Zimbabwe birding, Feb 2016

Links

• List of birds

After a long work day we arrived at the airport at 5pm. Check in was uneventful and we headed to the lounge for a short rest before our flight. At just after six we headed towards our gate, but found our gate had changed. We rushed off to the new gate and learned that the flight was delayed due to a late incoming flight. So we sat on the floor and waited. And waited. When our plane finally arrived we were further delayed by a storm, lightning prohibiting the ground staff from refueling, loading the luggage etc. Finally they let us on the plane. After the plane was finally ready to leave we got an announcement from the captain about another delay: Air Traffic Control had ordered a complete stop on all flights due to the weather. After an hour of sitting in the crowded plane, we finally took off. Fortunately we managed to get a message to Tony our guide, and organized a later start on Friday, so when we finally crawled into our beds at midnight, we knew we could get some sleep in.

Tony Wood, our birding guide, picked us up at 8am the next morning, and we drove a short distance to Mukuvisi Woodlands, prime Miombo habitat. We walked around for several hours, but typical for miombo woodland it was mostly completely silent. But every now and then we stumbled across a bird party and then you didn’t know where to look. The bird parties allowed us to pick up birds like Miombo blue-eared starling, Variable sunbird, Miombo double-collared sunbird, Green-capped eremomela, Yellow white-eye, Cardinal woodpecker and plenty of honeybirds (Brown-backed). After a lot of careful looking, Tony finally managed to turn one of the Brown-backed honeybirds into a Green-backed, allowing us to pick up both specials. We also saw a Black sparrowhawk, Common scimitarbills and Green wood-hoopoes. In the afternoon we took a turn past a local dam, but found it almost bone dry, El Niño having hit Zimbabwe hard. We did hear a Red-chested flufftail call, and saw a pair of African black duck swimming in the remaining puddle. We went past the local Pick n Pay to get ourselves some food for the weekend, and then went back home where an early night followed as we were still fighting off the fatigue of the past long week.

Next morning we managed a more acceptable birders wake-up call and were heading to our first birding spot by 6am. We headed towards Haka Park, where we met up with a few of Tony’s birding friends, who had come along to help us flush crakes and Locustfinches. We formed a long line and started bashing our way through the tall grass. Along the way we saw Yellow-mantled widowbirds, Yellow- and Rosy-throated longclaws, we heard Pale-crowned, Croaking and Levaillant's cisticolas, but no Locustfinches or crakes. Considering how dry the grassland was though, it would've been surprise to find any crakes at all. We turned around eventually and headed back to the road, hoping to flush Locustfinches but again dipped on them. However a Marsh owl did pop out of the grass and floated away on silent wings before dropping into the grass cover again. On our walk back to the car we saw a Black-chested snake eagle fly overhead. We headed to the dam itself hoping to find African pygmy geese that were reported here the week before, but no such luck, so we headed back into the Miombo. This time we were more lucky and produced two specialists: a Southern hyliota and a Whyte's barbet. We left the woodland and took a drive through the grassland towards a good picnic spot for lunch and were delighted to come across a veritable swarm of Cuckoo finches. Although found relatively frequently in Zimbabwe, these birds are nomadic and therefore pretty much impossible to track down when you’re looking for one. So to find 15+ birds sitting atop a bush not more than a meter or two from the road was pretty special. We took our fill of pictures before leaving the park. In the late afternoon we took a quick turn past Greengrove wetland, a medium-sized pond flanked by thick reed beds. In amongst the floating lilies we saw numerous Hottentot teals, and had a lively discussion about whether or not they really were the same size as a Red-eyed dove. Eventually Tony won that argument by pulling out his bird book and proving that the little ducks really were that little! We moved on and spotted a Little sparrowhawk raiding some of the Golden weaver nests, while Red-chested flufftails called from the reeds. A quick stop to buy some dinner and we went home.

Another early start found us waiting outside for Tony with all our luggage packed. Tony’s wife Janet joined us for the day where we birded some more Miombo at Christonbank. We wandered around for half an hour or so and picked up Black-eared seedeater, another Whyte's barbet and Southern hyliota. Nicola brushed against a plant, and faced death by hairy caterpillar. The weird flattened oval-shaped hairy worm was hiding underneath a leaf and nicked Nicola’s elbow as she brushed past it. Tony saved the day however by taking out his pocketknife and stripping some bark from a soap bush. Plastering the bark over the ‘bite’ allowed the alkaline fluids to absorb into the skin and it was not long before the sting faded. Continuing our walk around the hill we picked up Miombo rock-thrush and a beautiful Boulder chat. Tony showed us a few Bushman paintings that seem to be undiscovered and unprotected on a few boulders hidden on the overgrown slopes of Christonbank. Walking down the hill a bit we found a Tree pipit and both Golden-breasted and Cabanis's buntings.Other birds of interest included Red-faced crombec and Retz's helmetshrike. As the late morning sun heated up, the bird calling cooled down and it wasn't long before we weren't picking up any new birds. It was also getting time to start home and Tony took us on a scenic route back to Harare, arriving in the early afternoon. We spent some time at the Woods' house chatting and having lemonade before Tony drove us to the airport and an uneventful flight home.

It was a very pleasant weekend in Harare and Tony is probably one of the best birding guides there is in Zimbabwe. It was a great privilege spending time with him and we will certainly look him up on our next trip up there. We identified 149 species for the weekend and picked up ten Southern African lifers: Cuckoo finch, Yellow-mantled widowbird, Green-capped eremomela, Miombo tit, Southern hyliota, Red-faced crombex, Tree pipit, Whyte's barbet, Cabanis's bunting and Miombo rock-thrush.

Zimbabwe birding, Dec 2013

In memory of my grandmother, Lettie Nortje, who passed away on 24 Dec 2013 aged 84. Farewell and may you rest in peace.

Links

• List of all birds for the trip
• List of lifers for the trip

Our plans for the December holiday was to visit mainly the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe as there were about 25-odd species in southern Africa that are limited to the afromontane forests and grasslands here and another ten or so that we could find in the lowlands of the Honde valley. We knew that crossing Beitbridge border over the Christmas holidays was going to be a challenge so we carefully planned our trip so that we enter and exit on weekdays and as early in the morning as possible. To complement the eastern highlands we hoped to pick up a few miombo specials at stopovers (there and back) at Lake Mutirikwi and would also drive through Kruger National Park on our way up and stop off at Mapungubwe National Park before heading home.

20 Dec 2013
With the house locked up we left it behind for the last time in 2013. The N4 highway wasn’t too bad but when we turned off at Belfast to head north towards Dullstroom, Lydenburg and Ohrigstad, there were plenty of slow cars and slower trucks plus a fair bit of heavy rain and terrible potholes. But we made it safely to Phalaborwa at around 18:30 and settled into a very nice little self-catering place called Eagle’s Nest. With an early start planned for the next morning, we didn’t stay up long after dinner.

21 Dec 2013
The birds started singing early and it was pleasantly cool as we packed the car to leave at 5am. We got to Kruger NP’s Phalaborwa gate 20 minutes before opening time but there were already about 15 cars in the queue. While we waited, we added our first birds for the trip: African mourning dove, Red-chested and Diderick cuckoos, Black-backed puffback, Grey-headed bush-shrike, Emerald-spotted wood dove, Burchell’s coucal and a few others. Luckily most of the people in front of us turned out to be day visitors so we were able to check in quickly when the gate opened and off we went. The first 2 hours or so were nice and cool and the birds were out singing so we steadily added most of the common birds. Red-crested korhaans were calling all over and almost every second bird was a Red-backed shrike. We turned north-east on the H14 and added a few more common bush birds. All the way to Mooiplaas picnic site we had little excitement but did get a brief glimpse of a Eurasian golden oriole and got stunningly up-close to an African hawk-eagle. After lunch at the picnic site we popped into Mooiplaas water hole. Unfortunately it seems the good rains have chased all the small birds into the veld as we only had very distant views of some Kittlitz’s plovers with a few Egyptian geese and elephants for company. Three White storks were close enough for decent pics and further along towards the hides over Pioneer dam, Black crakes feeding on a dead fish also provided ample good pictures. We checked in at Mopani rest camp just after 2pm and enjoyed the air-con unit for the rest of the afternoon. Around 17:30 we took a walk to the camp’s shop/restaurant where we watched an African paradise flycatcher feeding it’s chicks in a small cup nest, two meters from where everyone was walking past! The border fence at Pioneer dam had a short walk along it and provided opportunity for some great sunset photos. Back in our unit it was time for dinner and bed.

22 Dec 2013
Things cooled down a little during the night and it was again a very pleasant start to the day as we left Mopani camp the moment the gate opened at 04:30. We had a long 170km to drive to Pafuri gate so while it was still a little too dark to bird, we drove at the speed limit to make up some distance. After half an hour we slowed down to bird along the way, and picked up the common birds but the highlight undoubtedly was a harassed pair of Greater blue-eared starlings trying desperately to satisfy the hunger of two almost full grown Great spotted cuckoos. Other nice sightings were Hooded vulture and Southern carmine bee-eaters, a bird we hadn’t seen in a while. Shortly after leaving Babalala picnic site where we stopped for a quick break, we were delighted to see a Dickinson’s kestrel, a bird we had only seen before in the Okavango. The Pafuri section yielded Meves’s starling, Broad-billed roller and White-crowned lapwing, but it had grown hot again by the early afternoon and we still had some way to go to Musina. A last slow drive over the Levhuvhu river bridge added no new birds and all too soon we had left Kruger NP and made our way to Musina. We followed the directions to our accommodation, but were horrified to find the place booked out by a contractor for the last 6 months and another 6 months to come, despite the fact we had a fully paid up reservation. To complicate things the lodge owner was apparently in Zambia and unreachable by phone. The contractor gave us directions to the owner’s second lodge in town, so we headed there to see what we could find. This lodge was also fully booked but fortunately some people had not arrived so they were able to accommodate us. We were none too pleased with this, had it not been for a couple of people not pitching up we would have been stranded in Musina for the night. After getting take-aways for dinner we took a quick swim in the pool to cool down and then got into bed -we were planning to get up at 3am to head for the dreaded Beitbridge border post.

23 Dec 2013
We’ve been fearing this day for months now, ever since we made the decision of crossing Beitbridge border post over the December holiday period. I’ve read horror stories ranging from people taking eight hours to even being stranded at the border post for two days! But one shouldn’t believe everything posted on the internet and besides, even though it’s Christmas, we specifically planned to minimize our time at the border by going early on a Monday morning, getting to the border well before sunrise, buying third-party insurance before-hand and generally psyching ourselves up to be as patient, polite and friendly as possible. So after getting up at 3am and packing quickly, we approached the border with trepidation. The South African side looked an absolute mess to be frank. The border post itself looks worse than Musina (which isn’t that great a place either) and having been shunted to follow the other light vehicles going around the side section of very dark roads at 4am, it was not a good start to our border-crossing experience. We were in a car queue to get parking for about 20 minutes but when we did get a spot to park in a dingy looking parking lot, it was a quick visit to the pre-fab buildings for customs and immigration. This was followed by a quick police inspection of the car’s engine number and then we were through the SA side and heading across the Limpopo. One would hardly think it’s possible but on the Zim side, it was an even greater mess. A huge open area was being used haphazardly as a parking lot and everyone just parked their cars wherever they pleased. There are absolutely no signs or indications of where you should go or start. A dishearteningly long queue snaked in front of a building occupied by the police so while Nicola joined this queue I went to find an official to find out where we should go. Having found one, I learned that we should go to the other side of the road (right, as opposed to left). We started by getting a gate pass and paying for the bridge toll (US$10), then we stood in the queue for immigration while filling out our entry forms. This all went as smoothly as you can expect from the busiest (and in my opinion, worst) border crossing in Africa and we got our passports and gate pass stamped. Next was customs where we had to pay road tax and carbon tax and get our Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for the car. And here things ground to a halt. There were four active counters when we entered, all of them with different signs, all of them apparently (according to the official outside) doing the same thing, and in reality, all of them doing exactly nothing. We joined the shortest queue which had seven people in front of us – we only walked out of there an hour and a half later. There didn’t seem to be any distinction between people only entering with light vehicles and the commercial traffic and it’s these guys with their big trucks and long manifests that took up so much time. When we made it to second from the front of the queue, there appeared to be a shift change, but this took almost 20 minutes while the new official searched for a money vault, then a pen, then chatted with her friends, then got up to go scratch her nose etc. It was gross incompetence of a kind I've never seen before. The biggest irony is the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority’s (ZIMRA) motto, prominently displayed all over: “We are here to serve” (our own interests?!) Finally we got to the front, got “served” and stamped and made our way outside. We now needed a third stamp from the police but luckily this went quickly when I found the back door to the police building. Back at the car we negotiated the myriad of cars in the “parking lot” and drove up to the green shed to get the car inspected. This also went fairly smoothly despite the inspector wanting us to have declared our personal clothes, food, and everything else on a declaration form – this was after another official had specifically said we only need to declare commercial goods. So with a “I don’t care what happens to you at the gate” attitude, the lady inspector gave us the last stamp on the gate pass and we went through the gate without being hassled again – 3 hours exactly after we entered the South African side! The 300km road up to Masvingo is not the best around. You can do 100kph in most places but the road is so battered, bruised, patched and re-patched that it’s a very bumpy ride all the way. We were waved through three police road blocks and paid two US$1 tolls and also got a speeding ticket just outside Runde River. Signs with the speed limit are pretty much non-existent so we mostly guessed a limit of 60kph within a town, and 100kph outside. We had just left Runde River’s outskirts and were getting up to 80kph when we were pulled over. According to the policeman the town only ended about 200m down the road from where we were. We looked rather blankly at the fields surrounding us, trying to imagine what part of the grass constituted a town, but gave up and just paid the R200 so we could get moving. Just outside Masvingo we took the turn-off towards Great Zimbabwe and were suddenly cruising along a beautiful and quiet tarmac road. We arrived at our accommodation, Norma Jeane’s Lakeview Resort, around noon, and immediately settled down to catch up on some sleep. At 3pm we took a drive to Sikato bay to try for some miombo birds. Unfortunately it was rather quiet so late in the afternoon and our only really good sighting was a White-breasted cuckooshrike. We went back to our accommodation and chatted to a fellow South African traveler who had just come back from the Bvumba mountains, where we were headed the next day. He gave us some good advice on roads to take, and some horror stories of the eight hours it took them to cross Beitbridge only ten days earlier. After a shower we headed to the restaurant for dinner, where we watched Greater bush babies wake and leap from their palm tree roost into a neighboring bush, looking for mangoes and grubs. After an excellent dinner we crept into bed.

24 December 2013
We got up reasonably early and had tea and breakfast while watching the day dawn. Due to the extremely slow hot plate in the outdoors kitchen, the sun was well and truly up by the time we started birding. We headed back towards Sikato bay and picked up a few nice birds including a lifer - Variable sunbird. Back at Norma Jeane's, we packed up and started the drive towards Bvumba, taking the scenic route around the lake’s eastern perimeter. The birding along this route was much better and we added another two lifers - Black-eared seedeater and Miombo double-collared sunbird. By 11am we were still only about halfway down the road and decided to speed up a bit so that we could still get to Bvumba in daylight. It was a pity though since there is really beautiful miombo woodland on this road. Once back on the A9, we drove a solid 3 hours to Mutare where we stopped briefly to fill up fuel and do a bit of shopping. We made the mistake of not driving to the other end of town and used the Spar supermarket we found in Sakubva. It was a huge supermarket but unfortunately VERY empty with no fresh produce whatsoever. In the end we bought only a one litre milk. The drive up into the Bvumba mountains was beautiful and we arrived at Seldomseen shortly after 4pm. Unfortunately, again we struck it unlucky. It seems there was some miscommunication between the person in Harare doing the bookings and the people at Seldomseen were under the impression that we never confirmed our booking (which we did) and so all the cottages were full. With frustration and desperation at the point of boiling over, they did a quick survey of their bookings and determined that they could actually help us with accommodation if we were willing to change cottages after the first night. Obviously this was no problem for us so with lighter hearts we unpacked our stuff into Swynnerton cottage. We also arranged to have a bird walk at 6am the next morning and were looking forward to adding more lifers. As we started cooking dinner, our last lifer for the day appeared in the flowery bushes outside our cottage – Stripe-cheeked greenbul!

25 Dec 2013
On Christmas morning our guide, Peter, met us outside our cottage at 6am and we started walking up Seldomseen’s driveway. Our first new bird for the day appeared in the canopy above, just two minutes after starting out. Western olive sunbirds, together with male and female Miombo double-collared sunbirds were chasing around up in the canopy. Orange ground-thrushes and Livingstone’s turacos were calling loudly as we entered the forest. Our second lifer was Roberts’s warbler but we only got a poor sighting before it disappeared. We slowly descended into the wetness and several times stopped in good spots (slightly more open understorey) to call for Swynnerton’s robin. No luck though. Other forest birds were easily picked up: Stripe-cheeked and Yellow-streaked greenbuls, African yellow white-eye, Dark-backed weaver, White-eared barbet, Red-capped robin-chat and both Olive and Black-fronted bush-shrikes. A short climb led us out of the forest into a small grassy clearing where two Yellow-throated woodland warblers provided really good views before our third lifer, Mottled swift was spotted flying overhead. Back in the forest we tried for Swynnerton’s robin several more times without success but then got what was probably the highlight of the day – Peter heard Buff-spotted flufftail calling in the undergrowth so we played the call on the PDA. Two minutes later it approached the path we were standing on, less than two meters from us! A brilliant close-up sighting! Our three-hour walk with Peter was almost up when he picked up our fourth lifer for the day – Chirinda apalis calling high in the canopy. Again not the best of sightings but still there. After a cup of tea back at our cottage we packed everything in the car as we would now move to Twinstreams cottage after we get back from a drive around Bvumba. Heading out of Seldomseen towards the Bvumba Botanical Gardens, we stopped for some chittering next to the road and were ecstatic to clearly see Yellow-bellied waxbills (fifth lifer) among a group of Common waxbills. The tar road towards the gardens turned out to be rather busy – admittedly, it was almost noon on Christmas day and we figured people were all heading for lunch at Leopard Rock hotel further down the road. But the dirt road turnoff to the gardens was much quieter and almost as soon as we turned off, two White-tailed crested flycatchers could be seen just next to the road – our sixth lifer. We had to pay a hefty US$8 to get into Bvumba Botanical Gardens and we didn’t stay very long: we walked around some of the ponds and into the forest before completing the scenic drive. Apart from some more Yellow-bellied waxbills, this time accompanied by both Common- and Grey waxbills, as well as Bronze mannikins, there wasn’t much else to see. A spot of rain sent us running for the car and we decided to also make our way down to Leopard Rock hotel. On the way, a bunch of aerial swallows forced us to pull off and study them carefully and yes – there were Eastern saw-wings among them to make our tally of lifers for the day seven! Leopard Rock hotel was very busy and noisy and in-between the drifting clouds it was actually quite hot. We were not sure how much dollars we would still need for the rest of the holiday so we decided to rather skip the US$18 lunch menu and eat out (of cans). A few kilometers up the road, close to Bunga Forest Reserve, we pulled into a small opening in the forest and ate lunch before returning to Seldomseen for an afternoon snooze. It was a very successful day for us and after dinner and a bit of TV, went to bed looking forward to another early morning walk with the other Seldomseen bird guide, Buluwezi.

26 Dec 2013
The day dawned bright and clear with none of the mist of the day before. Once again we were up and ready by 6am for our morning walk. Buluwezi surprised us when he arrived, saying we should rather drive to some other sites where the Synnerton’s robin was more curious and more easily seen. The first spot was only about a kilometer down the road where we parked and took a walk up the canopy shrouded road. After only ten meters we spotted a bird in the road, and Buluwezi excitedly gesticulated that it was the robin! We both had a quick look but it had it’s back to us and disappeared into the forest within a few seconds. So we felt we still had to see one properly before we could really count it. On our way to the next birding spot, Buluwezi spotted a Singing cisticola on the grassy verge of the road. Since this was one of our target birds we pulled over and scanned the grassy field until he came out from hiding. Finally Buluwezi spotted him far off in the distance, but luckily the bird stayed put until we could properly ID it. This same grassy field also yielded Cape grassbird, Yellow-bellied and Common waxbills. Our next stop was a private property a few kilometers down the road, where a Bronzy sunbird had taken up residence. We got out the car and called him on the PDA, and within seconds he was flying above us. We both got a reasonable look at him, although from a distance, before he flew off. Our last stop was the old Tony's Tea Garden. The buildings were now vacant and the gardens were slowly giving way to natural forest. A type of creeper common in the garden apparently provided small fruit that Red-faced crimsonwings liked, and apart from Swynnerton's robin, this was probably our biggest target bird for Bvumba. Although Buluwezi spent ages scanning the canopy, there were no birds in sight and nothing responded to the calls from the PDA either. A noisy troop of Samango monkeys didn't help our cause either. For the moment giving up on the crimsonwings, we took a walk through the surrounding forest, calling Synnerton's robin at every single likely-looking spot and after every failure we got more desperate to see this elusive bird. Occasionally Buluwezi proclaimed hearing the call but he must have superior hearing because we couldn't recognize the distinctive whistle. Shortly after starting to ascend again from a small stream, with our hopes vaporizing, we finally found one! It scurried about the path in front of us and we got a good look, saw the distinctive white necklace and then it was gone. But finally we could tick off Synnerton's robin for real!. Our short walk back to the car surprised us with another lifer. Buluwezi heard the faint chirping and scanned the canopy high above, and with great excitement pointed out the Red-faced crimsonwings! Although they were a good 30m above our heads we got to see the bright red wings and could just make out both male and female birds. Buluwezi got us four lifers for a hugely successful morning but now our time with him was at an end. After dropping off Buluwezi back at the lodge, we headed to Leopard Rock hotel again in search of the Silvery-cheeked hornbills, but to no avail. Apparently White Horse Inn on the way back to Mutare is also a good place for the hornbills so we decided to make it our lunch stop. Unfortunately the only new bird for the day we could locate was African yellow white-eye but at least the lunch was excellent and feeling very contented, we made our way back to Seldomseen in the early afternoon.It was getting a bit hot and humid, despite the higher elevation so we rested for the rest of the afternoon before dinner and bed.

27 Dec 2013
We were up bright and early and had the car packed ready for our drive to the Honde valley. First we drove past the White Horse Inn again for another attempt at finding the Silvery-cheeked hornbill. But no such luck and we headed into Mutare where we filled up with petrol and quickly bought some groceries at the Spar (this time we headed straight into town where we found a properly stocked Spar). We had heard great things about Cecil Kop Nature Reserve from Buluwezi, so on the way out of Mutare, we stopped in there for some birding. Considering the complete lack of facilities and crappy road, the US$5 per person demanded by the Rasta-dude at the gate was a little ridiculous. Perhaps it was because it was already late in the morning (about 9am) but we didn't find any of the miombo specials we were still looking for. We drove up the 5kms to the radio masts and then turned around and were back on the Honde valley road by 11am. The twisty descent into the Honde valley was beautiful. Mutarazi falls dropped out of a cloudy top straight down for over 700m (after Tugela, it's the second highest waterfall in Africa) and the green green valleys looked lush and healthy. The tar road was not too bad in general but especially on the bends you had to drive slowly and carefully to dodge the potholes. But the last 6.5km to Aberfoyle is dirt road and after the rains they had for the past few weeks, not in good condition. We arrived at Aberfoyle safe and sound just after 1pm and checked in. Aberfoyle really is a fantastic place in a fantastic setting. It's literally at the end of the road (Gleneagles Mountain Reserve is a little further on but there's nobody there), tranquil, surrounded by forest and run by very friendly and competent people. But boy was it hot and humid! Our rooms didn't have air-con so we were extremely grateful that we dragged the little box fan along that at helped a little. After a short rest we walked around the lodge a bit and our hosts introduced us to the their bird guide, Morgan. We told him all the specials we were after and he quickly devised an itinerary for us, starting with a visit to Wamba marsh that same afternoon to try for Anchieta’s tchagra. At 16:30 we met up with Morgan and on our way out of the lodge stopped for our first lifer of the day – Scarce swift that Morgan had spotted flying high above us. After turning off at the Wamba tea factory and shortly before reaching the marsh, Morgan stopped us at the edge of a forest patch and pointed out another two lifers: Blue-spotted wood-dove and Green-backed woodpecker! Our mission though was the very localized tchagra, so soon we were squelching through the marsh, knee deep in water and getting terribly scratched by the innocent-looking ferns. But it was so worth it when Morgan called out from where he was looking! We hurried over and although it was quite far (about 50m) we could see it clearly and it actually stayed long enough for a photo before it slipped back into the reeds. Satisfied, we headed back to the lodge, quite content at getting four lifers on a day that was set aside for traveling. Another shower to rinse off the marsh and we were off to a delicious three-course meal: fried Haloumi cheese salad for starters, fillet steak for mains, and rum soaked banana crepes for desert! Absolutely stuffed we climbed into bed and got an early night.

28 Dec 2013
Another bright and early day dawned, and we met Morgan at 04:45 so we could drive across to Katiyo tea estate in search of the other Honde valley specials. And boy did the birds play along! Our first lifer was Magpie manikins that we found feeding in the various clumps of bamboo along the road. Shortly after entering the tea estate, a pair of Silvery-cheeked hornbills flew across the road, our Bvumba bogey birds. Close the air strip we parked the car and walked along the track and into some hilly agricultural land. Here we picked up Red-throated twinspot, Garden warbler, Short-winged cisticola, Pallid honeyguide and our star bird for the day, Moustached grass-warbler. The grass warbler needed a lot of work: Morgan played the call frequently and we could hear it answering in the distance but it was a good 20 minutes of playing the call, the walking a little on, then scanning before it all of a sudden appeared in a bush about 20m from us. These were just the lifers and we were treated to a large number of raptor sightings as well: Long-crested eagle, African goshawk, Eurasion hobby, African harrier-hawk, Black-winged kite, Wahlbergs eagle, Lizard buzard and Black-chested snake-eagle. With six lifers in the bag we headed back to the lodge and stopped at some corn fields along the way to pick up the seventh: Black-winged bishop. Back at Aberfoyle we had a swim in the pool, followed by lunch and at 2pm headed out with Morgan again, this time to Gleneagles Mountain Reserve. And we found our target bird – the Bronze naped pigeon! He called hauntingly from the far away cliffs and eventually one flew into the forest in front of us and allowed us some glimpses of him from afar. We also got much better sightings of the Pallid honeyguide, and were delighted to see African Broadbill again, only our second sighting in 5+ years of birding. Back at the lodge we had a nice soapy shower – much needed after a day of sweating and walking through the mud. Another excellent dinner followed and we headed for bed.

29 Dec 2013
With a hard day’s birding behind us and pretty much all the specials seen (dipped only on Lesser seedcracker and Red-winged warbler), we decided today was a rest day. A late lie-in was followed by a scrumptious breakfast. Then we spent a significant amount of time doing absolutely nothing – what a pleasure! It started getting hot towards 10am so we headed for our slightly cooler room to lie under the fan and watch a bit of TV. After lunch it started raining and we were glad we planned our birding for the previous day. After a lazy afternoon it was dinner time and then bed.

30 Dec 2013
There was no rush today so after another good breakfast we packed the car, had a shower, settled our bill and sadly said goodbye to Aberfoyle Lodge. Despite the heat and humidity here we had a great time with very friendly and helpful people, excellent birding and top-notch food – we’d recommend this remote spot of heaven to anyone. A slow drive out on the dirt road got us a couple of forest birds like Tambourine dove and Livingstone’s turaco but soon we were back on the tar and took our time up the valley and eventually all the way up the escarpment. The Nyanga mountains were heavily clouded and we drove into the mist shortly before the turn-off to Pungwe Drift. It was cool and misty and birding slow. Soon however, our concentration shifted to the road rather than birding as the heavy rains over the past weeks have muddied up the dirt roads that’s mostly used by large trucks and tractors for logging the pine plantations. With the car starting to fish-tail in sections, I had to slow right down. Luckily we had lots of time for the 24kms from the tar road and it wasn’t long before we reached the final turn-off with another 2kms down to the Pungwe river. This road was real nasty though as it was steep and very muddy. Going down wasn’t too bad but I dreaded the return drive. Halfway down we had to stop at an “office” to pay entrance of US$8 per person and US$5 per car. The per person entrance fee was supposedly per day as well but the guard at the office said he’d only ask us the money for one day. Good thing too since we thought US$8 per person per day a bit exorbitant. Another kilometer or so got us to the Pungwe river and we saw a cottage on either side. The drift was certainly passable but it looked a little risky with large potholes, the river flowing about 30-40cm deep over the drift and quite strongly too. Luckily our caretaker arrived just then and opened the cottage on this side of the river for us. No electricity and fairly rustic but a nice location, very peaceful and serene. We arrived in time for lunch so we sat outside and put our feet up and quite excitedly watched our thirtieth lifer for the trip fly low and dip into the river right in front of us – Blue swallows! Both males and females were seen every now and again and we were ecstatic to finally see the most handsome swallow of all! Late afternoon we waded across the drift to explore a little and the made our plans for the rest of our 3-night stay. The road in was really horrible and neither of us fancied driving anywhere else as we were also warned 4x4 only after the drift – we thought you definitely needed 4x4 just to get to the drift! Dinner was cooked on gas and after a few TV episodes on the computer with a cup of tea, it was off to bed.

31 Dec 2013
With no big plans for today, we didn’t rush breakfast and by 7am took a slow walk down to the Pungwe waterfall. It was a short 1.5km walk but very pleasant and we saw Yellow-bellied and Common waxbills, more Blue swallows, Eastern saw-wings and a much better sighting of a female Red-faced crimsonwing. Back at our cottage we met some locals who were staying at the Mutarazi cottages a few kms down the road and wanted to try their hand at fishing the calmer Pungwe below our cottage. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and lazing about and it was a good thing too as heavy clouds moved in over the afternoon and brought some more wet.

01 Jan 2014
Our new year started quiet with cool and overcast skies. After breakfast we set out again, crossing the Pungwe river and then carrying further up the tracks leading closer to the escarpment edge. A few of the now common birds in the area, including Scarce and Mottled swifts, Blue swallows and Eastern saw-wings were seen as we walked for about 4kms until we had a nice, albeit cloud-covered view, of Zimbabwe’s highest mountain, Nyangani. Just at this point we were lucky to spot a juvenile Augur buzzard that sat still long enough for a quick picture that was just good enough to ID it by. With more heavy clouds and mist moving in, we made our way back to the cottage for lunch and tea, watching even more rain cascading down on us.

02 Jan 2014
With hopes of getting to Lake Mutirikwi early enough to do some miombo birding, we were up at 04:15, ate a quick breakfast, packed and were on our way by 5am. The 2km track back to the Pungwe scenic drive proved as bad as we feared. The continuous rain over the past 3 days have not helped and one particularly steep and muddy corner had the car hopelessly spinning in the mud. I had to roll back twice to try and build a bit of momentum but with mud-caked tyres, this wasn’t easy. With a screaming engine and spinning wheels, I just just managed on the third try to take the corner and get on marginally more solid mud – enough to carry on to the next puddle where the tyres got cleaned a bit and provided a better grip. The rest of the 24km dirt road wasn’t too bad although it took us all of an hour and a half to drive. Despite very thick fog we were still able to do a little birding and we got our first Yellow-bellied waxbills and Red-backed mannikins for 2014. Back on tar we drove carefully through still very thick mist to Mutare to fill up with petrol. The trip through to Lake Mutirikwi was uneventful, despite passing six police road blocks on the way. Just before Mutirikwi river We turned off the tar road and followed the dirt track that circumnavigated the lake through excellent miombo woodland. In a few spots flying termite eruptions lured an abundance of birds but they were all common ones. We did get a nice sighting of a White-breasted cuckooshrike and a single Abdim's stork a little further on in a grassy field. We arrived at Norma Jeane's at around 2pm and spent a lazy afternoon enjoying the luxury of electricity, before having dinner at the restaurant. We were disappointed that the meal was not as well prepared, or as good value for money as the first night we ate there, but nevertheless, it was a lot better than tinned meatballs. With plans of leaving for the border at 4am, it was off to bed at 9pm.

03 January 2014
The alarm woke us up at 03:30, and we were packed and on the road by 4am. We made good time and reached the border at 7am. After our 3-hour border stint on the way in, we didn't really know what to expect. But things looked very deserted and surprisingly found the South African side more inefficient than the Zim side this time around. Despite stumbling around to try and collect all the necessary stamps on our gate pass, we were driving back on South African soil before 8am. After filling the fuel tank, we made a bee-line for the nearest supermarket in Musina and stocked up on fresh meat and vegetables before driving to Mapungubwe National Park. On the way we had a nice sighting of a pair of African hawk-eagles, and once inside the park we picked up Meves’s starling, Yellow-throated petronia and Red-billed buffalo-weaver. We were grateful for the overcast skies as they shielded us from the burn of the sun, but the clouds cleared by the afternoon and scorched down on us. The park must have had some rain recently because almost every sandy open bit was covered in small yellow flowers - very pretty! At 2pm we fetched our unit's key from reception and enjoyed the air-conditioning for the rest of the afternoon. We had a braai for dinner, watched a movie and heading off to bed to catch up on the early morning start.

04 Jan 2014
After a quick breakfast we took a slow drive to the Tree Top boardwalk but only added the common birds like Broad-billed roller, Woodland kingfisher, Emerald-spotted wood-dove etc. We made our way back up to the mopani-covered plains to drive past the small dam at the entrance where we got Ruff, Wood sandpiper, Little stint, Little grebe and Three-banded plover. Heading east we found our first Striped kingfisher for the year and then a cracker view of a striding Kori bustard and a little further, Willow warbler and Double-banded sandgrouse. Literally thousands of Barn swallows were flying low over some grassy fields and perching on the road-side trees and a soft trilling call we immediately recognized as Barred wren-warbler. Further north we drove past the Zebra dam and then took the drive along the Limpopo. Here we got Malachite and Pied kingfishers, Red-billed firefinch, Common waxbill, Mocking cliff-chat, Orange-breasted bush-shrike and Spectacled weaver. The rocky road leading up to the Confluence viewpoint that's supposed to be used by 4x4s only was nowhere near as bad as the roads in Nyanga so the X-trail easily cruised to the top. We popped in to our unit at Leokwe quickly to pick up lunch and then drove out the park to see if we can pay a quick visit to the Den Staat wetlands and the western section of the park. What an utter disappointment! At den Staat, despite recent rains covering the fields in pretty yellow flowers, the area must have suffered from drought for some time because virtually all the brilliant wetlands were gone! It was just one big cracked mud plain with dead tree stumps and no birds! It was a real shocker and after ten minutes we turned around to drive to the western section of the park. This too was disappointing because the moment we crossed the cattle grid, the road just disappeared. Obviously they must have had severe floods a few years ago because the road is, well, just gone. There were some nasty tracks off to the side that we drove for a short while but it was now hot and the slow careful driving meant we couldn't really focus on bird-watching. We decided to turn around. On our way back out we made on last-ditch effort by driving up the Samaria access road. The wetlands here were in an equally non-existent state but about 200m past where the first ponds used to be, there was an obviously deeper depression that still had some water. There were some birds around so we parked and counted them up: Marsh and Wood sandpipers, White-faced whistling duck, Black, Green-backed and Squacco herons, African jacana, Black-winged stilt, White-winged tern and in the surrounding bushveld, Little bee-eater, Lesser grey shrike and Jacobin cuckoo. Just as we were about to leave, a large flock of birds circled and landed on a sandbar about 80m from the car. Too far for photos but a quick look with binocs confirmed Black-winged pratincoles. Feeling a little better after adding these waterbirds, we left this part of the park and went back to Leokwe. It was fiercely hot by mid-afternoon and we almost regretted booking a sunset drive that was to leave at 4pm. We still had faint hopes for Three-banded courser so at 15:30 we braved the sun and drove back up to the entrance. Our sunset drive was fully booked and two Americans and a group of French tourists filled up the bakkie. On our way to the Kanniedood 4x4 loop we picked up a Dark-chanting goshawk and another two Striped kingfishers. Our companions were much more interested in the 4-footed animals though and got very excited at our first group of impalas. On the 4x4 route our driver had to concentrate much more on driving so little attention was given to the animals although we did get a Pearl-spotted owlet. Down at the Limpopo we stopped briefly before driving along the river route and then back out to the entrance where we arrived just after 7pm. With 11kms back to Leokwe, it was prime time for nightjars and coursers so after all the other tourists had left, we took a slow drive back with Nicola armed with the spotlight. And it paid off - less than a kilometre from the entrance a little nightjar was sitting in the road and we were able to drive to within 20m of it. A careful look at the facial markings identified it as Rufous-cheeked nightjar. The rest of the drive was bird-less though and back at our unit it was time for dinner and bed.

05 Jan 2014
Our holiday was over and it was time to go home. A double-rainbow graced the sky as we packed the car and it must have been a good omen because on our way out we got a very unexpected lifer, a pair of Burchell's sandgrouse smack in the middle of the road! We took a few close-up photos as evidence and then exited the park , driving back home via Alldays, Polokwane, Roedtan and Marble Hall. Pale chanting goshawks were sitting on virtually every second telephone pole but what surprised us more was a large flock of White storks, probably 150 or more, all curiously standing in some mixed woodland just outside Mapungubwe. The road back home was uneventful and by 3pm we were home safely.

What an incredible and interesting two weeks! We identified 295 species in total of which 32 were lifers. I passed the 700 mark for southern Africa and Nicola is just 4 species short. Zimbabwe is certainly a land of contrasts but we'd certainly like to go back again, but perhaps try to avoid Beitbridge next time!

Okavango, Caprivi and Vic falls birding, Dec 2011

Links

• List of birds for the trip

13 December
Daily birds: 55, Total count: 55, Lifers: None

Leaving home just before 1pm, we were slightly surprised to see a Purple heron at Kruger dam. Some other birds we saw on our way north included Pin-tailed whydah, White-winged widowbird and European roller. We found Shelanti Game Lodge easily and checked into a beautiful chalet (only R220 per person per night). It was already around 5pm but we took a walk around the outside of the antelope breeding camps (roan, sable, black impala etc.) and added Kalahari scrub-robin, Shaft-tailed whydah, Black, Klaas’s and Diderick cuckoos, Southern pied babbler, Acacia pied barbet and Orange-breasted bush-shrike. Dinner consisted of cheese sandwiches and then we relaxed in the bedroom under a very welcome air-conditioner.

14 December
Daily birds: 107, Total count: 120, Lifers: Greater painted snipe

Just before 5am we had a quick cup of coffee and then took a stroll around the breeding camps again. It was overcast and dark but we still got Swainson’s spurfowl, Pearl-spotted owlet, Magpie shrike, Rattling cisticola and a few others. Back at the chalet around 06:30 we had some breakfast, then took another walk before checking out. On the way back to the tar road we also added Southern black tit, Green-winged pytilia, Monotonous lark, Bearded woodpecker and Common scimitarbill. The road to Grobler’s bridge border is in good shape and we arrived just before 10am. The South African side went quickly but on the Botswana side we stood in a queue at the cashier for 20 minutes before getting through. But by 11am we were done and took a leisurely drive to Palapye. Dark rain clouds were around and every now and then we had a few drops of rain. Past Palapye and onto Serowe we made good time and arrived at Khama Rhino Sanctuary around 1pm. We checked into our chalet and had some lunch and a rest before heading out at 3pm. The roads in the sanctuary are deep sandy ruts and although it’s a fairly comfortable ride, you definitely need a high-clearance vehicle. We visited all of the pans as well as a bird hide and added quite a nice number of birds considering the time of the day but our best sighting was of Greater painted snipe at Serwe pan – the first time we’ve seen this in Southern Africa. Other notables include White and Marabou storks, Jacobin cuckoo, Double-banded courser, Martial eagle, Violet-eared waxbill and Swallow-tailed bee-eater. At 6pm we were back at our chalet and had mealiepap, sweetcorn, tomato relish and viennas for dinner. Our chalet turned out to be quite permeable to the local insect population as well as some four-legged furry animals. Nicola found this out first hand when a rat sitting on a rafter pooped on her! It was a bit of a restless night and at 5am we were ready to go.

15 December
Daily birds: 97, Total count: 161, Lifers: Curlew sandpiper (N), Golden weaver (N), Swamp boubou, Hartlaub’s babbler, Senegal coucal

Happy birthday Nicola! We packed up and left early under heavy clouds, driving slowly towards Serwe pan and picking up all the regulars along the way. At Serwe pan we again got the Double-banded courser and three Greater painted snipes along with Red-billed, Cape and Hottentot teal, Common swift, Common greenshank, Kittlitz and Common ringed plovers, Curlew sandpiper and Red-capped, Rufous-naped and Eastern clapper larks. A few more birds were added back towards the entrance, bringing our total list for the sanctuary to 95. We left for Maun at 09:30. Despite heavy clouds and the occasional spit of rain, it was a long and hot drive with the aircon working hard. On the way we added Greater kestrel, Brown snake eagle and Cape Crow before arriving at Okavango River Lodge outside Maun just before 4pm. After sorting out the details for our mokoro trip, we rested a short while before doing half an hour’s birding from a picnic table in front of the lodge’s bar. With an excellent view over the Thamalakane river, we quickly picked up a bunch of waterbirds including Pied and Malachite kingfishers, Black crake, African openbill, Squacco heron and African jacana before the lifers started pouring in: first we heard Swamp boubou calling in a tree above us but unfortunately couldn’t spot it. Then a confiding Hartlaub’s babbler sat right in front of us for a good ID, and several moments later a Senegal coucal hopped into a tree on the opposite bank. With the sun setting fast, we walked back to our chalet and then Nicola spotted the Swamp boubou. After a good look at him, we headed back to the chalet for an eat out (of cans) dinner. While getting all the cooking stuff from the car, Nicola also spotted three White-browed robin-chats, calling clearly in the scrub.

16 December
Daily birds: 82, Total count: 184, Lifers: Long-toed lapwing, Great reed warbler (N), Rufous-bellied heron, Black coucal, White-browed coucal, African reed warbler (N), Coppery-tailed coucal

It was a beautiful morning as we sat on the river front counting birds just after breakfast. Our ride to the starting point of our mokoro trip was at 8am so we had some time to just sit and relax. Very soon we had notched up basically the same set of birds we got when we arrived last night, including the Hartlaub’s babblers, Senegal coucal and Swamp boubou. Just after 8am our “driver” came to fetch us – we were expecting a bakkie or 4x4 trip but it turned out to be a much more fun 45 minute trip by boat. The fast ride along the canals towards the buffalo fence was exhilarating and cool in the already blazing heat and a sighting of two flying Long-toed lapwings made it even better. At the buffalo fence, from where all mokoro trips start, we soon met up with our guide, Galaxy, had all our stuff loaded into a fibreglass mokoro, and off we went. We were marginally disappointed for not having a real mokoro, but the reasons for this were justified – for starters, the three of us and our gear would not fit in a normal mokoro but more importantly, if everyone was allowed to cut down a hardwood tree to make a mokoro for this booming tourist industry, pretty soon there would be nothing left. So I think this is a commendable government requirement. Galaxy poled us quietly over the water for the next two hours, going through water lily and reed covered canals and ponds. Its very tranquil and relaxing although the December heat is fierce. Surprisingly, perhaps because the water is too deep, there were few birds around, apart from myriads of African jacana and Squacco heron. At 11am we arrived at our campsite on an island under a large fruiting sycamore. We set up our tents and had some lunch before relaxing in the mid-day heat under the welcome shade and watched Blue waxbill, Arrow-marked babbler, Red-billed firefinch, African green pigeon, Southern grey-headed sparrow and Woodland kingfisher in the trees and on the ground around our campsite. At 2pm we went for a walk around our island but with both Nicola and I having suffered diarrhea that morning, the walking was not very comfortable. The sun was intense and when we returned just after 15:30 we were unsure how we would handle the rest of our trip. But during this time we had heard both White-browed and Coppery-tailed coucals and had excellent sightings of Black coucal – this meant that we have now ID’d all the Southern African coucals! Deciding that the Okavango water was filtered by billions of reeds, we switched our home-filtered supply with the lightly tannin-stained Okavango water – neither of us experienced any further tummy issues. Some time after 4pm we took a short mokoro trip to another island from where we walked to the “Hippo pools” a large open pond where the water was deep enough for them. While sitting on a grassy knoll looking at the hippos, we heard African reed warbler calling in the reeds in front of us – a lifer for Nicola. On our walk back to the mokoro, we ran into a grazing elephant and had to backtrack and walk a circle around him, trying to stay downwind. We reached camp by 7pm and while Galaxy made us some pap, we shared our beetroot and breyani dinner with him. The mozzies chased us into the tent immediately after dinner but it was so swelteringly hot that we spent the entire night in our underwear, welcoming every breath of wind pushing fresh air through the tent vents. During the night we heard hyenas, jackal and even a far-off lion calling but more exciting was Galaxy chasing an elephant out of our campsite.

17 December
Daily birds: 70, Total count: 191, Lifers: Dickonson’s kestrel, Slaty egret, Lesser jacana

After a pre-dawn wake-up with a quick cup of tea and some rusks, we took a short mokoro ride and then started a long walk towards some pools where game and birds congregated. Almost as soon as we started we spotted Dickinson’s kestrel in a palm tree. The birding was not quite as good as we expected and I was rather surprised at how quiet the thickets were. But it was overcast and windy and although the birds were not out in force, the walking in these conditions was very pleasant. We soon reached the pools along with another large group of tourists and we spotted Slaty egret and a short while later Lesser jacana as well. Galaxy told us that the pools would be teeming in a month or two’s time and we thought it a bit strange that the birds would be better later rather than this time of the year. We eventually started our way back and as the wind dropped a little and clouds started burning away, it got hot again and we were very glad to reach the campsite again by 11am. Relaxing in the shade for the rest of the afternoon, we watched our resident avian friends around the campsite. By 16:30 it was still very hot but not so bad that we couldn’t go on a mokoro cruise for the rest of the afternoon, returning by about 18:30. It didn’t look like poor Galaxy had anything but mealiepap to eat, so we shared our entire dinner with him. The mozzies drove us into the tent again after dinner and unfortunately sleeping conditions were no better than the previous night.

18 December 2011
Daily birds: 53, Total count: 194, Lifers: None

Another pre-dawn breakfast was followed by a 3-hour walk on our own island. We didn’t see or hear anything new but it seems the windy conditions had stirred up something because both Nicola and I got itchy noses with Nicola later tearing up from the intense hay fever. We actually had to cut our walk a bit short because of this and arrived back in camp at 09:30. The sun was merciless and we tried to stay as still as possible until 2pm when we headed back to the buffalo fence where we got picked up by the people from Okavango River Lodge just after 4pm. The ride back was windy and cool and Nicola spotted some Water thick-knee and another Lesser jacana. Back at the lodge we wasted no time in getting into the shower and then off to the bar for steak and chips. Overall the mokoro trip was excellent but the following should be said: you end up spending a lot more time walking than out on the water, which for birding is better since apart from the odd Openbill, African jacana or Squacco heron, you see little else from your low-down vantage point through the reeds; organizing a mokoro trip through any of the Maun-based lodges is a total rip-off – we paid about R2300.00 for the 3-day trip for the two of us and our poor guide got about R500.00 of that. That said, our guide Galaxy was incredibly willing, friendly and conscientious. His technical skills identifying birds were a bit lacking though as he frequently mixed up calls and bird names and foreigners not knowing the local birds at all may suffer because of this. But to us this didn’t really matter as we made all the IDs ourselves while he guided away and did a wonderful job of telling us other interesting things.

19 December 2011
Daily birds: 94, Total count: 205, Lifers: African goshawk (N), Green-backed honeybird, Pel’s fishing owl

After another bout of diarrhea for me, we left Okavango River Lodge early to try and visit the Maun sewerage works. Alas, we were told its impossible to bird inside the fence so we birded outside, picking up quite a few bushveld species including Lilac-breasted roller, Common scimitarbill, White-browed sparrow-weaver etc. Before 9am we drove into Maun to buy probiotics, Lomotil and a fan, as we had another 7 tent nights ahead of us and I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to live through scorchers like we had in the Delta again. We found everything we were looking for and then headed off towards Shakawe, picking up White-backed vulture, Steppe buzzard, Red-billed oxpecker and Burchell’s starling along the way. We drove through some nice rain storms and arrived at Drotsky’s cabins in very wet conditions, driving through deep puddles in the sandy road. We checked in and then pitched our tent in tall riparian forest with water dripping on us non-stop. We hid in the tent until the worst had stopped and then took a short walk in the forest. White-browed robin-chat, African green pigeon and Hartlaub’s babblers were very common and we even spotted an African goshawk. We went back to reception from where one of the owners, Jan Drotsky, took us on a short walk looking for Pel’s fishing owl. Two minutes into our walk, a small bird flew into a dead tree to our left and after some deliberation we concluded that it was a Green-backed honeybird. At the end of campsite 17 Jan led us through some undergrowth until suddenly he pointed through the trees. And there in broad daylight it sat watching us – a Pel’s fishing owl! It flew a short distance into a further tree but sat there in the open and we had fantastic views for about half a minute before it flew away. Wow! After searching for 3 years, and arguably the most wanted lifer for this trip, we’ve got him!! Very happy, we made our way back to the tent, cooked supper in the growing dusk, and made friends with our neighbours before crawling into bed, the box fan we bought in Maun making life considerably more comfortable.

20 December 2011
Daily birds: 64, Total count: 219, Lifers: Chirping cisticola, Collared pratincole, African skimmer

Early today we collected our neighbours and headed off for the site where the Pel’s had been roosting the day before, only to find that he had chosen a new spot, undoubtedly due to our visit the night before. Disappointed not to see him again we headed back to camp and said goodbye to our birding companions who were leaving that day. We did manage to show them the very pretty Narina trogan so we felt we had been semi decent birding guides. We then walked down to the river and boarded a boat for our aqueous birding tour. We headed up the panhandle searching for specials like Pels’ and White-backed night heron but no such luck. However a short while into the trip we heard the call of the Chirping cisticola, and later came across a wonderful marshy field which was covered with birds – African openbills, White-faced ducks, Blacksmith lapwings hiding the less common Long-toed lapwing, various Egrets, and to our delight, a flock of Collared pratincoles, lifer number two for the day! Our guide then took us upstream to the last remaining sand bank, which serve as nesting sites for the African skimmer. We were afraid that the water levels would be too high, and that all the skimmers would have left, but lady luck shined on us that day and we picked up lifer number 3! Very satisfied we headed back to camp and then hid in our tent for the majority of the day as another storm blew through. A post-dinner attempt at night birding lasted all of 15 minutes as the relentless mosquitoes gave no indication that they worried about our layers of insect repellent.

21 December 2011
Daily birds: 122, Total count: 242, Lifers: Bradfield’s hornbill, African Golden Oriole, Brown Firefinch

We had to pack up a very wet tent in the morning after breakfast and after collecting our frozen bottles of water from reception at Drotsky’s, we were on our way. Common waxbill at the Botswana border post was a new bird for the trip and after we finally left the Namibian border and drove into Mahango National Park, we soon picked up Bradfield’s hornbill. The 12km to the entrance gate where we had to get our permit to drive onto the floodplain was awfully corrugated and we didn’t see much anyway. Around 9am we got our permit and returned a short section down the road to go onto the loop road over the flood plain. This immediately bore fruit with Dickonson’s kestrel, Collared pratincole, Swallow-tailed bee-eater and Grey tit-flycatcher among the nicer sightings. We completed the loop road and returned the same way, having lunch along the way. It was another scorcher of a day and when we finally left the park we were still white from the sun cream. At Ngepi camp we quickly checked in and met Christoph, the local birder recommended to us by the neighbours from Drotsky’s. After pitching our tent and a bit of afternoon rest, we commandeered Christoph for an afternoon walk. Barefooted he led us through the fields and township area immediately outside Ngepi camp and in the 2 hours we spent with him, picked up numerous specials including Lesser moorhen, Yellow-billed oxpecker, Greater painted snipe, Red-headed weaver, African pygmy goose, Lesser jacana, Rufous-bellied heron, Chirping cisticola and our second and third lifers for the day: African golden oriole and Brown firefinch! Back at the camp we sat on the deck overlooking the Kavango river and sipping ice cold drinks and added African pied wagtail and an over-flying Osprey. After breyani and veg for dinner we hit the bed but got a tad hot when the power, and with it our fan, went off just before 10pm.

22 December 2011
Daily birds: 105, Total count: 253, Lifers: Mosque swallow, Wattled crane

A very early start got us onto a boat again with Christoph as our guide, just before 6am. Heavy cloud made for a picture perfect sunrise as we added Banded martin, Long-toed lapwing, Ruff, White-fronted plover, Collare pratincole, Black-crowned night- and Green-backed herons. On a crumbling sandbank we found two lonely African skimmers (one adult one 2-month old chick) and on the Mahango National Park border we got fantastic views of White-backed night-heron. Back at the camp we quickly re-organized the car a bit and headed for Bwabwata National Park Park (Buffalo Park) on the opposite shore of Ngepi camp and Mahango. While driving through town we picked up Namaqua dove, Rufous-naped lark and Scaly-feathered finch. Inside Bwabwata we saw Bateleur, Purple roller, Jacobin cuckoo, Common scimitarbill and a few others, but then, just as the road entered the floodplain, I stopped to scan the marshes and while gazing through the binocs, three Wattled crane walked into my field of view. I almost dropped the binocs as I tried to simultaneously switch the car off, get Nicola’s attention and get out of the car. Leisurely the three strolled along the edge of the marsh, about 30m away from us as we slowly followed taking pictures – now we had the Top 3 birds we were looking for!! Further on we added a few more birds, including a fantastic view of a Slaty egret, before turning back, having lunch under a large sausage tree and then driving back through a heavy rain storm. A quick stop at Popa falls which are arguably the world’s lowest “falls” got us a maybe Rock pratincole but it was too far off to be 100% sure so we left it off our list. Just before turning into Ngepi camp we also added a Village indigobird and on the almost flooded Ngepi road I scared up two female Double-banded sandgrouse. We arrived back at 3pm and typed up our list of the past two days before having dinner and getting in an early night.

23 December 2011
Daily birds: 109, Total count: 264, Lifers: None

We overslept a little but still managed to leave Ngepi Camp around 05:45, arriving at a locked Mahango Game Park gate at 06:15. Irritated, I walked back towards the headquarters and found the receptionist lazily walking towards the gate which she should’ve opened at 6am. Finally in, we quickly made our way towards Mohembo border and from there got onto the floodplain road. Driving slowly with the sun at our back we picked up Fawn-coloured lark, Senegal coucal, Mosque swallow, White-browed coucal, Grey-headed kingfisher, Dickonson’s kestrel and three Wattled cranes. Very soon it became hot again and we had to lather sunscreen on. Towards the northern exit of the floodplain we finally picked up a Yellow-billed egret and Comb duck and then did another loop back to the south during which we added White-crested helmetshrike, Pin-tailed whydah and Eurasian golden oriole. Our second run past the large baobab got us an out-of-range African emerald cuckoo before we headed back home. We spent the afternoon relaxing before dinner and bed.

24 December 2011
Daily birds: 89, Total count: 268, Lifers: Ayres’s hawk-eagle

Around 1am I got woken up by some strange scuffing and snorting noises outside the tent. In a dazed state I didn’t quite realize what it was until it got louder and I finally woke up to the fact that a hippo was feeding immediately outside the tent. It dawned on me that a hiking tent will not keep an angry hippo at bay and I didn’t care to become another statistic. With my heart thumping in my throat I woke Nicola up with the one hand, while reaching for the car keys and flash light with the other. We waited until it moved off a little to the left, then very carefully unzipped the tent, crawled out as quietly as possible and made a quick dash for the car. Feeling much happier inside the car we dozed uncomfortably for just over an hour before checking it was gone and making our way back to bed. At 04:45 my alarm went off and we groggily had some breakfast, started packing the stuff inside the tent and then went for our morning walk with Christoph. We were hoping to catch some Burchell’s sandgrouse but although the terrain was ideal and we picked up Temminck’s courser and lots of Double-banded sandgrouse, the Burchell’s sandgrouse remained elusive. Back at camp we quickly packed up, paid and made our way across Bagani bridge and into the Caprivi proper. It was a very pleasant drive, the speed limit forcing us to drive no faster than 80km/h so we could still watch roadside birds. Nicola spotted a flying bird which turned out to be an Ayres’s hawk-eagle, our only lifer for the day. Lunch was had at a picnic spot along the road and we made it to the Kwando river soon after. We checked into Camp Kwando around 2pm but were dismayed to learn there was no electricity to power our box fan. Tired from our hippo escapades, we both slept the afternoon away, made dinner at 6pm and spent a hot and sticky night in the tent.


25 December 2011
Daily birds: 77, Total count: 274, Lifers: Arnot’s chat

After a late lie-in, we got up and had breakfast before getting directions to Mudumu National Park. Once there, we headed for the Park Rangers office to get a permit, only to find we had to go to a different office. The trip was not wasted though, as we spotted the first canary of our trip, Yellow-fronted. The road to the second office was rather hairy with several big pools, each deeper, larger and stickier than the last. About 300m from the office we abandoned the car and set off on foot. After paying for our permit we walked back, picking up Broad-billed roller on the way. Just before we reached the car, we saw a 4x4 navigating the pond we had been to scared to try, and when they almost got stuck and had to back up we were grateful we didn't try it! We turned around and drove through the park, sticking to the main track for most of the way. We picked up quite a few bushveld birds, but nothing particularly special, until Nicola noticed an Arnot’s Chat, our only lifer for the day. On the way back it started to rain heavily. We attempted to reach the Hippo Pools by navigating a side road, but turned around when faced with another chain of puddles in the road, rapidly growing in the heavy rain. Back on the main road we stopped on the side, listening to teh heavy drumming on the roof. After a Christmas lunch of tuna mayo on Provitas, we headed back to camp to wait out the remainder of the rain shower. Although we didn’t pick up many lifers, the day did yield quite a few new birds for trip: Yellow-fronted canary, Steppe eagle, Red-billed hornbill, Flappet lark and Black cuckooshrike.

26 December 2011
Daily birds: 58, Total count: 282, Lifers: Schalow’s turaco, Tropical boubou

Tired of camping we left Camp Kwando soon after 4am, eating some Salticrax as we drove to Katima Mulilo. We aimed to search for crakes at the sewerage works in Katima but the directions were a bit misleading and we couldn’t find it. We slowly drove to our accommodation for the night, Caprivi Houseboat Safaris, on the banks of the Zambesi. As we stopped in the driveway, a Schalow’s turaco hopped into the tree above and shortly after we chatted to the owner’s son, a Tropical boubou flew out from the shrubs in the garden. Silke, co-owner of Caprivi Houseboat Safaris, helped us to locate the sewerage works on Google Maps and then we left again, this time managing the find the place. Unfortunately it was completely overgrown with reeds and although we could hear birds calling and scuttling around, there was no chance of seeing any of them. Disappointed we left and bought some late breakfast at the Pick & Pay before going back to our lodge and checking in. Feeling sleepy after the early start and the day’s heat already building, we took a welcome rest in our stunning chalet, right on the banks of the river. African green pigeons and Trumpeter hornbills joined Red-faced mousebirds and Dark-capped bulbuls in a fruiting tree next to our chalet and in the early afternoon Nicola spotted an African finfoot right from the deck of our bedroom! After some intensive re-organizing of the car and drying of the tent, we went for a sunset cruise picking up Green-backed and Black-crowned night herons, Half-collared, Malachite, Giant and Pied kingfishers, five African finfoots and White-faced whistling duck, but alas, no Pel’s fishing owl. Having returned just before 8pm, we made a quick dinner and then jumped into bed to escape the hordes of mosquitoes.

27 December 2011
Daily birds: 86, Total count: 289, Lifers: None

After an early breakfast of rusks and coffee we took a drive along a bumpy track running next to the Zambesi. Unfortunately we didn’t have good access to the river itself and only got the usual birds in the area like Tropical boubou, Schalow’s turaco, Black-throated canary, Yellow-breasted apalis, Marico sunbird, Yellow-bellied greenbul etc. We were back at the lodge before 8pm, packed up and headed for the border. The Namibian border was quick an easy but the Zambian side was a proper African road border with no signposts, tarmac, or order of any kind. We had to make four separate payments, get four different receipts/documents, in four different "offices", each one more dilapidated than the last. Ridiculously, one office accepted only Kwachas and the other only US Dollars. After paying about a thousand rand in total and spending an hour filling in books (and not once getting our car inspected) we were finally able to get going. We passed over the Zambesi bridge and quickly through Sesheke before heading into open country for the 200km drive to Livingstone. We drove slowly and enjoyed the immensely green countryside, patches of which were inundated with water. Along the way we saw Lizard buzzard, Bronze manikin, Yellow bishop, a flood of Squacco herons, Bateleur, African paradise flycatcher and our first Southern black flycatcher and Black-headed heron for the trip. We arrived in Livingstone around 1pm and drove through town, pleasantly surprised that the roads were quite good and people seemed to obey standard road rules. Mostly. Heading for our accommodation, we got a little worried when we had to turn down a dirt road and drive into rural roadside Africa but when we found Sunbird guesthouse about 150m down the road, we got secure parking, a pleasant garden, a large, clean room with TV, aircon, mozzie nets over the beds and a clean bathroom. Even better was that breakfast was included in our rate; even though it was only two slices of bread, coffee and one egg, it was still much more appetizing than the standard 3 rusks we’ve been having for the past 2 weeks and our hosts Rebeccah and Kennedy were extremely friendly and helpful - this was hands down the best accommodation for our trip. We had a late lunch, then went back into town to check out the curio market and returned to do our stinking laundry in the bath tub before making an early dinner. Watching the 2nd day of the SA/Sri Lanka cricket on SABC 3 was a mixed blessing since SA was doing badly (and it only got worse) but the one or two Zambian channels we picked up were entertaining.

28 December 2011
Daily birds: 34, Total count: 294, Lifers: Rock pratincole, Collared palm-thrush

We slept late and then had a great breakfast of toast and egg before heading for Victoria falls. Even from a distance we could see the cloud rising above the falls and when we parked the car at the entrance, you couldn’t miss the “Smoke that thunders”. We paid the (slightly high) entrance fee of 20 USD per person and walked to the first viewpoint. Oh, what a sight! Yes, its touristy and yes its expensive, but wow! Vic falls truly is a natural wonder. Getting wet in the spray, we walked to every single viewpoint and trail, taking pictures and videos of the mist rainbow(s), the falls, Batoka gorge, microlights passing over, bungee jumpers off the bridge and even a bunch of locals hacking a dead hippo to pieces in the middle of the Zambesi (above the falls) and dragging it to shore (probably for dinner). Birding in the immediate spray zone was almost impossible and besides, there weren’t many birds to see or hear anyway. Only when we walked the trail down into the gorge to see the Boiling Pot, did we start adding birds, including White-browed robin-chat, African emerald cuckoo, Swamp boubou, Trumpeter hornbill and new birds for the trip: Verreaux’s eagle, Red-chested cuckoo, Grey-headed bush-shrike and Red-winged starling. Back on the road to Livingstone we stopped at some of the lay-byes next to the Zambesi and at the second one saw a Rock pratincole on a small rock about 5m into the stream. After unsuccessfully looking for the sewerage works south of the town, we found the entrance to Mosi-oa-Tunya Game Park we wanted to visit tomorrow and as we parked at the entrance, Nicola noticed a Collared palm-thrush – unfortunately, since this was properly in Zambia, it didn’t count as a Southern African lifer. Eating a pack of chips for lunch, we drove towards the Flying Fox site south of the Vic falls bridge but were disappointed that they charge 40 USD for 2 cable slides across the gorge that will take you all of 5 minutes to complete. The rest of the afternoon was spent cooling down in our aircon room, watching Sri Lanka ruffle the Proteas' feathers. Dinner was another unglorious tinned breyani.

29 December 2011
Daily birds: 79, Total count: 300, Lifers: None

A 5am rise saw us at the entrance of Mosi-oa-Tunya Game Park just after 6am. Paying the (exorbitant) entrance fee, we slowly made our way into the park, quickly adding Black-crowned tchagra, Broad-billed roller, Yellow-billed kite and Collared palm-thrush. A telephone line provided Wire-tailed, Barn and Greater striped swallows perching together. Along the dirt roads there were numerous open grassy fields that invariably had lots of shallow water puddles and ponds, These were very productive with Saddle-billed stork, Spur-winged goose, White-faced duck, Three-banded plover, Greater painted snipe, African jacana, Hamerkop, Wood sandpiper, Great, Cattle, Little and Slaty egrets, Green-backed, Black-headed and Black herons , Woodland, Brown-hooded, Grey-headed, Striped, Giant and Pied kingfishers, African spoonbill and African Darter. Of more significant note were only our second sightings ever of African cuckoo-hawk and African crake. Stopping along the Zambesi waterfront we got another Rock pratincole. Other significant sightings were Brown-crowned tchagra, Lizard buzzard, Bearded woodpecker and Lesser striped swallow (first one for the trip). Unfortunately the park not only produced good birding but a very annoying supply of mainly horse flies, which have a surprisingly nasty bite. Flinging a rolled-up stack of border crossing documents at them, we littered the car with fly carcasses until we had to concede a loss and roll up the windows. The border crossing documents now looked properly Africanized. After lunch of tuna, mayo and Salticrax and with the park thoroughly explored, we made our way out, made a few enquiries about a sunset cruise and then did some curio shopping before spending the later afternoon under the aircon back at the guesthouse.

30 December 2011
Daily birds: 41, Total count: 301, Lifers: None

Not having enough money left to do any adventure activities or enter Mosi-oa-Tunya again, we decided to sleep late, get everything in order and pack the car. After lunch we drove into town to visit the Livingstone museum which wasn’t up to South African standards but reasonably interesting nonetheless. We discovered that David Livingstone and I shared birthdays and I thought it’s not totally inappropriate to think we are also sharing a similarly adventurous spirit. It started raining while we were inside and the clouds stuck around for the rest of the afternoon, cooling things down appreciably. Just after 4pm we drove out to Taonga Safaris from where we departed at 16:30 for a sunset cruise up the Zambesi. We actually had a braai and bar on board and although we didn’t spot anything new, the BBQ chicken, sausage, cabbage, potato salad, rolls and as many drinks as you like, went down extremely well. Most notably, we saw a couple of Hooded vultures perched on one of the mid-stream islands – a new bird for our trip. By 7pm we were back, drove back to our guesthouse and quickly packed the last things in the car for an early departure.

31 December 2011
Daily birds: 76, Total count: 302, Lifers: None

Up at 5am and gone before 6., we quickly spent our last Kwachas on some petrol and drove to the border post. Having been told they would only open at 06:30 we were happy to see them operating at 06:15 already and we quickly passed through the Zambian side. Although the Zimbabwe border took a bit longer due to a printer spooling error (to print the car’s temporary import permit) we still took less than 30 minutes and paid considerably less (21 USD) than what we expected. Unfortunately the bridge across Batoka gorge is single lane so we couldn’t really stop to take pictures, but we had plenty of time to enter the National Park on Zim’s side and take a walk along the falls’s edge. Very quickly we discovered that the spray on the Zim side is far more intense than in Zambia, and soon we had to put our ponchos on. Taking pictures and movies proved very difficult and the strong updraft generated by the falls kept collapsing the umbrella as well (used to try and protect the camera lens from blurry spray spots). After a wet hour in which we appreciated the falls from the Zimbabwean side, but got few birds (we did see Trumpeter hornbill, Schalow’s turaco, Red-winged starling, African paradise flycatcher, Grey-headed bush-shrike and Tropical boubou), we left to drive along the Zambesi to the Big Tree. Here we added Brown-crowned tchagra, Bronze manikin, Common waxbill, African green pigeon and a few others. We attempted to reach Chamobonda Vlei as described in our Birdfinder but although we found an unmanned boom gate and were able to drive beyond this, the sandy track was blocked after a few kilometres and we had to turn back. We stopped in town to do our bit in supporting some local artists and then headed towards Kasane. The Zim road was fairly good but quite narrow and shoulderless so it took some careful aiming to miss the large trucks driving in the opposite direction. The Kazungula border crossing was painless and soon we were back in Botswana, quickly finding our accommodation at Thebe River Safaris just outside Kasane. We checked in and spent half an hour cooling off under the aircon before heading out to get some food for lunch and dinner. Getting tired of tuna/mayo for lunch and tinned anything for dinner, we bought some rolls, assorted cold meats, cheese, tomatoes and yoghurt. Late afternoon we popped into the Mowana Lodge grounds and took a walk around the golf course and the hotel itself. Nicola spotted a Collared palm-thrush which we were now very happy to add for Southern Africa (the ones we saw in Livingstone counts for Central Africa as it’s north of the Zambesi). Back at our own lodge we had a simple but tasty New Year’s eve dinner and went to bed long before the fireworks started (not that Kasane gets too busy in this department).

01 Jan 2012
Daily birds: 105, Total count: 308, Lifers: Red-necked falcon, Western banded snake-eagle, Miombo blue-eared starling

An early cup of coffee/tea, muesli and yoghurt, saw us ready for our morning game drive into Chobe National Park at 05:30. Unfortunately we shared our drive with a bunch of foreigners who only wanted to see leopards. The teenagers sharing our drive, we discovered, must have very poor parents because they obviously couldn’t afford haircuts; the one next to me must have gotten a crick in his neck from all the flicking he had to do to keep the hair out of his eyes during the drive. They were however extremely good actors since they faked their disinterest in their surroundings like, really well and spoke to each other like, Brad and Angelina, you know... Unfortunately our driver was equally disappointing and we passed so many raptors and smaller jobs that we would normally have stopped for, that we could easily have made a record-breaking count for the day if we drove ourselves. Even so, we did pick up Scarlet-chested and Amethyst sunbirds, Marabou stork, Jacobin and Levaillant’s cuckoos, Southern ground hornbill, Yellow-billed stork and Broad-billed roller among the regulars and managed to stop for a lifer – Red-necked falcon, having a breakfast of the feathery kind. Mammal-wise there were plenty of hippos on the flood plain, some buffalo, waterbuck, banded mongoose, lots of impala, warthog and giraffe and when we took the riverfront drive just outside the park on our way back, we also added two lionesses. Back at the lodge we jumped in our own car and headed for Kasane Forest Reserve. On the way out we stopped to look at the eagle Nicola saw as we returned from the game drive. This turned out to be our long-awaited Western banded snake-eagle and when we had a careful look at the starlings in a tree on the other side of the road, they became our third lifer for the day – Miombo blue-eared starling. Kasane Forest Reserve unfortunately had very deep sandy tracks and for the 2WD it was literally impossible to drive outside of these. After a few kms we came across a sandy intersection and decided to play it safe – with wheels spinning and engine roaring I just managed to get the car facing the opposite direction and then we headed back out, promising to return as soon as we’ve joined the Gauteng yuppies and acquired a 4x4. We did another few kms on the transit road through Chobe towards Ngoma, but it was getting very hot and the birds were having siestas as well. We headed back to the lodge and rested until our sunset cruise departed at 15:30. Our boat was full of foreign overlanders completely over the top ecstatic to see hippos and elephants and when we saw a Black heron fishing umbrella-style, they loudly chanted “night-time, day-time, night-time, day-time” after an idiotic YouTube video someone saw. Despite having all the blissfully ignorant aboard, we did add Goliath heron, Long-toed lapwing, Glossy ibis, Collared pratincole, and of course, the Black heron. Back at the lodge just before 7 we sat down to a very filling restaurant meal before packing the car for an early morning departure.

02 Jan 2012
Daily birds: 64, Total count: 314, Lifers: Montagu’s harrier, Boulder chat

At 3am we got up, packed our toiletries and left Kasane, driving very carefully in the dark. Thankfully the first 140km of road was very good and despite slowing down twice for elephants on the road, made very good progress. The second half of the morning’s drive was less pleasant; Botswana’s euphemism “Road under construction” obviously meant: “This is a k*k road full of potholes and we don’t have the money to fix it. Now or ever.”. Still, we reached Nata not long after 7am and the Nata Bird Sanctuary shortly after. Driving the very wet sandy road towards the Nata Delta proved a bit much for us when we discovered Red-billed teals swimming in our road. We gave up after about 3km but saw lots of Northern black korhaan, Fawn-coloured, Rufous-naped and Eastern clapper larks, Desert, Rattling and Zitting cisticolas, Ruff, Wood sandpiper, Common greenshank, a Kori bustard almost flying into us and our first lifer for the day, a quartering Montagu’s harrier. We also visited the Sua spit but the Birdfinder’s directions once again proved inconsistent with reality and we got no nearer to the pan than about 2km. This section of road did produce a Steppe buzzard and Lappet-faced vulture though. Back on the A3 we drove leisurely ‘till we reached the twin heaps of boulders either side of the A3, 62km from Francistown, where the Birdfinder indicated a possibility of finding Boulder chat. We parked under a tree to have lunch but I had barely opened the can of tuna when we heard the characteristic whistle. Quickly we locked up and walked towards the call, calling back on the PDA as we went. And then we saw it! Perched on top of a boulder for a few seconds before it disappeared back in the undergrowth! We got another couple of views before it disappeared for good and we got back to our lunch. In Francistown we made a very unproductive visit to Shashe dam – by now the temperature was pushing 40 degrees Celsius and it seems even the birds went looking for air-conditioned rooms. So we went searching for ours but only found a very hot tent, despite two fans blowing full-strength. Although the safari tents were some of the nicest I’ve ever seen, it really was unbearably hot and at 4pm we drove into town looking for a place to have dinner. Lonely Planet restaurants seem to have disappeared from reality so we ended up spending 2 hours in the sub-standard Spur, waiting for the sun to go down.

03 Jan 2012

The birders in us were frustrated as we packed up at 05:30, knowing we can't watch birds today as we have a long drive ahead of us. A week ago, our friends watching our house, phoned us with a nasty surprise - lightning had struck our house, blowing our alarm system entirely, melted the phone line outside and earthed through our water pipes, shearing one in the bathroom walls. They managed to close the mains tap before major water damage could occur and since we unplugged all our appliances before we left, these were still intact. But now we faced a lot of issues to sort out so off we went, crossing the Martin's Drift border without hassle and arriving back home just after 3pm.

A really wonderful relaxing holiday with excellent birding and truly African experiences - I hope we can do this again in the not-too-distant future!