Paradise

6th April?  I shouldn't really be allowed anywhere near a computer.  Couple of really lovely reserves close by - Mpenjati and Umtamvuna.  And no I didn't see any nudes on the beach nor did I shed as there was quite a cool wind blowing.  Found some fairly cool birds of the feathered variety though.  Have also been visiting all the local beaches and there are some really stunning ones.  Surprising to see that the municipal facilities are being maintained, they must realize the importance of tourism.

Went down to Port Edward to atlas Umtamvuna starting from the bottom end along the river.  At this time of year the sun doesn't get into the gorge at all in places, so it was really quiet.  Then I heard a rustle.........bingo Spotted Ground Thrush.

Another rustle and voila Brown, Scrub Robin and over there Terrestrial Brownbul, and what just flew in up there - Chorister Robin-chat.  One of those times when you don't know where to look next. 

The river must be heavily polluted as the water is tinged with the unmistakable flush of green algae.  However that doesn't seem to phase the fish as a Fish Eagle plopped into the water while I was gazing at the view and I thought it must have caught something big as he was flopping around like crazy, but then realized he/she was having a splendid bath.  Next stop was the beach to see if I could pick up some pelagics for the list. The poor shad were being decimated, you'd think they'd learn ........... Wow Eric check out that lekker piece of fish......Eric?

The place these guys were fishing from was the aptly named Splash Rock.

A day later I went to the Beacon Hill section of the reserve where all the trails plummet into either the Umtamvuna Gorge or its tributary the Boboyi.  I got halfway down and decided that that was quite far enough so stuck to the grasslands at the top.  Followed a pack of baboons for a way and the big old rear guard kept giving me the evil eye before moving on.

All along the trail were these funnel spider webs, covered in dew.

Back at the resource center I learned all about Lydenbergia abbottii a massive tree that only occurs in these two gorges and it's total range is about 10 km long.  Raspalia trigyna, a small bush, was another of interest as it was lost to science soon after being described way back when and was presumed extinct until a single specimen was located in the reserve in the 60's.  Unfortunately it croaked and none cuttings taken from it survived - second extinction?  Fortunately not as another small clump has been located and cuttings successfully propagated.

6th April

And I forgot my sons' birthday, good start - sorry sunshine.  So here I am in Paradise which is not much different from the rest of the world.  Lovely site up on a hill with the sea visible about 2 k's off.  Can't get the dish to work so will have to call in the pros on Monday.  Even quieter here than Corians only two other vans but a number of permanents in chalets.

Went to heat food the other night and it didn't, microwave bust - makes all the right noises but doesn't do a thing.  So I get it out and sensibly take measurements then off to Makro for a replacement.  Left the old one by the dustbin and next morning just as it was getting light there's a tap on the door - our trusty night-watch - is it broken, yes, can I take it, yes - handy bit of recycling.  So I get back with the new one and lift it into place and it wont go - good measuring, not only too wide by a couple of millimeters but too deep as well - didn't measure that did I.  Quick scrute and I see that there are two 20 mm wide pieces to blank off the sides and hooray they're removable, one down several to go.  Next I try to fit the plug through the existing hole......too small.  Dash round to local shop find a slimline job and fit it.......bang goes the warranty I guess. Finally get it in and that's when I find out about the depth problem.  Well as luck would have it the old one had some wooden rails fitted to it and by putting these back in the cabinet there's enough lift to make it level and so it sticks out by 30 mm, too old to care.  Now how to fix it in place so it doesn't go walk about during transfers, as I no longer have drills and things.  Maak a plan, which entails buying a tie-down securing it to the back wall of the cabinet and fixing a cup-hook underneath it, voila.

Meet Henry.

Henry lives at Crocworld which I visited prior to my departure and he is at least 115 years old, which makes him not only the oldest croc in captivity, but probably the oldest anything in captivity.  Henry loves children which was why he was caught in the first place.  Big game hunter fellow was asked to shoot him but then the tribe changed their minds and decreed that he should be kept in captivity to "punish" him.That was in 1903 and he was taken to the hunters' camp in the Okavango and sort of became a family heirloom until the grand-children had had enough and donated him in 1986.  He is 4 m long, weighs 750 kg and had ten wives until recently when he fell out with four of them - they don't say if he ate them!

When I arrived at Paradise the weather, which had been idyllic decided it ought to be winter and a cold front preceded by howling squalls hit, and here's me quaking in my van as I'm right under some very tall trees and successively bigger bits of them are raining down and any minute I'm going to get a whole tree.  Fortunately not and today were back to Indian Summer.

My back has been getting a bit grumpy of late so decided to find a physio and asked at the gym that I joined Two doors up I'll find Gillian, and a I made an appointment.  Gillian turns out to be a very pleasant black lady who eschews all the mod-cons and uses hands and Thumbs, and boy can those Thumbs inflict some pain - for which she apologizes profusely every time I scream.  But the back massage that followed made up for it.

The day before I left Pennington I woke up early and went to the beach.......

..........and the other way.