Natural History in the Northeast Kingdom and beyond: A South African Journey

A South African Journey: The Cape

The follow-on to our trip to Kruger National Park was an exploration of the Western Cape province of South Africa. A flight from Nelspruit to Cape Town afforded views of some spectacular geology, along with a look at huge and uninteresting wheat fields. Landing in Cape Town, we had entered an entirely different world: the fynbos, the coastal mountains, and the agricultural powerhouse of the country. The temperature was cooler (50-70 F, 10-20 C) and it was breezier. This area shares a few wildlife species with Mpumalanga (the province containing Kruger), but not many. It is almost an entirely different birding tour.

Our guide Geoff met us at the airport and drove us up into the gap between Signal Hill and Table Mountain, the enormous flat block of rock that seems to peer down at Cape Town and two oceans. We gazed off at Robben Island below, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in apartheid times.

The view near Signal Peak, above Cape Town, South Africa. Table Mountain is to the right.

We continued on to Hout Bay, where we spent four nights in an elegant old hotel filled with marble and wood paneling and a restaurant serving tasty food (if at a late hour in the morning!).

Hout Bay, south of Cape Town

The first morning featured a drive south to the Cape Peninsula. A stop at the penguin colony at Boulders Beach (in Simon’s Town) is obligatory. It’s not exactly challenging to get good looks at African Penguin. They have occupied this site for decades, when the locals decided to tolerate their presence rather than pushing them out or eating their eggs, the custom in centuries past. This was our first penguin experience, aside from a distant look at a single Humboldt Penguin on the Peruvian coast ten years ago. African Penguins are noisy and conspicuous, having figured out how to deal with wandering pets. They were traditionally restricted to islands off the coast, so this is new ground for them. We took our time getting the full penguin experience (which demonstrates that we are not the traditional list-ticking birders). This is the only place in the world one can do that in shirtsleeves, a few steps from a parking lot.

African Penguins at the Boulders Beach Colony, Cape Peninsula

African Penguin

We continued down toward the Cape of Good Hope, entering Table Mountain National Park, and the nature reserve that has a herd of Bontebok. Mountain peaks soared high above the blue ocean. This is the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic. The park drive took us slowly through a real botanic treasure. Large trees were mostly absent, but it was not arid. Many of the plants were succulent. Geoff explained to us that we were in fynbos (fain-boss), in one of six floristic kingdoms on the planet. The other five floristic kingdoms are continent-sized (like the North American/Eurasian that we inhabit); this kingdom (the Cape Floristic Kingdom) is only a few hundred kilometers across, and has thousands of endemic plant species. The landscape was filled with weird-looking flowers of every color. The birds in this area are unusual, if not endemic: we saw Jackal Buzzard, Speckled Mousebird, Bokmakierie, Cape Grassbird, Karoo Prinia, Piping Cisticola, Cape Sugarbird, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Cape Weaver, Yellow Bishop, Plain-backed Pipit, Brimstone Canary, Cape Canary, and Cape Bunting.

The Cape Point section of Table Mountain National Park. This is fynbos!

Near the beaches we had Bar-tailed Godwit, Rock Kestrel, White-fronted Plover, Little Egret, Hadada and Afr. Sacred Ibis, African Oystercatcher, Yellow-billed Duck, White-necked Raven, and Red-winged Starlings. Overhead were Black Sawwings, a very handsome swift that is black with swept-back wingtips, and African Swifts. A little further on was a large gull flock with Hartlaub’s, Kelp, and Gray-hooded Gulls, Great-crested Tern, and four cormorant species (Crowned, Bank, Cape, and Great (White-breasted; not at all like the Great Cormorant in North America)). They shared space on the rocks with Cape Fur Seals. We hiked up the towering peak at the tip of Cape of Good Hope to see a Cape Siskin. The view of the rocky shoreline stretching through shades of blue miles to the east was stupendous.

Bontebok near Cape of Good Hope

African Oystercatcher. An eyering to end all eyerings.

Cape Sugarbird, near Cape of Good Hope. Feeding in Protea.

Kreupelhout blooms. Cape Point.

Pig's Ear.

Cape Snow. Cape Point section of Table Mountain National Park

The incomparable seascape from Cape of Good Hope

Sea, sand, and grass at Cape of Good Hope

Looking down at the Point. Cape of Good Hope.
This is the start of the dividing line between Indian and Atlantic Oceans, as determined by currents. The southern tip of the continent is another 150 km to the east.

Malachite Sunbird in an azure sky. Cape of Good Hope.

Communing with Common Ostriches at Table Mountain National Park.
They can be dangerous animals, but these are relatively friendly.

On our second day in this area, we made a long drive over to Rooi-Els, at the far side of False Bay. We were searching for a Cape Rockjumper on the treeless rocky slopes beside the bay – this is a well-known birders’destination for this difficult-to-find species. But alas, our luck with weather had run out. The wind was blowing at almost hurricane force, staying that way for the whole day. The rockjumpers are quite skulky, and they had no interest in exposing themselves in high winds. Oh well – you can’t order up favorable weather on every day of a long vacation trip. We consoled ourselves with a Ground Woodpecker and a Cape Rock-thrush, and another endemic Orange-breasted Sunbird. An interesting aspect of Rooi-Els is the abundance of large, lavish modern-looking houses occupying an exclusive section beside the sea. South Africa, despite all of its political problems, remains a highly desired place for vacation houses owned by wealthy Europeans. Signs of poverty are all around Cape Town, but these posh neighborhoods employ private security companies to keep them safe from vandals.

Sir Lowry's Pass. This is on the way to Rooi-Els

As much as we saw of Cape Rockjumper, in forty mile per hour winds.

The Rooi-Els fynbos

Orange-breasted Sunbird, Rooi-Els. An endemic to the Cape.

In the afternoon, we toured the lovely Harold PorterBotanical Gardens. More gorgeous mountain scenery was all around us. Cape Spurfowl, Cape Batis, Speckled Pigeon, African Paradise-flycatcher, a gleaming Malachite Sunbird, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, Yellow Bishop decorated the strange looking fynbos plants at the base of the steep canyon walls stretching far overhead. Another dose of the unending Cape scenery.

Harold Porter Botanical Gardens, at the base of the mountains

Waterfall at Harold Porter botanic garden

Garden Acraea butterfly at Harold Porter

Yellow-billed Duck, Harold Porter Botanic Garden

On our third day in the Cape Town area, we went to the famed Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. The plants at this place are outrageous. Flowers of endemic plants grow huge under the attentive maintenance of a professional staff. Some of them are hybridized to look even better, but damn, they are impressive. There was an established nest of Spotted Eagle-owls on the grounds. Bar-throated Apalis, African Dusky-flycatcher, Common and Swee Waxbills were dancing around the native trees and plants at close range. Table Mountain soared overhead once again, atop steep ravines plunging through a thousand meters of dense green forest.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

Broad-leaved Sugarbush

King Protea

Silky-hair pincushion

Cape Spurfowl at Kirstenbosch

Tufted Pincushion

Cape Sugarbird, at the King Protea in Kirstenbosch

Bar-throated Apalis at Kirstenbosch

Spotted Eagle-owls, Kirstenbosch

Southern Double-collared Sunbird, Kirstenbosch

And then, after about a dozen days of birding, it was time for a break. We checked into Groot Constantia for a few hours of tasting at this famous vineyard, in a setting of elegant historical buildings. Their Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc were great, but the Gouverneurs Reserve White was memorable. The Shiraz and Gouverneurs Reserve Red were very fruity. We took away bottles of Shiraz and Sauv Blanc (for a total of $30!) to spice up the dinners of the following few days. A wise birder never turns down an opportunity like that.

Groot Constantia in Cape Town

From there, it was a short drive to Rondevlei Nature Reserve and Strandfontein for some “water birds”. Rondevlei is a nice large marsh that afforded Lesser Swamp Warbler and Little Rush Warbler, and the long-named Levaillant’s Cisticola. We had two Pin-tailed Whydahs, but it must have been too early in the year for their long tails. Strandfontein Water Treatment Plant is mostly a sewage facility, but it’s designed well and is expansive enough that it is quite pleasant to drive through. We got good looks at South African Shelduck, Cape Shoveler, Cape Teal, Red-billed Duck, Southern Pochard, and Maccoa Duck. Both flamingos were in abundance, Lesser and Greater, resting together in shallow water and looking peaceful. African Swamphens were not buried too deep in the reeds, and the bizarre Spotted Thick-knees were approachable for photos. Little Stints were at a distance, but recognizable. As expected, egrets, Gray Herons, Black-headed Herons were at close range. An African Marsh Harrier cruised slowly over the marsh grasses. The well-camouflaged Red-capped Larks perched close enough to make out field marks.