A return to the Cape - November 2023

[xelas]

The most difficult part of writing a trip report is to find a title that will encapsulate the whole story in just a few words. I am not sure if I chose the proper title, but without it, I can not start the report. So here we go. 

 

Twelve months ago, soon after the New Year, Martin @Soukous invited Zvezda and me to join him and Rena at Amakhala Game Reserve and later also at his house in the foothills of majestic Swartberg Mountains. In preparation for this TR I have reread the one from 2018 where I have noticed his remark about us passing by close to his property when we took the Swartberg Pass towards Prins Albert on the way to Karoo NP. I have forgotten his words but he did not. So, the backbone of this trip has been set by Martin: 2 nights at Ebb&Flow near Wilderness, 3 nights at Woodbury tented camp in Amakhala Game Reserve and as many nights as we want at Witfontein farm house in Swartberg Private Wildlife Estate. We have added a couple of extra stops and later on, another Safaritalker invited us to stop by at their home, which we have gladly accepted.

 

The itinerary came together rather quickly:

 

Betty's Bay - 2 nights

Bontebok NP - 1 night

Malagas - 2 nights

Wilderness - 2 nights

Amakhala - 3 nights

Mountain Zebra NP - 2 nights

Witfontein - 4 nights

Villiersdorp - 2 nights

 

We flew in and out of CPT with Turkish Airlines; decent but long flights, specially the return one. We have rented an SUV type of vehicle through Autoeurope / www.autoeurope.eu / for a very attractive cost of cca. 600 Eur / 20 days with comprehensive coverage included in the price. To cover the cover I have an annual insurance from Worldwideinsure / www.worldwideinsure.com / . Neither one was needed. We have added 3000 kms on the odometer. Majority of those were on paved roads, which were all in excellent conditions.

 

While birding was not the top priority on this trip, we have managed to get a good amount of bird species (179 to be exact). Most of them are posted in our Big Year 2023 post. It was also the "maiden voyage" for Zvezda's new camera gear: an OM System OM-1 body and M.Zuiko 100-400 f/4.5-6.3 zoom lens. 

 

Part of the trip was same as the one we have done in January 2018 and for those interested to get a better insight in Western Cape I think it is useful to be read:

 

 

[Atravelynn]

You've got the timeframe, the location, and we know it is a return.  I think your title covers it!  Looking forward to the rest.

[TonyQ]

Good news that you are doing a trip report, I am looking forward to it

[xelas]

2 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

Looking forward to the rest.

There will be more!

 

10 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

I am looking forward to it

Anything in particular you are interested in?

[TonyQ]

I am interested in all the places you are visiting, Mountain Zebra in particular!

[xelas]

8 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

I am interested in all the places you are visiting, Mountain Zebra in particular!

OK, I will be more specific, also about logistics.

[Peter Connan]

You travelled through a really beautiful swathe of country on this trip. I am looking forward to reading about the adventures and seeing the photos.

[BRACQUENE]

I am looking forward to this one  Zvezda and Alex 

[xelas]

Let me share a few travel informations that might be of use to any future visitor (although I suspect all of the readers are well versed and acquainted with travelling in South Africa).

 

 

Itinerary:

A loop route covering 3000 km

 

 

 

Rental car:

Bluu Car Rental booked through Autoeurope https://www.bluucarrental.com/branches/cape-town-int-airport ; they have office and pick-up at the main rental car depot on the airport. The service was quick and efficient, so was also the drop-off procedure. They are known to "fill-up" the already full tank. They have charged me for 2,34 l with the cost of 8,00 Eur. I really don't know why some clients become agitated of such an unimportant amount. The vehicle given was Kia Seltos. Very comfortable vehicle, not 4WD but with ground clearance of 190mm excellent for driving in that part of South Africa. Consumed a total of 234 l for 3000 km with an average consumption of 7,8 l/100 km. A few photos of the car below.

 

 

 

 

SIM card:

Following the recommendation found on this site: https://www.traveltomtom.net/destinations/africa/south-africa/sim-card-cape-town we have opted for MTN card with 10 GB of data and 20 min of call time. Zvezda's phone is supporting 2 SIM cards and we used it also as mobile hot spot for our other devices. Since I have not done my job, and have left open some of the data consuming options on my iPhone, those 10 GB were exhausted within 2 weeks. Buying extra data was simple, they sell those in many supermarkets. We even saw a mobile van from MTN! Having data was useful for navigation. We do have off-line maps like maps.me https://maps.me/ (used to be free and now for fee) and Organic Maps (similar to maps.me and still free) https://organicmaps.app/ and maps.me has served us well but Google Maps has the advantage of being online and having access to up-to-minute traffic situation.

 

ATM and money:

While credit cards are accepted everywhere, we always withdraw some cash from the local ATM. There are several banks offering ATM's on the airport. ABSA was the first I saw but be warned that they have a limit of 2000 Rand per withdraw and a fee of 75 rand per withdraw. The second ATM was from Standard Bank and it gave us 8000 Rand for the same 75 Rand fee!!

 

Self driving:

As easy as it can be! All tarmac roads were in excellent condition, with a couple of roadworks due to storms they had in October. The gravel roads were also in good condition. There are many gas stations with about the same price for unleaded gasoline: 23,40 Rand/l. Only one section on our itinerary required a toll to be paid.

 

Food:

Always excellent! As a non-vegetarian I was in heaven! 

 

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Quite the sandwich to kick off the safari!

 

[TonyQ]

@xelasthank you for useful practical details

[xelas]

BETTY'S BAY

 

 

Our first stop was not far from Cape Town. Five years ago we have stayed in Hermanus, which I have described as "... small charming coastal town." Martin warned me that it is not small anymore. And our main target locations are anywhere in or near Betty's Bay. I have spent some time researching the possible accommodations in that area, and finally decided to book at The Amaryllis - https://www.theamaryllis.co.za/ - which has 2 self catering units. We opted for the smaller one, Bella Donna. Decision was made on its location, walking distance to the Stoney Point and just a few steps away from the ocean. It was an excellent decision, owners Ed and Linda were very kind and helping, and for Zvezda there was also a bonus - a young German Shepherd named Diva. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The coastal area is rugged but covered with fynbos. Not far away is a lovely sandy beach (not been there) yet just walking to the ocean early in the morning is worth staying at The Amaryllis.

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

Stony Point Nature Reserve is about 15 min by foot from The Amaryllis. It is home to a colony of African Penguins and many birds. There is a boardwalk that allows visitors to get close to the penguins without disturbing them, and it is also an excellent viewpoint to observe the seabirds. Unfortunately for us, the major storm in October damaged the boardwalk and the whole area was closed to visitors. Luckily though, the penguins obviously needs some human attention and many have moved to the outside of the closed area. Most of the seabirds stayed on the other side of the rocky promontory. All three days in this area were sunny but with strong wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 24 by xelas

[xelas]

Birding was still good, despite the wind, and Stony Point is where Rock Hyrax can be observed at close distance.

 

Cape Wagtail

 

Egyptian Goose

 

Cape Spurfowl

 

Cape Bulbul

 

Dassie

[Towlersonsafari]

looking forward to the report @xelas-hope you liked mountain Zebra one of our favourite places- and did you visit Harold Porter botanic gardens ?

[Soukous]

14 hours ago, xelas said:

They are known to "fill-up" the already full tank.

 

I think all car hire companies do it. Probably because the gauge can show 'full' when there is still room for more.

When I took our car back I had to fill it. The attendant (all service stations have attendants in SA) stopped filling when the sensor in the pump clicked off.  I asked him to fill it 'right up to the top' and he managed to get another 3 litres into the tank. 

 

 

[xelas]

1 hour ago, Towlersonsafari said:

looking forward to the report @xelas-hope you liked mountain Zebra one of our favourite places- and did you visit Harold Porter botanic gardens ?

A resolute YES on both questions, @Towlersonsafari!

[xelas]

1 hour ago, Soukous said:

I think all car hire companies do it. Probably because the gauge can show 'full' when there is still room for more.

Might be the reason. But it is a strange one since it is the next client that receives the vehicle "full" and for sure nobody goes directly to the gas station to check it out if it is really "full to the brim". So this is just a couple of rands more in the company's pockets. Not that I am in anyway annoyed by this. It was only a couple of Euros; but I can see someone else gets excited. I have filled-up our car at the nearest gas station, and drove 1000 meters to the drop-off location.

[Soukous]

10 minutes ago, xelas said:

for sure nobody goes directly to the gas station to check it out if it is really "full to the brim".

 

I might try that next time 

[Peter Connan]

I like the shirt behind the burger Alex!

And the photo of the wind-blown waves.

And of course the Dassie.

[xelas]

2 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

I like the shirt behind the burger Alex!

And the photo of the wind-blown waves.

And of course the Dassie.

If all goes right this year, I will post another photo of this shirt, this time from actual location! 

 

These waves were a sight, but imagine the size and the power of 6-meters waves during the storm! Owner told us they almost reach the house!!

[Peter Connan]

I have a friend who recently moved to the seaside from up here.

He has told me that if he knew how bad and frequent the wind would be, he would have stayed here. Anything not bolted down gets blown away.

[xelas]

Some like it windy. Fresh air et all. But that storm was fierceful, the scenic Clarence Drive was still closed for repairs.

[xelas]

HAROLD PORTER BOTANICAL GARDEN

 

 

HP is a lovely garden, however, being hit by a huge fire back in 2019 ( https://botanicalsociety.org.za/out-of-the-ashes-post-fire-at-harold-porter-nbg/ ) it is still recovering. There were less flowers, and less birds seen in comparison to our 2018 visit, yet this garden is still a site one has to visit if in that area. We have dedicated one full day for it. The wind was still strong, blowing down mountain side and might have forced feathered creatures to hide in the bushes. On the positive side, this same wind kept the temperature down, thus allowing us to stay in the garden for longer. Another positive news is that the food quality has improved!

 

A few views of the garden:

 

 

 

 

 

And flowers that we have seen:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25 by xelas

[xelas]

While the primary targets were birds, a few other members of wildlife kingdom were spotted. Like a group of baboons which put fear into the restaurant staff as they scramble to close all doors! The tortoise might even be the same as the one spotted in 2018. The frog surely was not. The lack of butterflies must also be the result of the strong wind. 

 

Chacma Baboon

 

 

Angulate Tortoise

 

Cape River Frog

 

 

These two are to be identified by you :

 

 

 

 

And there were birds, of course.

 

Juvenile African Paradise-Flycatcher

 

Another juvenile, this one is African Dusky Flycatcher.

 

A Cape Canary ...

 

 

... and an Olive Thrush

 

 

It was a nice, sunny, windy and relaxed day walking through the HP Botanical Garden. Highly recommended to all. The 14 bird species we have observed are the minimum you can see here, a normal day would produce twice as many species.