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.