VultureVagabond: A Drakensberg Weekend

Bathtub with a view.

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Mclean farm in the Drakensberg Mountains. The Drakensburg is a World Heritage Site, and their name means Dragon Mountain. It is only about an hour and a half away from Pietermaritzburg!

A section of the mountain covered in mist.

Besides getting away for the weekend, I wanted to investigate were Cape Vulture X033 had been roosting for the past two weeks. Yes a vulture from the Eastern Cape was roosting in the Drakensburg! Quite a far distance for this bird to move! Granted it is the vulture non-breeding season and there are no hungry chicks to feed at the colony in the Eastern Cape.

However, when we went to investigate the bird’s location on Sunday, we checked the website, and it had already begun to move back down to Mkambati! Of course the time I wanted to check on it, it decides to move! But that’s females for you!

Despite not seeing the vulture, I had a great time exploring the farm and hanging out with the Mclean family. One of the highlights was seeing my first rock art, or cave paintings. These were done by the San people, a pastoral group of people that inhabited the Drakensburg. One of the main reasons this is a world heritage site is because of the number of rock art one can see and its accessibility. In order to preserve the paints, you have to go with a registered guide. Glen was my guide, and I was so thankful! He didn't tell me exactly where the paintings were on the cliff face. He just said “from this point on don’t touch anything!’

Below is the cliff face from far away. You can barely even see anything!