
uMlalazi Municipality
Contact:
Tel: 035 473 3474
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Beyond
the Big 5
• Birding Guides
• Bird lists
Contact:
Tel: 035 753 5644 |

24 Hely Hutchinson Rd
NTUNZINI
Exciting
new listings!
Contact:
Cheryl Southgate
Tel: 035 340 2931
Cell: 082 770 7423
Fax:088 035 340 2931
email: southgateproperties
@telkomsa.net
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THE
CLAY OVEN
Family Restaurant
Open Daily:
11h50-21h00
Tel:
035
340 1262
Hely
Hutchinson Rd
MTUNZINI
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Barge
Trips
• Sunset booze cruise
• Bird watching
• Braai on board

Enjoy a relaxing barge trip on the scenic Umlalazi River with
knowledgeable host Bob Williamson
072
586 6936
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Mtunzini Country Club
•
9-Hole Golf Course
• Tennis
• Squash
• Bar
Visitors
welcome
Contact
Club
Secretary:
Tel: 035 340 1779
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14
Hely Hutchinson Rd
MTUNZINI
Contact:
Marilyn Greeff
Tel: 035 340 1983
Cell: 083 631 1764
Fax: 035 340 2441
email: realty@mtunzini.co.za
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THE FAT CAT GRILL
Mon-Fri (excl Pub holidays)
18hoo-20h30
It will specialise in STEAKS, SEAFOODS, PASTAS & BURGERS
THE FAT CAT
COFFEE SHOP
Mon-Fri
08h00-18h00
Sat, Sun and Pub holidays08h00-14h30
Station Road
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Hippo
Printing & Design

•
Internet Cafe
• Printing
• Gifts
Mon-Fri: 07h00-16h30
Sat: 08h00-12h00
Station Rd, MTUNZINI
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Birding
Zulu Culture
Game viewing
Customised
tours &
hidden gems with
registered tour guide
Des Shuttleworth
035 474 1855
072 711 4413
deseshowe@mweb.co.za
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MTUNZINI
24-Hour
• BP Petrol
• Diesel
• Paraffin
• Takeaway food
• ATM
Tel: 035 340 1745
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Eco Estate & Home
of Zululand Golf
•
18-Hole Golf Course
• 6 Tennis Courts
• 2 Squash Courts
• Restaurant
Tel: 035 474 4884
info@eshowehills.co.za
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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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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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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. |
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| CYCADS:
THE 'LIVING FOSSILS' OF ZULULAND'S
FORESTS |
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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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Above and right: 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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