Eight Bells Mountain Inn | Mostly Birding

Breakaway

After the stress of packing up our Pretoria home of the last 21 years and getting our house contents and ourselves to Mossel Bay last September, we were looking for a short breakaway but without a long drive, so Eight Bells Inn seemed like the ideal spot – one of our favourite places for tea or lunch and just 40 minutes from home.

Day One

The packing was simple for just three days, and we arrived at the inn soon after 4pm, settled into the comfortable room and relaxed for a while.

Sitting outside and enjoying the lush gardens, I added a few birds to the pentad list I had started on the way there, including Knysna Turaco flying by and disappearing into a tall tree, Red-chested Cuckoo calling repeatedly, Black-headed Oriole flashing its yellow plumage in the trees and Amethyst Sunbird busily finding nectar high up in the flowering tree in front of our room

Later, I set off on a walk down into the adjoining valley, passing horses grazing on the short grass and listening to the calls from the bushy areas. I was pleasantly surprised to see a group of Olive Pigeons in the tall trees, as I have not seen them outside of the forests.

A number of other ‘specials’ were quickly added as I made my way down the slope into the valley– Cape Batis, Spotted Eagle Owl, Terrestial Brownbul and Greater Double-collared Sunbird.

Dinner time was approaching, which hastened my return to our room to neaten up for the hotel dinner in the cosy dining-room. The evening meal was pleasant and we were looked after by the staff, still as super-friendly as we have come to know them over the years.

Day Two

After a relaxed breakfast, we set off on a drive with the Rose farm situated between George and Oudtshoorn, as our destination, and a route that would take us through the back roads of the Klein Karoo

The first part was up the Robinson Pass with several stops along the way to listen and look for the specials without much luck. Beyond the pass we were amazed by the extensive displays of wildflowers, particularly the deep pink vygies that stretched as far as we could see in places.

Approaching Oudtshoorn from the south, we took the Mount Hope turn off onto a gravel road and into typical arid Karoo countryside for the next hour or two as we wound our way up and down hills and dales.

This sign at a farmstead had us chuckling – covers just about everything!

Translation : Please drive slowly! Old people, farm workers, children, grandchildren, dogs and chickens

There were many attractive flowers that caught Gerda’s attention and we made numerous stops to look closer.

Birds were scarce, as is often the case in such arid areas but there were a few highlights –

Lesser Honeyguide in a group of gum trees near a farmstead– exactly where I had heard one during my previous atlas trip through the pentad some two years ago
Pale Chanting Goshawk juveniles – twice, one with small prey
Jackal Buzzard on utility pole

Dams along the route were mostly full, some verging on overflowing, but few had any birds except one large dam which held numbers of Shelducks, Yellow-billed Ducks and Red-billed Teals

At the Rose farm we enjoyed coffee and carrot cake / scone and Gerda spent a while buying roses for her planned small rose garden and two hanging baskets

Not wanting to return along the same road we headed over the Outeniqua pass, then through George to the N2 highway which took us to Great Brak River. From there we made our way via the Geelbeksvlei road back to the R328 and completed a full circuit once we reached Eight Bells.

After a while relaxing and a power nap, I took a walk around the paddock, adding Diderick Cuckoo, Paradise Flycatcher to my list. The evening dinner was a tasty chicken curry for me, bobotie for Gerda.

Day Three

We were looking forward to a day with less driving and more time to relax, so after another leisurely breakfast we set off with our tea and cookies to explore the road from nearby Ruiterbos to Leeukloof.

With light rain falling, we wound our way down into the valley, passing dense growth and broad stands of protea bush.

Passing through Ruiterbos village, we found Red-winged Starlings and Fork-tailed Drongo’s, while further on were Cape Canaries and Karoo Prinias. Heading into the lower part of the kloof the roadside vegetation became dense and colourful,with plenty of wildflowers, even some wild growing roses.

At its lowest point the road through Leeukloof crosses a river and we chose this spot to have our tea – we couldn’t have wished for a better spot – then carried on up the hill and back towards the tar road.

Heading back I took the next turn off left along the road to Bonnievale with limited birding success until a Black Harrier floated across the road in front of us

Black Harrier Circus maurus Witkruisvleivalk

Back at the Inn we relaxed while light rain fell outside, only raising ourselves in time for the dinner.

Heading Home

Rain fell heavily overnight and continued to fall in the morning, and the garden was sodden when we made our way to breakfast in the dining room, sheltering from the rain under large umbrellas

A flowering Bottlebrush tree with raindrops covering the bright red flowers caught my eye and demanded a quick photo with my iphone

After a full breakfast we headed back home in lighter rain. I had received a whatsapp reporting on the rain and mentioning three roads in the area that were closed due to flooding – Geelbeksvlei, Leeukloof and Haelkraal roads, all of which we had driven over the last two days, so fortune was on our side.

We could see the effects of the rain when we crossed the bridge over Brandwag River and when we paused to look at the Geelbeksvlei road, which we had driven just two days prior, now impassable due to the high level of the river.

A wet end to our short breakaway….

When we spend time in Mossel Bay, such as the during the last two months, we like nothing more than to explore the area around this part of the Southern Cape, driving the main and country roads and taking in the scenery and sights. Nowadays we tend to pack a picnic lunch or tea, which just feels safer, even though we have both had our vaccine shots, but a venue with outside seating and that is not too crowded is always an alternative that we consider.

At this time of year many of the Protea and fynbos species come into flower and from past experience we know that there are many places to view them within an easy driving distance from our home, one being the Robinson Pass on the R328 route that connects Mossel Bay with Oudtshoorn, twisting its way through the Outeniqua Mountains and rising to 860 metres before dropping away again.

Before getting into the pass proper, the road passes Eight Bells Mountain Inn, one of our favourite spots for lunch or tea (or even both) so this was where we headed to get our trip off to a good start, pulling into the small parking area after a 40 minute drive and stopping under the massive tree that was mostly bare but showing signs of the approaching Spring.

We had left home in light rain, but by the time we got to our lunch stop it had cleared with just enough cloud cover to make the light good for photography. After a tasty lunch (their ostrich burgers are recommended) we ventured further up the pass and were soon into the zone where the Proteas were flowering. Gerda’s photos give an idea of what the roadside looks like at this time of year –

I drove as slowly as possible, keeping an eye on the rear view mirror for approaching vehicles, as the road is narrow with few chances to overtake, pulling off wherever I could safely do so to allow faster vehicles to pass and to give us a chance to have a closer look at the multitude of flowers. That proved to be the right strategy as we noticed some hidden, small flowers among the much bolder Proteas.

Now my botanical knowledge is not on a par with my birding knowledge but I spent a while paging through our books on Proteas and Fynbos and have hopefully identified them correctly…..

Protea neriifolia / Oleander-leaf Protea / Baardsuikerbos

Mimetes fimbriifolius / Tree Pagoda / Maanhaar Stompie

Fairly sure this is a Leucadendron but not sure of species name

Continuing up the pass, we soon reached the top at 860 metres and some way down the other side there was a safe place to pull off and turn around for the return journey. Gerda had spotted a prominent pink Protea on the way down which we soon found – there was enough of a margin to pull off and take a few shots.

Protea eximia / (Fiery Duchess) / Broad-leaf Sugarbush / breeblaarsuikerbos

Other Proteas caught our eye further on

Protea aurea / Common Shuttlecock sugarbush / Geelsuikerbos

And those that shall remain unnamed (only because I could not find them in the reference books)

The view down the pass and across the valleys and distant mountains was worth a stop on the way back

Just to round off the day we returned to Eight Bells in time for afternoon tea and their superb apple pie with ice cream – I mean, why just do it if you can over-do it!