The wind was up this morning and so we decided a day trip to somewhere else was called for.   A bit of bird and game watching might be a good experience for our grandchildren and would ensure that they didn’t get too much sun.  So the early morning run was shelved and we had an ‘Early’ breakfast then Lauren, Earl the kids and I set off at about 8.  Alan, Lisa and Laurie decided to give the nature thing a miss.

Jay was the most enthusiastic of all the kids and on route keenly spotted the birds of prey.  Plenty of yellow-billed kites were hawking and steppe and jackal buzzards were atop of telephone poles.  We also saw flocks of our national bird – the blue crane.

Flock of Blue Crane

We also spotted a special bird that we don’t often see in The Western Cape

Namaqua Dove – Male

Just before entering the reserve we saw baboons.  Now we are used the cheeky Cape Point clan who have no fear of humans.  They are pretty precocious in Kruger too.  But these would not hang around for a chat at all.  We managed to get some bum shots.

Bye bye baboons

We have all four children on our Wild Card so only had to fork out a R40 Conservation fee for Lauren.  The Wild Card is well worth having.  We have one for all clusters and we can get into any South African National Park free.  The cost of the card is R745 per year for a couple and up to five children.  (For more information on The Wild Card – http://www.wildcard.co.za/faq.htm?action=view-list&catid=512 )

Once in the park the kids were thrilled to see zebra, ostrich and bontebok.

Bontebok and Baby

Zebra Family

We stopped at the restaurant to go to the loo and then set off to Koppie Alleen where we planned to swim and play on the dunes.  But on the way a mini disaster struck.  The battery light came on and a message on the dashboard informed us that we should get the car to a workshop for alternator repairs.  Earl and the boys got up to look under the bonnet – but couldn’t find where the alternator was hidden – Modern Cars!

Where’s the alternator, Grandpa?

Earl thought discretion was the better part of valour. We turned around and went back to Struisbaai – rather be stranded closer to home than in the middle of a nature reserve.  So unfortunately we did not see Koppie Alleen today but if any reader would like to see what we did on a previous trip go to https://puppy1952.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/fishing-adventure-at-the-southern-tip-of-africa-day-3

We snacked on left over Christamas dinner, the kids amused themselves and the adults read, did crosswords, blogged and napped.  Then we all went for a walk before supper.

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