Caravanning in the Kgalagadi Twee Rivieren Monday 30 March 2015

2015-04-21 | puppy1952

It rained during the night and it is quite chilly when we wake up this morning. However, I still think shorts will be okay. Luckily I take a fleece with me as the weather does not warm up above 20 degrees C.
Earl goes ahead to wait in the queue while I go to the loo. As I walk towards reception I notice that two cars are already lining up at the gate. This means that they did not hand in their permits last night and are illegally up front! The rest of us wait for the gate staff to arrive and check us out before we can drive to the game area gate! Jim should be first but is now third and Earl is fourth. We take the Rooiputs road and have a brief encounter with some playful jackal.
At quarter to eight we see the illegal starters stopped on the side of the road – they are looking at lion.
The first one I spot is a big male.

then Earl points out two females near to him. They are just lying there in on the dune.
Another male is short way away fast asleep. While we watch, the females get up and go up onto the ridge. Then three more come over to meet them. We can hear roaring and suspect there is another male somewhere.
We watch the male get up take a walk and find a puddle to drink from but nothing else special happens so we move on.

A few kilometres on we find a female crouching in hunting mode at the crest of the dune. We watch her for a while but do not see what she is stalking so we move on.

Martial Eagle

We stop at Melkvlei for a loo break and then decide to retrace our route and take the Dune road to Achterlonie. We find the same female and hear a roar. At first we think a male is calling her but then see that she is the one making the din!
On the Dune road we are delighted to see that beautiful yellow flowers have sprung up after the rains. I think they are called Dubbeltjies.

We see korhaan and Kori Bustards and two Spurwinged geese fly overhead. Some ant-eating chats don’t like the tawny that perches in their territory.

Two jackal puppies are exploring unattended by their parents. They seem nervous of the car at first and then ignore us and continue their antics. They are so cute one feels that one can pick them up and take them home for pets.

We have breakfast at Achterlonie and take a look at the old historic cottage. It is so cold that we eat in the car.
The rest of our trip produces very little and we are back at camp by 12:30. At half past three we decide to go to The Kgalagadi lodge for a late lunch instead of cooking supper tonight. We are delighted with our meals – pepper steaks for Jim, Maureen and Earl and I have an Adam and Eve – Rump steak with green fig and blue cheese sauce.

When we return Earl and I decide to take a quick drive to the waterhole – but stay out longer than we planned! We try to find yesterday’s caracal without success but enjoy a bit of bird-watching. The highlight is a martial eagle and when we get back into the gate we find black-faced wax-bills.

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi – Nossob Thursday 19 March 2015

2015-04-11 | puppy1952

Today is a rest day. We go out early in a southerly direction and try to find the lions but we have no luck and find out later that nobody else had a particularly successful day today either.

The highlight of the drive is at Casper se Draai. We spot the melanistic Gabar settled in a tree which does not make for good photography. But it flies off and we head in the same direction and find it perched in a tree with a juvenile and another Gabar of normal plumage. It is obviously a family – Mom, Dad and junior. They have a dove in the foliage and are feasting on it. Luckily for us they are on the correct side of the road – not into the sun – and we get some reasonable photographs.

Melanistic Gabar Goshawk

Normal plumage of Gabar Goshawk

001 Melanistic and Normal Earl 2015-03-19 07-50-45 AM 3162x2116

Parent and juvenile on right

We decide to return to camp and have a rest day as we are leaving for Polentswa tomorrow. On the way back we do some more birding.

Familar Chat

Yellow Canary

Crimson-breasted shrike

Burchell’s Sandgrouse

After lunch I go for a swim and meet some people from Somerset West. They ask where I live and I say – Fish Hoek. Oh says the lady, we are with our aunt and uncle from Fish Hoek – Eric and Margaret. I am gob-smacked. They are members of The Bird Club and I know Margaret and Eric very well. I also know their daughters! Later Earl and I pop up to their chalet to say hi. I had told Eric that we were off to KTP and he’d said – You lucky fish! At that stage he didn’t know that he would also be having a trip here – two weeks ago his daughter, Alison, suggested he and Margaret go in their place as here hubby, Alan was not well. Margaret tells me that it has been a brilliant trip with their niece and nephew treating them like royalty! Her niece also said that they’d learnt a lot about birds from Eric!

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi – Mata Mata Thursday 12 March 2015

2015-04-04 | puppy1952

Once again it is an early start to the day – I am second in the queue behind Des today. Maureen is a close third! We decide to stick as close to J&M as possible as they seem to bring us luck!

We speed-spot on the move and I mark down jackal, giraffe and Secretary Birds before we stop for a hyena at 7:05.

An early rising spotted hyena

At Dalkeith Waterhole we find a beautiful group of giraffe drinking and Gemsbok are there too.

Gemsbok drinking at Dalkeith

At 13^th Waterhole we spot a Tawny Eagle in a tree and also the usual bird activity going on.

Tawny by Earl

It is 9:30 when we arrive at Rooibrak Waterhole and here we are delighted to find 5 lions. They are drinking and then start moving. We follow them until they drop under some shady trees and clearly settle there for the day.

Lovely lions

We retrace our steps and go to Kamqua for breakfast – Muesli again as I forgot to pack the cutlery!

We meet some interesting people. A Dutch couple who have shipped their huge camper over for a 4 year sojourn in Southern Africa tell us all about their plans. They have everything they need in the bus and it requires a special licence to drive it. They were able to get a pensioners’ Visa to stay in the country for this length of time.

We hear about a cheetah who has killed a buck and then left it lying in the open while she and the cubs are taking a nap at the top of a ridge under a bush. There are a couple of Tawny Eagles in the tree watching and waiting for something to tear it apart so they can get a share too. But no jackal, hyena or any other predator appears. We watch the cheetahs for a while and then Mom gets up and makes her way over the ridge. The cubs follow but then return to their slumbers. A few minutes later Mom reappears with a buck in her mouth! It looks like bits have already been eaten. We assume she killed this first, started snacking on it then went and made the kill that she has now left to whoever wants it. She takes the kill to a bigger tree with more shade and the cubs obediently follow. We watch them feast and then decide it is time to leave.

Mom Cheetah

She has something

She brings it to the cubs

On our way back to camp we find two beautiful bee-eaters.

Swallow-tailed bee-eaters

I cook a risotto for dinner and as we sit down to eat a fellow camper calls to us – Lions at the Waterhole – we leave our supper, grab binoculars and cameras and race to the fence. Sure enough there are three beautiful lions taking a drink. What fun – right on our doorstep.

Lions at Mata Mata waterhole

Bird Club Camp at Kuifkop Vivanger, Veldrift

2015-04-01 | puppy1952

6 March to 8 March 2015

Before we embark our trip to The Kagalagadi Transfrontier Park, Earl and I join the Cape Bird Club weekend camp at Kuifkhop Visvanger in Veldrift on the West Coast. This is our first time out with our new Imagine Off-Road Caravan.

We arrive at 12:30 pm and are surprised to find that most of the campers have already arrived – the joys of being retired – you don’t have to wait until after work to leave!

We begin setting up when two guy approach and tell us they too are Imagine owners. They notice that ours is brand new and are interesting in seeing the diffences. They are very enthusiastic about Imagine and tell us we have made a good choice. We pick up some tips from them and soon have the caravan set up and ready.

Later in the afternoon, Mel takes some of the campers on an afternoon excursion. Earl joins them but I remain in camp as I have to be on hand for new arrivals.

The official opening of the camp is at the evening braai. We have been given the use of the conference centre and all gather there. Mel and Simon give us the run down of what will happen in the next two days. there 40 of us and we will divide into two groups and pool cars. Each car will have a hand held walkie talkie. We are in Mel’s group.

The weekend is a great success. We see a variet of wonderful birds on the salt pans and in the vlei and it is a good introduction to our future life of caravanning.

Setting up our caravan

Here are some of the birds we saw.

Rock Kestrel

Goliath Heron

Regional Rarity – Red-backed shrike – it caused quite a lot of excitement although it is common in Kruger!

campers finding birds

Priscilla and Me

Earl on a boat!

Grey Plover

Lanner Falcon

Black crowned night heron

Little Egret

Purple Heron

Caspian Tern

Little Ringed Plover

Chestnut-banded plover

African Darter

Supper

Briefing

Moon

Little Stint

House Sparrow

Curlew Sandpiper

Three banded plover

Retiring Adventurously – Downtimes and Uptimes

2015-02-16 | puppy1952

I don’t do sick and I don’t do old. Give me a crying baby or a mischievous child or even a whole crowd of them and I will cope with the greatest of ease. I say I don’t do the former but that’s not quite true – of course I will deal with whatever I have to at any particular moment – but it’s way out of my comfort zone. So when the beloved awoke with a shivering fever and a rebellious tummy on Monday morning I was not well pleased. There was no escaping to the classroom with the words take yourself off to the doctor and drink plenty of fluids. Just as well because there was no way he was going to cope with this one on his own. I was all dressed and ready for gym but had to abandon that plan and drive the invalid shaking almost to convulsions to the doctors – why don’t they do house calls anymore? He was hurriedly ushered into a treatment room where he lay in his gown wrapped in a blue blanket which he insisted I tuck firmly under his freezing feet. It was a hot day but he was shivering as if he were at the South Pole. I feel so helpless in these situations. My ministrations limited as they are seem not to help and all I can do is just stand there and wait for the worst. The young doctor – they get younger as I get older- I’m sure this one was still in his teens – came in after what seemed hours but was only 10 minutes. After asking all the right questions and pressing in all the right places he put Earl on a drip and instructed him to lie there for the next hour. It was 9 o’clock. “I’ll just make it to gym then,” I said “I’ll pick you up when I’m done?” “Don’t leave me,” he wailed. So that put paid to that escape plan.
Much to my relief the drip worked and the shivering stopped and my ailing man fell asleep. I sat ‘monitoring’ him while checking Facebook and emails on my iPhone. I’m a woman I can multitask!
The hour dragged by and then he was released with a script for a pharmacy of drugs. I made sure he was comfortable, showered and changed – I had to get out of my gym clothes – then headed to the mall to get the script filled out. Then back to the invalid, dosed him with 4 different drugs, made sure he was comfortable and asleep then escaped to have tea with Carol. He was much better on my return but still slept most of the day and all that night. On Tuesday he got up for part of the day, did some things that needed doing then collapsed into bed exhausted and wondered why! I am pleased to report that by Wednesday all was back to normal!

On Tuesday I was up before the crack of dawn and out of the house before 6:00 am. My destination? – Home Affairs. I was determined to be in the front of the queue as I had to get a new I.D. Document – the old one went Awol somewhere between the Vodocom Shop at our local mall and The Kruger National Park in June last year. My passport although valid gives problems at border posts by refusing to scan. It happened in Australia and then again in Namibia so I thought it best if I was to be crossing African borders to get a new one in order to avoid delays and an excuse to arrest me! Home Affairs is notorious for its long queues and it is not uncommon to spent an entire day waiting to be processed. Their offices open at 7:30 am and I arrived at Maynard Mall parking at 6:20 am delighted that I would be very near the front. But oh no – the parking was closed – and I was fourth in that queue. There was much hooting and tooting until somebody came to explain that the rules had changed. The parking garage and the mall would only be opened at 7. There was nothing to be done so I switched up the radio and sat an waited knowing that there would also be a queue on the pavement and at the other parking garage over the road! By the time I had parked and raced for the escalator I was number 61 in queue to get into the offices! Admittedly the queue did move quite quickly and it was 8:30 when I finally made it in. Then there another number issued, a wait in the pay desk queue – R400 for the passport – ID – Free for over 60s! From there to the photobooth and a grumpy photographer barking unfriendly commands – take off your glasses – don’t smile! From there you had to wait for your number to be called. I found it all quite amusing. The queue consisted of rows of chairs and you had to move up every minute or so as you came closer to your turn. It was like being on a conveyer belt. I didn’t dare take photographs in case I was expelled! Finally, I reached the front row and then my number was called. This time a friendly and efficient assistant. My fingerprints were taken digitally and I had to sign on a digital device too. It was all done and dusted by quarter to ten – only three and a half hours. The good news is that on Friday afternoon I received an SMS to say my ID is ready for collection! Wow! But I shall wait for the Passport to be ready and collect them together. The estimated time is between 2 and 6 weeks. Maybe I will be lucky!

On the bright side, Earl recovered quickly and on Wednesday dropped the Fortuner off at Gus’s house and he and Andrew went to Stellenbosch to fetch the Land Rover Discovery 4! Earl is very pleased with the new vehicle. Before he drove it away, Martin spent two hours teaching him all the amazing features of the car. What wonderful service. Such a difference to the experience we had with the Volkswagen Caravelle. Fifteen years ago there were very few of them in the country. We researched it thoroughly and decided that it was the car we wanted and went off to a showroom in town to have a look. Nobody appeared to help us. I clapped my hands and yelled – Please come and sell me this car! A bored young man appeared and when I asked him to show me all the features he shrugged his shoulders and made a half-hearted effort at showing me a few things. He had no idea how to move the seats and was clearly ignorant of anything about the vehicle. If I hadn’t wanted it so badly I would not have bought it. We walked out and went to another dealership and asked them to contact that one to get the car for us. For all these fifteen years we have never been completely satisfied with Volkswagen’s service. Hopefully we will continue to have a better experience with Land Rover!

The Caravan ready for action

The new vehicle

From behind

Test Drive

My turn to drive

On Friday Earl heard that the yellow-fin tuna were in the bay and biting so he rushed to finish some stuff he was doing on the caravan and he and Yassin dashed off to see what they could catch! They were well pleased with the results and returned just in time for Earl and me to meet our friends for a dinner date at Brasserie in Tokai! We had a stunning evening.

Yassin with one of the yellow-fin tuna

Celebrating Heather’s birthday

Saturday was Valentine’s Day but because we’d been out the evening before we decided to not to go out on a romantic date. In any case we had lovely fresh fish for sashimi. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry as did ours when we were informed after waking from an afternoon nap that the teens were having a Valentine’s Braai that evening. We decided therefore to go off for a sunset picnic with our fish and salad but this plan too was thwarted when I discovered that the 6 teens were alone, had no braai wood and nobody had brought meat! No – I could not leave them alone with their chips and Coke – so we found ourselves entertaining 5 boys and a girl with an impromptu sashimi evening. Now some of those kids are used to our strange tastes and love to eat our weird food. But the girl and one lad looked horrified at the fare before them. “Don’t panic,” I said. ‘Just have one taste and if you really don’t like it, Grandpa will give sear some tuna for you”. The young lady agreed that it did not taste bad at all but she really would prefer it cooked. The lad had tried in our home previously and just said – cooked for me please! The rest of them tucked in and cleaned the platters.

Jay the handsome host

Tucking in

Seared to perfection

A relief not to have to eat raw fish!

Earl worked on the caravan on Sunday and I went off to a bird club outing with my friend Priscilla. We thought we had plenty of time to get to Stellenbosch but found that we could not get to Baden Powell Drive because of a marathon of some sort blocking the route. So we had to detour over the freeway and onto the N2 which made us a few minutes late. The rest of the group were nowhere in sight but a quick phone got Simon returning to find us and soon we were enjoying th walk along with the other. The birding wasn’t great but the walk in Assegaibos is wonderful.

Simon rescued us

The group looking at something in the trees

The majestic mountains

A beautiful setting

Our leader and his wife relaxing at the picnic site Thanks for leading on your birthday, John!

We ended the week with a braai at Heather and Peter’s and forgot all about the early disasters of the week!

Our hostess with host in the background

Struisbaai Gathering of Three Generations – Birding with the Locals

2014-12-18 | puppy1952

I love the early mornings but up at quarter to five stretches it a bit when you’re on holiday! No just kidding when it comes to birding it’s definitely the best time of the day. Earl and I met up with 10 other crazy people and had a wonderful birding excursion led by Dr Wim de Klerk. We discovered that this outing was happening on a notice of events for the month of December displayed in the mall.

Arthur and Wally kindly offered to accommodate us in the former’s vehicle and we explored the edges of bodies of water and the salt pans using the car as a hide and getting out when appropriate.

This Agulhas National Park hosts a variety of habitat types and great biodiversity as far as birds are concerned. The patches of renosterveld host large numbers of Black Harriers and we saw them flying and two perched in a tree. Agulhas Long-billed Lark is a special for this area and we managed to see him briefly too. We also saw a number of marsh harriers. One of our target birds was the African Snipe and were delighted to find that too.

The Spotted Eagle owl greeted us at our meeting place

Many Spurwinged geese flew overhead – they are plentiful in this area

Kittlitz plovers were wading on the edges of the water and also further away

Kittlitz’s plovers were wading on the edges of the water and also further away

Our Fellow Birders

We had to get quite deep into the veld

Some young black-shouldered kites were still being cared for by their parents

Some young black-shouldered kites on the nest. Their parents were about still finding food for them.

Some curlew sandpipers

Purple Swamphen

African Snipe

Pelicans on the salt pan – Kelp gulls in the foreground

There were hundreds of Lesser flamingos - quite unusual to see so many

There were hundreds of Lesser flamingos – quite unusual to have them in this area

The vulnerable Denham’s bustard made an appearance

Wally is a really fun guy and I just loved his hat with its Ostrich Plume

Earl and I were really welcomed by this group of people. We will definitely get in touch again when we start spending more time in Struisbaai. Thanks to all, especially Emerentia (organiser) Arthur (driver) and Wim (leader) for including us on this wonderful outing.

We called it a day at 11 and Earl and I went to the Aviator’s Restaurant for breakfast. An ex-pilot runs it and has an old plane that he intends mounting on the roof! He also has a flying school and takes people on scenic flights. Struisbaai certainly is a unique place with something for everybody.

Struisbaai Gathering of Three Generations Day 4

2014-12-14 | puppy1952

My eyes sting with the saltiness of the sea water, and I reel against the sudden chill as a wave crashes over my shoulders. But soon I am revelling in a refreshing swim as I become accustomed to the temperature. I frolic in the breakers feeling like a kid again. It is 8:00 a.m. and Josh, Simon and I have walked and run along the most beautiful beach in Africa for half an hour. How amazing to start the day in the delicious Indian Ocean at the Southern Tip of Africa. A more idyllic place would be hard to find.

First stop – the harbour

Interesting Vehicle

Simon intrigued by the barble washed ashore

Simon intrigued by the barbel washed ashore

The boardwalk connects the harbour beach to the long beach

A Kelp Gull sheltering among the rocks

The boys brave the cool waves

Wrapping up after

Life guards coming on duty

Back home we found a daughter cooking breakfast

Grandpa and Jay, in the meantime, were enjoying a perfect morning at sea – the seasick ones remained at home today!

Jay’s Catch

After breakfast – croissants – the boys and I managed to get the last 10 from the OK Grocer’s bakery – and egg and bacon cooked by Laurie – we headed back to the beach. This time we decided to enjoy the calmer waters of the harbour.

It’s a safe family beach

Even the dogs are having fun

After we all enjoyed a swim in the safe waters we enjoyed soft serve ice creams and then spotted Kiora racing into to the harbour.

The boat to match the vehicle we saw earlier!

Getting Kiora onto the trailer

The Champions – a lovely catch of cob

Shannon and I had a little mishap while watching the hitching of the boat. Shan wanted to climb up onto the boat and walked down the slipway which was covered with green, slimy sea moss. Oops she slipped and slid down on her back, hitting her head to boot. She lay unable to get up and I instinctively went to her aid and yes you guessed it slipped in the same way myself! In my effort to save myself I hurt my wrist but no other damage done – I might, though, have a small broken bone in my hand! I will only find out tomorrow when I go to Bredasdorp for an x-ray! Shan has grazes on her back and a bit of a headache but otherwise – no harm done!

Annie is suffering from torn ligaments in her ankle and had a spare brace that is perfect for my hand which has a rather suspicious looking swollen lump on it- I am managing to type so it can’t be too serious – fortunately it’s my left hand.

Annie and Shannon creating a delicious salad

Grandpa braaing the cob

Jay and Simon getting digital

Lovely fish

Helping the daughter

Fab meal

Struisbaai Gathering of Three Generations – Day 3

2014-12-13 | puppy1952

Yes – Today dawned bright and still, heralding good fishing conditions. Earl, Lauren, Jay, Josh and Simon were on the sea by 7 o’clock and were lucky enough to spot dolphins and flying fish! I could be persuaded to board a boat to see that! The fishing was not too shabby either. Grandpa got a lovely red roman and the others were happy to get a few silver fish. The bad news – they were all sea-sick except for Jay and Gramps! But they did not suffer long and were back on land by 9:30.

Red Roman

Some of the silver fish

Jay, Simon, Lauren and Josh (looking a bit green about the gills)

After the fishing excursion the wind got up but the kids went off to the beach and spent some time there. Lolz, Annie and I went down for a while but were soon blown back home.

For lunch we enjoyed Earlie’s fabulous fried fish and later in the day the kids headed back to the beach for a swim.

Master Chef of Struisbaai

Finger food

We had a little mishap with a little sugarbird today. It flew against a closed window and stunned itself. Jay picked it up with a dish towel and rubbed it a bit. It just lay in a stupor but slowly started to flick its wings and eventually flew onto some washing hanging on the line. Eventually it felt strong enough to take shelter at the top of the milkwood tree. I do hope its headache is over soon! We must put those lovely stickers I received as a gift onto those windows soon.

Concussed female sugarbird

Let me rest a while

What just happened?

A malachite sunbird in transitional plumage looks on

Struisbaai – A week with three generations – Day 1 and 2

2014-12-12 | puppy1952

Thursday 11 December 2014

Today began a new chapter of my life – RETIREMENT! Well I have had a chequered on and off career of teaching but with Earl’s retirement I know that the time has now come for me to call an end to my career too. I bade farewell to my principal and colleagues just after 9 0’clock yesterday morning no regrets as the last three and half years have been very happy and I’ve left on a high note!

It was just an hour or so later than Earl and I along with our two teenaged grandsons hit the road to our holiday house in Struisbaai.

The Kokstad Clan – Daughter Lauren and Son-in-law Allan travelled up with the kids Shan 12 and Simon 10 overnighted in Graaff Reinet and arrived an hour after us at 3:30 this afternoon.

Simon, Earl, Josh, Jay, Shannon

Proud Grandfather with his brood of grandchildren

Josh and Simon play fighting

UNO – A favourite of our youngsters

Friday 12 December 2014

This morning we were horrified to wake to rain and wind. Not a fishing day! But this did not dampen our spirits and it wasn’t long before it cleared up. A trip to the local supermarket produced freshly baked break and croissants which accompanied Grandpa’s famous Earlie Brekkie.

Bonding over an “Earlie” Breakfast

The adults went off to the Wine Boutique in Agulhas while the kids went to explore the rock pools. Earl and I also popped into Potpourri a favourite gift/coffee shop that I love to browse in. Grandpa spotted a poster that he just had to have. Most appropriate don’t you think?

Excursion to the Rock Pools

My favourite granddaughter – (I’m your only granddaughter, Granny!)

Gathering the family together is far from peaceful. It is full of noise, attention seeking, teasing, laughter, bantering, chatter and fun, fun, fun.

Our older grandsons are amazing with their younger cousins. Jay 17 and Josh 16, always relate well to them and make sure they have a good time. They include them in the board games, take them off to the beach without the adults and make sure everyone does their fair share of the chores!

Our other two daughters had to work till lunch time today so only joined us at 3:30 this afternoon. Laurie brought her friend, Annie, visiting from London along too. So we now have a household of 11!

Laurie and Annie

Lisa and Earl – Allan braaing in the background

Annie, Shannon, Laurie

Simon, Shan and Jay

Playing Clue

Good old S.A. Braai

Weekend Breakaway – Good Hope Farm Robertson

2014-05-19 | puppy1952

We decided on the spur of the moment to take off for the weekend. We love Robertson for the bass fishing and bird watching opportunities. Over the years we have stayed at a few places but Retreat Cottage is one of our favourites. This time we decided to go to a place we haven’t been to for a number of years – Good Hope Olive and Wine Farm. We first stayed at their Mountain Cottages which had a ‘loo with a view’. We got to know the owner, Shirlee but she has since sold and we wanted to stay at the Fishing Cottages which are somewhat more rustic but attractive as they are right on the Bass Dam.

I phoned to book at lunch time and by 3 o’clock we were packed on the road with very little packed in the way of self-catering! So after checking in we headed to the town of Robertson for dinner. The Bourbon Restaurant came highly recommended and we were not disappointed. It had a varied menu. Earl settled for Lamb Shank and I had a sort of Pitta filled with delicious middle eastern vegetables served with tzatziki.

After dinner coffee

Our accommodation was rustic but comfortable. The stone floors meant did nothing for warmth but we had a heater and wonderful electric blankets. Between the two semi-detatched huts there was indoor/outdoor kitchen – wonderfully equipped and perfect for our needs. The Dam Cottages would be perfect for a group of friends who wanted to share some time together.

A beautiful mountain setting

The view of the dam was fabulous. We were the only guests on the farm this being very low season. In summer and on long weekends it is hard to get accommodation in the Robertson area.

Situated next to the bass dam

The Dam

A hammock could be fun

Enjoying morning coffee on the bench with a view

Master Chef Earl cooking breakfast

Good Hope Farm is a working farm and one wakes to sound turkeys gobbling and cocks crowing. There are pigs and sheep and horses too.

Cheeky Pig

horses

Christmas Dinner?

Good Looking Sheep

Earl threw in a line or two but the aim was to do a bit of bird watching. There were a few birds like coots, herons, Egyptian Geese and darters on the dam. On Sunday morning we were amused to see a heron give way to the superior claim to the float to a darter.

Heron on a float in the middle of the dam

The darter approaches

The heron flies off and the darter takes the perch

Darter

The area is good for all the Karoo specials. I was hoping to find the Karoo Robin and I was in luck. The pale chanting goshawk is also common in the area. Here are some birds that we had fun finding.

Cape Sparrow

Bokmakierie

African Pipit

Familiar chat

Familiar Chat

Black Headed Heron

Black-shouldered Kite

Karoo Robin

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Rock Kestrel

Stone Chat

Hereunder some photographs of the beautiful scenery – the mountains stood out clearly and we were stunned by the stunning autumn colours of the vines and trees. The Elgin area displayed some beautiful trees in their rustic apparel.

The Cape Bird Club Beginners’ Course Outing to False Bay Ecology Park

2013-09-01 | puppy1952

A Birding Paradise

There’s a place that was once a sewage farm,

But now the ponds are settled and calm,

And filled with wild and wonderful birds;

A perfect place for Avian Nerds

As you travel along the many dirt roads,

Look out for crabs and occasional toads.

Perhaps you’ll find a mongoose or buck

There will certainly be a yellow-billed duck.

The pelicans swim the swallows they fly

And maybe you’ll hear the fish eagle cry.

There are stilts and avocets, teal and coots.

A purple swamp-hen chews on roots.

And as well as all these waterfowl

You may even spot the eagle-owl.

The long claw with its orange throat

Sings out with a meowing note.

In rain, in shine, no matter what

You’re bound to see a helovalot.

Come join us at the Ecology Park

We’ll show you more than just a lark.

Today members of The Cape Bird Club took the delegates from Heather’s Beginners’Course on an outing to The False Bay Ecology Park where they put their newly acquired birding skills to the test. The rain had stopped and the skies were clear – we saw a beautiful rainbow – but the roads were somewhat muddy. Nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the beginners though and the ‘guides’ were just too thrilled to show off this amazing place. We loaded the cars with each one having a window seat and each car set off to separately find the 27 target birds plus anything else that might show up. When we stopped to compare notes the vibe of excitement was tangible as the beginners shared what they had seen. Personally I never get tired of seeing the flamingos doing their amazing ballet in the shallows or impersonating ducks in deeper water. It was hugely rewarding to share my passion with others.

False Bay Ecology Park is next door to Zeekoeivlei – Strandfontein Beach in the Background

Red-knobbed Coot swim among the flamingos

Close up

Red-knobbed Coot by Earl

Purple Swamphen

Red-billed teal and Cape Shoveller with head hidden on the right by Earl

Cape Teal by Earl

Pelican with white-breasted cormorants

Preening

Jay’s Picture

Swimming

Black-crowned Night Heron

Pied Avocets

A Sleepy Spotted Eagle-owl

Taken with eyes open at another time – wouldn’t open his eyes for us today.

African Black Oyster-catchers – same place but better than the pics I took today

Moorhen taken at another time

Little Grebe – we saw lots – but this picture taken at another time

Cattle Egret in Breeding Plumage – taken by Earl

Black-necked grebe – on of the many we saw today.

Mongoose taken by Jay

Common Waxbill taken by Jay

Cape Longclaw taken by Jay

Women’s Day Weekend in Struisbaai – Part One

2013-08-09 | puppy1952

After a rainy and cold week we find ourselves here in Struisbaai once again. A text from our rental agent warned us that there might be road closures due to the recent heavy rains and flooding. Really? We didn’t give it too much thought and set off with Tony and Sharon at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. “I’d better just phone and check,” I said. “It would be a pity to get to Bredasdorp only to find that road closed.” Sure enough, we were warned that only twin cabs and 4X4s were able to make it through. “Huh?” No problem for us as fortunately as we drive a Fortuner! I still didn’t believe that it could be that bad but it was! There was a virtual river running across the road halfway between Bredasdorp and Struisbaai.

Will the big truck get through – Yes indeed so we should too.

Fellow travellers forging the river

It was dark and cold when we reached our house and we put on the gas heater the minute we’d unpacked! Then after a glass of wine and chat we set off to Agulhas to seek a place to have dinner. To our horror Seagulls was closed – apparently taking advantage of the quiet season to get away for their annual holiday. So we settled for Zuidste Kaap Restaurant (Most Southern Cape Restaurant) which had a fire in a huge hearth and very good food. (The fire did very little to warm the place though) Earl had Eisbein and Sharon and I had Vegetarian Pasta and Tony Rainbow Pasta. All excellent.

We slept snugly and rose this morning to a unique “Early” breakfast. Nobody else can possibly compete with whatever it is he does to make this the most delicious breakfast in the world. (Thanks my darling)

We then packed up and took ourselves off to De Hoop Nature Reserve – a very special place about an hour or so away. The results of the recent rains were evident everywhere and had attracted a variety of waterbirds not usually seen in the area.

A tranquil scene on a temporary lake

Indulging in a morning preen

Aren’t we beautiful

From Bredasdorp we take the Swellendam Road and then 6km out of Bredasdorp we take the dirt road to Malgas travelling about 40 km before turning right to De Hoop. En route, we stop of course, to observe birds and take scenic photographs.

Now we know why it is so cold – Snow on the Caledon Mountains!

A Patchwork of colour with farmhouse in background

A Grey Heron with an identity crisis – He is impersonating a swan

Capped Wheatear posing obligingly

Flood water creating a lovely scene

Mommy sheep with twins

Spurwinged Goose, Two Cape Shovellers and A Yellow-billed Duck

The proteas in the park were in full bloom

Although it was still chilly we the sun was shiny and there was good light and after the rain everything looked bright and clear. The birds and animals in the park clearly thought today was the day to make an appearance and we found them everywhere. All were enjoying the sunshine and the abundance of water.

De Hoop Nature Reserve is 34 000 ha in size and the largest natural area managed by Cape Nature. It is a good place to go if you enjoy hiking, cycling, bird watching and of course whale watching.

It forms part of the world’s smallest and most threatened plant Kingdom – the Cape Floral Kingdom. Fynbos is the dominant vegetation group. The Bredasdorp / Agulhas and Infanta area has an estimated 1500 plant species of the approximately 9 000 species found in the Cape Floristic Region. We live in a beautiful part of the world and have such interesting flora and fauna. What a privilege to have such easy access to it. Not only can we see the rare bontebok and other mammal species here but it is adjacent to the De Hoop Marine Reserve too and at Koppie Alleen there is an opportunity to see whales and other marine life too.

Cape Bulbul catching some rays

Common Fiscal

Ostriches out and about

Cape Mountain Zebra

Male and Female Eland

Bontebok

Our close cousins

Bokmakierie

We have often dined at the restaurant in the park and can highly recommend it. Sharon and I had traditional South African fare in the form of Bobotie and Tony and Earl indulged in Mussel Chowder.

The Four of Us Indulging in Good South African Food

This cheeky chap demanded crumbs but we declined to indulge him.

Cape Francolin

The trees were full of noisy birds eating berries

Cape Bulbul

Mousebird

After lunch we drove to Koppie Alleen to see if we could spot a whale or two. We were not disappointed. There were dozens of Southern Right Whales in the bay which were seen clearly with the aid of our binoculars. It was bitterly cold on the dunes so we didn’t spend too much time before we were driven back to the warmth of our vehicle.

Koppie Alleen

Whale Watching

The Bay was full of Southern Right Whales

On our way out the baboons once again amused us.

Daddy Baboon

Mommy and Baby

After a great day out we returned to our cosy cottage and Chef Earl produced a wonderful braai – chicken wings on sticks, skilpaaidjies (not real tortoises honestly – just liver wrapped in sheep fat) lamb chops, vegetables in foil and Sharon’s Coleslaw. To finish a stunning lemon meringue from Checkers’ Bakery.