Mtunzini

First rule when fishing from an inflatable boat: be careful how you land a fish with spines! You may recall that Roger caught a Spotted Grunter in Kosi Bay. What he did not tell me at the time is that the boat got a puncture. After catching the fish he heard a hissing noise which he traced to a hole in the floor. Eish! Luckily it was a very small hole and the floor is inflated separately from the other 3 chambers.

Mtunzini first came to our attention some time ago when Roger received an email petitioning for opposition to mining of the sand dunes alongside Mtunzini town on the KZN North coast. We wanted to see for ourselves how things were developing.

We got a campsite in the Indaba campsite at the Umlalazi Nature Reserve. There are two campsites but this one appealed to us due to its more natural feel. Here is the story of the actual site:

One of Mtunzini’s attractions is the Raffia Palm Monument. This is a declared natural monument which consists of a walk along a timber boardwalk through the palm forest. The leaves of the Raffia palm are among the largest in the plant kingdom and have many commercial uses. The trees do not occur naturally in the region but were introduced from Kosi Bay and subsequently also attracted the rare Palm-nut Vulture.

The estuary has a healthy population of White and Black Mangrove trees, and of course where you have mangroves you also have Mangrove Crabs. It is fascinating to watch how they clean up the area by grabbing the fallen leaves, which they feed on, and dragging them into their boroughs.

We did a number of walks in the forests around Umlalazi and one of the very distressing issues is the way in which the guava trees are invading and displacing the natural vegetation. It seems to be way out of control.

We had leisurely cruises in Splash on the estuary and river and on one occasion going all the way to the mouth.

Roger made use of these trips to troll for fish but without much success.

We contacted Barbara from the Mtunzini Conservancy and she kindly offered to take us around the area and inform us of their issues with the Fairbreeze mine. We went to their house for an early morning coffee and then Barbara and her husband Jim took us to see the area and get a feel for the impact the mine will have on the town and surrounds. It is really sad and shocking how they seem to have scant regard for the people and the environment.  One of the sites that are under threat is the Twinstreams educational centre which is the oldest environmental education centre in KZN, founded by Ian and Jean Garland (www.twinstreams.org.za ). Another is a large wetland which has been identified as the ‘ideal’ site for the mine’s slimes dam which will be 6 Km by 1.5 Km by 30 metres high!! A comprehensive EIA was never carried out! Please visit www.mtunzini.co.za for more information and to support them in their efforts. They are also on FaceBook.

Mtunzini and the surrounding areas are beautiful. There are large pockets of ‘park land’ at regular intervals within the village containing  indigenous trees and large open grassy spaces. This is attributed to Ian Garland who started planting forest trees instead of sugar cane along the river courses 60 years ago. It is inspiring to see what a difference one person can make!

One of the sites we passed on our tour of the town was the SEACOM Internet Cable landing site which links Africa with the rest of the world. This is the place where the submarine fibre optic cables which serve the East and West Coast of Africa, emerge. Take that…

Returning from a cruise in Splash one evening we were stopped by a guy who introduced himself as Sakhamuzi Mhlongo, a BirdLife trained guide.(He had noticed the Birdlife sticker on Suzi.)  He convinced us that we cannot leave the area without seeing the Green Barbet which is only found in the Ngoye Forest, about 40 Km from Mtunzini. He is also a trainer at the Twinstreams Educational Centre and as we found out later, comes highly recommended. During our tour with Barbara and Jim we chatted to him again and he casually pointed out a Nerina Trogon sitting in a tree about 10 meters away. Wow!

The Zanj restaurant was recommended to us by John Reedman and Roger decided that we would celebrate my birthday there. On the 25^th we found the restaurant to make a reservation, but the owner/chef Tommy informed us that they were fully booked for a Burns function that evening (which meant nothing to us at the time). We were very disappointed because we were at that stage still planning to leave town the next morning. Tommy was very apologetic and promised to make a plan. Lo and behold, at 15h30 he called to say he could accommodate us as long as we were happy to sit outside. What a surprise we got when we arrived. We were welcomed by a piper and traditional Scottish drink called Atholl Brose, which was delicious. The evening turned out to be such fun (and the haggis delicious)! We have never been to a Robert Burns celebration and knew nothing about the tradition but were included and informed throughout. There were 8 people at our table, amongst them the piper Grant and his wife Reshoketjoe as well as Georgie’s father Alan. Interesting conversations, interesting food and interesting traditions! Thanks Tommy and Georgie! See them on Facebook for more information (Mtunzini Zanj).

We delayed our departure by a day and took a trip to the Ngoye Forest with Sakhamuzi, in search of the Green Barbet. Sakhamuzi expertly mimicked the bird’s call and we spotted it a few times, but never for long enough to take a photo.

After we left the Ngoye forest it was pack up and go again. We were sad to leave but have only two days to get to Durban for our flight back to Jo’burg. We will be back…