Walking Along the Boardwalk

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Geo: -28.8887, 31.4765

We arrived at the Dhlinza forest at about midday. This was part of the itinerary as it is suppose to be a great place to spot rare birds. It wasn't the best time of the day for bird spotting, but as it was a cool, overcast day we should spot some interesting species.

There were a few walking trails through the forest, but due to not having a lot of time, we just walked along the boardwalk. There were no other tourists here at all and we had the place to ourselves which was nice. As we walked through we could hear many different bird calls.

As I walked along the boardwalk I heard a noise below. Looking down I saw a Blue Duiker which ran off once it realised that I had spotted it. At the end of the boardwalk there was a tower. We climbed up and from here there was a great view of the tree tops.

Once we were off the boardwalk and walking along the track we had a fantastic sighting of the Spotted Ground Thrush which is one of the forest's special birds. It was hopping on the forest floor looking for bugs to eat.

When we finished our forest walk we had a quick picnic. As we ate we watched the many colourful locusts around us. There was a quick stop at a BnB that Juliane had stayed at last year. She wanted to say hello to the owners. The BnB had beautiful gardens, but the best part was the owls. There were a pair of owls that nested here each year and this year there were three chicks. The chicks stood at the entrance to their little house, in order from tallest to smallest. They were gorgeous and so fluffy!

Then it was time to hit the road and we drove to Giant's Castle Game Reserve, which is part of the Drakensberg. We had to arrived before sunset, as after sunset the road would be quite dangerous due to cows and donkeys roaming around.

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Photos

01 Tree
One of the trees in the forest.

02 Strangled
A fig tree strangling this small tree.

03 Strangled
A fig tree strangling this small tree.

04 Strangled
A fig tree strangling this small tree.

05 Boardwalk
The boardwalk that led us through the forest.

06 Fluff
White looking fluff on a branch.

08 Spotted
The Ground Spotted Thrush that was walking around on the forest floor.

09 Locust
A locust is nearly camouflaged with the ground.

10 Locust
Another locust that is nearly camouflaged with the ground.

11 Mating
Two locusts mating.

12 Fluffy Chicks
Three gorgeous fluffy owl chicks with their mother standing outside.