Twelve of us joined this tour in a 14-seater Mercedes. It is a tribute to our guides and hosts, Jean and Mark Caulton of Pelican Safaris, that they were able to cater for our wide range of birding experience from the very experienced to the beginner.
The temperature was in the 20s for most days, with two extremes, 358 on our last day in Kruger, and snow and our only rain on our last days near the Drakensbergs. The rain was welcomed by the locals as the year had been exceptionally dry. The extent of the dry was dramatically demonstrated at Mkuzi Game Reserve where we counted 40 hippopotami in one small puddle no larger than a swimming pool, which was all that was left of the normally extensive wetlands. Only on our last stop near Johannesburg did we see a large variety of water birds, including a Black Egret fishing underneath a canopy formed by its wings.
We were the first group Mark had ever taken who had seen both the Big Five Mammals and the Big Six Birds. Lists and size featured in many of our discussions. It was all so novel and marvellous from our first sight of the common resident Lilac-breasted Roller, to the eyeball to eyeball contact with the Martial Eagle, to the last bird at the wetlands, the Malachite Kingfisher. In total the group saw 335 birds, 47 mammals, plus an assortment of reptiles, and the largest dung beetles ever!
Each day had its individual highlight. In Kruger it was the mammals and the birds in the deciduous vegetation, which was beginning to come into leaf. The 'bush camp' settings beside large waterholes provided us with very easy viewing within our fenced areas. On our first day in Kruger we had so many sightings we were almost in overload. On our first night-drive we were shown a leopard in typical langourous, branch-resting mode. The charge of a young bull elephant was the other major excitement of the night. At Lower Sabi the night-drive was one of the highlights of the trip. We saw all Big Five - buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant, and black rhino.
For some, the absolute highlight of the trip was the viewing of Pel's Fishing Owl in the fig forest walk at Mkuzi Game Reserve. Those of us who stayed by the wetland were rewarded with wonderful views of Lesser Flamingoes through Julian's telescope. A repeat visit to a hide at Mkuzi gave us a spectacular view of Purple-crested Lourie. The visiting animals included a white rhinoceros and her calf, which obligingly proceeded to suckle. The buzz of our automatic cameras did not deter a small group of warthog or the Burchell's zebra. At Charters Creek, a walk through the lowland forest, by the lakeside gave us good views of the Narina Trogon with its iridescent green upperparts and its scarlet underparts.
Durban was the only city we drove through. We spent a morning out at the Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve where we were able to walk with the zebra, impala, and blesbok. We had good views of Grey and Black Sunbird, Orange-throated Longclaw, Tawny-flanked Prinia, and Croaking Cisticola. Some of us went for a swim in the Indian Ocean before we all went to a splendid dinner at Jean and Mark's new home. Our guides had many talents, which we were fortunate they shared with us.
At the foot of the Sani Pass we saw one of the 20 pairs of Wattled Crane with young. Next day we had a superb sighting of the Lammergeier as it soared over us on the pass. The estimate is only 200 breeding pairs in South Africa. The bleak windswept landscape of the Kingdom of Lesotho was reached over the newly widened, winding snake of a road. The views were breathtaking, as were the birds we saw, including Gurney's Sugarbird, Sentinel Rock Thrush, Ibis, Orange-breasted Rockjumper, Malachite, Lesser Collared, and Doubled Collared Sunbirds. At Loteni, some of us who walked in the sleet and wind saw a pair of Black Eagles flying close to the rocky ledges.
The scenery en route to Chelmsford, our last stop, had a distinctly Australian feel to it. The Crowned Crane sighted in a marshy area by the road lifted our sagging spirits. It was at Chelmsford that we saw our first springboks, the beginnings of a wondrous wildflower display, more weavers, Long-tailed Widow, Fish Eagle, and the Blue Cranes which were fantastic.
It was with much sadness that we said goodbye to Jean and Mark - no more braais (barbecues) for late breakfasts or delicious evening meals, no more searching through Newman's bird book, except to recall lovely sightings, no more impala, and no more regal animals keeping man at bay, no more brilliantly coloured starlings and no more busy weavers. A great trip!
Judith Webster