Kruger National Park – Day 13

2017-11-24 | puppy1952

22 November 2017 – Birthday Surprises

I am celebrating my birthday in my most favourite place in the world. Who could ask for a better gift than that! And all my birthday wishes came true today. The creatures of the Kruger National Park popped up to say Hi.

I had no plans to celebrate in any way – just being here was enough for me. But my darling husband arranged for us to make a breakfast stop at Mopani Rest Camp because they have such a lovely restaurant overlooking the Luluvu River. Letaba’s restaurant is closed and there is only The Rustic Kitchen to replace it. This meant quite a long drive there but we had some lovely sightings and every time something interesting happened, Pat said, “Happy Birthday, Helen!”

And it did seem as if though some of the animals knew it was my special day. A giraffe crossed the road, stopped and looked right at me ane I believe sent me a birthay greeting.

And so did this buffalo!

Who’s the birthday girl then?

This warthog provided some amusing entertainment

Mud, glorious mud

I need a good scratch

Oh Hi, didn’t see you there – Happy Birthday

Birding is our passion and today we saw some lovely specials

Marsh Sandpiper

White-Crested Helmet-Shrike

Red-billed Ox-peckers on a buffalo’s back

Namaqua Dove

Kori Bustard

My birthday breakfast was fantastic. What a view we had and what lovely birds we saw from the deck.

The deck at the Mopani Restaurant

A really scrumptious breakfast

The temperature got up to 40 degrees C today but we were relatively cool in our airconditioned vehicle. However, opening the windows to take photographs let in the hot air and by the time we got back to Letaba we were all ready for a swim.

In the pool I chatted to an older lady who was such an inspiration. She and her hubby were still travelling and having lovley holidays together. Then she went out and the next thing I knew she’d slipped and fallen. I leapt out of the pool to see how she was. How amazing was her attitude. “I’m fine,” she said, “It’s just my dignity that’s damaged!” There were two young men immediately on the scene and her husband said, “Don’t pull her up by her arms.” He put a towel under her arms and then said, “Pull her up using the towel.” It worked perfectly and she was absolutely fine.

I went in for a little longer and then we all got out and would you believe – Pat slipped and landed flat on her back hitting her hand hard as she fell. Oh horror! We used the towel trick to get her up too. Unfortunately her hand was really hurt. Back at camp we iced it and I put an ice-pack in the freezer that she could use in the night. Earl strapped her up as best he could and she insisted that she would be fine. (I am writing this two days later so I can report that she went to Skukuza the next day to consult a doctor and is now in a brace and on medication for the pain. If the swelling does not go down she will have to have x-rays but right now she is comfortable.)

Without my noticing, The Earl slipped into the park shop at Mopani and bought a bottle of champagne which he chilled in the car fridge. So when we were about to pour our sundowners out came the champers to celebrate my 65th birthday!

Cheers! ( I’m sure my sister approves)

The Earl refused to let anybody help with the preparation of my celebratory meal tonight and presented us with a Master Chef quality chicken dish. It was to die for.

Enjoying my dinner in the bush

Pat with injured wrist on ice managed with one hand

Another African day under the belt!

Kruger National Park – Day 11

2017-11-21 | puppy1952

20 November 2017 Letaba to Olifants

Once again it was very hot in the Kruger National Park today. We are caravanning/tenting at Letaba Camp and are so grateful for the shady trees. It is not difficult to get up at 5 in the morning here. Natures alarm rouses you with the cheerful dawn chorus of the birds.

By 6:15 we left to drive along the Letaba River to Olifants Camp where we had breakfast. When The Earl and I used to stay in the chalets, Olifant’s was our favourite camp. They don’t have camping facilities so we’re not staying there this time round.

We had a stunning time there and back, as the birding was fantastic. What fun we had watching their antics and debating what species we were observing. Although we’re not the type of birders that chase after rare birds to get our tick list up, we do keep holiday lists and try to see as many species as The Kruger will show us. Today we did pretty well.

Scenes like these never fail to give one a thrill.

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Along the way there are many little ‘omrits’ or loops that take you closer to the river so you can get a better view. There you can stop and enjoy the birds. At our first omrit we heard the Diederick Cuckoo. He tends to hide among the foliage of the trees so when he posed in the open for us, we were thrilled.

Diederick’s Cuckoo

We also got this beautiful kingfisher

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

The small creatures of the bushveld are just as exciting as the larger predators. Seeing two scrub hares was a real highlight as they’re shy and not often seen.

Scrub Hare

In the shallows of the river there was a great deal of activity.

Great Egret

Yellow-billed stork and Egyptian Goose were wondering what all the fuss was about

What a handsome fellow is the Saddle-billed Stork

As we left our omrit to get back onto the road again we got an enormous scare when we found this chap blocking the road. Luckily there was another track that bypassed him.

The leaves are yummy and I’m not moving til I’m done,

You’d be surprised how hungry intense birding can making you. Our many stops to see the feathered friends delayed our breakfast time and we were starving by the time we reached Olifants. The Rustic Kitchen is set up there too. It is at the lookout point which is just the most stunning venue. Hopefully, they will be there for a very long time!

view from The Rustic Kitchen

There was a treeful of Marico Sunbirds just outside the entrance to the old restaurant.

Our return trip was even more enjoyable than our trip there. We went to the low-level bridge across the Olifant’s River and didn’t want to leave as there was so much activity to watch. The highlight was a green-backed heron that kept hiding behind the rocks but then eventually emerged and showed us how to catch your own breakfast.

Wood Sandpiper

Reed Comorant

He caught a fish

Finally the green-backed heron gave us a show

The Grey Heron doesn’t mind showing himself to the world

We were very happy with our mornings sightings and returned to camp for or midday rest. We went out again for a short drive to Matambeni hide and were back by 6:15 These were the best photographs I could get.

Terrapins sunning themselves on a lovely flat rock

There were many crocodiles and we watched them swimming slyly through the water before some decided to slither up onto dry ground.

Pat and Tony were the designated cooks tonight and they made us a delicious beef stir-fry on their skottel. Who would believe you could eat so well in the middle of the African Bushveld.

Kruger National Park – Day 10

2017-11-20 | puppy1952

19 November 2017 – Shingwedzi to Letaba

By 6:30 we were packed and ready to leave. Letaba is 108km from Shingwedzi so we planned to take a break at Mopani and have breakfast at the restaurant.

Once again with caravan in tow we stuck to the tar road and only stopped a few times to take photos of interesting creatures.

The much maligned hyena is considered to be a cowardly and nasty character and features as the ‘baddy’ in many folklore and children’s stories. In fact these creatures are not just scavengers but efficient and powerful predators. Spotted hyenas live in structured groups. A group of hyenas is called a clan of hyenas. Did you know that the females rank higher than the males and an alpha female leads the clan. They whole clan helps to raise the young. When you get to know them you just can’t help loving them and that’s why we were thrilled to find three lying on the side of the road this morning.

It was a tough night, please let me sleep

Oooh I’m so comfortable here

What’s going on – why did you wake me!

Alright I’ll smile for the photo

Now I’m going to find a quieter, shadier spot to sleep!

What do you mean, I must come with you?

Oh, alright then, I’m coming!

We left the sleepy things in peace and moved on toward Mopani but not before stopping for to get a photograph of the most magnificent eagle in The Park.

The proud Martial Eagle

We’ve become accustomed to road blocks too and patiently waited for these wild cows cross over.

This is our road and we’ll take our time if we want to.

The view of the river below the restaurant was as stunning as always but today we saw an osprey in a tree – too distant for a photo but nevertheless great to see. These are some of the other birds we managed to photograph

White-faced ducks

African Jacana

These gorgeous girls stared at us before we arrived at Letaba.

Female Waterbuck

It was really hot when we arrived in Letaba. We drove around the shady camp looking for a good spot to set up, met another Gecko owner from Somerset West, chatted to them and then while we were filling our water tanks, someone whom I recognised walked by and made a jokey comment about caravanning. He and his wife were tenting nearby. After chatting a while we discovered that we’d stayed a their B&B a few years ago. Hugh had organised a bird guide for us. It was an awesome trip. Today he showed us where to find the Scops Owls.

We found a suitable campsite and unhitched but we did not set up until a little later when it was cooler. And do you know what? The Earl put up the canopy almost single handedly. All I had to do was help with one pole and the ground sheet. He now has a system that really works for him. And I managed to push up the roof all by myself!

Entrance to Letaba Rest Camp

Scops Owl

As we are staying here for four nights we decided not to go on a game drive this afternoon. Instead we took some down time to just chill in camp.

Later in the afternoon I saw a fellow camper pointing his camera into a tree so I asked what he was photographing. This is what he pointed out to me.

A Bushbaby!

The temperature got up to over 35 today and the evening was still hot. We kept the lights off as much as possible so that the insects didn’t bother us and The Earl cooked us a delicious chicken curry and thus ended another perfect day in Africa.

Kruger National Park – Day 7

2017-11-17 | puppy1952

16 November 2017

We were all up by 5 am this morning and after packing a picnic brunch we set off to Pafuri Picnic Site and Crook’s Corner which are the places for keen bird watchers to visit. The route is so pretty as it winds through Mopane woodland with some loops to waterholes and then there are areas where taller trees like the Fever Tree appear as well as quite a few Baobab trees. The different shades of green are also frequently broken but a splash of colour from the indigenous flowers that pop up every now and then.

Lovely Kruger Trees

Baobab Tree

Having an extra pair of eyes is such a help in the park and sharing the experiences with people who are as passionate and appreciative of Nature as you are also makes a visit to a game reserve so much more rewarding. Also when you’re going through those times where you wonder whether the creatures have packed up and gone on vacation you can chat and reminisce on past trips done together or relate stories about trips done separately. There was a lot of debating on what bird that was, reminiscing, fun and laughter in our car today!

It was cooler today and we enjoyed not having to deal with the fatiguing heat. The creatures seemed to be happier in the cooler conditions too and we were privileged to have some lovely sightings.

Birds of Prey are always exciting but these birds are difficult to photograph when they sit up too high on a tree, are too far away or the light is wrong. We all had to get our eye in to help identify these tricky raptors. The first one of the day stimulated a great deal of debate but we finally agreed that it was a Lesser Spotted Eagle. (Heather and other experts out there who might read this – please correct any errors in our diagnoses.)

Would you believe that one of the most common birds in the park had us guessing for a few minutes until it dawned on me after not seeing one for three years that it was the female Red-Backed Shrike!

Almost as pretty as her mate

It was great to see a black-crowned tchagra

A beautiful male kudu with his magnificent antlers

At one point on our trip we found an abandoned antbear hole and observed some interesting bird activity. There were a lot of flying insects around and they were having the time of their lives feeding in that spot. Here are but a few of the species we saw.

Blue Waxbill

Violet-backed Starling (Plum coloured Starling)

White-fronted Bee-eater

Red-billed quellea

Other birds that we were thrilled to find and get photographs of on our drive were the following.

The Woodland Kingfisher – His call is iconic in The Kruger National Park

The Go Away Bird (Grey Lourie)

Crested Barbet

It’s the unexpected little things that make a drive in The Park interesting and we get just as much joy out of them as seeing any of The Big Five.

“What’s that bunny doing in the tree?” Well he might look like a rabbit but actually he is a tree hyrax and more closely related to an elephant – and No elephants don’t climb trees either. A cousin of the tree hyrax is the more common rock hyrax. The tree dassie has four toes on each of his front feet and three on each of his back feet. They have rounded nails and rubbery soles to help them climb trees.

Isn’t this the cutest little tree dassie you ever could see!

We got out on the bridge overlooking the beautiful Luvuvhu River.

As we enjoyed the breathtaking view and observed some distant waterbirds Tony alerted us to a prehistoric looking creature below.

A Water Monitor

We stopped for brunch at Pafuri Picnic Site. Some Nyala Females decided to join us.

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There were some cheeky monkeys about too. But I just love them

Monkey with baby

We returned to camp and had a rest and then went out again for a short time. We saw more elephants, zebra and birds. The sunset this evening was stunning.

For supper we roasted a chicken in the electric Romosca Pot. I cooked a mix of veggies in the smart space pan on the Snappy Chef. It all worked beautifully and we enjoyed chicken with a crispy skin and delicious veggies. Another Fabulous Day in Africa.

Kruger National Park – Day 4

2017-11-15 | puppy1952

13 November 2017 – Shingwedzi

I anticipated the mood of The Earl this morning. The caravan is still new! We have had one setting up session and now the first packing up session was about to occur! There was bound to be trouble! We decided last night not to rush things and not to leave at sparrow’s fart! Instead we had a leisurely breakfast and then started to pack. Yes I did have to keep him calm and constantly remind him that it would all work out in the end but it went comparatively well. Perhaps those calming drops I gave him did the trick because the set up at Shingwedzi went fairly well too! Hopefully by the end of this month long trip we will have the anxiety attacks under control.

The Earl cooking a delicious breakfast

The trip here went smoothly too. There were plenty of elephants about but none confronted the caravan so there was no need for His Lordship to panic.

We saw lots of buffalo too and as we neared Shingwedzi there was a lot to see in the river bed.

Elephants for Africa

And Buffalo too

Bufflalo love to wallow in puddles and they don’t mind sharing with a warthog

One of our cousins hiding among the Mopane leaves

We chose a campsite next to the fence and near the swimming pool but far from the ablution block. It I shady and there is a constant sound of birdsong. Squirrels are going to be a problem! They’ve already been here looking for handouts. Not happening my furry friends! We have also been warned to watch out for monkeys and baboons.

Bennet’s Woodpecker seen in the camp

Set up went really well and we were done with hardly a hiccup within half an hour. I went in search of the laundry and was delighted to find two coin operated washing machines and dryers! It was wort the R10 for each to get the washing done in a jiffy.

After we were done with setting up and laundry chores we took a drive to Red Rocks. Sightings were slow but we did get some good birds, the highlights being the white-fronted bee-eater catching bees!

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Back in camp The Earl cooked us a delicious curry in our Smart Space Frying Pan. A honey-badger came to visit but we didn’t manage to get a photograph.

Kruger National Park – Day 3

2017-11-14 | puppy1952

12 November 2017 – Visit to Letaba and Tropic of Capricorn Loop

Today we decided to do a trip to Letaba Rest Camp and back taking the river loops along the way. By 6:30 we were ready to leave.

First to greet us this morning was a wildebeest. (Erich, if you’re reading this – we gave him your regards 🙂 )

Our most exciting sighting of the morning was when we stopped at view point to get a closer view of the river. Looking down we were delighted to find a grey heron, a hamerkop, two pied kingfishers, two fish eagles and two saddle bill storks fishing in a shallow pond. We spent a while there enjoying the scene and taking photographs.

Female Saddle-billed Stork

Fish Eagle

The Bug and Mean – oh sorry The Mug and Bean have been a resounding failure in some of the camps and Letaba is one where the restaurant is closed till further notice. However, there is temporary arrangement in the form of The Rustic Kitchen operating an open air or under canvas restaurant. What a stunning idea – so much better than the Bug! You sit at a simple wooden table and your food is cooked in the rustic kitchen and served on tin plates. Coffee is also served in a tin mug. It was fun and we enjoyed our fried eggs, venison sausage and grilled tomato!

The highlight on our return trip was just as we approached the Tsendse bridge we noted a stationary car with his lights flashing. He’s seen something we thought as he indicated to the car in front of us to stop. Said car ignored and overtook him. Then I spotted them lying flat on the river bed. There were five of them. They were so well camouflaged but then one got up and moved his position – wild dog. We watched them sleeping for a few minutes and when we saw they were not going to do anything for the rest of the afternoon we left them in peace.

Back in camp we had a cup of tea and I started downloading photos and The Earl pottered about sorting out technical stuff to do with the car fridge. A few hours later we went for another game drive.

On our afternoon drive we found the usual zebra, giraffe, buffalo, elephants, waterbuck etc. We took the Tropic of Capricorn Loop which produced some lovely sightings. Sometimes there are stretches of nothing and one can lose concentration as I obviously did at one point. Omiword – The Earl slammed on breaks. Did you see that. I looked back and saw a bird of prey on a tree but he flew off. Darn we missed him and he was on your side – why didn’t you see him. Maybe because he was so small? Not that wasn’t it – I’m usually on the lookout for small raptors. Just a lapse in concentration I’m afraid.

The Earl wanted to carry on but I persuaded him to go back to see if we could find him again – and we did. He led us a bit of a dance flitting from one tree to another but in the end we got a nice shot of him and were thrilled to identify him as a Gabar Goshawk.

Other sightings that we enjoyed were the following:

Tsessebe having a rest

The Iconic Lilac-breasted Roller

Heaviest flying bird – the kori bustard

Sadly it was our last night in Tsendze but we really loved this camp and will certainly be back.

Kruger National Park – Day 2

2017-11-14 | puppy1952

11 November 2017 – Tsendze

How fantastic to wake to the sounds of the dawn chorus in the bush. It was already getting light at 4:30 am and that’s when the gate opens. But we had no intention of making such an early start. I went to shower at the ablution block just after 5 and we were packed and ready to leave at 6:30

Our first exciting event was an encounter with Ayres Hawk-eagle. There were actually two. The light was bad so the photo is not great but we found this one on a kill.

We also got a good sighting of the common black-shouldered kite – but what a pretty bird.

Elephants, buffalo, hippo, wildebeest and zebra were also on the menu and we got to see a lot of birdlife. Here are a few photos that we managed to get.

Lesser-striped swallow

Hippo

The uncommon yellow-billed oxpecker – grooming a zebra

Cute little blue waxbill

Shy steenbok

Beautiful giraffe

A rarity in the park is an antelope similar to a red hartebeest – the Tsessebe – We found a few of them which was lovely.

Time wore on and we were getting hungry. We decided to head back toward Mopani and have something to eat there. After a few hours of game driving you rather hope that you won’t see anything exciting as all you want is to have a break and get some strong coffee into you. I yelled at the earl to stop with a couple of interesting birds but either I was too late or he’d lost interest because he just drove on. Thank Goodness for that because just a few kms from camp we spotted some stationery cars – always a good sign – It has to be a leopard, I said and as we got closer I spotted a tail hanging down from the branch of a tree. Oh joy – all thoughts of coffee and food disappeared in an instant. There was a young leopard on a kill up in the tree. And was she having a delightful breakfast – lucky creature. If we’d delayed over the birds I’d called we would have missed her as after a minute she slid down the tree, washed her paws and slipped off into the bush! Gone! The only evidence were the remains of impala hanging in the tree!

We lingered long over breakfast at Mopani as its restaurant has such a lovely view over the river. We saw marabou storks and watched greater striped swallows take off and land back in the branches of the trees again. There was a lot of activity. I had a second cup of coffee while the Earl went to another section of the facility to pay accounts and send emails from his laptop.

We like to rest in camp in the middle of the day and it was now just after 11. We just did one more loop to Mooiplaas Picnic site, spotted some birds and hippos and then did a little river loop where we saw buffalo and elephant.

We got back to camp around 1 o’clock and rested until 3:30 and then went out again. We saw all the usual suspects and were not expecting anything too exciting. It was nearing 6 o’clock when we were in sight of this morning’s leopard tree and gate closing is at 6:30. And what should we see – three cars stopped at the tree.

“They’re probably looking at the carcass,” I said the Earl.

But no as we got closer I saw that the leopard was back.

But wait there’s more – “Look there,” said The Earl, “There’s another one in the tree.”

And then all hell broke loose as the two leopards started growling and slapping each other.

This is my dinner – Be off with you!

After a brief skirmish one decided she’d better get out of there and slipped down the tree and disappeared into the bush. The victor sat in the split in the tree for a few minutes looking for all the world like any domestic kitty cat.

Then he climbed onto the branch where the impala carcass was and proceeded to finish his meal.

Soon other cars appeared and in the end there were five of us watching this amazing sight. It gets dark quickly in the Kruger and by 6:10 I had enough photographs in good light. It was time to head quickly back to camp before the gate was locked! We made it with 10 minutes to spare

Gecko, Haenertsburg and Tzaneen

2017-11-09 | puppy1952

When one is in the misty mountains of The Magoebaskloof, it’s easy to forget that you’re in Africa and that it is Summer. The temperatures can be very low any time of the year here!

Haenertsburg is a tiny place and there are often problems with electricity. For most of yesterday afternoon we were without power, it came on again for a short while in the evening then was gone again for the rest of the night. This morning it was still not on but it didn’t bother us as we were out for most of the day.

How exciting it is to take possession of one’s new caravan! Our Gecko is simply the best! We loved our Imagine but we had so many setting up problems, so we decided that something a little simpler and easier on the old bones was required. Keith and Alison greeted us just before nine this morning and took us through the handing over process. They also provided us with a superb manual for easy reference. It was so interesting to find out that the reason they started building their Gecko caravans was because they too had owned an Imagine and after two trips in it decided to make something better! So they really understood what we were looking for!

We had so much fun learning all the ins and outs about our new van and Keith also took us on a tour of their impressive factory. The Earl was hugely impressed and you know what a perfectionist he is!

After our orientation we went to Minki’s for an amazing breakfast. Their coffee was to die for.

This ‘jug’ of hot coffee was a welcome warmer to the day

The breakfast was excellent

After breakfast we drove 30 km to Tzaneen to shop for Kruger. On our return we went back to Gecko and packed the caravan.

We had all our gear in the boxes on top of the Ford Everest and we spent about an hour sorting out and packing. It’s all done and dusted now and we’re ready for departure tomorrow morning.

I made the super new kingsize bed!

Alison suggested pantry bags – what a good idea – everything fits in so snugly

There is packing space in the cupboards, drawers and under the benches — note the aircon!

It has a loo

And a shower!

After all this activity we needed more coffee so back we went to Minki’s to pick up the ground coffee and relish we’d ordered. We also indulged in another of their amazing coffees and cappuccinos and shared a slice of delicious carrot cake!

The weather cleared in this afternoon and I did a bit of birdwatching around our cottage. It’s really in a superb spot with a great view of Stanford Lake. I was thrilled to find a long-crested eagle perched at the top of a tree.

The view

Long-crested Eagle

Taking flight

We have just had a lovely braai of lamb chops, boerewors, sweet potatoes and salad. It’s not as cold as last night and we have power! We’ll be off to bed soon as tomorrow is an early start for The Kruger National Park!

From KZN to Limpopo Province

2017-11-08 | puppy1952

All too soon our five days with the Kokstad Clan came to an end. We caught up with Barbara and Andrew, saw our friends Neil and Rose who live on the farm next to Lauren and Alan and just relaxed and got ready for the next phase of our journey.

Masked Weaver in Barbara’s garden

We visited some huge gardens on Friday but Barbara’s smaller one is just a beautiful

Small by Kokstad standards – big by mine!

Barbara with her grandson, Caleb

Shannon went back to St John’s on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday we were all set to say farewell to Lauren, Allan and Simon. It will be another month before we see them all again.

The weather was not too hot and not too cold but when we reached Underberg we saw snow on the mountains! From there to Howick we went through several patches of mist and had fun (not!) playing dodge the pothole for many miles. But after that things improved, the weather warmed up and the scenery was stunning.

We stopped in Ermelo to refuel and as we try to collect U-count points we searched Google Maps for a Caltex garage. It took us a roundabout way and when we found one we were a bit disconcerted to see some huge trucks at every pump. However, the boss came running over and told us not to worry – we would be next in line. I asked if he would direct me to some clean loos and he immediately called a staff member to show me where they were. She took me to the extremely clean and well-maintained Fresh Stop rest room. When I emerged the boss checked that I was completely satisfied. Once again – what excellent service. The refuelling was ready within minutes and the attendant explained exactly how we could back to the N11 and warned us about upcoming road works. What a pleasant refuelling stop!

What a shock to find these monsters at every filling pump – they were on their way to Botswana

Our overnight stay was at Pumpkin Tree Lodge in Middelburg a very different Middelburg the one we spent the night at in The Eastern Cape! Mpumalanga’s Middelburg is quite a big town. We were greeted by a friendly owner with whom we had a long conversation on the merits of different caravans. She too was shopping for a new one and was very interested in hearing about our pending new Gecko.

This just outside the rooms

Bath converted to bench

Very lush garden at Pumpkin Tree Lodge

We decided not to go to the Italian restaurant she recommended as although we felt like having pizza it did not seem to offer Banting options. However, there was a take away menu from Pizza del Forno in our room and we decided to go there instead. Because I put in the wrong address in the GPS we found ourselves at the wrong place and had to start again and it took us a while before we finally got to our destination. On our return home we laughed because it only took two minutes!

At first it looked like it was in the dodgy part of town and we were afraid that our car might be broken into. But there was secure parking right outside and we could see our vehicle from where we sat. The food was excellent our waitress was attentive. I had a Banting Base Pizza topped with feta, avo and bacon and Earl had the same with normal base. Both were excellent. The owner was wonderful too. We asked him about the condition of the roads to Haenertsburg and he gave us excellent advice on which way to go.

In this part of South Africa at this time of the year it is HOT! The climate is subtropical and we are also in a Malaria area. (We are taking prophylactic medication) I heard a mosquito in our room in the night but luckily I was able to kill him!

In the morning we dressed in cool clothes but because we knew the temperature would be lower in the Magoebaskloof, we had our jackets ready. The trip once again was very scenic. How lovely it would be if our Western Cape dams had as much water as we saw in Loskop Dam just before entering Limpopo Province.

It took just on four hours to get to Haenertsburg and our first port of call was to the Gecko factory. And there she was – our brand new caravan! What a thrill to see her. Alison greeted us enthusiastically and brought out the stuff we’d couriered up. We spent the next half hour packing things in and admiring our new home on wheels. Tomorrow we will have our orientation and on Friday we take her into The Kruger National Park

Originally we planned to enter Kruger on Saturday but the weather is cold, misty and wet and seems to be set in for a while. Earl no longer does extreme fishing so we decided to book an extra day in Kruger instead!

Once we’d settled into our accommodation – a two bedroomed front cottage at Stanford Lake we set off to town to shop for supper. The little supermarket has a limited range of produce but we managed to get some boerewors, steak, garlic, sweet potatoes, baby marrows, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and olives for tonights supper. We also bought eggs and bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast. Then we found a lovely little coffee shop called the Book coffee shop. It was the most fascinating place that sold all sorts of goodies as well as old and interesting books. We ordered a hot chocolate and cheesecake to share! It was divine.

Cold, Misty and Wet in Haenertsburg

An interesting shop to browse in

The one next door was also quaint

Hot chocolate and cheesecake to die for

The electricity was cut for a few hours due to some cable problems but this did not bother us too much. We lit a fire in the stove and made our braai and by supper time the lights were on again. It was altogether a very pleasant evening.

The Earl at the braai

Share Your World 30 October 2017

2017-11-01 | puppy1952

Here is my contribution to this week’s Share Your World from Cee

Where do you eat breakfast?

Funny you should ask, because this is my favourite meal of the day and it is usually quite an elaborate affair. I seldom eat breakfast in bed. I like to be up and dressed and seated at the table. Usually my darling husband cooks it for me, at least twice weekly we go to our favourite coffee shop where they don’t even ask what we want as the just know, and on rare occasions I am the chef. Properly brewed coffee is essential and no matter where I am the quality of the breakfast is greatly influenced by the quality of the coffee! If the weather is good I like it al fresco, if it’s in a cold place a roaring fire helps otherwise a lovely ambience indoors will do.

Typical Shipwreck Coffee Shop Breakfast – Fried eggs, bacon, cheese grillers tomato and coffee

Scrambled Eggs Al Fresco at my garden picnic table

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want have a evening with?

My ideal evening is in the bush with friends who enjoy it as much as I do. There is nothing to beat, sitting outside your caravan, watching the flaming sun sink beneath the horizon, listening the sounds of the wild, glass of wine in hand exchanging stories about the day’s adventures. Priceless!

My fantasy companion would be Sir David Attenborough because I would love to chat to him about his lifetime of doing wildlife documentaries. What a fascinating life he has had. How lucky we are to be able to spend any number of evenings watching said documentaries!

If you could be a tree or plant, what would you be?

I would choose to be a Baobab Tree. She is the queen of trees. You cannot miss her standing proud on the African Savannah demanding to be admired. Not only would I be a wonderful sight to behold I would also be permanently among the wildlife that I love so much and I would be a great asset to their lives. Because the baobab has many useful properties, it is widely known as the Tree of Life. How wonderful to be a Life-giving Tree.

Baobab products are useful to mankind as among other stuff soap, rubber, glue, traditional medicine and cream of tartar are made from their products. But best of all it creates it’s own ecosystem and provides food and shelter for animals, birds and insects.

It is a deciduous tree so during the dry winters it has no leaves and its bare branches look like roots hence it’s nickname – the upside down tree.

In Winter it is The Upside Down Tree

In Summer It dons it’s leafy finery

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.

The Earl and I left Struisbaai at 6 am this morning and considering the state of his health one year ago I appreciate how fit and well his is now. He coped well with the driving and we made sure to stop frequently. We are overnighting in Middelburg in the Eastern Cape and will do another day’s drive to Kokstad tomorrow. This is the start of a three month trip away and I will be blogging about our adventures as often as I can during this time.

Right Place, Right Time

2017-10-04 | puppy1952

The Earl and I needed to see our accountant in Stellenbosch last Friday. Not wanting to do an overnighter we set off bright and early on the two and half hour drive that would get us our appointment on time. As luck would have it the Rapport Holiday Show started in Stellenbosch that day too. We’re having a caravan built by Gecko in Haenertsburg and as they had a stand at the show we thought it might be a good idea to check it out and see if there was anything else we needed while there.

It was almost midday by the time we got to the show and all we’d consumed was a good cup of coffee offered to us by the accountant. We chatted to Keith and Alison, took some measurements, ordered an aircon and a storage bag and then headed off to look for food. Well foolishly we’d come without cash and the food vendors didn’t have card facilities so we decided to head back home with the intention of stopping in Franschoek for lunch.

This is what I caravan kitchen will look like

Did I mention it was a beautiful day and the drive there and back over the mountain passes was stunning.

Franschhoek is an hour’s drive from Stellenbosch and we were listening to Pippa Hudson on Cape Talk as we drove. I was getting hungrier and hungrier and then she interviewed Pieter de Villiers – a local chocolate maker! Pippa – please – I was drooling! I had never heard of de Villiers chocolate and it is only available from certain Woolworths outlets or his own chocolate cafes. Living in Struisbaai I would not have easy access to this delicious sounding chocolate – Probably just as well as I am a Banter and only occasionally eat 70% dark chocolate – But ooh I was dying for some as I listened to this mouth watering interview.

Pieter only uses UTZ certified cocoa beans grown in Africa. UTZ certified stands for sustainable farming and better opportunities for farmers, their families and our planet.

Everything is made from scratch – from sourcing and roasting their own cocoa and coffee beans, to making their own ice cream and a wide selection of confections. His wrappers are also very special and have an African look.

We were five minutes away from Franschhoek when the interview ended and we’d discovered that there just happened to be a De Villiers Chocolate cafe in town!

I said to Earl, “I’m having lunch at De Villiers Chocolate Café.”

“You can’t!” he said “You’re banting.”

“So what,” I said “This is serendipitous. I am meant to have chocolate today. I need chocolate today. Why else would I hear this interview just as I’m entering a place where that cafe is calling to me.”

Well of course I didn’t exactly have lunch at the café – we first dined at MC, googled the address of the café and then went there for coffee. My two favourite things in life – coffee and chocolate. Preferably together.

Lunch at MC for Earl was springbok pie and Eggs Benedict for me – the Banting version.

Franschoek is the prettiest town in South Africa and has wonderful eateries

The cafe where you can taste before you buy

The patio area

Coffee for me, ice cream for The Earl, and all the ‘lekkergoed’ we bought

The coffee was excellent, the ice cream delicious and I walked away with a packet of drinking chocolate, three slabs of 70% chocolate – the cinnamon and chili is to die for – and two bars of chocolate nougat.

Yes I was certainly in exactly the right place at the right time.

De Villiers Chocolate

Cape Agulhas Presents Its Best Face For Kokstad Junior School

2017-09-04 | puppy1952

Today it was our privilege to meet up with our grandson Simon when his school tour stopped to visit the Southern Tip of Africa. The teacher in charge alerted our daughter to the time they would be coming through Bredasdorp, she alerted us and then we timed it just right to meet them coming through Struisbaai.

Here they come – a very excited granny takes the photo!

A close up and then they all pulled over so we could say hi to Simon

After an initial big hello to Simon our grandson, Aiden our great nephew and Robyn, daughter of our kids’ best friends, we followed them to Cape Agulhas

The Kokstad Junior Grade Six classes were two weeks into a three week tour takes them from Kokstad to Cape Town and back. En route they stop at interesting places and it forms part of their Life Skills programme. It’s epic and hats off to the teachers and helpers who take these sixty-eight lively pre-teens on such an amazing, educational tour.

The kids are exceptionally well-behaved. On this trip they’re divided into groups and have chores and responsibilities that are character building. Many have never been away from their protective parents before and so this is a huge learning curve for them.

There are developments afoot at the Southern Tip and road works meant a little wait before entering the car park.

The controlled but excited group getting ready to do the touristy thing at the southern tip

Our gorgeous Robyn Baker

Si-Si pretending not to be embarrassed by his grandparents attention

There were some other tourists at the view point but being a Monday the kids had the place virtually to themselves.

Aiden

Robyn with her group

The kids were given relative freedom to explore after the compulsory photographs had been taken.

Robin and her group at the Southern Tip of Africa

Simon waiting his turn

Simon and Aiden’s Group

Michele’s group

Simon playing a stone kicking game with his friend – BOYS!

A lot of fun was had throwing pebbles into the rock pools

Collecting rocks and exporing the rock pools was also fun

Where’s your rod Simon?

Not today, Gran – I want to see how far I can skim this stone!

That’s a good bowling arm he has there!

Robyn rock hopping with her friends

Smiling for Mom and Dad

Hand away from face please Rob – Nice one of your friend though!

Thank you, that’s better

Aiden and his gang of rock exploring friends

The kids have been to Robben Island, The Science Museum, Cape Point and other wonderful places. I asked Simon what his favourite part has been so far – first he said that he liked the movies at Somerset Mall! Then his friend, Liam, said The Science Museum and his eyes lit up and he said – Yes definitely that! One lad said he liked Robben Island but – Too much history! I think it was all too confusing for him.

The whistle blew – time to go

Liam (I think) and Simon

What a great morning – the weather cooperated, the kids were delightful and we enjoyed our interaction with them all. Bon Voyage for the next week, Kokstad Junior – Grade 6 and Teachers! Thank you for letting us join you for the morning.