From 16 December 2022 to 03 January 2023, our exploration to look for tadpoles continued into the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot of the KwaZulu-Natal region. Our first destination was Hillcrest, where we were warmly welcomed by the lovely Emily Anne Jackson. This is where we enjoyed a home-cooked dinner, which was much needed, not only after an 8-hour drive but after a long two weeks in the field. The following day, we started sampling in a stream next to the house and were amazed by the abundance of Leptopelis natalensis - Natal Tree Frog tadpoles. As the sun set, we made our way to Everton for some more frogging, where we encountered many common species, but also several adult Hadromophryne natalensis - Cascade Frogs and also a pair of Natalobatrachus bonebergi - Kloof Frogs with their eggs. Over the following days we conducted experiments on Leptopelis natalensis, Strongylopis grayi, Amietia delalandii, Hadromophryne natalensis, and a Bufonid species, see the previous blog post for additional information on the experiments. Following this, we proceeded to our next destination, St. Lucia.

The plan to head north, unexpectedly shifted southwards when the entire team contracted COVID-19. Some of us had really bad symptoms which resulted in few experiments being conducted. Nonetheless, once we recovered we were able to find a variety of great herpetofauna. In St. Lucia, a highlight was observing a single East African Egg-eater (Dasypeltis medici) crossing the road late at night. In the pans were an abundance of Water Lily Frogs - Hyperolius pusillus, and also a ton of Red Legged Wot Wot - Hylambates maculatus, which arguably have the coolest tadpoles. It was unfortunately time for goodbyes to half the teams and we dropped Molly and Shane at the King Shaka International Airport. Thereafter, we briefly stopped at Ballito to visit a good friend, Bryce Robinson, before proceeding to Kosi Bay. Our exploration in Kosi Bay proved less successful in terms of tadpole sightings, with only a few coastal species such as Hyperolius and Hylambates. We did manage to find a range of interesting amphibians in the pans near Tembe. The one night we experienced heavy rainfall, and in the hopes of finding some interesting snakes, we went road cruising. This was pretty dismal, with only a dead on road Bicoloured Quill-snouted Snake - Xenocalamus bicolor.

Our next stop was the greater Pongola region, where we discovered an abundance of tadpoles such as Hemisus marmoratus, Phrynobatrachus, Phrynomantis, and several Hyperolius species. In addition, we had some great field herping opportunities that were lacking for much of our trip prior to this. In the Lebombo mountains we had some great sightings of Smaug warreni, Platysaurus lebomboensis and Nucras ornata. But most notably an interesting snake and gecko, watch this space for more on those.

This marked the end of our KwaZulu-Natal part of the trip and it was now time to head north. The field work, experiments and admin that comes along with it were pretty time consuming. Thus, leaving very little time for photography. However, I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of the finds from this trip. Leave a comment stating your favorite and what you would like to see more of.

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