White Faced Owl Update

Our regular followers may remember that back in August 2010 we rescued a young white faced owl who had strayed from the nest and landed in a fire.

At first, he was a regular sighting at our sister lodge in Hluhluwe. However, for the last few months we have neither seen nor heard him, a few feathers have been found here and there by people walking along the trail, but no sightings.

But then, last night as we drove into the gate at Hluhluwe with Les Stroud, there he was.

Nocturnal birds of south africa
There he was sitting above us, and then when we stopped to look at him he turned his head to watch us.

 

Young adult white face owl sighitn in south africa
He waited patiently for us to get our shots and let him get back to his hunting

 

Kayak Exploration!

My! What a busyweek it has been, first we have a full lodge, completely packed out!!

Then we get our Kayaking concession from parksboard meaning that we can now explore not only the lovely blue lakes of Kosi Bay, but also the many winding channels amongst the reeds and sand dunes of the Kosi Mouth Estuarine system.

But, we had no photos of these areas! So, as disappointed as we were at pulling ourselves away from work, we went to do some exploring.

Check out the video below – don’t worry, no sound, so it’s safe for work!

Video – Snorkelling at Kosi Bay

Check out the snorkelling at Kosi Bay!

Beachtime!!

A beach day at Kosi bay!

Stephanie was more than a little happy at this prospect, although in truth we all were. It was hot, and the mere thought of swimming was making us all eager to get to the beach.

Even Tommy was eager to get to the water!

Kosi bay, nature tour, african safari
Tommy was all set for his day at the beach

The visit to the fishtraps is first. this sustainable fishing method is as much a part of conserving the area as preserving the traditional Tsonga culture.

Elmon explained how the fish trap worked to us and gave us spear fishing lessons to show us how hard it is, then it was time to walk/splash out to the fishtraps to take a look for ourselves.

kosi bay, south african safari and nature tour
Elmon shows us how it's done
african safari
Run away!
african safari at kosi bay
Elmon leads us into the trap
kosi bay african safari nature tour
Adrian shows that leaf who is boss!

We were in luck, one of Elmons fishtraps had bream, grunter, mullet and even kingfish! So we got to test our wits against that of the fish and try our hand at spearing dinner.

traditional fishtraps at kosi bay mouth
Looking for fish at one of Elmons traps
kosi bay african safari nature tour
Fighting over who will be first to spear

Stephanie speared her fish on the first try… Sleep with one eye open Adrian…!

amangwane kosi bay spearfishing
Steph shows us all how it is done on the first throw of her spear
south african safari, nature tour
Adrian teaches the fish a lesson

We all emerged from the handmade cage triumphant. We would have a feast tonight!

But no time for smugly posing with our catches…

…oh, ok then just a little…

african safari
Mr and Mrs Crusoe won't be hungry tonight!
african safari, nature tour , kosi bay beach
Adrian plays the man card and pretends he caught them all

 

african safari, nature tour, kosi bay
What now? Snorkelling!

Snorkelling at Kosi Bay

snorkelling at kosibay world heritage site
I'm sure Steph is in here somewhere...
kosi bay heritage site snorkel
Boo!

Armed with our mask and snorkels (no flippers/fins needed at this reef!) We crossed the estuary feeling the alternating hot and cold currents swirling around us.

kosi bay world heritage site
Because every holiday needs one of these pictures!

The beauty of the snorkelling at Kosi Bay is that you swim across a channel and walk up on to the sand bank that runs parralel to the reef, walk along the sand bank, and lower yourself once more into the balmy waters of Kosi Bay Mouth.

But now is where the hard work comes… Ok, only joking – all you
need to do now is float with the current, cameras at the ready.

Snorkel south africa world heritage site
There were fish of all sizes and colours hiding on the reef
kosi bay isimangaliso heritage site
Swim with the fishes
kosi bay world heritage site
Oooooh! lion fish!
devil fire fish bum at kosi bay heritage site
Steph saw it swim by, but it was in its hole by the time I caught up
kosi bay world heritsge site
The honeycomb eel was playing peek-a-boo with Adrian

Effort free snorkelling gave us plenty of energy for posing under the water and playing with our cameras.

kosi bay UNESCO world heritage site
Steph poses for the camera
kosibay world heritage site
"taken the picture yet?"
kosi bay world heritage site
Cheesy grins are hard underwater!

Carry on reading about this trip as Stephanie and Adrian go from place to place on their African holdiay.

Day 4 – Kosi Bay Snorkelling

Snorkelling is the plan today!

Armed with our goggles, snorkels and flippers we clambered into the Land Cruiser ready for Tommy to drive us down to Kosi Bay mouth estuary. It is possible to walk down, but after a long day snorkelling driving back up the hill is much nicer! when we got down to the water the tide was extremely high, obviously we had over-estimated quite how much time we would need to stop so Jason could take pictures of Cisticolas (only joking Jason, I know they were cormorants really…! 😉 )

The best part about getting down to the estuary when it is still high tide is that as the water recedes across the estuary mouth, islands of sand appear littered with the small sea-life that water birds class as delicacies. This brings water-birds flocking (pardon the pun) for an easy snack. The sand dunes were teeming with birds such as tern as we walked around the edges of the estuary mouth in search of crabs, snakes, birds, lizards and anything thing else that moved!

As quickly as the tide rises, it drops, so we didnt have to wait for long before we could wade across the estuary mouth to the reef.
At first glance the area of water containing the reef raises a few sceptical looks and raised eyebrows from all who have yet to experience it.

The best way to view the reef is to walk to the top and float down across the reef with the current, it is lazy snorkelling, no effort needed, the best kind of snorkelling!

Jason and Adam saw (to name a few – there are so many!);
– Terns
– Cormorants
– Black Mangrove seed pod
– Shoals and shoals of un-identified baby fish
– Pink Clawed fiddler crabs
– Ring Cowrie
– Ramshorn shell
– Coneshell
– Honeycomb moray eel
– Occelated snake eel
– Bandtail cardinal
– Ninestripe cardinal
– Striped grunter
– one spot snapper
– Bream
– Mussel cracker (juvenile)
– Big eye stumpnose (juvenile)
– small scale purse mouth
– old woman (juvenile)
– emperor angelfish (juvenile)
– double sash butterfly fish (juvenile)
– Boomerang trigger fish
– Spotted toby

And most importantly the lesser-spotted reef dwelling snorkel fish (losticus Jasonus).

After hours and hours of floating around in the estuary (it is surprisingly tiring, but well worth it) it was time to retreat back to Amangwane Kosi Bay for a braai (BBQ to us pommies) and bush TV (fire).

The mystery bird
birdwatching at Kosi Bay
The boys go over their pictures
But there is always one bird they can't agree on
The communal boma area at Kosi bay Amangwane
In fact they were still arguing about the bird sightings well into the evening

Steak and boerewors (sausage), pap n’ sous (local maize meal and sauce – tasty), potato salad (Africa style), coleslaw, fresh bread and salad. Needless to say we all went to bed on exceptionally full stomachs as it was too good to leave any!