Plettenberg Bay

Welcome to the Birding Life Podcast, Africa's biggest birding podcast.

My name is Adam, and today I'm really excited to highlight a birding event that has been growing into something very special, the Batau Birding Festival in Plettenberg Bay.

The festival runs from the 23rd to the 30th of October, 2026, and brings together great birding, beautiful habitats, conservation, community, and a slightly different way of experiencing birds.

Summed up perfectly in this year's theme, slow down, look up, reconnect.

I had some traumatic experiences pretty much from 2018 all the way through COVID and then my daughter was born in 2020 and it was just a... rough and tumble period of my life and I found sanctuary in being out in nature and just exploring and finding birds and finding new birds.

So I guess the festival grew from that.

One of my neighbours here in Plettenberg Bay originally had a small birding festival, the Witterdrift Birding Festival that she started.

um, around 2019, 2020.

You're with MC90.3 FM in Plettenberg Bay and Knysna 97.0 FM.

My name is Chris Prior.

Once again, our happy time is upon us.

At the top of the set, Patty Smyth in 1979 on her wonderful album Wave.

Fabulous version of The Byrds classic, So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star.

You are The Chris Prior Show here on MC 90.3 FM in Plettenberg Bay and Knysna 97.0 FM.

Here's another familiar rock musician.

[rock music] Whoa.

Well, actually, I was two days old when we moved from the Auschwitz back to the Western Cape because my father is actually originally from Cape Town, Grassy Park.

And my mother is originally from the Greco settlement called Kransook in Plettenberg Bay.

So I've been blessed my entire life that I saw the city life and I saw the deep rural part of the Western Cape.

Although currently Petenburg Bay is not seen as rural anymore.

When you make the choices, always ask yourself, it's not just about yourself.

How can you serve the broader community? What did your parents want you to do? Well, I studied, or I sought to study to become a cost accountant because I have a love for numbers and processes.

So the day when I said, look, I've actually made a choice to enter politics, there wasn't any fireworks in the house, I can tell you at that stage, because Grand Zouk, the community I was in, I mean, post-1994, the community itself was part of a big award in Plettenberg Bay, but the ANC traditionally won that award.

And, you know, so for you to be opposite of what the bulk of the surrounding community is doing was something spectacular to observe because of the influence that the African National Congress at that stage had over a number of rural communities.

But the rest of the country, wind, rain is a real big issue.

So we find that in our opinion, we used to be in partnership with Western France Cricket Club, Plettenberg Bay.

We helped the clubs trying to bring paddle to them.

But for us now, we're focusing more on indoor.

And some of them can be quite disastrous.

We've seen places like Gneisenau and Plettenberg Bay, which were formerly well-run enclaves of safety and is now being depart by coalitions that have been primarily driven by the Patriotic Alliance.

So But I think, by and large, the Western Gap is going to be quite secure.

Durban is the most interesting one for me because all of the figures right now are showing that MK is likely to completely obliterate the ANC in terms of Durban.

You're tuned to MC 90.3 FM in Plettenberg Bay, and now he's in a 97.0 FM.

My name is Chris Prior, and I'm here because I like to have a good time.

And I've found the best way to do that is with a whole heap of cool boogie.

And the whole thing started with Little Feet.

Their 2025 release, Strike Up the Band, gave us the song Too High to Cut My Hair.

This is the Chris Prior Show on MC 90.3 FM in Plettenberg Bay and Nisner 97.0 FM.

The rock and roll continues with Mac 22.

MUSIC

Yes, it was all caps and very reflective.

While reversing out of a tricky gravel and concrete brick drop-off driveway on my way to work one morning in Plettenberg Bay, I also beached my car.

My landlord had to tow, drag, scrape me out of it with his 4x4 so I know them feels, boys.

That car cost my dad a grand total of 5,000 rand to build, but it was actually a Code 3, an original red tracer bottom half with a welded-on green tracer roof.

And in the early 90s, I managed to play with him.

I remember it was in Plettenberg Bay.

It was a fascinating conversation.

Essentially, he shared the tough life that he has as a young person, trying to make ends meet on the fringes of the economy, entrepreneurial in essence, but because he was denied that opportunity.