Helen and I spent five days in Giant’s Castle Nature Reserve in the central part of Maloti-Drakensberg mountains. This reserve gets its name from the towering peaks of the Drakensberg Mountains, whose shadows resemble a sleeping giant. The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park is a World Heritage Site and Giant’s Castle is in the middle of it. We visited Giant’s Castle in July which was mid-winter in southern Africa. Winter is a fascinating time of the year to visit these mountains. The weather is constantly changing and with it the colour of the light and mood of the scene.

We spent three days in the hide and two days wandering around the Giant’s Castle reserve. Giant’s Castle Nature Reserve is known for its magnificent San rock art, many hiking trails and incredible vistas.

A telescopic view early in the morning in winter before the sunlight hit the buttresses in the upper berg.

The vulture hide is about seven kilometres north east of the chalet-style camp. Access to the hide is via a steep track from the Bushman’s river valley floor to the plateau where the hide is located. A 4×4 vehicle is required to negotiate the steep climb and dirt track on the plateau. The hide itself is on the cliff edge of the plateau on the eastern side of the Bushman’s river valley.

“The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see.” ~ Albert Einstein

On top of the plateau there had been a veld fire which blackened a large swath of the grassland.

It was in the large burnt patch of grassland that we found this juvenile Southern Bald ibis. It was very busy foraging and took little notice of us on the dirt track.

A few hundred metres before we reached the hide we stopped to watch baboons and a Jackal buzzard perched on a sign post. The view looking east over these rocks at the sunrise.

This particular morning we had been at the hide for about half an hour and were just settling in when the sunlight spread out over the rolling slopes of the plateau on the western side of the Bushman’s river valley. It was very cloudy to the west and the plateau was draped in various shades of mid-winter brown.

From the hide we spent hours watching the White-necked ravens frolicking in the updrafts rising from the Bushman’s valley floor. The ravens were wonderful fliers and very playful. They seemed to revel in the wind currents.

This was the vista, just after sunrise, looking north-east from the parking area just above the Bearded vulture hide.

A view from inside the vulture hide looking south west along the hide’s feeding shelf. The hide and feeding shelf are positioned on the plateau’s edge on the eastern side of the Bushman’s river valley. There were many Red-winged starlings waiting for the bones to be put out for the day. Early in the morning, the colours were soft yellows, browns, blues and mauves, quite saturated before the sun rose and washed out that unique saturation in the early part of the golden hour.

Once it had warmed up somewhat and the updrafts and thermals began to develop then we started to see the raptors.

A view looking north from directly above the vulture’s hide across the Bushman’s river valley onto the rolling plateau toward the basalt buttresses in the distance.

“This curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

Another view looking north from above the vulture hide across the Bushman’s river valley. A corner of the vulture hide is just visible above the yellow grass and between the two green bushes.

A view looking north west toward the snow capped basalt buttresses. It was a relatively clear sky and the sunlight had just spread across the plateau. In the middle ground is the Bushman’s river valley and above it the plateau was lit up by the morning sun. In the immediate foreground is part of the hide’s feeding shelf.

Another morning just after sunrise. The sun had risen high enough to cast beautiful soft light across the rolling plateau up to the steep sandstone cliffs which are capped by near vertical basalt buttresses. The golden sunlight painted soft mauves, browns, beiges across the scene. The sun was still too low to light up the green vegetation in the deep ravine leading down to the Bushman’s river valley.

A juvenile Bearded vulture soaring in the Bushman’s river valley with the boulder strewn Bushman’s river below in the background. The partly white face was an indication that this juvenile Bearded vulture was around four years old.

“Mother Nature is always speaking. She speaks in a language understood within the peaceful mind of the sincere observer. Leopards, cobras, monkeys, rivers and trees; they all served as my teachers when I lived as a wanderer in the Himalayan foothills.” ~ Radhanath Swami

” There is something hypnotic about watching a raptor soaring in the sky. Wings spread and fingers feeling the wind. Moving to a symphony we cannot see or hear.” ~ Mike Haworth

“Beauty and seduction, I believe, is nature’s tool for survival, because we will protect what we fall in love with.” ~ Louie Schwartzberg

Another view looking north west across the Bushman’s river valley. The early morning sun had only lit up the sandstone slopes and basalt buttresses. It is interesting to see the different colours as the sun rises and illumes the plateau.

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” ~ John Ruskin

I used a long focal length to take this image of the snow covered basalt buttress of the Drakensberg mountains. Again this image was taken early in the morning when the sunlight had only hit the top of the basalt buttresses.

The snow capped basalt buttresses made a wonderfully dramatic background for this high soaring Bearded vulture.

This adult Bearded vulture was soaring high above the Bushman’s river valley. The snow capped basalt buttresses provided some context as to the time of day and season.

Majestic and free.

An juvenile Bearded vulture landed on a large rock outcrop below the hide. It looked to be warming itself in the mid-morning winter sun. The black colouration of the face suggested it was around two years old.

A view from the hikers path just out of the Giant’s Castle camp looking west into the Bushman’s river valley.

“Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude.” ~ Louie Schwartzberg

A male Buff-streaked chat looking into the valley while perched on a stem of a dry fern.

A female Buff-streaked chat similarly perched on a dry fern stem.

A Greater Double collared sunbird looked like a jewel in the green and gold flora.

A view from our chalet looking west as the sun was rising and progressively lighting up the valley. The babbling Bushman’s river was in this foreground.

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” ~ Khalil Gibran

Early in the morning, a view from our chalet in Giant’s Castle camp, looking west to see the sandstone cliff and basalt buttress lit up by the golden hour sunlight.

“Aren’t we grateful for our brains, that can take this electrical impulse that comes from light energy and use it to explore our world? Aren’t we grateful that we have hearts that can feel these vibrations, in order for us to allow ourselves to feel the pleasure and beauty of nature?” ~ Louis Schwartzberg

We could not help but be entranced by the vast spectacular beauty of the place. Closer inspection revealed many avian wonders. For anyone interested in photography and birds, the Bearded vulture hide will delight. Your patience at the hide will be amply rewarded.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike