1 October: Failed at our first attempt for accommodation near Barberton as it did not look very appealing so moved on down the drag to near Kaapmuiden. First impressions event great as we drove up the valley to Los Creek Lodge but in the end, we had a great evening with the new owners. The do have a lot of work ahead of them to make it an appealing destination though
2 October: a little bit of a backtrack into Nelspruit, then up and down the hills and valleys to get to Hazyview and hopefully find accommodation at Kiaat. Once again as we drove up we had our doubts but what a pleasant surprise, feel very at peace here and even though they are fully booked later in the week we can move into a grove of trees for a longer stay.
4 October: Very long day in Kruger Park, nearly 12 hours round trip from when we left Kiaat but a very successful day. Normally our game viewing ticklish is average, today we saw Lion, loads of elephant, a lone buffalo bull, a leopard in a tree which we had to ourselves (unusual !!) and a number of hyena including cubs. Plus many antelope both big and small.
7 October: Great news – South Africa is off the UK’s red list which means Devon and now Hannah holiday for December is a go! It’s been 3 years since we saw him.
8 October: Decided for a shorter day in the park, only going in after lunch. Overall, we didn’t see too much exciting and were just commenting on that fact when at 4pm we come across a Pangolin walking right next to the road. Pangolins are super rare and generally nocturnal so this was a once in a lifetime sighting!!! We both drove away with huge smiles on the dial.
9 October: Shifted over to Marloth park in order to spend the next 2 weeks its Stuarts folks, its been just over a year since we last saw them so really looking forward to it. Mr Jones is giving us some headaches however, seeming to lack power on occasion and run hot at the same time – which is concerning.
12 October: A little bit of stress as we try to sort out Devon & Hannah holiday to us and booking agents are being slow in response plus almost losing availability but in the end, all ends well.
14 October: Nearly expired today with the heat, reaching 43 degrees at lunch and being stifling throughout the afternoon. Typical bushveld heat, dry like an oven – even the wind is hot.
22 October: The end of two weeks with Stuart folks, the time has gone by quickly and we have had some great quality time together. Mostly evenings as we usually did separate drives in the park although we did do a couple of drives together too.
23 October: Started the trek back towards Joburg, with worries about Mr Jones running hot we decided to take it easy and do the trek over two days, so tonight we are at “The Restuarant at the End of the Universe” – an old climbing haunt of Stuart and were he often dreamed of being a dirt bag climber living out of a van.
30 October: It’s been a crazy busy week in Joburg, between running around ticking off jobs and shopping to catching up with friends and family. While good and glad we got everything done we are both exhausted and needing some time out.