Mozambique, Boa Vida. 14/8-15/8/14

Seeing hardly any whales now - will google on return but looks like we may have experienced the tail end of their migration.
The brief raptor sighting I had a couple of days ago may have been a Palm Nut Vulture as Luis had a brief glimpse of one flying over the forest canopy.
A swim by sighting of dolphin - our second sighting during this trip. They probably do their up swim in the morning and return late afternoon but we've been missing them.
View from the balcony with Malongane (& our very favourite Sunset Shack) way in the distance






Great excitement. Mum & Baby relatively up close and personal. Have found out, compliments of google, that these are Humpback Whales.






Within 10 minutes a further pair came cruising north. This time, Baby was frolicking and joyfully leaping. Even more convinced that they are Southern Right but will research.






Wow ... This is sublime. Another 10 minutes and a third pair.






Brutus' battery curled up and died on us ... Jay to jump start us!
15/8/14
Decided to head for the hills today as weather has turned.
Different route back to border. Ended up in a mega 4x4 playground. Both
Diesel 10 and Brutus performed magnificently.
Counted the speed bumps on the Kosi Bay to Jozini stretch: 20 rumble bumps, 33 medium (10kph) bumps and 43 large (5kph) bumps. Plenty goats and cows crossing the road. 48 rumbles and 8 large humps in and around Pongola!

Mozambique, Boa Vida. 12/8-13/8/14

12/8/14
Rose slightly later than normal with a thirst that couldn't be quenched. Hangover? Why?
Rain to start then warm overcast weather with sun breaking through periodically. Pleasantly cool.
Samango gave us a fright while we were eating breakfast. Jumped into the tree right next to us. Handsome little fellows.



Trumpeter foraging in the canopy presented an opportunity for an in flight shot.


Kids off to beach, Luis catnapping, me exploring shrubbery and forest for birds. Did see a raptor briefly but unable to identify.
Yellow-breasted Apalis (unusual pose)



Collared Sunbird.


Kurrichane, Natal Robin, Starling, Paradise Flycatcher, black flycatcher and other brief glimpses. Fish Eagle duet inland.
Zac hellbent on getting his monster truck. Doms and I eventually took them to Malongane picking up locals on the way to give them a lift - we must have looked like a taxi. Negotiated a good deal with Paulo (nice guy) and kids were happy. Some weed thrown in and the adults were happy.
I can't decide whether to buy "my" ellie man.
13/8/14
Morning sentinel in his usual position



Lazy day with sporadic sightings of whale.
Late morning bird hunt yielded a beautiful butterfly



Fishing vessel of Mozambiquan origin.


Afternoon run to Mamoli - $30 per person just to access the premises - return to good old faithful Sunset Shack. Good few drinks and 12 yummy prawns - R100 (excluding drinks!). Zac drove us home - he did great; better than Luis who, earlier on, had reversed into a tree trunk - this despite warnings from Dom and I and a rear view camera which he didn't even look at! All of a sudden, Jay's 'tuna (Diesel 10) has a lot more character.

Mozambique, Boa Vida. 11/8/14

Early rise. Still plenty of whale activity. Misty morning visit from Samango monkeys.



Guys went down to fish. Zac decided to follow without telling anyone. Bit of a panic and Dom had a long trip down to the beach to make sure Zac was there. All good. Started raining - not too hard and not long in duration.
Interesting light patterns on the sea



Family outing at low tide


Luis on a mission (Superpops) - actually, running to get a new battery for his e-cig!


Whoops. Rain came back hard and we now have very wet fishermen. Nature won this round!


We were lucky to witness some sort of tail slapping ritual between a pair of whales (will read up on this when we get home). Also, we need to try and identify them.






Changing weather throughout the day



We were commenting yesterday that we hadn't seen any seagulls - today this flock flew past



Off to the crafters market where we parted with hard earned money - kids are now proud owners of wooden cars, me, a large bag and Luis, two (not one) wooden fish.
Finally, back at one of my favourite spots







Tinto





Night deck surfing.



Slightly worse for wear we toodled off to bed but not before I'd accomplished my mandatory, at least once a night, crash into the sliding door which Luis will insist on closing!!! Tonight I even succeeded in breaking my glass ...

Mozambique, Boa Vida. 9/8 & 10/8/14

9/8/14
Considering we only had 640kms to do, the journey took forever. Initial leg is highway all the way and gives you a false sense that you will arrive at destination 7 hours down the road. It eventually took us 9 hours. Pongola was a breeze. I do miss the brightly coloured, thatched rondavels of yesteryear. Nowadays everything is drab, square, cinder block structures. Not much livestock initially. Once we turned off at Jozini, all hell broke loose!
Navigated over a mountain pass of note with stunning panoramic scenes of Lake Jozini. Jozini town is a bustling metropolis on a Saturday: people and cars everywhere. Couple of near misses with goats and cows thereafter; speed bumps every 10 kms or so - all conspiring to add hours to the journey.
All my anxiety regarding the border crossing was in vain. What a breeze - yes, it took a while but what incredibly friendly folk, going out of their way to assist us (on both sides).
Then ... Then ... Then ...
Sand roads, and, I mean, sand roads!!!!
20kms of sand roads ... Took us over an hour but what fun and a grand rush!






Pee break.


Jay ... Man down .... Time to deflate tyres














Brutus performed beautifully.
Spent afternoon settling down and watching what appeared to be a large pod of whales: lots of tail slapping and spouting quite far apart from one another.
Had a late braai and (quite) a few drinks.
10/8/14
Rude awakening at 04:10. Some idiot from home phoning to report a suspicious car ... Really!!! Phoned guard hut to summon MML and couldn't get back to sleep. Coffee and watched sunrise from our balcony.









Our cabins are joined by a large deck so getting together and sharing is an easy pleasure.





As much as the whole beach story disagrees with my skin, I love watching the sea. This is the best of both worlds. Magnificent uninterrupted view, constant susurration lulling one to sleep, warm weather but pleasantly cool in the shade ... Yup ... Very civilised.
Spent a couple of hours wading in the sea with the kids chasing waves ... Good fun. Huge uphill climb to get back to cabin - I was knackerred. Will feel the muscles tomorrow, I'm sure.
Mid afternoon a couple, Andre and Karen, wandered on to our deck looking for accommodation. They couldn't raise any of the estate staff including security. Long story short, we guided them back to Sunset Shack where we (Andre and Karen having edged on looking for fully catered accommodation ... on a Sunday afternoon ... in remote Moz ...yeah right) stopped off for a very pleasant couple of hours. We befriended a young female ridgeback who we named Tinto. (That's become our favourite word, derived from Tipo Tinto, a cheap, rather pleasant local rum. Even that has been renamed by us to Pinto Tinto!)
The kids spent the entire time playing with Tinto who loved the attention. Kids kept chucking sticks and twigs for Tinto. Between the three of them, they built this little log pile (beaver lodge?) in the middle of the "main" road. Locals very pleasant featured and friendly. Didn't think to take the camera so some beautiful photo opportunities were missed but have good memories and ... guess what ... we WILL revisit.
Beautiful red moon tonight





Early bed for me - up since 04:00 and no midday nap - I'm finito!

32 Bots/Nam Summary

A long tiring haul home, knowing what was to greet us at home!
Summary: 32 days total cost R35 000.
Breakdown:
Accom. R 7 169
Fuel. R11 420
Meals out R 3 446
Boats, etc R 2 824
Tyre. R 2 920

Still need to get aircon repaired.

High: Half Collared Kingfisher, Sam Situ, Epupa, Mavunje, plus all the other old faithfulls.
Low: West coast - always cold and windy!

31 Bots/Nam, Red Sands, Kuruman 7/6/14

Effing cold again this morning. I even got cold in bed last night - that's a first. Forgot to mention yesterday that the beetles froze and fell out of the trees during the night. Under every tree were at least 10 little carapace carcasses. Also, our fridge is set to run at 2deg. It will go to 4 then the compressor will kick in to pull it back to set temp. It has NEVER gone below the setting. Yesterday it was sitting at 1!
Even last night it stayed at 2 with no increase through the night. There was no frost on our car though so guessing it was around -1 but with a mean and nasty wind.
An uneventful drive to here. Got a call from Glynn that one of our hot water pipes burst during the night - water everywhere!!! Their holiday home turned into a boot camp!
We opted to stay in a chalet tonight and eat at the lodge. Tired of being cold!
Chalets are nicely furnished and air conditioned!

30 Bots/Nam Nossob 6/6/14

That cold front hit us with a vengeance. -5 deg at 6am. Single sequence lion roar at 4:30 followed by a chorus of jackal.
Sparkling frost on Brutus' bonnet and our chairs.













Took a call to switch out tonight's booking at Nossob to Twee Rivieren to lighten the travel load for the homeward stretch plus nothing much seems to be happening around Nossob. The journey started off with promise with a distant sighting of a scuffling honey badger.





From that point the grueling 160kms vehicle rattling trip began. Very tedious. Said tedium broken only by a Gymnogene (African Harrier Hawk) at a waterhole, a breakfast of bacon eggs at an unfenced picnic spot ...






... A Secretary bird in flight





... Two sated hyenas soaking up the sun's rays to thaw out the effects of -5 deg.











A few largish groups of Bat Eared Foxes, very skittish.





Haughty stare from a jackal





The roads around Nossob are badly eroded by the passage of time and many vehicles. The road is therefore, low and it is difficult to see much over the high grassy verge. The last 50km stretch was much better and yielded most of above pics.
It's now 6pm and very chilly. I am posting this while sitting in the car - warmest place.

29 Bots/Nam Nossob 5/6/14

My cell had adopted Nam time so I was really confused when I awoke at sunrise and the cell said it was 6am. From sunrise, however, I knew it had to be 7. The cold front is here and plenty of cloud cover. Does make for beautiful scenes, though.



First sighting was a pair of Bateleurs building their nest.


Each game reserve trip we have experienced has had its own prevalent sighting experience, be it jackal, cheetah, raptors, etc. This trip seems to be all about mice and rats. Two more for the collection (we saw loads, these were the two we stopped for).





Missed getting a photo of a pair of cheetah crossing the road and into the thick growth. Brief visual through windscreen.

Lanner Falcon





Pearl Spotted Owlet back at camp.





Just heard that lion made a kill (springbuck) at Mata Mata camp fence last night.