New Arrivals......

A few weeks back Ruth and I noticed a couple of pigeons frequenting our flowerbox on our balcony. We started to notice bits of grass and leaves appearing in what looked like to be a nest. Maybe we should have nipped it in the bud there and then, but we thought....Naaaaaaaa.

About a week after that, Ruth was rolling up the lounge blinds when 'lo and behold she spied two wee eggs........ Around 21 days later, out popped these two wee tender morsels...... Here, they are about a week old.

About 2 weeks old....

Here they are at about 4 weeks old. Man, you should hear them scream when Mum & Dad come home with the food! It is quite interesting to watch them being fed. The parents regurgitate the food right into the little buggers.. Yum...
Soon they will be leaving the nest.

Hennops Hiking Trail

Fortunately, both Ruth and I love hiking or 'Tramping' as the Kiwis say. It is awesome to have a partner you can share your loves with to say the least. Ruth and I have been on many a hiking trail in quite a few countries now. Last Sunday, we drove 45mins North of Johannesburg to the Hennops River. This isn't too far from the Magaliesberg Mountains, west of Pretoria or Tshwane as it is now known.I found this hiking trail on the internet. It is a private trail that cost R45 per person per day. Kruger Park was R35 per person per day! Anyway, there are some great 'Braai' (BBQ) facilities next to the river so would make an awesome place to go for a hike and a Braai.......



The hike was 11km and for the sick, lame and lazy, there is a 6.5km hike.... And yes, we do have a car, but hiking is better....

As you can see by the photos, most of the grass has been burnt off. We have had around 3 rainfalls in nearly 4 months. The Highveld is known for its long dry winters. The big rains will only come at around October. This is when the Highveld really comes to life. Mind you the sap is rising in the trees and plants as we speak....... The bud are already coming out.

At the end of the trail, you have to cross the Hennops river to get back to the carpark. There is a weird cable-car contraption you have to sit in and pull yourself across..... As you can see by the above photo, I wasn't scared....

But Ruth was a bit 'Edgy'.....

Kruger National Park.....

Early to bed, early to rise as the saying goes. Ruth and I were up at 5:30am and headed off to the Kruger Park at 6am. I haven't been back to the Park in over 20 years now and was really looking forward to this trip. The Kruger Park has been on the top of my list of things to do whilst over in South Africa.







We headed east out of Johannesburg on the N12, which turns into the N4 just after Witbank. We went via Belfast and Dullstroom, both well know trout fishing areas where I had (mis)spent some of my youth as an avid fisherman.We drove past the majestic Drakensburg mountain range and past the Blyde River Canyon, through the J.G.Strydom tunnel and then to the Orpen Gate of the Kruger Park. Orpen is a sleepy little town in Mpumalanga where we stopped for a bite to eat. We entered the Park at just past 12:30pm. Impala were the first game sightings and I am sure everyone as soon as they enter the Park, see Impala and stop to admire them. After a while, you realise that there are thousands of them and herds are abundant all over the park.

20 minutes into the park, we turned onto a dirt road and headed north towards the Olifants Camp, a 102 km from Orpen Gate where we were to spend our first night. Didn't take us too long before we sighted our first Elephant herd. What magnificent creatures they are too! Not long after we came across a herd of Zebra. I don't think I have ever studied these creatures before. I suppose living in South Africa for 23 years kind of makes you a bit blasé about them, but this time around, I was really intrigued by them. I also suppose living in Australia on and off for 12 years where large wildlife are not so abundant has made me miss these African beasts....

Not too much further on the road was a majestic Giraffe. Boy, what weird animals when you really look and see them for what they really are! Ruth and were trying to come up with a collective noun for a herd of Giraffe and it was a 'Longneck' of Giraffe, after the Aussie name for a 750ml beer bottle! No explanation should have been necessary for our Aussie readers.

We arrived at Olifants Camp at around 15:30 feeling a bit tired from a full days drive. We promptly went down to the restaurant area where they have a fantastic viewing platform that overlooks the Olifants river.

That evening, we had a braai just outside out 'Rondavel' or thatched hut, overlooking the Olifants river and enjoyed a wine or two in the cool lowveld dusk. This is one of the things that makes the Kruger Park so attractive and that is the winding down after a long days driving, sitting and listening to the African evening.
The next day, we awoke just before 6am so we would see the sunrise. Seeing as our Rondavel and stoep faced east, we had a birdseye view of this spectacular sunrise.










We breakfasted at around 7am and hit the road for Satara Camp at around 8:30am. Breakfast was interesting as there were swarms of local birds vying for our food. They are cheeky little buggers and they will leave you hungry if you turn your back on your toast! Birds featured on all 4 days of our stay at the Park. I have always loved South African birds and have been surprising myself since we arrived in May in how many bird species I remembered. Some birds I haven't seen in 12 years or more. The Kruger Park has an abundance of birds or all varieties and colour. I think South Africa has over 900 species in all......

On the way to Satara, we came across herds of Wildebeest, Kudu and Zebra. To our surprise, we came across a bloat of Hippos, wallowing in a river. Ruth and I must have stopped there for around 30 minutes watching them. Yawning is a favourite activity of Hippos as you can see in one of the photos I have attached.

Yellow and Red-Billed Hornbills were abundant in this area of the park too.


Just before we arrived at Satara, we came upon a bull Elephant and a calf, very close to the road. Mum was standing nearby and let us know that she wasn't happy with us being too close to her baby!












We arrived at Satara just after lunch, so we unpacked our stuff at the Rondavel and went for a walk around the camp. We sat near the reception area for a while and listened to the birds as there were hundreds flying around and singing. Glossy Starlings were everywhere. These are glossy aquamarine coloured birds with deep yellow eyes. I remember first seeing these birds at the Park on our first visit in 1976.
That night, we had another braai and were visited by a spotted Genet, which is a wild cat silver in colour with black spots and a long tail. I was a bit naughty and threw a piece of 'boerewors' for him whilst I went to fetch my camera. Took some great photos of him though. Feeding animals in the Park is a problem. Especially with Hyenas on the edge of the camps, walking up and down, expecting visitors to throw them a bone or two.

Next day we headed off to our last camp, Lower Sabie. On the way there we saw Crocodiles, Warthogs, a beautiful Baobab tree and loads of Lilac Breasted Rollers a beautifully coloured bird.

Lower Sabie is a beautiful setting. When we arrive there, it must have been around 28c, which was hot for us seeing as we had left a very cold Johannesburg only 2 days before. This camp is right on the Sabie river and right opposite the camp on the far side of the river were a dozen Hippo lazing in the sun.
On the morning of our 4th day, we left Lower Sabie Camp and headed off back to Johannesburg via Crocodile Bridge Gate and onto the N4 via Komatiepoort. As we left the Lower Sabie Camp, we decided to cross a bridge about 1km from the camp to see if any animals were around. To our surprise, we found two Hippos battling it out in the river, barely 10meters from us. I took some stunning photos of the battle amidst the splashing and bellowing of the two protagonists.

Local is Lekker!

Hoezit Tjeps!

Ruth and I are going to have a 'smorgasbord' of local music in the next few weeks. Since our days in Rome, Italy, we have been listening to the music of Hugh Masekela, a black South African with a worldwide following. 'Bra Hugh' as he is affectionately known here in South Africa is a Jazz Trumpeter playing with the distinct African rhythms known as 'Mbaqanga'. The 'q' pronounced with a 'click' of the tongue. We see him play at a venue called 'Montecasino' this Friday...looking forward to it! On the 4th July we venture back to the 'Radium Beer Hall' to see a band called Jackhammer. The lead guitarist is a bloke called Piet Botha who is the son of the ex Apartheid National Party Minister of Foreign Affairs - Pik Botha. I am sure 'Pik' is familiar to many of my readers during the Apartheid years.

Then on the 5th July we are off to Emmarentia Dam to see Johnny Clegg play. Johnny Clegg used to be the front man together with Sipho Mchunu of Juluka. After Sipho left Juluka, Johnny Clegg formed Savuka. As those of you lucky enough to have seen Johnny Clegg perform, this is a man of vast energy and enthusiasm for African music.

That's all the music we have lined up for now. Ruth is off to see Annie Lennox play on the 8th July, but seeing as Ms. Lennox is not a South African, I thought of her unworthy of a special mention.....

I will keep my ears and eyes peeled for any other South African performers in the near future to enhance Ruth's South African experience.........

Curry and Music..

Howdy All.

Ruth and I were hanging out for a curry, so on Saturday night, we set forth for Fordsburg, the curry centre of Johannesburg. The restaurant of choice was a place called 'Bismillah'. Seeing as it is a strictly Halaal restaurant, we had to settle for cold-drink to quench our thirst.

The decor is pretty shabby and basic, but the food was really good. Ruth had a prawn curry and I had a spicy mutton curry. Not as hot as I normally like it, so next time I will just ask for extra 'zing'.....

We didn't spend too long at Bismillah's as we wanted to check out some of the local live music. We headed off to a place called 'The Radium Beer Hall', which prides itself on being Johannesburg's oldest surviving bar.

We arrived just on time for the band to start at 9pm. It has been a long time since we have listened to live music in a pub and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The band was fronted by the singer and acoustic guitarist Josie Field. Ruth enjoyed her music so much that she promptly bought a CD...

Looks like we will be making the 'Radium' our local music haunt...

Weather took a turn for the better. Last week, saw some pretty foul, wet, cold and windy conditions.

Not too much to report at the mo, but keep coming back to see any updates.

Roodepoort Botanical Gardens...

This last Saturday, Ruth and I ventured forth to the Roodepoort Botanical Gardens. I have always loved going to these gardens and to me, they are a special part of Johannesburg. It took a bit longer to get there than I thought, due to the fact of urban spread and the building of high density townhouse complexes in the area. Man, how this place has grown over the last 12 years.... The area looked so different that I managed to miss the turning that used to be a bush road but now is almost a main road!

Anyway, we managed to find the gardens and at R22 ($AUD 3.34) a head entrance fee didn't break the bank either!

Despite development that is threatening encroachment on this beautiful garden, set against the backdrop of the magnificent Witpoortjie waterfall, this is still the home of a breeding pair of Verreaux’s (Black) Eagles that nest in the cliffs alongside the waterfall and no visit is complete until they have been sited.

A visit is also not complete until one has visited the Sasol Dam which is a small dam which has a bird hide alongside it. Ruth and I sat for a while watching what we thought was a bird from the Kingfisher family who kept plunging into the dam, re-emerging with small silver fish in his beak.

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve

Sawubona!

A few weeks have passed since the last blog, so I thought it about time to throw up another. Ruth and I recently went hiking one Sunday at the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, around 45mins south east of Johannesburg.

This 11595ha reserve used to be one of my favourites when I lived here before. It used to be teeming with buck, zebra and baboons, but this time around we only saw a few buck.

It was a beautiful Highveld autumns day when we set off on the hike. We ended up getting a bit lost, but it turned out that the track we followed was actually the better option in regards to isolation and views. There are a couple of short walks (4.5km and 10km tracks), but these can be very busy on a Sunday afternoon.

We did bump into another group of 4 at one of the huts, so we decided to stop for some lunch with them. Out came the trail snacks, bananas, apples, dried fruit and nuts. 2 people of the other group seemed like they were taking the other 2 on a day tour as they were sitting there with expensive cheese, buscuits and wine. They were even drinking from silver goblets! Who says hiking has to be tough........

Ruth and I then packed up our megre rations and put our feet on the trail again. We were both getting a bit tired by then, so we decided to stay on the road for a while. There are approximately 60km of roads through the reserve, so you can take a leisurely drive around the reserve.

On the way back, we did a bit of bush bashing to get back to the visitors centre and carpark. It was just as well we did as we managed to spot some a couple of Eland buck which is the photograph on the top right.