4. AMATIKULU NATURE RESERVE
(35 kms from Eshowe Town Hall) Open 7:OOam - 8:OOpm

KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Services. No permit is required.

Ideal day visit from Eshowe or Mtunzini. From Eshowe travel along the R66, go through the Dokodweni Toll Plaza and onto the N2 and continue until you see the Amatikulu Nature Reserve signboard. Turn left and follow the signs.

Bordering on the Indian Ocean north of the Tugela, this nature reserve boasts five unique eco-systems - estuarine, dune scrub, dune forest, coastal riverine and coastal forest. Birding is spectacular. Coastal grassland birding could include sightings of Ayres', Rattling, Fan-tailed and Croaking Cisticola's. You could also see Red-billed Oxpeckers on the giraffe. When birding in the odd forest patches, look for Flycatchers, Pipits, Longclaws, Shrikes, Starlings, Sunbirds, Weavers, Widows and Crested Guineafowl. At the estuary you could be rewarded by seeing Crakes, Cranes, Jacanas, Plovers, Stilts, Sandpipers, Stints, Black-throated Wattle-eye and White fronted Bee-eater

Enhancements: Walking and canoe trails, picnic sites and ablutions.