We were up at 4:45am this morning as we had a 5:30am pickup for the airport. Our destination is 9 days in Kwazulu-Natal with our son, daughter-in-law and grandchild. We will call them SKZ. The plan was for the car to pick us up and then pick them up. The day didn’t start well when I was informed the driver had arrived but that he didn’t have a car chair for Z. Given my PA had booked this months ago and confirmed it yesterday, it was somewhat annoying. We just took one from SK instead and told them they need to deliver it to my office immediately after the pickup and then bring it back when we return.

After picking up SKZ we headed to the airport, checked in and then went to get a coffee for H & I and muffin for Z. The plane to Durban left on time. First time flying for Z and she did brilliantly. Granny and Grandpa had the row in front of SKZ and so she occasionally would come over to join G&G and then after a few minutes head back to SK. She really was a star and even though the decent hurt her eyes (she has a cold) and she was crying out ‘my ears are sore’ :(, she managed to get through that relatively easy.

Luggage collected and we headed to car rental where problem 2 was encountered. Despite booking months ago and being assured we would get a VW Kombi, the car waiting for us was a Merc Vito. Now while I do like Mercedes, I don’t like Vito’s as it is basically a panel van with some seats in it. It is not a nice car to drive and isn’t great for game viewing either as the windows at the back open almost parallel to the backrest of the seat so to see out of an open window is actually quite. Some moaning later and it was clear that we would have to just accept this car for now. My PA sprung into action and they have agreed to bring us a VW Kombi over the weekend. We also encountered problem 3 in that the one person who was meant to be an additional driver (S) produced his driver’s licence only to have it pointed out that it expired in 2024 already. He claims he has a valid one at home but that clearly wasn’t going to cut it with the rental car company.

After accepting the Vito, we headed north to Balito to do some shopping before heading further north to Hluhluwe where we will spend the next 3 nights. It was a 3-hour drive and so we ate lunch in the car on the way up. It was an uneventful drive and we arrive safely at the gate at just after 2pm and then got to the camp at just after 3pm. Problem 4 – no electricity at Hilltop camp at all. There was a fault and they expected to have electricity restored by 5pm. We weren’t holding our breath. We secured some wood for the evening braai and then had a short walk before the sunset (which was early at 5pm). As we left for the walk a maintenance guy drove past us and said the electricity was back on!

Early braai (chicken kebabs and ostrich sausage with sweet potatoes) and by 6:30pm we had finished eating already. We managed to catch the last few overs of the day of Test Match cricket (there is actually DSTV and WiFi in the accommodation we have at Hilltop). Z was down to sleep just after 7pm and H & K have already also gone to bed. I can feel I will follow them shortly!

On the game side, we have already seen rhino, elephant, impala, kudu, giraffe, reedbuck, warthog. I have 19 on the bird list and K has managed to add a lifer already. The temperature was very mild around 25 degrees when we arrived but has fallen quickly overnight and is now already 15 degrees and you can sense it will get colder over night.

Until tomorrow …

P, Z (she is my grandchild and she really was a star how she handled the traveling today), H, S & K