South Africa Part 4

The last part of the journey now began as we headed for Makuze Game Reserve, where we hoped to see the black rhino. We set up our camp in rather wet weather and the first group went off for an evening game drive. We had a restful evening, preparing us for the early game drive the next morning. On this we saw lots of birds, over 420 recorded species inhabit the reserve; also many buck, including impala and nyala. The first thing we saw was the black rhino, appearing rather shy! On our evening drive, it was very wet, but the stone curlews were still out in numbers along with other nocturnal animals. Our surprise was a porcupine, which dashed across the track in front of the safari jeep! And so the long drive to the Drakensburg began early on our thirteenth day.



































We stopped at Talana, where there is a museum commemorating the first battle of the South African War. The open air part of the museum, showing the town and its dependency on the coal mines was very interesting, too. But before long we were on the road again, with the promise of the Drakensburg beckoning us. Soon, the plains gave way to the mountains, and glimpses of the Amphitheatre, a crescent shaped basalt wall some 1500m high. We stayed in a permanent tented camp with views down the valley. Baboons are known to occasionally charge through the area, but we only saw them on the other side of the valley. Again, it was pretty wet, so the view came and went.

Our first day was a walk into the valley at the bottom of the Amphitheatre. We managed up to the river crossing; but it was much too deep and fast flowing to get across. Nevertheless, we saw some lovely plants and flowers. Our day ended with a walk up to the rock drawings made by the San Bushmen, which are ancient and very precious. Our last day before beginning the journey home via Johannesburg, was taken up by the trek up to the plateau on top of the Amphitheatre. This involves climbing metal chain ladders slung over vertical rock faces. But the climb is very well worth it as the views from the top are beautiful. If you look carefully at the photos, you may see the elusive hyrax in the rocks. We only got this glimpse, as they fled into deep cover as we arrived. Other delights were the flowers – iris and orchids to name but a few, and a lammergeyer, which flew down one of the gullies as we were leaving the plateau. What excitement!















On our way back to the camp we spotted a family of beautiful crowned cranes delicately picking their way across the fields - a lovely sight.