Family holidays are becoming more precious as we kids are growing older and becoming more independent. We very infrequently have our whole family together any more except around holiday times. Chris is based on medical campus, I am often away for odd trips, and my dad is having to travel more than he’d like for work purposes. So the (nearly) two weeks over Christmas were set aside for quality time. My family has developed quite a penchant for cruises. We did our first cruise over Christmas to Mauritius four years ago and we all enjoyed it. Lauren and my parents did a longer cruise from SA up to Italy last year too. There are plenty activities to keep you busy (if tanning and swimming are not enough already), professional theatre shows after dinner, and for the duration of your time on the boat there’s not a smidgeon of cooking or cleaning to do, which really makes these trips great for proper relaxation. We booked another Christmas cruise this year. Coincidentally, friends of ours, the Meyers, had also done so. When we worked this out we organized to sit together over dinner. It was great to sit with friends rather than other arbitrary passengers. It wasn’t a joint holiday, but it was really enjoyable to come together at the end of the day over a meal and swap stories. The cruise departed from Durban, so we organized to fly up a couple of days early to visit the KZN cousins down at their vacation home in Bazley Beach on the south coast. I managed to get my first sunburn of the summer, which I guess meant the holiday had officially started. We spent our time on the beach, swinging clubs at the driving range, tasting craft beers, playing FIFA, and just generally enjoying each other’s’ company. I even squeezed some birding in around the golf course and Bazley itself, scoring four new bird species for my southern Africa list, and many other firsts for the year. After a bear hug from cousin Caitlin that made me wince, we headed back up to Durban to board the ship, which we managed after nearly four hours spend standing in the sun in queues. How they haven’t perfected a boarding system that makes it comfortable I can’t fathom… However, the frustration was quickly forgotten, and we settled in. As opposed to our ‘el cheapo’ accommodation last time, my mom had pestered the MSC agent until she gave us a special deal on a balcony suite. The room was basically more spacious, had the addition of a TV (which was never watched), and a small balcony, which had a great view as we were high up portside on deck 10. The ship itself is just gargantuan. It can accommodate 2450 passengers (excluding crew), is 274 m long, it has three onboard restaurants, six lounges, three pools, a basketball court, a mini-golf course, a disco, and a theatre. Just climbing the many flights of stairs to get around is a workout, but the ship also has a small gym onboard which my brother and I made use of. Our first port of call after embarkation was Portuguese Island, and we reached it overnight. Portuguese Island is just offshore from Maputo, the Mozambican capital, and is separated by a small channel from the better-known Inhaca Island. MSC hosted all the guests onshore at a big beach party, with volleyball, beach soccer, a beach kitchen, drinks and ice cream bars, etc. There was also the option to go on a number of excursions. We tried to go snorkeling, but that was all booked out, so we decided to explore neighbouring Inhaca Island for a few hours. The Meyers joined us for a walk through the town. There isn’t too much do except laze around drinking beers and cocktails or swim in the beautifully warm seas, which suits some people, but our two families weren’t really feeling it. I splintered off from the group to try do some birding, although by that time it was after 11 am, and above 30°C and high humidity. Inhaca Island is described as a birdwatcher’s paradise, but there was little to show for it. Indian House Crows and House Sparrows dominated. The local bar owner says they’ve culled over 2000 crows on the island, but the birds were still rampant. I took a walk down the western coastline but achieved little except to sweat through my clothing within five minutes. I had maybe six species on my list after an hour and a half, so I stripped down to my underwear (the beach was deserted) and took a dip in the tropical water. I headed back towards town, and after rehydrating with a few 2M beers I joined the line for the boat back. However, as I waited I noticed the tide moving out and a few shorebirds appearing nearby, so I left the queue to investigate. The birding finally picked up as the low tide exposed the shoreline. Many of the shorebirds were common species that you can expect to find even as far south as Cape Town, but two stood out as they were completely new for me – Lesser Crested Tern, and Greater Sand Plover. The latter I’ve been searching for the last few months in the West Coast National Park as there is a vagrant bird hanging around, but to no avail. So I was glad to become familiar with the species here, and there were five or six running about. Originally I had the Sand Plover down as my 600th species for southern Africa, so I celebrated with yet another 2M. But after getting back on the ship I perused my list and found a few that I had added by accident, or added on call only before I knew you had to see the thing to tick it. So my list took a hit of 5 species, landing me back in the nervous 90s. Inhaca Island is very beautiful, and I left feeling like there was still plenty more to explore. I would definitely be keen to return one day if circumstances allow. I tried to snap some photographs of this very photogenic location, but my only wide angle lens was on my iPhone, so that had to do. I’d expected we’d be pushing north east across the channel between Mozambique and Madagascar. That route would have provided the opportunity to see a whole raft of new species, including exciting things such as Frigatebirds, Boobies, Noddies, Tropicbirds, and others. As it was, MSC were trialing another island further north, so had diverted their course to test out boat-to-island logistics, denying me a shot at those seabirds! We had a full two days at sea before stopping again, so we took the opportunity to work on the suntans. A highlight along this stretch was the Crossing the Capricorn party, where ‘King Neptune’ is invited onboard to be given a key to the ship, and for him to grant permission for the vessel to cross the Tropic of Capricorn. The passengers who choose to be part of the ceremony all sat around the edge of the pool and had to go through a number of trials to please him before this happens. My father reprised his role of the last Christmas cruise as King Neptune, and condemned everyone to kiss his son (an octopus), be showered in champagne, and covered in a series of tomato paste, cream, milk, and cocoa powder before relenting. The pool goes a murky grey after everyone jumps in and cleans off, and they have to drain it, clean it, and refill it. In the meantime, bizarrely, King Neptune and a couple of staff led the parade in a rendition of YMCA, before retiring back to the depths of the Indian Ocean. Our next scheduled stop was at Mozambique Island. I had a quick look on my bird app to see what species I could perhaps nab while I was there. There was a mouth-watering collection of possible birds, even though the island is outside of the official southern African listing area as it is north of the Kunene River. I managed to wangle myself onto one of the first transfers onto the island and immediately began traipsing around. The island is only 3 x 0.5 km, so it was very walkable. Filled with hopes of exotic birds, I braved the 35°C heat and humidity. But my efforts were mostly in vain. It took me a full hour to find something other than a crow and a sparrow. I did manage to find a Barn Owl in the cemetery, which is always a nice bird to get good views of, but otherwise the birding was futile. The island itself is a UNESCO Heritage Site. This is mostly due to the significance it held as a Portuguese settlement along the all-important trade route. Vasco da Gama is credited with ‘discovering’ the island, even though there was an advanced local civilization already inhabiting it when he arrived. The Portuguese built the fort of San Sebastian, which still stands today, even though it has clearly been left to rot and ruin and its only function is an excuse for tourists to entertain themselves while visiting. In its heyday the fort was instrumental in holding off Dutch invasions, and maintaining the Portuguese hold on the trade route to India for over 100 years. The locals still use the same traditional fishing ‘dhows’ that da Gama was so fascinated by when he happened upon the place. One has to wonder why less labour-intensive and efficient fishing methods and vessels had not been introduced. Of course, there’s a matter of tradition, but you have to imagine that over hundreds of years that people would have modernized if they had the means. The town is littered with the ghosts and vestiges of colonial rule, including a number of statues to obscure and famous Portuguese navigators, a clash of African and European architectural styles, and, of course, the language. The island is in so many ways a microcosm of greater Africa. There is so much potential for growth, but overcrowding, mismanagement, and lack of resources has stifled any prospects of prosperity. There are clearly areas that are meant for tourists to see which are well kept, colourful and well run. Areas not so close to the popular beachfront and landing area told a very different story. It was very clear that poverty, unemployment, and lack of education were rife. Many people lived in absolute squalor is broken down mud and thatch shacks densely packed up against each other. Probably 70% of the local people I saw were children under 12. The further you moved from the tourists areas the more blatant and unapologetic the begging became. I felt very out of place. A white male, DSLR camera with telephoto lens slung over one shoulder, a spotting scope and tripod in a backpack, and iPhone in the pocket, traveling through a community of impoverished black Africans where the bread winners probably don’t earn the value of those possessions even in a matter of a few years. But you still got the feeling that most people were welcoming or at least curious about my presence. Walking through streets of Cape Town or Johannesburg would never result in so many friendly waves, smiles, and greeting of ‘Amigo!’ I felt safe at all times, and even appreciated by locals who depend almost entirely on fishing and tourism for their livelihoods. I was invited to play soccer with a group of local kids, which I declined because of paranoia about where to put my belongings safely. But I wish I hadn’t worried, as I would have treasured a game with them, and my valuables were probably as safe on the side of the makeshift field as in my hand. I, by complete accident, managed to achieve what the Dutch had failed to do with a full blown naval assault. I had wanted to photograph the southern hemisphere’s smallest chapel at the back of the fort, but didn’t fancy paying the entrance fee to explore the fort itself. So I walked along the rocks on the coastline to try get a glimpse of the chapel. I eventually found that once I reached the chapel I was in fact inside the fort’s walls, thereby completing my stealthy invasion of the military installment that thwarted the entire Dutch fleet. I was incredibly disappointed at the state of the place, and after a few photographs I made my way back to the queue for the boat back to the Sinfonia. Our last two days were full days at sea, and also happened to be Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Our penultimate day was spent between quizzes, lectures, meals, and bridge playing. At midnight the kitchens opened up a jaw-dropping buffet. I mean this in the figurative and literal senses of the word. The food is so beautifully presented that you almost don’t want to eat it, but the quality and quantity of treats requires you to almost dislocate your lower mandible to shovel it all in. Unfortunately, I managed to slip on a wet floor (probably helped by the bubbly) and sprained my ankle quite badly, which cut my celebrations short. I was promptly whisked off to bed being plied with painkillers and with my ankle strapped. Christmas Day was a bit of a dud because of my reduced mobility. I managed to hobble my way down for breakfast through some considerable pain, but otherwise most of the day was spent seawatching from the balcony. This wasn’t a bad way to spend the time, though, as for the first time on the trip we had some bad weather with large swells and gale force winds. While passengers on board were getting ill and hating it, the birds were thriving in it as they finally had some natural wind-generated power for their soaring flight. I only saw Great-winged Petrels all day, but watching these acrobats of the ocean skies cruising effortlessly across 12 foot wave faces will never get old…
The injury withstanding, it was a very special trip, and a wonderful way to spend a family Christmas. All that remains is to wish everyone who had the stamina to get this far a very blessed Christmas and New Year!
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I was doubting my sanity before the day had even begun…
As my family turned off the television and headed for bed at 10.30 pm, I was getting up and preparing for the day ahead. The messages starting to come through on the Whatsapp group: “Everyone up? How much sleep did you get?” “2.5 hours. Not nearly enough.” “I haven’t slept at all…” It was clearly going to be a very long day for some of our team! You may have read my recent blog post about our Cape Big Day that we attempted just a few weeks ago. That was a challenge we set ourselves to beat the record of 216 birds in a day within the Western Cape, and we also used it to raise funds for Birdlife SA. This latest adventure was as part of the nationwide Birding Big Day (BBD), held annually on the last Saturday of November. The day entails teams across SA going head-to-head to try record the most species on the day, with the only restrictions being that you may not be more than four birders, you cannot move beyond 50 km of your chosen midpoint, and the majority of your team must agree on the identification for it to be included. The event is run by Birdlife SA, who in conjunction with the free-to-purchase app BirdLasser have for the last two years made a live feed available for people to keep up to date with their favourite teams’ progress. This has lent an added “race” feel to the day, which has helped to make this past BBD the most successful yet. Over 300 teams competed in 2016, making this a huge event on the SA birding calendar. Our team was made up of Garth Shaw, Nick Fordyce, Jess Suri, and me. Together we made up Team YAB #UCTsweesmustfall. The YAB stands for Youth Africa Birding, a movement to encourage youth birding which we were representing, and the hashtag being an obvious reference to the recent protests, substituting in swees (as in Swee Waxbill) for fees. We are all UCT students (Nick is a recent alum), so we added that in as an identifier of our student status and the region we were working. Garth and I had done the Cape Big Day together, while Nick and Jess had visited me in De Hoop for BBD in 2015. Our total last year was 151 species, which was a good total, however our level of intensity was nowhere near what we intended this year. The 2015 attempt was characterized by long stops enjoying the more interesting birds and fantastic landscapes we visited, and (probably one too many) drinks in the Klein Karoo with Ronnie himself at Ronnie’s Sex Shop (if you aren’t familiar with it, Google it before you judge us!). This year was to be more in the mould of the Cape Big Day – fast-paced, relentless, targeted birding. We hoped to beat our total of 191, but really we hoped to achieve what we had failed to do on that attempt – record 200 species in a day within the Western Cape. We were limited this time round by the restrictions on search area as part of the official BBD, but as a silver lining this meant more time spent focused on birding and less in the car. Any which way you look at it, we had a monumental challenge ahead of us… We began our day just after midnight in Simonstown with a sleepy African Penguin. This species unbelievably wasn’t recorded by any teams last year, so we served some restorative justice for this iconic South African bird by making sure it was not just our first tick for the day, but also the very first bird recorded for Birding Big Day 2016 overall! Among the thousands of vacationers and shoppers at the V&A Waterfront this week, there has been one visitor that has really stood out. The arrival of a Dwarf Sperm Whale inside the busy harbour presents a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this enigmatic and almost mythical creature. The animal has been here for around a week, and there is no telling how long it will stay, so get down there now!
I've heard the phrase "it's so ugly that it's cute" used to describe a number of thing, including babies and pugs (the latter much to my girlfriend's chagrin), but it cannot be be more apt than for the Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber). Prof. Justin O'Riain, my undergraduate lecturer and Honours supervisor at the University of Cape Town, described their overall appearance as "penises with teeth". He wasn't far off the mark, but there is just something so endearing about these little guys. They live underground anyway, and they're blind. So why should they care about their looks? Birders are a crazy bunch. We will do crazy things to see a special bird. We love going to strange places (think rubbish dumps and sewerage plants). We are easily distracted. I think every birder has jumped up without warning mid-conversation to see what that odd-looking flash was flying into the hedge, leaving a non-birder bewildered and socially stranded. Birders can also be obsessed with numbers. Lifelists, world lists, country lists, yearlists, province lists, reserve lists, garden lists. Not to say that birders don’t enjoy the birds for enjoyment’s sake too, but numbers of species on one’s list is often used as a benchmark for assessing another birder’s ability (often wrongly!). Records are important in the birding community. The record of the most bird species recorded in a year was broken in 2015 (Noah Strycker saw 6042 species!), and is already being challenged this year. The record for the most species seen in a year within the American Birding Association area has been broken by two people this year already. I guess this addiction with “collecting” species is akin to what drives hunters and collectors of rare specimens, although ours is a much more benign, environmentally-friendly hobby. It was thus no surprise that when Garth Shaw messaged a group of Western Cape birders enquiring who wanted to make an attempt at 200+ species in a day around Cape Town there were some excited replies. Getting people’s schedules to agree did cause some difficulty, but eventually four birders found a date that would suit them all, and the team of Garth Shaw, Frans-Hendrik Joubert, Dominic Rollinson, and Andrew de Blocq was formed! |
AuthorI am a birder, biologist, and nature blogger. I post about my trips, informative tidbits, and things I think are interesting. Archives
July 2017
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