Hilton College Nature Reserve

David Clulow joined the Amber Valley Walkers recently to ramble about on Hilton College Estate. He submitted this description and pictures:

Picnic corner where we began and returned to in two hours time for lunch.  A Dombeya rotundifolia (Wild Pear)tree in white bloom. Some unburned older grasslandsan early example of what was to prove a great number of Cycads on the trailsometimes the path was level, sometimes notThe Krantz towers above usStrangler fig with magnificent root systemThere are views across and up the valleySpring must be nearAlways good signage of the pathwayswaterfall, with water – even in winterThe valley below, through the treesCoral tree, with startling red blossom in the otherwise dry landscapeBack in the valley – the uMngeni river flows wella pool with water moving stronglyThe Trumpeter Hornbill, zoomed in on, at an altitude of 910 meters and GPS at 29 28 20s  30 17 18eBesides seeing the Giraffe, herds of Wildebeest, Impala, and a number of Eland (are again under threat in the Drakensberg area) we were favoured with the sighting of a magnificent Tawny Eagle, which has found refuge in this well-conserved reserve.

To visit contact: The Wildlife Centre at Hilton College 033 383 0100