The blog is entitled “Hazard ahead” because this was the message we heard a lot today from Waze (navigation app) as we followed our route from Calvinia to Mosu Lodge in Mokala National Park. One stretch of the road was just pothole after pothole. Some were not significant but there were some really bad ones that required you to slow down to ensure you could navigate them safely. H & I had done this road in January so we were aware of the issue. It is also very helpful actually to have an app that tells you when to expect potholes so you can actually slow down and not hit them at 120 km/h. Fortunately no tyre issues today for anyone.
We were packed today before breakfast (which they told us we could come from 7:15am onwards). Some of us even managed to sneak in a quick early morning walk before breakfast as we expected that most of the day would be in the car. It was a 6.5 hour drive today covering just over 600 kms. Fortunately not a lot of traffic and only really toward the end of the drive did we encounter trucks but it was generally easy to get past them quickly.
We only stopped briefly for toileting and refueling (both cars and people) and we arrived at the Mokala National Park gate just before 3pm. It was a bit of a process at the gate as every car had to fill in a form with our details and then because of Foot & Mouth disease being rampant in South Africa at the moment, there are Foot & Mouth disease protocols that need to be followed. This meant every cars tyres had to be sprayed and everyone had to walk on a mat with chemicals as well. Once that was done for all of us we headed to Mosu Lodge reception to check in.
As I had made the reservation, I headed in to check in. After giving our reservation and my name the lovely lady couldn’t find anything ready for our arrival (and everyone else’s papers were prepared). I had this sinking feeling and looked closely at the reservation and realised I had booked for tomorrow night instead of tonight! It looked like there were only 4 reservations laid out for tonight and so I asked (and prayed and hoped) whether they could accommodate us tonight. Fortunately, she very quickly confirmed that they could do it and she changed the reservation and go all the paperwork done and allocated us huts. Some relief for me but I am pretty sure I am not going to live this down for some time. Fortunately the next 7 nights have not been booked by me so at least the pressure is off now! Very grateful that they had space to accommodate us all.
We unpacked and then headed out to the bird hide which is about an 8 km drive away. Lots of game and birds were seen on route including 6 rhino, gemsbok (oryx), springbok, warthog, buffalo, tsessebe and kudu. The hide has been particularly fruitful for H & I previously. In January we had seen 1 lifer just as we turned off and we saw one in the hide. This afternoon we added another lifer – Layard’s Warbler. It is a bird that has been eluding me for some time so very pleased to get it finally. That moved me to 597 lifers and now just 3 to go to the 600 mark. We also saw two rhinos come down to the water (though they never drank in the end).
The gates close at 5:30pm (sunset) and we got back just before that and then B got the braai going. The wood was the biggest chunks you could imagine so it took quite a long time to burn down but we still managed to braai and eat before the time it took last night. Everyone had bought their own meat just for tonight as tomorrow we cross into Botswana and we cannot take any meat or fruit and vegetables into Botswana. Lovely dinner together and while I type this (10pm now), I can hear jackals calling from my bed.
Until tomorrow …
B (he should probably be demoted for a sarcastic comments but I’m remembering the help tyre changing and being gracious), H, S, A (he helped braai this evening), O (nice potatoes tonight), R (some well-timed comments on the walkie talkies today), P (have to demote myself for that the wrong booking date), J (so many reasons why she remains here ..)