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!)

Some people decided that going out for a run at 7am this morning would be a good idea when the temperature was 2 degrees C. Not only was it pretty cold as was witnessed by the frost on the ground (including the cow dung even), it is pretty hilly around here and so it wasn’t surprisingly that when I asked H how the run was that she simply replied ‘hard’.

The plan was to do some birding in the area and then some of the Midlands Meander route including some visits to the local markets. There was a birding site nearby to the farm we are staying at and it is part of KZN Wildlife (called Fort Nottingham Wildlife Conservatory). We saw a few different birds on route to the site but when we arrived at the area there were some locals hanging around and it did not seem that safe so we decided to give that a skip. We headed into the nearby town, Nottingham Road, and found a place for a coffee instead.

We then headed off to Piggly Wiggly which is a conglomerate of shops and eateries. The men split off from the women at this point as it was clear that some people might spend longer than others in the shops. After a quick 5 minute whizz around the shops, the men had seen a winery (with wine tasting) called Highgate Wine Estate. We thought we would do a tasting (KZN is not an obviously wine growing area) but once we sat down we discovered that 4 of the 5 wines on offer were actually from the Cape and only one of their wines was offered for tasting. We inquired why and it turns out that do the climate changes, their last harvest was not successful and so they could only produce a Cab Sav. We settled on just buying a bottle of the Cab Sav and tasting that while we waited for the ladies to join us. They did join us around midday and we ordered some cheese and charcuterie platters to enjoy for lunch.

After lunch we went back and did some nougat shopping at the Wedgewood store. I am a nougat lover and Wedgewood is made in the area. They also were selling nougat ice cream which (it turns out) is very good. H after saying no to ice cream then tasted a few of ours and went back and got her own and then pronounced ‘This is the best ice cream I have ever eaten’. A detour was then made to some leather shoe store in the area – still not entirely sure why because nothing was bought by anyone but after 30 something years of marriage one (or in this case three) have just learnt to accept and move on.

The Nelson Mandela capture site was nearby and we had decided as it was basically on route to go back to the farm that we should go and visit. It is the site of where Nelson Mandela was captured on 5 August 1962 (so yesterday was the 62nd anniversary). He had been on the run for around 18 months and had evaded capture until then but following a tip off he was arrested in this fairly random spot and that finally lead to his 27 years of imprisonment.

There is a museum and a sculpture on the site today and the sculpture is made up of 50 separate columns that marked the 50 years from when he was captured until the day the sculpture was unveiled (5 Aug 2012). The sculpture is of Mandela’s face and the full effect is only really seen by walking down a pathway. On the pathway they have 27 plaques to mark the 27 years Mandela was imprisoned with each one memorializing an important date in Mandela’s life. There are a few moving experiences in monuments like this that I have experienced in my life. This is up there with the 9-11 monument in New York, the holocaust wall in Berlin and the Apartheid Museum on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. The sculpture is impressive. The photos won’t fully do it justice but give you and idea.

After that we headed back to the farm to enjoy the late afternoon sun and then a braai for dinner.

Until tomorrow …

P, H, A (he did the fire and braai again tonight), B (he didn’t drive today so no movement in his position), S (she gets the promotion for a number of reasons – the photo below being one of them) & O

It was 4 degrees C when we woke up this am. It actually didn’t feel as cold as that probably because of the altitude and dry air. We had breakfast at Liedjiesbos and headed out at around 9am. We were heading to the Natal Midlands and the route took us north, east and then south and we basically had to drive around Lesotho. The route takes you through places like Winburg, Senekal, Bethlehem, Harrismith, Van Reenen, Escort and Mooi River. Not places many people would aim to go to on holiday but places you pass through or maybe stay overnight at on the way to somewhere else more exciting. As a child we used to often stop overnight at either Harrismith or Van Reenen and so it brought back some memories from my childhood.

We had planned to do some grocery shopping for next 2 days at Harrismith but our plans were somewhat derailed by finding that the supermarket (Woolworths) we wanted to go to, only sold clothes and not groceries. We made alternative plans and then hit the road again. We arrived just before 4pm at Eirene Cottages (https://www.eirenecottages.co.za/) where we are staying for next 2 nights. The farm is owned by A’s sister. We are actually staying in their house (not the cottages) and so what you see on the website is not what we are staying in at all. The house overlooks the dam. They have eland and bontebok on the farm as well as cattle and sheep (we haven’t seen the sheep yet).

We went on a late afternoon walk around the dam and up a track to the other side of the farm where the cattle are kept. While walking we spotted a large flock of Grey Crowned Cranes (yes they are a lifer for all of us) and we could hear them calling and playing around before settling in for the night. A quick count got to me around 60 of them. Quite incredible to see so many of them when it wasn’t a bird I had seen before today. Before we went on the walk we actually added another lifer as well so this has already been a profitable birding destination.

We did a usual braai for dinner and everyone headed off the bed.

Until tomorrow … P, H, A (worthy of the promotion given accommodation), O (brought out some decent chocolate tonight after dinner), S (she managed to keep up with me when she was driving today) & B (loss of driving confidence it seems as he drove below the speed limit while leading the way today … leftover from 4×4 at Karoo NP it seems).

PS: This is what B found today about Pienaars 4×4 route – the one we did at Karoo NP (from Mountain Passes South Africa website):
“A tough Grade 5 4×4 route up the Nuweveld Mountains. This is for the more serious offroader with a robust 4×4 with low range and high ground clearance. The gradients get as steep as 1:3,3 so be prepared for some nail biting driving. In 4WD circles a Grade 5 is labelled as ‘Probable damage to vehicle or possibly injury to passengers and driver.’ Don’t try this one alone or unless you have substantial offroad experience and understand advanced recovery techniques.” … B maybe should have googled before we did the route!

The wind blew, gusted & blasted the whole way through the night and into the morning. I have been to Karoo National Park a number of times and never experienced the wind like this. It was cause for a restless night and a very cold morning. We had originally decided to do a quick loop in Karoo NP but over breakfast we ditched that idea and instead decided to rather venture off the main road and spend some time on a road less traveled to get to our destination. There definitely wasn’t going to be any further birding happening in Karoo NP as even the birds would be taking shelter from the wind.

We were heading north to Bloemfontein. For those of you who don’t know, Bloemfontein (or Bloem for short) is one of the 3 capitals in South Africa. However, it is not a place people go to holiday. People do what we are doing and spend a night there on the way to somewhere better. It is in the heart of Free State which is the heartland of farmland in SA. The usual route is to the take the major national road (N1) north from Karoo NP to Bloemfontein. We did that until we got to Colesberg. Colesberg is another one of those places that people stay at on their way to somewhere else. While some may believe it is named after the temperature of the place, it is actually named after a governor of the Cape (Cole) after being promoted from the governor of Mauritius in 1833. I bet he would have preferred to remain the governor of Mauritius!

We had lunch at Colesberg and then took the road less traveled (R717) rather than the national road (N1). While the condition of the road wasn’t great at all times (some potholes), for most of the road it was fine. The scenery was much more attractive though (the cloud formations definitely helped) and we hardly came across another car on the road. Definitely worth doing again at some point and I definitely preferred it to dodging trucks on the N1. It came with the added bonus as my bird book told me that it was a great road to see a Blue Korhaan. While I have seen many Korhaan’s in my life, a Blue Korhaan had still eluded me so if we could add that to the life list it would be a good road and a good day. The good thing is that we managed to do exactly that. H & I saw one on the side of the road which the other two cars missed but B spotted some others in a field and so everyone managed to add this to their life lists.

The R717 takes you through the towns of Phillippolis and Trompsburg with populations of 3600 and 5500 respectively. I can with certainty say that Philippolis was definitely a first time visit. Besides the impressive NG Kerk (built in 1871), I can say nothing else struck me except that I wondered where the other 3598 people were because we only saw 2 of them when passing through. Trompsburg looked a little more vibrant with at least a PEP store, FNB and Capitec Banks and a U-Save (U-save everyday is their motto) supermarket.

At Trompsburg we rejoined the N1 and after passing the 45th truck inside 30 minutes I realised why I much preferred the off-the-beaten track road. When two cars did the Moyles Maneuver (named after the last road trip when someone passed me up the left hand side admittedly on a potholed road while we were doing about 30km’h) on the N1 at 120 km/h, I was again reminded how stupid drivers are in SA. A said the official passing move is called the undertaker – that is an apt name. Another reason why the R717 was so much more pleasant.

We did arrive safely in Bloemfontein at around 4pm and checked into our accommodation for the night called Liedjiesbos (https://liedjiesbos.co.za/). We have stayed here before during Covid when travel had re-opened and we did a road trip and visit to Kruger for my 50th birthday. We enjoyed the experience then so we decided to repeat it. It is on a small holding slightly outside of Bloemfontein. After a short walk around the property. where we added a few birds to our trip list, we had a late afternoon drink and then into a dinner prepared by them (platter with meat, salad and cheese souffle).

Until tomorrow …

P, H, B (slips down 2 positions for some wayward driving which I never witnessed but taking it on the word of S, A & O), A (for suggesting I drive faster than the speed limit on the R717), O & S (no change to their positions but they did just sit in the passenger seats today)

The temperature dropped over night and when we got up just after 6am it was only 6 degrees C. Breakfast is included in the accommodation price so we went to breakfast at 7am so that we could go on a drive after that. By the time we left for the drive is had warmed up to about 10 degrees C but on the drive a few hours later, my car temperature was measuring 28 degrees C. It is amazing how quickly the temperature both falls and rises here.

There is a circular drive that heads out west from rest camp and that is what we took. It goes up a mountain and then descends onto the plains. There is lion in the park and some of us heard it roaring this am before breakfast but unfortunately we never spotted any lion. We did see zebra, gemsbok (oryx), springbok, klipspringer (the drive is actually called Klipspringer drive), grey rheebok, steenbok, hartebees, baboons & eland.

There are beautiful view spots at the top of the mountain before you descend. At one of the spots, O spotted a Verreaux’s Eagle sitting in a nest on the side of the cliff. A lovely sighting and worthy of raising her position in the blog stakes. There were some other good bird sightings on the route including a lifer for me – Nicholson’s Pipit – and 5 for H. All of us have seen slightly differing birds but it seems the majority of us are over 50 now.

We got back in time for lunch and had a few hours downtime. B messaged to say he was keen to do the 4×4 route – which we thought of doing this am but discovered it was locked and you had to book at reception. A & I decided we would join B in his car and so we headed out at 3pm while the ladies decided to stay in rest camp. Just before leaving I read the guide in the chalet which said ‘the route is challenging and is not for beginners’. B was confident he wasn’t a beginner and replied ‘You only get experience by trying’. He might now regret those words. The giveaway might have been the fact (also in the guide) that said it took 10 years to create the road.

As with most 4×4 routes, the start lulls you into a false sense of security. It was just over 7 km long route which takes you up the mountains and onto the middle plateau. About 3km into the route, things started getting challenging. There was a sheer drop off the right and the left was sheer rock that had been cut away to make the road. Throw into the mix that the road was loose shale rock, it made for quite a challenging drive. At one point I had a fleeting thought to myself of ‘I am glad I am in the passenger seat’. For anyone that knows me you will know that isn’t something I think often (or ever). When we got to the top, B stopped the car and said ‘I need to take a photo but more importantly I need to calm down and take a breather.’ It is hard to take photos that give you any sense of the challenge. I said to B, how would have S coped with that and he said ‘she would have been in tears.’ He then proceeded to tell us, what you don’t know is that at times I couldn’t see because the sun was in my eyes and didn’t realise how much the rocks were sticking out on the left! You’re not meant to get out of your car except at designated spots but we had to get out take some photos.

At one point on the way up, A said ‘I think you might have left a part of your car behind’ but fortunately that wasn’t the case and it was just the rocks spitting out behind the car. B said that the scariest time was when he turned the wheel to direct the car away from the sheer drop only to get no response at all from the car as it had no traction. Fortunately we didn’t have to go down the same route and could take the standard tourist route back to the rest camp. The ladies had no idea. My watch told me that I just climbed 65 sets of stairs. I suspect that was the combination of my heart rate and the vibrations on the way up!

We got back to the camp to find the ladies on route to the bird hide and so we joined them. At the hide, there was the start of some gloating because they thought they had seen a bird that would have been a lifer for me while we were 4x4ing. As it turns out, I had actually seen the bird previously though the last time was in 2010 so it would have been a good one to see. They saw it near the caravan section and so we headed back to see if we could find it but we never did.

Back to our accommodation for the mandatory braai for dinner followed by some Olympic watching (there is satellite TV in the chalet) and shortly off to bed.

Until tomorrow

B (he deserves it for that drive), P, H, A (he made a good fire tonight), O (despite the gloating she deserves the promotion for the Verreaux’s Eagle on it’s nest) & S (she actually got a great spot of a Karoo Korhaan today so should be higher but just unfortunate because it was a high standard day).

It feels like it has been a long time since our last road trip but the time has finally arrived for this years’ one. It is different in many ways from what we expected. Firstly, we planned to go to Botswana but it seems the whole of Europe travels to Botswana in August and so we couldn’t get accommodation at all the places we were hoping to stay so we had to re-jig and stay in SA instead. Secondly, our trusted 4×4, aka The Beast, has after 13 years of service been retired. Finally, our good friends who have done every road trip until now with the group R&J are not with us this time.

We left this morning just before 9am – hitting the road North heading for Karoo National Park. If you have followed previous trips you would know we have been to Karoo National Park a few times previously. It is around a 4.5 hour drive from Cape Town. We are down to 3 couples for this trip – B&S, A&O and ourselves. A&O planned to leave around midday so it was just B&S and ourselves heading out together.

It was overcast and chilly when we hit the road (my car said 10 degrees C). The car was fully laden. Fortunately it was only two of us in the car because we had to flap down the back seats to ensure we could get in all our luggage, food, wine, birding scope etc! Three stops – coffee, bio, lunch and we arrived at Karoo National Park just after 2pm. On route from the gate to reception, H added a lifer to her list (which is now at 435).

After checking in, we visited the bird hide in the camp and then went on a short evening drive. We added a few birds to the trip list and saw black backed jackal, hartebees, baboons, vervet monkey, gemsbok (oryx for anyone outside South Africa reading this) and some of the smaller buck (steenbok & duiker).

We started the mandatory fire for the braai for dinner and shortly after that A&O arrived. It always seem much later than it is on these road trips. Maybe it is the fresh air. Maybe its because the sun seems to set earlier. Maybe it is the driving. It is 9:30pm and we are all in our rooms and ready to go to sleep.

This trip will be 2 weeks and 1 day long and we hope you enjoy following along with us as we travel. I am yet to name my new vehicle. It is a Landrover Defender. Your suggestions are welcome. If your suggestion becomes the new ‘Beast’ then I’ll ensure you enjoy drinking a bottle of wine from my collection. What bottle of wine will depend on how good your suggestion is!

Until tomorrow … P, H, B (he started the fire; he also spotted his own lifer today), A (he took over the braaiing at some point), S & O