Marital bliss is...

[Peter Connan]

Thanks everyone.

Will finish off the TR this weekend.

[Peter Connan]

And a couple of time-lapse videos:

[Peter Connan]

We decide to sleep under the stars, but around midnight the wind came up and it looked like a huge storm was approaching, so we moved back into the tent and battened down the hatches. The storm missed us but the result was aother cool and cloudy day. A short walkabout before our drive to Mkhuzi, on the edge of the dam:

Yellow-billed Stork:


White-faced Duck:


Flatty:


When the girls were ready, we headed off to Mkhuzi.

Giraffe family:

This one was still quite fresh, with a piece of the umbilical cord still attached:


We stopped at Ethaleni picnic site, where we made a bacon & egg brunch:

And I spotted my first Striped Kingfisher:


Later on, we stopped at Kumasinga hide. The girls decided to stay in the car, so I knew my time was limited. At the gate, I saw a female Violet-backed Starling:


This hide is stunningly beautiful, and while probably not ideal for photography, it's a great spot to watch from and I could happily have spent the day. There were animals drinking all the time I was there, Nyala, Wildebeest and Warthog of several different herds/families, and lots of birds too.

Blue Waxbil:



This guy had only one horn, and a very large scab under the other:


Emerald-spotted Wood-dove (with it's haunting call "Good Lord deliver us"):



Red-billed Firefinch:



Grey Waxbil:








Long-tailed Paradise-whydha:




Red-billed Quelea:






Shortly after leaving the hide, we came across vultures in a tree and the carcass of a wildebeest underneath. The vultures were resolutely staying in the trees, so whatever was responsible was probably still around, but it never came out to greet us.

Martial Eagle:


White-crested Helmet-shrike:


Red-breasted Swallow:


Back at base:


European Roller:


And so concluded the holiday. The next morning we packed up early to beat the heat and had an uneventfull drive home.

[nan]

where we made a bacon & egg brunch: ... we made...

super the videos at full speed

[Richprins]

Another rabid camper!

But I must say that bacon cooker looks very clever! Is it mounted to the rear door, PC?

The "Good Lord deliver us" is the Mozambique nightjar, I think, or Litany bird! The dove moans about "where have all my children gone", or something!

Astounding pics...a massive warthog!

[Lisbeth]

Absolutely out of this world photos. I cannot even point them out singolarily, because they are all so fantastic

[Richprins]

[IMG]

You seem to gather bloody antelope, PC!

This one is also tricky...

The injury is not so old?

I can only think road accident?

[Peter Connan]

Another rabid camper!

But I must say that bacon cooker looks very clever! Is it mounted to the rear door, PC?

The "Good Lord deliver us" is the Mozambique nightjar, I think, or Litany bird! The dove moans about "where have all my children gone", or something!

Astounding pics...a massive warthog!

Thanks Rich, I think you may be right.

That Phongolo reserve is absolutely SWARMING with shallow-pigs. One of the roads follows the Swazi border. We followed it for about 2km, and counted in excess of 50 warthog-holes under the fence!

As for my cooker setup, it's not actually mounted. I have a home-made drawer system in the back of the car with six drawers, in three rows of two. These clip together but can be removed, and one can be seen on the ground in the photo. The cupboard is closed with a double-element door that folds flat to serve as a table, about 1m long and 0.43m wide, which is the surface we were cooking on. The gas bottle is mounted on the roof rack, and has a long pipe attached, which is rolled up into a bag velcro'ed to the gas bottle, with a pneumatic quick-release coupling fitted to the end.

The cooker itself is a Cadac Safari Chef.

The whole setup is designed to be as efficient and adaptable as possible.

[Peter Connan]

[IMG]

You seem to gather bloody antelope, PC!

This one is also tricky...

The injury is not so old?

I can only think road accident?

I am not sure, but I felt that the broken-off horn was an older injury.

As for the bloody scab (sorry), I think a one-horn bull Wildie must get the short end of the stick in fights more often than others, but I can't discount a road accident. If it was, I hope the idiot motorist's car was a write-off.

[Peter Connan]

Thanks Nan and Lisbeth.