November 3-14, We ARE home, Life is back to normal, Some stats and thoughts on South Africa

Several friends and family have mentioned to us that we never "completed" the blog of our trip to South Africa, so thought I would confirm that we really are home and summarize a few things.

Tom took about 2500 photos during our close to 5 weeks there, and is in the process of sorting through them and weeding out duplicates, blurry ones,  etc.

We saw 386 species of birds, of which 336 were new for us.  There are over 900 species of birds in South Africa, so there are definitely more for us to see if and when we go back.  And, yes, we would LOVE to go back!  We've been asked many times what our favorite bird of the trip was, but there were so many amazing ones that it's impossible to narrow it down to under 100

Mammals tallied up at about 42, including the Big 5 (lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, buffalo).  Six leopards in 3 days was definitely the highlight of the mammals for me, but watching giraffe move their towering bodies so gracefully and powerfully was something you don't quite experience in the same way watching on tv or in a zoo, and looking into the eyes of an elephant only 5 or 6' away from the car literally took our breath away (most likely out of fear though).

Flowers are known to be at their best in South Africa in September, so we didn't expect to see near as many as we actually did.  The proteas were different than any flower we've seen before, and there were so many colors and sizes of them.

Insects weren't a problem anywhere for us, except for the Africanized honey bee that tangled with me 3 days before coming home and continued to remind me of its aggressive nature for almost 2 weeks.

The social structure in South Africa was a bit of an eye opener for both of us.  We didn't expect to see such large gaps between the haves and have-nots, and saw it throughout the country.  The most impressive and memorable social interaction I had was when I gave a young black woman staff member a 50 rand (about $3.75 ) tip at the end of one of our guest house stays, at which her expressionless face immediately lit up to an immense smile and she grabbed me and hugged me.  This really made me wonder what incomes are if 50 rand meant so much to this young woman.  I later found out she has 2 children living in one of the east Africa countries that she sends all of her income to.  Many people spoke to us of the high crime rate in the country and their concern of it.  Regardless though, everyone we met was pleasant, helpful and welcoming.   

It was a great experience and adventure, with beautiful scenery, birds, mammals, flowers and people all along the way.  If only one could get there from here without spending 35-40 hours in airports and planes.........

November 2, Halfway Home

We planned on 2 hours for refueling the rental car, driving to Cape Town airport and turning in the car, but it only took us 45 minutes this morning.  So we had a long wait before our first flight to Joberg, especially since it was about an hour late departing.  During our layover in Joberg, we had a really fun conversation with a couple of Jamaicans, a German, and a South African couple.  Our conversation began by the Jamaican moving over to make room for us "elders" (Tom & I) as he called us and went on to discussing dark chocolate with the German and its health benefits, with the Jamaicans never tasting 70% cacao before - until the German pulled out a bar for them to try.  Our 10+ hour flight to Frankfurt on Lufthansa was extremely uncomfortable; packed in like sardines.  But the flight itself was very smooth on the 747-8, other than the fact it sounded like the pilot scraped the tail on the runway at takeoff!!!  Made for a touch of anxiety..........I've decided we will try to avoid Lufthansa from here on out, as they are difficult to get any info out of prior to flying, and the seats are really cramped.  We've in Frankfurt for about 4 hours now; Tom's recharging IPods; and I had a jumbo latte to revive myself.  ☺️

Birdwise, our last bird in Cape Town was a pair of Rock Kestrels flying around the outside of the terminal.  And in Joberg the last bird was a pair of Rock pigeons flying around INSIDE the terminal.

Only one photo today from Frankfurt.

November 1, Rain and Wine

We did a birder thing this morning and visited the Paarl Sewage Ponds.  😝  Sewage ponds can often be very birdie, but we just had pouring rain, lots of wind and a few birds - thus, no photos from there!  Just getting us ready for home!  We were actually passing the time before the wineries opened for wine tasting.  We tasted at 2 and ate lunch at another one, with the wine being very acceptable at both, and Tom's cheese plate being "wonderful" at the other one.  Too bad the weather wasn't less cloudy here because the surrounding mountains and the endless vineyards really are stunning when you can see them.  We've checked in online for our afternoon flights home tomorrow afternoon, and my next blog post may be from Joberg or Frankfurt since we have 5 hour layovers at each place.

Photos are of one of the many Helmeted Guineafowl that began making a racket in front of our room early this morning, the vineyard view from our room, the front and the back of Lovane Guest House where we're staying, the view from the front porch of the guest house,  tasting room at Spice Route Winery and then the view, tasting room at Bilton Winery, enjoying lunch at Fairview Winery.

October 31, No Halloween Celebration Here!

No mention of Halloween anywhere around here today!  We walked around and above the olive groves this morning before breakfast.  There was a little pond along the main road to the guest farm before we started up the trail above the olive grove.  We stopped and birded there a few minutes until I got stung on my forearm by a honey bee for no apparent reason.  More bees began to land on me and in my hair, so I made a run for it back to the guest house reception area, where I removed the stinger and the receptionist put a special salve on it.  After 3 hours there was no pain or throbbing or swelling!  It was a 5 hour drive to our next destination in Stellenbosch, where we're staying at a very small winery.  Scenery along the way just before we got to Stellenbosch was spectacular - small valleys of vineyards with huge rocky mountains surrounding the entire area.  Our drive included a 4 km long tunnel through one of these mountains!!  Mari (my sister), you would have freaked out!!

Photos are scarce today with all of the driving!  First one is a Three-banded Plover at the pond where I got stung, the olive grove with accommodations beyond from the escarpment, looking the other way from the olive grove towards Karoo NP mountains.

October 30, What a Show!!

We arrived at Karoo NP around 6:30 this morning and immediately began the roughly 45 km drive up and around Klipspringer Pass, taking us close to 7 hours.  We FINALLY had a Bustard sighting this morning - a brief glimpse of it on the ground, and then watched it fly up and away, showing us it's characteristic wing markings.  Nice to finally see a Bustard; would hate to guess how many hours we've put in searching for one!  As we approached the top of the pass, I noticed one of the Verreaux's Eagles sitting on top of the rock ledge, so we got out at the overlook to take a peek.  That's when the show began!!  It left its perch, flew over just above us giving us views close enough that we could see its eyes and every detail of its feathers, then flew below us in the canyon so that we could see its distinct white back markings.  Then we realized that it's mate was sitting on the rock ledge across the canyon.  We had a 15 minute show, with both birds soaring above and below us or sitting on the rock ledge across the canyon.  And to impress upon us how large this eagle really is, a Rock Kestrel began swooping down on one of them, looking like a little song bird in size - which it isn't!  We found a number of new birds today, including a Lark, Canary, and Cuckoo.  This was our last full day of birding in South Africa, as we head off to Stellenbosch in the wine country tomorrow to spend our last two days before heading home.

First 2 photos are the Karoo in early morning, the next 3 are of the Verreaux's Eagles on top of Klipspringer Pass, Yellow Mongoose, another Mountain Zebra (they're SO pretty), Brown-hooded Kingfisher that landed in the tree right above us.

October 29, Success! and Heat at Karoo National Park

There are beautiful landscapes to be seen around every corner in South Africa - except for maybe the 200 km drive between Graaff-Reinet and Beaufort West.  😊  It was an extremely flat straight stretch of highway with no mountains in view on our drive this morning.  But once we reached Karoo NP just outside of Beaufort West, the beauty was back.  And the high temperatures continue.  Our lodging for the next 2 nights is at The Olive Grove Guest Farm, about 15 km away from the National Park and the city - in the middle of nowhere.  We arrived early and our room wasn't ready yet, so they upgraded us to a chalet instead - with full kitchen, living room and 2 bedrooms.  Not a bad deal!  We then drove back to the park and spent the afternoon, after talking with a couple of the young friendly guides about where to go to see various things.  As soon as we began climbing up over the pass the guides told us to drive for a chance at Verreaux's Eagle, we had two birds in sight soaring low.  Success at last!!!!  We saw these two birds several other times as we drove higher, and had them sitting on the rocks at the top of a ridge.  As we left the park this evening and headed back to town to refuel, we drove into a dust storm like we've never experienced.  It was short-lived thankfully.  Then as we headed back out to the guest farm after refueling, we were treated to an amazing sunset.  So MANY experiences in one day in South Africa!!!

Photos are of a Red Bisop and then a White-throated Swallow on our early morning walk in Graaff-Reinet, 2 views of The Karoo NP, 3 different flowers in the park that you wouldn't even notice if you didn't look close, a very hot Klipspringer (it's panting), the Verreaux's Eagles in the air and also on the ridge top.

October 28, HOT Again At Camdeboo National Park

Decided to get an early start in the park looking for Bustards and Eagles as the temperature was quite warm yesterday.  Glad we did, since it reached 101* before 3:00 today.  We birded and did some walking until shortly after noon - then we called it quits and enjoyed our air conditioned room until 4:30, when we went back to bird the park until dinner time.  No Bustards or Eagles again today; I told Tom they don't exist.  We DID find a cute little Rufous-eared Warbler first thing though, and drove up to the Valley of Desolation viewpoint for outstanding views of the area.  Also had two Mountain Zebras walk right by the car, and had some other mammal run in front of the car that looked like it was part dog and part antelope - don't know that we'll ever get it figured out since we weren't able to get a photo.

Photos are of a Rufous-eared Warbler, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, our close encounter with a Mountain Zebra, a real close encounter with another Karoo Korhaan, the view of Graaf-Reinet from the overlook at Valley of Desolation, 2 more views from the overlook of beautiful rock formations, Baboons that Tom ran into while hiking, 

October 27, Heading Southwest to Graaf-Reinet

Thought we might have a longer day of driving today, but we arrived at our destination just before noon.  Our wonderful hostess at our luxurious guest house (Queen Manor Boutique) in Graaf-Reinet got us settled in right away, told us where we should go to lunch (great recommendation), and then we headed off to Camdeboo National Park - just a 5 or 10 minute drive away.  We spent a very fun and exciting 3 hours there, viewing a couple new birds and several new mammals.  There were birds and mammals everywhere!  We'll return there tomorrow morning about 6:00 and try for some of the birds that have continued to evade us.  Graaf-Reinet is one of the nicest towns we've visited so far - and we had no worries walking the half-mile to the restaurant our guest house hostess recommended for dinner.  WONDERFUL dinner; lamb shank for me that melted in your mouth, and a trio of meat fillets (beef, ostrich, springbok) for Tom.  We made reservations for tomorrow evening.  😊   It continues to amaze us that eating out at a very nice restaurant can be so inexpensive - our total bill this evening was probably about $35, which included a bottle of very good South African wine and a tip.  Most bottles of South African wines run $6-$10 - and they're some of the best there is!

Photos are of some sort of antelope we saw on the way to Graaf-Reinet, Black-shouldered Kite, a monitor lizard that is about 3' long,  our "mystery" Scrub Robin - Kalahari or Karoo, mountain zebras, Karoo Korhaan,  Rock Kestrel, Ostrich family, Red Hartebeest.

October 26, Looking for Crowned Cranes and Bald Ibis

We departed Walkerbouts Guesthouse in the Drakensburgs around 9:00 this morning with all kinds of helpful suggestions from the staff on where we might find some of the larger birds we missed yesterday.  It took us 3 hours to drive the 60 km gravel road out, all the while looking for cranes, ibis, and raptors - not a bit of luck.  Aliwal North is our overnight spot tonight on our way southwest to the Karoo area, and when we arrived at the Inn we were directed to a little restaurant on the river for refreshments and a snack.  We began by sitting outside on the deck overlooking the Orange River, but within 5 minutes the wind came up and it began thundering in the distance.  We spent the next hour inside the restaurant watching an amazing lightening show while it poured buckets - they had a similar storm last night that took out the town's internet service until about 4:00 this afternoon.  The grounds of the Inn is quite birdie, so Tom has had fun getting photos of some of them.

Photos are of a sign in the lobby that is SO true, Walkerbouts Inn, from our morning walk around Rhodes, Springbok, Jackal Buzzard, the outrageous male Widowbird, African Hoopoe, Speckled Pigeon.