Mid-summer is a minor lull in the bird world, and not just in Africa. The most obvious feature is the slackening of bird-song. Territorial boundaries have been settled, and the most important thing is collecting lots of food for chicks. So it is at the Cavern. In an admittedly very wet weekend there was neither […]
There is no question about the fact that we are Hill Billies. We do try to put on our town attire when we head out. We keep our shoulders back and walk tall as we head into the bustling streets but sometimes the fancifulness of the big smoke outsmarts us all. A while back, we
This week I have had to do a lot of reading. I find this to be a hugely difficult task and my brain and body feel completely drained by the end of the day. The trickiest part is comparing documents and making sure there are no contradictions and that all the sentences are concise, clear
The weather was unusually hot, not ideal for birding. But why do birds respond so quickly to a very early hot morning, and more or less slacken off even after a couple of hours? Temperature is indeed the main factor. All small birds wake up hungry, but insect food isn’t always obvious first thing. Being
In a rural community in the northern parts of the Drakensberg is a vibrant community and home to our Khanyisela Project and Royal Drakensberg Primary School. We share our interactions on social media and we have been part of the Pack for a Purpose initiative for approximately 5 years. See more Our mission is to
We have had the most exciting couple of weeks. The Scottish travelling language specialists, Dr Marysia Nash and her colleague Gemma MacDonald, arrived to check on the implementation of our BabyBoost programme and to help begin a new group. As individuals they are packed with a purpose of boosting children through parent power. It’s always
We were again lucky with big game. There must have been a dozen Eland sightings, mostly singles, with plenty of other evidence including broken Buddleja salviifolia bushes – their favourite winter food. A group of six Mountain Reedbuck was the largest we have ever seen. A bushbuck near the hotel garden appeared to have no
Hospitality rocks. It has to be the one business which is never dull; there are daily challenges and there is always a good glass of red in the evenings when the chaos subsides. Yesterday our Orla had too close of an encounter with a baboon and then a small fire brought life to a head
Sheila Hyman was the Junior School Head when we were students at St John’s Diocesan School for Girls in Pietermaritzburg. After completing my first year at St John’s I was shocked to hear that the Headmistress had decided to spend Christmas at The Cavern with her almost 95 year old mother. I was completely blown
The weather was perfect, birds responding full bore at sunrise. The highlight was seeing three Half-collared Kingfishers at once on the bottom pond. Although this is a regular haunt the kingfishers usually flee if approached too closely. Not today. This was a breeding episode, mom, dad and junior – easily identified by mottled beak and
