A little bit of Safari and a little bit of Scotland

After managing to migrate back all of Mufasa's contents we left the tranquility of Sobhengu and ventured back on to the dirt road that was now clear of the endless hoards of school kids. After not too long a drive we reached the Mkhuze Game Reserve all be it via a pretty badly pot holed last stretch of tarmac. The entrance gate to the reserve all looked pretty new and we had a warm greeting from the two guys manning the gate. With our entrance fees paid we headed into the reserve and made our way to the main reception at the Mantuma Camp where we paid for 2 nights camping. Before heading of to find the campsite some 10km away we paid a visit to the swimming pool to dip our feet. It was a wee bit green with algae! So feet dipping was as far as it got. Thankfully though and to our surprise when we got out to the Mshopi campsite (S27 38.381 E32 09.507) there was a pool there too. This one was a bit cloudy, just the local water, but was most gratefully recieved in the scorching mid day temps. As for the campsite, just us, the birds and the monkeys, although another young couple pulled in later on. Boy it was warm, mid thirties still but a bit of a breeze to keep drying the sweat! We decided that a game drive could wait till the cool of the early morning.

As we generally get to sleep around 20h00 when camping as it is dark, getting up at 06h00 when it is already light is not too bad a deal. Well most times. As usual I exited the tent backwards and stepped onto the ladder 3 rungs down and then went to grab the top rung with my left hand. What the @!** was that as I jerk my hand back and proceed to fall the remaining 4 feet to the ground. I look up and there is a Grey Tree Frog sitting there staring at me! I flick him off the ladder and he springs off under the truck. I go and wash my slimey hand, could have been worse I guess! Things then proceed as normal and we are on our way by 06h25.

The bush in the park is quite thick for most of the drive south to the Insumo Pan, but the Impala are everywhere as are Bushbuck. As for the birds we see a few but not as many as we had expected. We get to the pan and the picnic area on the shore for some coffee and rusks. Wow, what a great spot. The pan looks pretty full and there are loads of Pelicans but not too much else. Hippo can be heard but not seen till we moved to another view point, and no crocs anywhere to be seen. Leaving the pan we decided to go south west to the Inxwala wilderness zone, good move. White Rhino, Zebra, Impala, and loads of Giraffe many of which are quite young. The area is much more open and thus it seems the animals prefer it. No Elephants though. We stopped for another coffee in amongst the largest group of Giraffe. The young ones are most bemused by us and stop and stare for a while before scampering off. Too sweet. Back at camp, the usual, eat, swim, read, sweat! Well all except one slight change to the routine. A game of chase the Grey Tree Frog around Mufasa's engine compartment! I opened up to check a few things and yep there it was under the fuel filter looking up at me, a bit dozy with the heat in there. At one point he ended up in the fan sitting on one of the blades but eventually I coerced him down onto the suspension somewhere. As to whether he is still around, haven't seen him for a few days.

We only stayed 2 nights, and had intended to move on north west to Ithala NR but the weather had turned wet and colder and the campsite was R110pppn, and all you get is a cold shower and a long drop. So instead we headed off to Dundee! Well it was either there, Newcastle, or Glen Coe! Dundee is a fair size and we needed shops. We located a campsite in the middle of town, Kwa Rie (S28 10.361 E30 13.345), which turned out a very good find indeed. A bit odd but smart, clean, and some black and white bunnies! They have some large ponds with bass to fish, oh and some Peacocks.

After stopping for 2 nights to get provisioned it was time to head for the mountains!