Breakfast at 7:30am so that we could hit the road as early as possible to start making our long way home. It is about 1400 kms from The Cavern back home. The route back is fairly straightforward as it is all pretty much on national roads which tend to be well maintained. We had 600 kms to cover today and our navigation system said it would be just under 6 hours. We hit the road just after 8:30am and after doing two stops (one to de-fuel and one for fuel), we arrived at our our accommodation for the night. The drive was pretty much uneventful (which is the way we like it!). We did drive past the Sterkfontein Dam (3rd largest dam in SA) and the colours were striking from the burnt bush to the emerald water and blue sky.

We are staying at Tzamenkomst which is right on the Orange River. We stayed here last year on our route home and everyone loved it so we decided to do a repeat. B & S found it as they stayed here on their way home after my 50th birthday trip (which was during Covid times) so it is their 3rd visit. The sunset over the river looks exactly as it looks on their webpage.

A bottle of sparkling wine was secured from the bar so that we could celebrate the trip and especially the birding milestones of S (400 lifers), H (450 lifers), B (350 lifers), O (250 lifers). My trip list currently stands at 234 after adding a few more today (including one at a stop & go roadworks!).

Dinner tonight was in their dining hall and over dinner we did our usual reminiscing of the trip and sharing of highlights and lowlights. The general agreed highlights were:
– Mkhuze bird hide (Kamasinga)
– Lodge and bush walk with Siya (at Mpila)
– Drakensberg (The Cavern)
– Hilltop Camp and accommodation (and walk through the camp)

The general agreed lowlights were:
– 4×4 drive up north from Sodwana Bay to Lake Sibaya (we basically saw nothing because of the wind and the road was very enclosed)
– The wind (cold biting wind when we packed up and left Karoo NP, wind in Sodwana, wind as we drove into the Drakensberg and again this morning as we left). It seems August is a windy month in the places we visited.
– Accommodation at Mkhuze (bat in our room didn’t help that rating from H & I)
– Drive from Howick to Umhlanga (the trucks and road works)
– Dirt road from Sodwana to Jozini

One day of driving left tomorrow – 800kms. Breakfast at 7am and on the road as soon as possible after that. Unless something remarkable happens (which I am hoping it won’t!), I won’t likely blog tomorrow so until next time ….

P, H, S, B, A & O (she made the fatal error of trying to suggest I had made a factual error on the blog)

We had breakfast at 8am. On walking back to our rooms after breakfast, S got lifer number 400! The hotel has various organised activities during the day. B, S & A went on an organised walk and H & I decided to do our own walk rather so we could bird. If you elect to do your own thing then you need to inform reception so that they can send out a search and rescue party if you don’t make it back for some reason. Our forest walk was meant to take 2 hours though not entirely sure how that is possible given H and I did a very slow walk as we were stopping for birds all the time and we made it back in an hour and 15 minutes. It was a lovely walk through the forest and up the mountain a bit so eventually you were almost in line with the canopy. We added some trippers and H added one lifer.

We relaxed for the balance of the morning in the room with H sitting on the balcony enjoying the sun before we start making our way back to rainy Cape Town. Lunch at 1pm was a buffet of salads, cottage pie and vegetable bobotie followed by apple pie and custard or ice cream & hot chocolate sauce. I lost track of how many deserts A at lunch today.

B, S, H & I went for an after lunch walk to the dams which are next to and below the hotel. It was on the start of the same route that they took for their organised walk but this time we could stop to do some birding. We all added one lifer and I managed to get another one (which H had actually gotten earlier in the trip already). My trip list is now at 228 birds and I have added 19 lifers. As you would have seen, H passed 450 lifers, S has now passed 400 lifers, B has passed 350 lifers. It has been a productive trip for all of us. I had hoped for 10 lifers on the trip (and thought that might be a stretch) so 19 with a total lifer count now of 579 is definitely way more than I could have hoped for.

Dinner was preceded tonight by drinks and snacks (snacks provided by hotel). 3-course dinner as last night with salad and cheese. The clear favourite on the food side seems to be the ice cream & chocolate sauce which has now been eaten at 3 of our 4 meals here and I reckon if it was served at breakfast then a few people (H & A particularly) would have had it then too.

We all agreed that we could easily have spent another day here.

Until tomorrow …

P, H, S (400 lifers!), B, O & ………………………. A

We packed up and headed toward the Drakensberg at around 8am. We chose not to drive back south to Durban and then west (all on national roads) and rather went with the cross KZN option. What we didn’t realise when selecting the route that the first bit of the route would be on gravel (around about 60kms). The first bit of the gravel road was fine but it did deteriorate later. We all felt for O and her back. What was evident from the others that the Landy handled the gravel much better than B’s Toyota. He was using words like ‘most road ever’ whereas H and didn’t think it was bad (in fact at one point H was doing some online shopping even on her cellphone).

The route took us through places like Jozini, Dundee and Ladysmith. We stopped at Jozini for refuel at the BP. That was a mistake. It was right next to the taxi rank and the filling station was just a mess of cars and trucks. To make matters worse, a delivery truck decided to reverse from the pump next to me and almost took out my mirror and left side of the car. I hooted, H thumped on the side of the truck but the driver just persisted. He stuck his head out and said he could see he was fine but either his vision was distorted or he wasn’t looking properly because he was definitely going to hit my car. Eventually he stopped briefly when everyone was shouting at him and I reversed and got my car nearer the pump because he would have otherwise hit it. H found the company contact details and wrote to them but of course no response whatsoever. We had stopped at BP because A wanted to use them for his Discovery points and then in the whole mess he decided to go to the Total instead. If there was somewhere further to move him on the blog order I would.

After Jozini we were back on tar roads but lots of potholes. Fortunately using Waze for navigation and it warns you every time you hit a pothole section. That was quite helpful and allows you to slow down before you hit the poor section. While the roads were potholed in places, they were still far better than the roads we have experienced in the past in the Free State and in the Eastern Cape.

As we approached the Drakensberg we could see the air absolutely covered in smoke. The wind was blowing strongly too and we could see what looked like a runaway veld fire. It was somewhat concerning in that there is only one road in and out of where we are staying. Fortunately it seems to away from the area where we are or they managed to extinguish it. Either way it doesn’t seem to be an issue.

We arrived at The Cavern at 4pm and once we had checked in and had a guided tour of the place, we offloaded our luggage and then had to take the car to the parking area (which is at the bottom area). The parking spots and turns are so small that the only way I could actually turn one corner was to reverse into the fence and push it back slightly. Fortunately no damage to the Landy because it has a spare tyre on the back so that gives some protection.

The accommodation is very nicely appointed with a large bathroom and lovely balcony overlooking the Drakensberg. The rates are fully inclusive (3 meals, 2 teas and all activities). We only paid R1710 per person per night (less than $100 per person per night). It absolutely is good value for money. Dinner last night included a choice of 3 starters, 3 mains and 2 deserts and in addition there was a buffet salad, bread and cheese board (with multiple cheese choices). They also have their own wine cellar where you can go choose your wine and pay for it and then drink it with the meal. The prices were very reasonable for good bottles of wine.

The only noteworthy part of dinner was when O came back from the salad bar and complained that she had a ‘granny’ in front of her. I said ‘oh you mean like a granny like H?’. If A wasn’t entrenched at the bottom of the blog order already, O would have been moved there.

Until later today (I had hoped to send yesterdays earlier but was just too tired after the 7-hour drive yesterday).

P, H, B, S, O & ………… The one who should remain nameless after his Green Twinspot

The runners (barring O due to her back issue) decided to run down (down being the operative word) to the beach this am and then I had to go and pick them up so they didn’t have to run up again. When I found them near the end of the road, there was a lot of complaining how the ‘down’ run was actually not down at all and that there was lots of up. Also complaining about the humidity. One can avoid that sort of complaining by not running at all – just saying.

After breakfast, we had decided to do some proper 4×4 on sand and head north to Lake Sibaya. It is designated an IBA (Important Bird Area) and is the largest fresh water lake in South Africa. What makes it additionally fascinating is that the fish that inhabit the lake are actually salt water fish but have adapted to live in the lake even though it is fresh water. When the lake is full, it causes a fresh water spring to form on the beach nearby. It is part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The birding sites said up to 20000 herons can sometimes be seen on the lake at one time. We had high expectations of the day ahead.

The road within meters from the lodge quickly became a single track very sandy road and B and I (the drivers) decided to let down the tyres of our vehicles to ensure we had adequate traction. This was the first time for the Landy doing proper 4×4 and so it took me awhile to find the right settings and get it into Sand mode. Once I got that sorted, it was clear to me how well the Landy would do in sand and that it was highly unlikely I would be getting stuck any time. The bigger issue was the narrowness of the road as we drove through the forest. The car is now thoroughly scratched in one both sides and the roof. I long since learnt that if you want to 4×4 then you should expect the car to be scratched.

Unfortunately it was very windy and slightly overcast so the birds were just not easily to be found. At one point on our drive, we stopped and H had a swallow next to her trying to fly into the wind and it was basically stationary next to her window in the air (which made for easy identification). We had hoped for lunch at a picnic spot listed on the map we had from KZN Wildlife but it turns out that the picnic might have been wishful thinking. We finally just made our own picnic spot on the side of the lake. H says that she had a workout of her core muscles trying to stay in her seat and was complaining how tired she was when we got back. B & I enjoyed the drive though we were all thoroughly disappointed with the birding as we hardly saw anything new at all. We did see 1 lifer for most of the others (wasn’t for me) and my trip list is now at 213 so that is now a new record for any road trip.

The afternoon was spent catching up with emails and just relaxing and then we went to the Leatherbacks restaurant that is part of the Sodwana Bay Lodge for dinner (in order to enjoy some fish). The owner was described as Mr Personality by H. A managed to get him engaged in somewhat of a conversation but it was more like two word answers to anything A asked. It became more and more amusing talking to him as the evening progressed.

After dinner A decided to download the BirdLasser app so he could record his Green Twinspot as his first lifer. Needless to say he offered to show us a photo of the bird as well. I am now leaving a gap between him and the rest of us as I sign off todays blog!

Until tomorrow …

P, H, B (the Toyota managed to not get stuck in the sand today), S, O & A

Another night, another battle with a bat. This time it started much earlier (11pm ish). H had already put the mosquito net down around her bed to keep the bat away and so now it used her net to hang on when it decided to stop its laps around the room. We left the light on in the hope it would go away and once again it did. But then I was getting buzzed my mosquitoes and as the bat hadn’t re-emerged for some time (it was now around 1am), I decided to turn the light off in the hope the mosquitoes would go away. Mistake … at 2am the bat was again doing Olympic loops in the room and so light on again and bat vanished shortly thereafter. A quick trip to loo and I could hear a noise in the bathroom next door and sure enough the bat is now in the bath and seemingly couldn’t get out. O was telling me the previous day about a bat not being able to get out of a bath and so I thought now is the opportunity for my capture and release skills to spring into action. Fetched some implements from the kitchen and headed back to bath but as I tried to capture it, the bat flew out of the bath (contrary to what O said). I managed to hit it with a towel and shut the door and decided to deal with the issue in the morning.

The balance of the evening was then spent dealing with the mosquitoes flying around in the bedroom. I eventually managed to get that problem under control and finally managed to get to sleep properly at about 2am. When I gingerly went to open the bathroom door to see where the bat was, it had done a houdini act and vanished. H was concerned it was in the depths of her vanity bag but I dealt with that concern. No idea what happened to it but maybe the next occupants will be lucky and not have to deal with it in the bedroom. The accommodation (besides the bat issue) at Mkhuze does need some updating. It is pretty dated and in need of maintenance. The beds/linen, fridge, stove were all fine but the actual building and the bathrooms need to be renovated.

We decided to get back to the Kamasinga hide for a morning visit and we were not disappointed with that decision. Lots of birds and animals coming to drink. We also saw 2 rhino on the way to the hide and they were right next to the road. At one point while at the hide we had giraffe, nyala, wildebees and zebra all drinking at the same time. The bird life was also just ridiculous again with it being hard to know where to look. A KZN local (who was actually at the hide when we were there midday the previous day) started speaking to A and telling him about what he was seeing and A was taking photos of some of the birds as well. Not until later did A say, ‘Did you guys see the Green Twinspot? The guy pointed it out to me and I just assumed you guys had all seen it.’ Of course, we hadn’t and it was one of the birds we were at the hide to see. A automatically going to end of the blog especially since he keeps going around showing us the photo he took on his camera and saying he is going to download the BirdLasser app and just start his list with 1. Green Twinspot!

We did see a whole lot of other birds which were lifers for some of the others. We had planned on being there for only an hour but we ended up being there for close to 2 hours so we had to head back quickly to the camp to back up before the 10am checkout time. The cleaning staff were already in our rooms starting to change linen etc. We packed up quickly and then headed out of the west gate at Mkhuze. Just after the gate there is a forest of Fever trees and a river crossing and B stopped on the river to have a look for birds. As we stopped behind him H spotted a Green Malkoha in the trees. It is a very secretive bird and another special from the area. Very hard to see generally and so really pleased we saw it. H also saw another lifer at the same time (which would have been one for me too but it had flown by the time I was able to look for it).

We then headed to Sodwana Bay with a quick stop at Mbazwana at the SuperSpar. That was another experience and shows that what we are used to at our supermarkets is not what everyone else buys. There were 5 kg packets of frozen chicken feet and 5 kg packets of frozen russian sausages.

On to our accommodation for the next 2 nights which is at Sodwana Bay Lodge. We have a private 4-bedroom house. It is very nicely equipped with everything (besides a dishwasher). Dinner last night was our first meatless night (except for A who had a steak) since we left home. We had pasta.

My trip list is now on 209 birds. Our best trip so far has been 210 birds so just one more to equal our best trip ever.

Until later today …

P, H, B (for stopping on bridge otherwise we wouldn’t have seen the green malkoha), O (feeling sorry for her because her back issues continue), S, A (he is likely to remain here for balance of the trip … see above)

Our (being H & I) first night was somewhat interrupted around 2am when a bat decided to do laps in our bedroom. It liked getting particularly close to H for some reason. I’m not a bat catcher so the only alternative was to turn the light on and hope it wouldn’t like that and go away (from wherever it came). It was a good strategy but that did mean that the rest of the night we had to sleep with the light on (which fortunately both of us managed to do).

We had decided to head out at sunrise (6:30am) and do a drive to the Nsumo pan which was about 20 minutes away and have coffee and rusks there and then head back to camp for breakfast. I was expecting a dry pan but it turned out to be more like a lake and definitely wasn’t dry. It was still fairly cool (around 15 degrees C) when we got to the picnic spot but we managed to enjoy our coffee standing in the spots of sun. I also fetched my scope as there were some birds on the pan that were too far away to ID just using binoculars.

After coffee, we visited one of the two hides that are on the pan. The hides at Mkhuze are absolutely beautifully done and in great condition. Definitely some of the best bird hides I have been to actually. Some more birds added to the trip list plus some lifers for some of the people. On the way back to camp we did a quick detour down the landing strip as my one bird app said it was a good place to find some rarities. We did again see a few birds (though not the ones the app suggested) and one of them was a lifer for all of us.

We got back late morning (a bit later than we had expected). There are a few bird hides nearby which I wanted to go to and so H, S and I ventured out. The first one which was only 2 kms from the camp, while the hide itself was nice, there was very little bird action. We decided to go to the other one which was 7 km from the camp. What a good decision that was. Birds everywhere, game coming down to drink. You honestly didn’t know where to look at times with all the action. I would be looking at something and then S or H would say they have seen something else. It was a battle to keep up. More lifers for all 3 of us and I passed the 200 birds for the trip point as well. Our short trip out turned into 2 hours out. It was so good that we suggested we go again at 4pm before the sunset. When we arrived with the others there was far less action and relatively disappointing compared to midday.

Our last braai in the bush was last night as we were leaving the game parks and returning to some level of civilization from now until the end of the trip. H and I were just hoping for a bat-free night …

Until later today

P, H, A (he did the braai 2 nights running on interesting wood), S (for joining us on the midday bird excursion), B & O

The ladies and A went for a run around the camp in the morning before we left and B & I watched the rugby. I probably haven’t done Hilltop Camp and accommodation full justice in that the facilities were very nice. As you can from the fact that we managed to watch rugby, the house we were staying in had satellite TV even. It also came with a chef (which we didn’t use) and had it’s own WiFi even. Given how everyone had told us that the accommodation wasn’t great, I would say that it was in fact very good.

However, if you want to see animals (and not birds) then I would not rush to Hlulhuwe iMfolozi park. The animals are few and far between. We finally saw elephant on the last day (lying down sleeping it seems) and of the more impressive animals we only saw the 1 wild dog and 4 rhino in total. What you will see a lot of is nyala. They were everywhere. In the Kruger National Park you see impala but in Hlulhuwe, nyala is the impala of the park (though you do get impala too they are far less than nyala).

The drive we needed to do was very short (just under 2 hours) and so we decided that when we exit Hlulhuwe that we would go directly east into some of the St Lucia area and do some birding on the water before heading to Mkhuze. The one annoying thing was the quantity of traffic coming to the park and especially game vehicles (who like the Kruger believe they own the road and the park). At the gate before we exited the park we saw a number of new birds for the trip and lifers for everyone.

As we were standing there birding, we could hear a veld fire and then we could feel it and then we could see it coming right up to the gate. We thought it would be a good time to get into our cars and get out of there. The only issue was that to exit the park we had to drive through where the fire was burning. We were the last of the 3 cars and the flames were right up against the side of the road and H was shouting at me that it was going to burn the paint off the car. I was too busy trying to see where to go as the smoke was so thick I could only see directly in front of me and just hoped there wasn’t an oncoming car or that A (who was in front of me) didn’t stop because I would never have been able to see either until it was too late. Fortunately (as you can tell from me typing this blog) we did get through safely and we headed for False Bay in St Lucia.

Once out it only took us about 30 minutes to get to the gate of a portion of iSimangaliso Wetland Park and after debating whether we wanted to pay the R149 gate entry fee per car, we decided why not and went in. What I good call that turned out to be as the birding over St Lucia lake was fantastic. The road was only just over 6 kms long but runs along the side of the lake the whole time and there are 2 picnic spots as well. We stopped at the first one and after some quick scanning we noticed a number of birds on the water. We couldn’t easily see them until H reminded me that I had my scope with me and then once that was out and installed we tracked down some really good birds with again lifers for everyone.

By this point it was 1pm already and so we headed to Mkhuze Game Park where we are spending the next 2 days. The drive once off the N2 is on dirt road which were in reasonable condition except when you passed through a village when it became much worse because it was partly tarred. After the gate check in we headed to the camp (Mantuma) and arrived just before 3pm. It was just as well we arrived then because in the midst of checking in they told us that they actually close at 3pm on Saturdays! That might have been slightly difficult if they were closed because we wouldn’t have been able to buy wood. We would still have been able to get into our units because they have a board with the allocations and they leave the keys in the unit door.

We did a camp walk late afternoon and realised that there are actually no fences and you could just walk down the road and out of the camp if you wanted to. There is also no one going to stop you. We were doing the walk when a ranger pulled up and asked what we were looking for. Very friendly and chatty and so we asked him about the restrictions and he said there are none and yes the camp was unfenced and that is the way they like it. He said yesterday a herd of elephants came through the camp at night. He also suggested that sundowners at one of the hides was a good thing to do and we replied and said ‘but aren’t you meant to not drive past 6pm?’ and he replied with a smirk and said ‘you’re not meant to but that doesn’t mean you can’t’! It seems they are pretty flexible and not overly concerned if you’re a few minutes late. There are no gates and no one is actually around even (from what we could tell).

We had a braai for dinner (as usual). Given the milestones (H passed 450 lifers and O passed 200 lifers), A had agreed to open his red wine magnum he brought along. A very nice bottle and worthy of a rise in the blog rankings for opening that. What was also surprising was that when A went inside to cut up some of the braai for dinner, O jumped up to watch her sausage on the braai. You tongmanship did even include the odd clicking of the tongs to try and impress us. A wasn’t overly impressed when he came back outside and was very keen to become the tongmaster again.

Until late (or maybe tomorrow depending on how tired I am and whether the signal is good enough to post a blog) …

P, H, A (for wine), B (for his bird imitation in front of S who was in the ‘bird hide’ – see photo below), O (feel bad for her as she has hurt her back after her run yesterday … reminding me again why running is dangerous and shouldn’t be done) & S.

We didn’t change camps today so we decided to have an early morning drive for a few hours and stop and have coffee and then head back for breakfast/brunch. Sunrise is around 6:30am so we headed out then first on the tar road and then onto gravel roads to get to the picnic spot. We didn’t see many animals or birds except we saw two rhino again and it looked like they were sleeping (or at least sitting down).

The picnic spot was on the river and you could walk down to the bank of the river. It is probably one of the best picnic spots I have seen actually based simply on location. The ever present vervet monkeys were so cheeky they managed to steal a packet of rusks even though we were actually sitting at the table. We managed to recover most of them except the one the monkey made off. Birding was really good on the river’s edge and we added a few to the trip list and some of us even managed to add a few lifers at the picnic spot. The drive back to the camp was along a gravel road and we did see more game (including buffalo, giraffe etc) but no predators.

After breakfast we decided to do a late morning camp walk. We walked for just over an hour around the camp in that time I added 4 lifers. At one point we had just seen one lifer when I turned and looked at another tree and spotted another lifer. It was the most rewarding camp walk I have ever done. The bird life in the camp was incredible. The best bird today was undoubtedly seeing a Narina Trogon. It has been one of my bogey birds in that I have been in places we should have seen it and haven’t managed to. It is quite a shy bird so not easily seen so I was very pleased to spot it and have really good views of it today in the camp. I have already seen 11 lifers on the trip. My initial view was that seeing 10 lifers would be good so I have easily beaten my expectations. The trip list is currently on 161 birds. I had set a target of 200 birds and so that should be easily reachable now.

We spent the early afternoon in the camp just lazying around and some people caught up on emails and some work and then late afternoon we headed out for a game drive. We didn’t see much (it was still pretty hot with temperatures around 30 degrees) and at one point I thought we may not even add to the bird trip list but in the end we did add a few to that list.

Back in time for a braai for dinner and now off to sleep!

Until tomorrow (assuming we have some means to send a blog)

P, H, O, A, B & S (those last two because they missed the rhino today and they were the lead car though B redeemed himself by spotting a lifer for me)

We were up at around 6am yesterday as Siya was taking us on a bush walk. After signing the indemnity form (never a good sign just before you encounter wild animals while walking), Siya gave us a safety briefing, told us what to do and more importantly what not to do. He loaded his rifle and then we headed off in single file along and down to the river. The plan was for around a 2-hour walk and then back to the lodge for breakfast and to pack up and then head to the next camp (Hilltop).

The walk was very leisurely with frequent stops for explanations around trees, dung, spoor etc. Siya’s knowledge of the area was impressive. He grew up not far from the camp and so he knew the local traditions and area very well. He quickly picked up that we were keen on birding and so he started stopping less for trees & dung and more for birds. His eyesight was also pretty phenomenal in that he saw birds we struggled to find with our binoculars.

We ended up at the hippos and they were very curious of us. They kept coming closer and closer but Siya said it wasn’t an issue because they can’t climb up the rocks we were standing on because their legs are too short. I wasn’t too enthusiastic to find out – a hippo chomping at your ankles also doesn’t sound like fun to me. We did add 20 birds to the trip list and I also got a lifer. It was a fantastic experience and while we didn’t see any exciting game, we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

After breakfast and packing up we headed out from the camp, heading north into the Hluhluwe part of the park as our next two nights would be at Hilltop Camp in the north. We didn’t see much on route but did stop at picnic spot which also has local curios for sale (obviously popular with foreign tourists). We arrived at Hilltop Rest Camp at just before 2pm and managed to check in immediately to our accommodation for the next 2 nights. We are staying at Mtwazi Lodge which is a 3-bedroom house with an annex with another bedroom. The accommodation again is very comfortable and nice. We had been warned that the accommodation in the park was rundown and not in great condition but our opinion is exactly the opposite. Everything is actually in reasonably good condition (and in many cases better than you find in the Kruger Park). We have been pleasantly surprised.

A late afternoon walk around the camp yielded another lifer and some more birds for the trip list. This was followed by the mandatory braai for dinner and then off to bed so we could be up at sunrise for a morning game drive.

Until tomorrow (or maybe later today if I have the energy to write up today’s blog at the end of the day) …

P, H, B, S, O & A (no change as no one did anything of note either way)

The crazy people didn’t learn from the previous mornings lesson and decided to go for a run again at 7am before we hit the road. It was 2 degrees C when they ventured out. Once they got back and we packed up and hit the road. Our first stop was Howick to go to supermarket to get food for next 5 nights as we were heading to a Game Park which we knew didn’t have food options. We then followed the main highway (N3) to Pietermaritzberg and Durban. The traffic was horrendous with thousands of trucks and road works to add into the equation as well. Despite road signs saying no trucks in right hand lane, the one large truck would overtake another. It just went on like that for ages and was not a pleasant drive until we turned north at Durban and started heading up the coast line. Once we got past Ballito, the traffic lightened up considerably and the balance of the drive was much more pleasant.

We got to the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park at around 1:30pm. The one national road (R618) runs right through the middle of the middle as they used to be split into two sections (Hluhuwe & iMfolozi) but now they are combined into one but obviously the national road remains. We were starting off in the southern (iMfolozi) section. We had to go to Mpila Rest Camp to check in (about 20 kms from the gate) though we had actually reserved a Bush Lodge which was about 10 kms outside of the main camp. On route from the gate we saw 2 rhino (A was in the front and drove right past them … definite downgradeable offence) and then a little later we saw a wild dog trotting up the road. It is unusual to just see 1 wild dog but it must have somehow been separated from its pack. This was on top of seeing all the usual animals like buffalo, giraffe, impala, vervet monkeys, nyala, zebra, wildebeest etc.

When we arrived at Hlathikhulu Bush Lodge we realised we had made a mistake of only booking 1 night there. It was made up of 5 separate buildings – a main lodge area (kitchen, dining room, lounge) and then 4 bedrooms (all en-suite). The whole thing overlooked the iMfolozi river. Additional upside … no cellphone signal hence no blog until now. Further upside, the lodge guide (comes with the place) told he he takes you for a bush walk in the morning as part of the price of what you pay. You also get a cook if you want to use them.

We did our own braai (as usual) and after the day of driving and the fresh air we were all ready for bed by just after 8pm. The lodge only has generator power until 10pm and we headed to our rooms to clean up and get into bed. The rooms did suffer from the fact that the wind blew right through them and so the temperature dropped fairly rapidly (it was 30 degrees C when we arrived). By this morning the room was icy cold inside which made it hard to get up from under the warm blanket.

We have been adding steadily to the bird trip list and everyone is gaining lifers almost daily at the moment. I got one yesterday evening just as we started the braai when we looked at the top of one tree near the braai area and it turned out to be an African Cuckoo Hawk.

I plan to send another blog later today with the highlights of today …

Until later … P, H, B, S, O, A (driving past two rhino relatively close to the side of the road definitely is worth of this position!)