Port Shepstone to Oribi Gorge and Umzumbe Valley
Hundreds of Cape vultures circled like a great shoal of celestial sardines beneath a canopy of dark clouds. We’d been waiting for them in the hide, eagerly watching a pig carcass, when Andy Ruffle, manager of the Oribi Vulture Viewing Experience, suggested we step outside. The sheer number of them in the sky, and their sudden appearance, was breathtaking. ‘Seeing them like this always reminds me of Battle of Britain,’ Andy said, ‘that fantastic old war movie with Laurence Olivier.’ We took a short drive to the edge of the plateau and looked down on a cliff stained white with guano. And then, as if on cue, the vultures glided past at eye level, silent pilgrims of the sky. They came within metres of us, allowing for a good look at their beady eyes and beige coats. ‘People are starting to see the beauty in vultures, and if we can change perceptions we might give them a chance,’ Andy said. There are only 8 000 Cape vultures left in the world, and 200 of them can be found here in the Umzimkulu River Gorge. It seemed the vultures were flying past especially to greet Andy. ‘A woman once told me that I shouldn’t underestimate my connection with these birds, and I think she’s right,’ he said. After lunch I met up with Ryan Poisson at The Spot Backpackers in Umtentweni. He was taking me on the Mbuzi Trail, which follows a goat path in a tribal district that was once home to a band of cannibals. It’s a three-kilometre, two-hour hike that
passes two waterfalls. Five minutes in, we came to a rondavel where a man welcomed us warmly and Ryan told us he ‘grows the best bananas in the world – they’re big, juicy and orange’. That didn’t sound too appetising, but I liked the sentiment. We saw a thin waterfall that looked like a trail of smoke and followed the path up and over a hill. At the top, the sprawling hills of the Umzumbe Valley lay before us like a rumpled, moss-covered sheet. It was strange to think that this beautiful region is so seldom explored by tourists, as Ryan had said. We looked down on hundreds of huts scattered far below us while the Mzumbe River glistened and meandered like the trail of a confused snail. With the captivating views to the left of us, we walked on and stirred frogs that took giant leaps in the evening haze. We passed cattle, dropped down alongside another waterfall and, as the sun started to caress the horizon, the moon appeared from behind the clouds, shepherding us home.