Find Your Place In The Shade

Wander along dunes and through palm forests as you explore Mtunzini – a lesser spotted, bird-friendly town in Zululand where nature still has a say.

- Ian Mcnaught Davis

Once a year, before the onslaught of the frigid Siberian winter, the common greenshank flaps its miniscule wings and sets course for Mtunzini on the coast of Zululand. When it arrives on the other side of the world, it gets to extend its summer as it joins a cacophony of other birds – including palm nut vulture and African finfoot – that have chosen to take it easy in Mtunzini’s forests. After all, hiding out in a forest is what you’re supposed to do here: The town’s name is derived from emthunzini, which means “a place in the shade” in isiZulu.

Explore the Umlalazi Nature Reserve, which borders the town and offers peace and quiet away from the industrial hullabaloo of nearby Richards Bay, and it’s easy to see why birds flock here: You’ll find towering raffia palms, pristine dune forest and the tranquil estuary around the Siyaya River, where the swampy banks bristle with mangroves.

Mtunzini was declared a conservancy in 1995 and there’s a long history of efforts by residents to preserve its natural beauty. One such resident is Dr Hugh Chittenden, the co-author of Roberts Bird Guide. He has an honorary degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal for his contributions to ornithology, but he has no academic background and is self-taught.

“There’s a group of us here who push the birding agenda,” he says over coffee and rusks on his patio. “It creates local enthusiasm, and that spreads.”