July 21 - To the game parks

Lawrence, Anne & their daughter Lorecan (sv Sea Shoes) picked us up at 0500 and we drove to see the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Wildlife Parks. These lie in the Zulu Kingdom and are characterized by vast, beautiful hills, fauna, birds and animals. The "big five" can be seen here, but there are lots of other interesting species to enjoy as well. We saw the following: giraffe, white rhino (the Parks are a white rhino conservation area), cape buffalo, nyala, dove, glassy starling, forked tail dronga, ducks, European swallow, monkey, tambourine dove, warthog, Burchell's zebra, kingfisher, scimitar, ground hornbill, bobo, finch, yellow crested bobbit, wildebeest, lilac breasted roller, tassled eagle, cape vulture, kudu, speckled thrush, bee eater, impala, natal robin, korhaan, Burchell's coucal, yellow bellied bilbo, African rock python, velvet monkey, black rhino, frankelin, inyala, elephant, baboon, and the wooly crested stork. Our hosts had been to the Parks numerous times and were informative guides. If we had rented a car and had just gone to the Parks, we would in no way have appreciated all that we saw and photographed as we did today with our friends' running commentary. We packed a picnic lunch and thoroughly enjoyed our company and surroundings. A wonderful day and a great introduction to South African wildlife!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

We, the crew of Yacht Sea Shoes. love to adopt fellow cruisers and were overjoyed to meet Mike and Sue. We adore seeing our beloved country afresh through their eyes. and Mike and Sue did not disappoint us! I got to see them experience their first views of South Africa, when I took them around the shops ( stores to those of you who speak Americanese) and started to teach them their first Afrikaans words (The language of the "Boer" community in SA) We recognise kindred spirits and know we shall be friends from now on.