Zululand
has a spectacular 605 bird species and a wonderful range of
destinations where they occur.
It is a treasure trove of 'specials' from the Green Barbet
(found only at Ongoye Forest outside Mtunzini),
the globally-threatened spotted Ground Thrush in Dlinza
Forest, Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeons, Crowned Eagles,
Green Twinspots, the little known Mangrove Kingfisher (at
Umlalazi Nature
Reserve) to the magnificent Palmnut
Vultures of Mtunzini.
The Zululand Birding Route links the top 70 birding spots
in Zululand into 14 local routes in three regions. The routes
in the vicinity of
Eshowe and Mtunzini form the southern region.
The Zululand Birding Route also offers a network of experienced
local guides available for birders to use at very affordable
rates.
Not only do these guides assist you with their excellent observation
skills and finding the 'specials' but also add great value
to any birding outing by providing security and peace of mind
when traveling in some more out of the way areas.
• Both Mtunzini
and Eshowe host
annual birding weekends and birders who are interested in
attending one of these sought-after events should check the
Zululand
Birding Route website for details. |
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| ONGOYE NATURE
RESERVE |
 
The Green Barbet (left) will only be seen in Ongoye
Forest.
The
southern ground Hornbill.
Textures
of the Forest: The Protorhus longifolia in new
leaf. |
The
beauty of Ongoye Forest is its combination of textures -
the velvet-like grassy hills fringed by tall dense forest
with great granite domes emerging at random along the ridges.
The 3 900-hectare forest runs for about 10kms on a high
ridge parallel to the ocean and is about 4kms wide.
Botanically rich as it contains plants from the temperate
Eastern Cape forests as well as the forests of tropical
Africa, Ongoye is a 'must' for the discerning nature lover.
The forest is also home to rare and endemic animals and
birds such as the red squirrel, the Green Barbet, the yellow-streaked
Bulbul and the green butterfly. It was also home to the
magnificent giant Wood's cycad (Encephalartos woodii)
which has been extinct in the wild since the early 1900's.
The many tree rarities include magnificent giant umzimbeets
(Millettia sutherlandia), forest mangosteen (Garcinia
gerrardii), forest waterberry (Syzygium gerrardii)
and the Pondoland fig (Ficus bizane) amongst others.
There are no fewer than nine varieties of fig growing in
the forest and this abundance of fruit could be the reason
the Green Barbet can only be found in Ongoye Forest.
Good birding can be enjoyed by walking along the tracks
through the reserve and there is usually a lot of activity
in the first 2kms.
Access to the forest has been greatly improved with concrete
strips leading to the forest but sections of the road between
the R102 and the forest are severely potholed and a robust
vehicle is recommended. Pockets of the Reserve in the west
can accessed on a good tar road from Obanjeni on the P240.
There are narrow tracks which lead from one side of the
forest to the other but they can be obstructed by fallen
trees. Unless travelling with a guide, it is best to park
outside the forest and walk along the tracks through the
forest.
There are also plans to introduce visitor facilities and
open more hiking trails. The completion of these projects
will make this beautiful sanctuary a lot more accessible
to visitors.
• Accommodation in the forest is available
for birders in a three-bedroom hut. Contact Zululand
Birding Route for further information.
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Roads
to Ongoye Forest are constantly being upgraded. The eastern
entrance is the more popular with birders and takes one
into the heart of the forest. Drive on the R102 from Road
Island Service Station outside Mtunzini towards Empangeni
for 11,6 kms. Turn left into the D525 and follow this road
for 4,5 kms before turning right into D1554. Continue on
this gravel road for 4,4 kms and just after passing Manzamnyama
School (on the left) turn right into the Ongoye forest road.
For the next 2 kms difficult sections of the track have
been concreted. At the top of the hill there is a track
road to the right leading to the Ranger's office where all
visitors must report before proceeding with their visit
to the forest. The western access is by tarred road on the
P240 from Obanjeni (about 6kms from Mtunzini on the R102)
and gives visitors easy access to pockets of the forest
and the western grasslands. |
The
officer in charge of the Reserve is resident in Ongoye but
does not have a telephone due to the remoteness of the area.
Gate
opening & closing:
06h00-18h00
On arrival visitors must report to the office where a minimal
gate fee and community levy can be paid. |
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CYCADS:
THE 'LIVING FOSSILS' OF ZULULAND'S FORESTS |
Colonial plant hunters at Ongoye in the early 1900s stand
next to the only specimen of Encephalartos woodii
ever found in the wild. |
These
palm-like plants are ancient relics of a once widespread and
dominant ancestry. Often referred to as 'living fossils',
cycads were abundant in the Mesozoic era and reached their
zenith in the Jurassic Period some 160 million years ago.
Today only about 200 species exist and they are found mainly
in Central America, South Africa and Australia. The genus
Encephalartos occurs in southern Africa and some
individual specimens may be more than 500 years old - the
rootstock possibly much older.
The demand for these plants as garden specimens has pushed
them close to extinction in the wild and they are now specially
protected.
Their appeal is not only their rarity and ancient lineage
but also their sculptural shapes, the symmetry of their foliage
and the colourful fruiting cones on the male and female plants.
The male cones bear masses of pollen, distributed by wind
and insects to the opening female cone on a female cycad nearby.
In 1895 the curator of the Durban Botanic Gardens, John Medley
Wood, was on a collecting trip in Zululand and found a solitary
clump of cycads in the vicinity of Ongoye Forest which turned
out to be unique - it was later named Encephalartos woodii
in his honour.
Over the years the entire clump was removed from Ongoye and
it is now considered extinct in the wild.
The single specimen Wood identified was male and no female
is known to exist.
Suckers from the original cycad continue to provide new plants
and the species is represented in many of the major botanical
institutions of the world - including Kew Gardens in London
where it is labelled as 'perhaps the rarest plant' in the
Kew collection. |
  
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Today
the best place to see the Encephalartos woodii
is at Durban Botanical Garden where the same specimen collected
in Ongoye Forest over 100 years ago has doubled in size
and continues to provide suckers which are part of botanical
collections all over the world. It is now listed as extinct
in wild. |
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