibus towards the outskirts of the town.

In his contact with me Steve Woodhall had suggested the foothills of some low-lying limestone cliffs as a good spot for the Lichen-feeding Rocksetter butterflies – unfortunately these were not to be found and, to be fair, there were not a lot of wildflowers in the fields across the local landscape as most of them were given to crops or the local animals, so we didn’t see a lot else. We would see a few large butterflies passing us quickly at the rocks (Gaudy Commadore, Common Diadem and Painted Lady) but were too quick to photograph. Instead I spent a few minutes photographing a few Browns and Blues. In between sitting on these hills we could watch the local herds of Blesbok running back and forth under their own nervous excitement. As we returned to the minibus we could see an ominous bit of cloud moving over the hills suggesting an oncoming storm. The last hour at the Wakkerstroom wetlands reserve just by the town was spent watching the various water birds including Pochard, Shelduck, Duck, Spoonbill, Flamingo, Stork, Grebe, Heron, Crane, Gull, Dove and Cormorant (also Southern Red Bishop birds that we were told shouldn’t have been in this area). I didn’t have time to investigate the few bits of wildflower scrub at the entrance of the reserve but there were a few Whites checking out the grassy reedbeds as the light drew in.

We returned to the guesthouse and had dinner while the lightning and heavy rain hit the area. It had a day too full of driving and too few butterflies for me so I was left with a tinge of disappointment - but it was great to finally be in SA (after what felt like a very long wait) and to finally start the holiday, especially as the weather had been far worse the week before.


Karen and Richard just outside our first Hotel at Wakkerstroom. When we arrived it was early afternoon and quite warm and humid!


A few of the wildflowers in the scrub belt behind the hotel rooms. Shame we wouldn't be here long to allow a longer look.


Speckled Mousebirds were flocking in the trees behind our Hotel. Great fun to watch!


This Speckled Mousebird seems to be doing the splits


The view of the scrub behind our hotel.


Another visitor to the garden was this Black-Collared Barbet. He also was having a good peck at the fruit trees.


Further out of the town was the Wetlands reserve. Here is an African Spoonbill, as with a lot of shots, just photographed from our minibus.


An African Sacred Ibis also in the wetlands area.


The landscape at Wakkerstroom a bit further out from the village. Here many wild animals could be seen on the plains.


A few of the Blesbok (or Bontebok) on the plains at Wakkerstrom. They could be very quick to run from us!


Another shot of the Blesbok / Bontebok on the plains.


Up on the limestone boulder area above the plains we started looking for butterflies. This I've suggested is a Wichgraf's Brown.

[Michaeljf]

Afternoon in Wakkerstroom - continued (10th March)


This is the rocky area in Wakkerstroom above the plains.
This is where I'd hoped to see Rocksitter butterflies: no luck today, unfortunately.


A Geranium Bronze was a slightly more familiar site amongst the boulders.
There were larger butterflies here but they had no notable flowers to stop and nectar at..


Some very small blues, which I'm suggesting are Rayed Blues, were also amongst the slopes.


Underside of the Rayed Blue. They took a long time to settle and would be off quickly again with no warning!


We returned late afternoon to the wetlands area of Wakkerstroom as a storm approached over the mountain range.


A flock of Southern Red Bishop birds were amongst the corn, but ended up being red blurs..


Another of the Meadow Whites would stop for a brief moment in the late afternoon breeze.


The approaching storm is coming closer as we left for the hotel at the end of our first day.


The inside of the Hotel at Wakkerstroom is nice and cosy and provided a good place for the first night's meal!


Despite the night's storms we were greeted by nice blue skies the next morning before departing for our next stop.

[David M]

I wondered where you'd gone, Michael.

Excellent photos as ever and I look forward to the next instalment(s).

[Padfield]

This is really interesting, Michael. I'm especially enjoying the blues, which have always been my favourite group of butterflies.

I look forward to the rest of the report.

Guy

[Michaeljf]

Thanks David & Guy....I might be taking some time to go through the photos, as I'm learning about the South Africa ID's at the same time as going through the photos!

I'll be keeping in regular contact with Steve Woodhall in case I have to change some of my ID's.

Michael

[Lee Hurrell]

Some stunning photos Michael, as usual!

I always find it fascinating with overseas species and their subtle differences to more familiar ones.

Eagerly looking forward to the next instalment.

Best wishes,

Lee

[Michaeljf]

Thanks Lee - as always

From Wakkerstroom to Mkuze (North Uthungulu, KwaZulu-Natal) – Sunday, 11th March)

Bert, Richard, Linda and John headed out early for a quick look at the wetlands reserve first thing, but Karen and I decided we’d get up a whole hour later as we hadn’t slept since Thursday night. At least taking things a bit more slowly I got to watch the birds that came into the scrubland behind the room (those Mousebirds, Barbets and Shrike).

Soon we left the Wakkerstroom area on our way to the second spot of our tour, the Mkuze game reserve, though we would stop several times beside the main roads in case we could see some more butterflies or birds, and we also drove via the Vryheid reserve which meant that the journey would be longer but also more picturesque. The early morning temperatures were kept down slightly by some cloud and light winds, though we would see several species (Whites, Browns, Swallowtails, Acrea and Blues) and amongst the birds we would see several raptors, Bulbul, Chat, Crow, Swallow, Swift, Oriole, Cisticola and a few exciting sightings of a Long-Crested Eagle, Secretary-bird and European Bee-Eater.


View of some of the landscape leaving Wakkerstroom notice a few thistle-like flowers near the road.


A Black-Shouldered Kite seen just leaving Wakkerstroom. As usual luck on the natural light and proximity to the minibus were factors we couldn't control.


We made several stops at 'likely-looking' spots. The cloud layer early stopped most butterflies but this Eastern Striped Skink didn't mind.


One of the few natural flowers beside the road looked like a low-growing verbena.


At this stop we again saw what may be Wichgraf's Brown. This one was in good condition though still a bit flighty!


Wichgraf's Brown showing perfect camouflage, especially in the shade.


A few of these moths were also at the roadside, with perfect camouflage.


Further along the road we stopped at a stream just cutting under the main path. Here some White Storks were grazing.


Also at the stream were a few slightly-battered specimens - this is a Yellow Pansy, one of the more common butterflies we saw.


A few more butterflies that looked a bit like blues were also at the stream. This one most probably is a Common Hairtail.


The upper-wings view of one of the Common Hairtail butterflies.


Again on the rocks near the stream was this Drakensberg Crag Lizard sunning itself.

[Michaeljf]

From Wakkerstroom to Mkuze (North Uthungulu, KwaZulu-Natal) – Sunday, 11th March) (continued)


One of the stops near the Vryheid reserve gave us some good views of several Citrus Swallowtails near the roadside.


And also our first view of one of the Acrea species - this is a Pale-Yellow Acrea. Too far away for a good view though.
Steve Woodhall tells me this was quite a rare one to see either way...


One of the highlights of Sunday's road trip - a Long-Crested Eagle sitting right by the main road.


Because we were 'stuck in the minibus' most of the time it was difficult to get good landscape shots.

Mkuze is a small town in Northern KwaZulu-Natal: the journey to Mkuze would take around seven to eight hours in total but the last hour was all the more exciting as we drove into the Mkuze game reserve: we would soon see our first White Rhino (erm, it was actually about 15 yards from the minibus and the door was open!). We also would see plenty of Common Duiker and Impala (and a beautiful European Roller, Widowbird and Hoopoe to greet us near the entrance of the reserve). Later that evening we would be cooked an excellent meal by our host Mavourneen who also owns and runs Lawson’s Safaris, who are essentially looking after the SA tour for Naturetrek. I spent some time after the meal watching the number of Geckos who would stay under the outside lights so they could catch the insects drawn in by the lights: there would also be some huge Ascaphalids (ant-lions) and Preying mantis that were also drawn to the evening lights.

Although the Mkuze accommodation we would sleep in were tents, they were very much ‘upmarket and permanent’ tents with a shower, toilet and beds for each tent. Despite the presence of mosquito nets it was still a slightly unsettled nights sleep though the temperature did drop a little due to more heavy rain and lightning during the night (a repeating theme over the whole of the SA holiday). We had also been promised a early morning walk in the fig forest the next day with a definite possibility of some good butterflies, so I went to bed with a bit more optimism. Monday we would also be getting up for a 6am start.


The view from the smaller mountains in the Vryheid reserve, looking towards our destination near Mkuze.


As soon as we arrived at the Mkuze reserve several interesting birds were there to greet us (African Hoopoe).


Near the reception area of Mkuze reserve we stopped for a quick break. Here a Dark-Webbed Ringlet was flying amongst the low grass.


The Dark-Webbed Ringlet underside - evening light is just arriving.


Amongst the other butterflies on our arrival were several Hairstreaks and this African Monarch.


Also in the reception area of Mkuze was this Emerald-Spotted Wood dove, keeping to the shadows under the trees.


Properly into the Mkuze reserve we were greeted by this male Impala.


And our first view of a african White Rhino. At this point the Rhino was only about 15 yards from the minibus.


Our first Rhino decides to take cover...


...and finds a nice shaded section that he/she feels more comfortable with...


Next on view was a beautiful European Roller. It didn't seem to bothered about us and stayed for several minutes.


Another view of the European Roller.


More of the young Impalas came out to see us as the evening light was drawing in at Mkuze.


The Impalas were the most common mammal we would see at Mkuze and were often very close to our camp site.


Before stopping at our camp for the night we would see another White Rhino, this time with her calf.


After joining our Lawson's Safari hosts for dinner, we would watch the local Geckos come out by the outside lights.


The Geckos are great to watch and can move surprisingly fast to catch a 'late night snack' under the lights.


There were also some huge Ant-Lions attracted to the evening lights at the main camp where we had dinner.

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Michaeljf,

A lovely thread, i am really enjoying it, being a bird watcher as well, even more so. Some lovely photos, especially the Citrus Swallowtail.

keep them coming,

All the best,

Nick.

[David M]

Superb stuff, Michael. The underside of that Dark Webbed Ringlet is particularly stunning.

[Michaeljf]

A lovely thread, i am really enjoying it, being a bird watcher as well, even more so. All the best, Nick.

Thanks Nick - if I get any bird ID's wrong, hopefully you'll point them out!

David - thanks - my only problem on this trip is we were often 'moved' quite quickly through many spots and getting good shots quickly was hard work - there's many species I would have liked to have got more shots of - the Dark-Webbed Ringlet being one!

Michael

[Paul Wetton]

Very impressive Michael. Great to see reptiles, mammals, birds and butterflies all in the mix.

I'm very jealous. Keep it coming.

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi Michael,

Wow...particularly the Acrea, the Long-Crested Eagle and the Dark-Webbed Ringlet

Could your Monarch be a Plain Tiger?

Best wishes,

Lee

[Padfield]

African monarch = plain tiger = Danaus chrysippus.

So I'll take this opportunity to say how much I'm continuing to enjoy this too!

Guy

[Michaeljf]

Thanks all - thanks for clearing that up Guy. I'm continuing to use the 'common names' as used in Steve Woodhall's excellent 'Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa'. If I'd used the latin name it would have cleared it up straight away!

Mkuzi Reserve and Fig-forest walk (Monday, 12th March).

After a slightly restless night listening to the animals in the reserve, the overnight thunderstorm and then the night’s 'interested' mosquito party just outside my bed-net, we got up early and were ready for our morning drive in time before 6am. As Bert (our guide) had told us we started the day right with a nice cup of tea or coffee outside our tents, and then went to the main reception house and caught our mornings drive with two local guides / rangers who would take us through what is known as the ‘fig-forest’ walk, about 40 minutes from our pick-up. Despite the night’s rain the sky was a bit misty and dull but at least warm and clear of rain-clouds. On the way to the forest we would see some Zebras close up, Vervet Monkeys, some more Impala on their morning stroll, the unusual sight of a Hippopotamus out of water (quite lucky on that one) and some good birds (including a few excellent raptors).


Our early morning start outside our tents in the Mkuzi reserve, plus a nice cup of tea...


Our first visitors of the morning from the open-top four-by-four were plains Zebras, a real joy.


One of the Zebras. I did note the difference between the sexes from this view but I'll leave that for another day


The mornings group of Impala. This is the normal view you'd get, with a whole group together of the same age range.


Easy at this reserve to get a good view up close of the Impala.


An early morning sighting that was lovely - an African Cuckoo-Hawk. With better light it could have been even better!


Some Crested-Guinea Fowl just scampering beside the main path.
Bert told us of visitors another year who'd come specially to see these and had missed them during their trip.
You can never rely on stuff 'turning up'...


A Hadeda Ibis seen in the trees around the local lake on route to the Fig-Forest.


A Water Thick-knee (Dikkop) beside the lake.
The lake looked beautiful first thing but we were mostly driving too quickly to get proper photographs (unfortunately).


The Hippo that was seen out-of-water. Great to see the water glistening on the animal's skin.


A close-up of the Hippo. This is a creature well worth being careful of when you see the size of it's jaw and teeth..


A Suni (tiny antelope) seen early on our drive. Our guide told us it was rare to see one at this point in the reserve.

[Michaeljf]

Mkuzi Reserve and Fig-forest walk (Monday, 12th March) - continued..

We got to the edge of the fig-forest walk before 7am and it was still a bit overcast and with the edge of the forest quite full of small scrub-bushes and trees photographing any butterflies was going to be a bit testy. We formed a single-line walking through the forest with one (armed) ranger at the front and one (armed) ranger at the back: my usual method of ‘wandering off’ and staying until I got a good shot of something I liked was out of the window straight away: I bumped up the ISO of the camera quite a bit and snapped as best I could.

First up was a small moth, following that some more Pieridae (there plenty of species of Orange-tips in South Africa) and a few Swallowtails including some more Citrus Swallowtail and a few larger unidentified butterflies. Just before leaving the entry path to the forest I spotted a lovely Hairstreak – this was a great start to the morning as I was aware of many beautiful Lycaenidae in South Africa that I’d seen already in Steve Woodhall’s book. Walking further into the forest we crossed some of the rivers via some quite rickety wooded bridges (these soon swayed quite considerably when crossing!) seeing as I had one camera already in one hand I did wish I’d had long enough to put it in my backpack...


Setting the scene of the entrance scrub at the Fig-forest walk. Note the ranger with a rifle...


There were several Swallowtails even just after 7am including this slightly taggy Citrus Swallowtail.


Our first small moth of the walk. I haven't a clue what this one is called! Reminds me of a small Tiger moth...


A Common Diadem - this species has several completely different variations, some look very much like Plain Monarchs (not this version)!


The Common Diadem stopping on one of the very thorny bushes. I noted that these bushes are very popular with the local Hairstreaks.


A Black-Striped Hairtail. We would see several more of these later on the walk. They look similar to some Blues to my mind.


A Scarlet-Tip near the start of the walk. At this point all these Pieridae are with closed wings.


A male African-Veined White. Similiar in some cases to our European Black-Veined White, to my mind.


An African Veined-White, also near the start of the Forest walk. There were many species here in a very short space.


This little beauty is called the ' Elegant Grasshopper', (Zonocerus elegans).
There were also many Ant-Lions and other Grasshoppers flying around the grass as we walked.


My favourite of the early morning walk, the Purple-Brown Hairstreak.


An African Common White (Female).


The end of the first section of the Fig-Forest walk is marked by the rickety wooden bridge over the river....

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Michael,

Just to say I'm really enjoying reading your report and looking at your pictures, which bring back a number of memories of my time in Africa. I particularly like the shots of the Black-Striped Hairtail, White Rhino, Zebra and your super landscapes.

Keep them coming.

Kind regards. Mark

[Nick Broomer]

Hi Michaeljf,

Some lovely pictures, a lot of the birds you have shown i have never seen, so keep them coming, they are great to see.

I especially like the Elegant Grasshopper, what a beautiful insect.

All the best,

Nick.

[Michaeljf]

Hi Mark and Nick,

thanks for your kind comments. I have Karen to thank for the Fig-Forest walk landscape shots as I was too busy trying to capture everything else with the macro and long-lens (there was enough to shoot even with two SLR bodies). Also - many of the birds and some of the lesser-known SA animals were new to me so I should mention that our guide, Bert, got us together every evening to run through a list where we would mark what we'd seen during the day (this turned out to be more helpful now we are back home). Without Bert's help (Richard was extremely good on birds too) it would have taken me a lot longer to ID some of the species. Luckily the grasshopper came up in one of my searches on the web

Michael