The Tembe Elephant Park is only accessible to 4×4 vehicles due to thick sand on most of the roads. It also does not have camping facilities so a day visit was called for. We decided to leave Ufudu at the entrance gate and use Suzi for driving around the Park as we had to leave the park by gate closing time anyway.
We were no sooner on our drive when we spotted a Long-tailed Paradise Whydah. What a beautiful bird! It feeds on the ground and we fascinated watching it jump up to grab a grass stem, step on it and strip the seeds.
The elephants in the park are huge. We were ‘warned’ by really big bull which had just had a black mud bath and crossed the road in front of us. He did not seem to be in a good mood at all and we did not argue, in fact, we did not even take a picture before giving him his space!! We did see others that were more accommodating though.
The veld was covered in Cotton Wool grass which provided the most spectacular displays.
Then we came across a large herd of buffalo being harassed by 4 white rhino. Most amusing to watch as it really seemed like the rhino were just testing their dominance.
Too soon it was gate-closing time and we had to leave the park.
The road from Tembe to Ndumo was rather bad and took longer to drive than expected, so we arrived after the gate closing time. The guards were very accommodating and let us in, no problem. Speaking of which, we found the Ezemvelo staff and other people very friendly where-ever we went. Also, the rules are far more relaxed than in, e.g. Kruger National Park. One is not bombarded by safety information where-ever you go. It is almost as if they reckon we are all grown-up and should take responsibility…
There are 15 campsites in Ndumo and we were the only campers; what a pleasure.
Ndumo’s claim to fame is the fact that it has an impressive recorded list of 430 bird species (the highest count in South Africa). This is due to it being in the transition zone between the ranges of many northern and southern bird species. I am now able to walk, albeit fairly slowly and wearing crocs, so to get the most out of our visit we decided to splash out and go on a guided morning bird walk for three of the mornings at Ndumo. Our guide was Sonto Tembe of 50/50 fame (which we only found out on the 3rd day!). His bird knowledge is excellent and his ability to precisely mimic their calls is what got him onto 50/50. It was most entertaining to observe him calling and the actual bird responding!
Our morning walks took us to two different forests which were breath-taking. The huge Sicamore Fig trees were simply awesome.
We spotted a very strange structure high up in the lower canopy and Sonto explained that it is an ant’s larder. He showed us the line of ants moving up and down the tree to transport food into the structure. They then spend the winter inside with enough food to sustain them.
We were hoping to see a Pel’s Fishing Owl for my birthday but unfortunately conditions were not favourable. Apparently they prefer clear water and the Phongola River was very murky due to the rain. We did have a good sighting of a Nerina Trogon instead, but did not manage to take a picture!
The 3rd morning was along the shores of the Nyamithi pan. The show of water birds was stunning.
On our way back to camp we spotted a rock monitor basking in the sun. He had a rather unusual ‘house’. As soon as he spotted us he retreated into the hollow fence pole.
We stopped for a chameleon and Roger picked it up to help it out of the road. He was rather active and inquisitive, trying to get onto the camera.
The Red Cliffs picnic site overlooks the Usuthu River which forms the border with Mozambique. Besides it being an absolutely stunning spot it also had a loo with a view!
In terms of game, Njala are about as common in this part of the world as Impala are in Kruger, if not more abundant. At night the campsite was teeming with antelope but we unfortunately did not manage to get a good picture.
Other camp wild life…
Ndumo is a very special and pleasant place to visit (it even has a pool and a laundromat!), we will be back …
Ndumo is one of my favourite places – leaving to go there in a few days to paint birds
Lucky you! Where can we view your work?