Beach Safari

  Kenton on Sea, Eastern Cape, South Africa
December 06, 2013We headed to the beach instead of doing a game safari this morning, so we were able to sleep in an extra hour. Although it gets bright so early, that we really did not sleep in.

We boarded the boat and cast off around 7:15. The wind was at our backs on the way there, so it was not too cold. The sun is out and the wind is fairly calm right now.

Along the Bushman's River bank saw a male and female Bush Buck. The male calmly gazed at us, but the female was terrified and dashed into the bushes.

There were some water birds, mostly as we neared the Indian Ocean - Egrets, Herons, Plover and Tern Beach Crew. The most impressive bird that we saw was the Goliath Heron. Man, that thing is massive!

We banked on a beach near the opening to the Ocean. It is very windy here and the waves look very impressive as they crash into the rocks across from us at Kenton-on-Sea. We were able to explore for a bit, but we mostly huddled around the table that David set up and sipped on our Mimosa's. Bill and I put our feet in the Indian Ocean for the first time and it is really cold! Bill found an interesting critter, a Sand Snail, that did not have a shell and would dig itself into the sand when the surf rolled out. It was a bit creepy!

After our drinks we returned to the boat and sped back to the lodge. The ride felt much cooler with the wind in our faces.

When we arrived back at "home" the clouds started rolling in T on the Beach. The other two couples are checking out, so we decided to go on a guided walk with Dave. We drove up the hill behind our cabins and parked by a journey of Giraffes. They were a bit nervous at first, but determined that we were not a threat, so they calmed down and just kept an eye on us as we walked by.

We were able to see at least a dozen flowering plants that we had not observed in our game drives, so I really enjoyed that. We walked along a path that climbed slightly and took us past the lodge area. We were delighted to see a new and really neat looking animal, a Black Wildebeest. It has a black body and has some white in it's mane and tail. When it runs it zigs and zags and flicks it's tail. It is some special kind of Wildebeest dance! As we walked closer to the Wildebeest, Blesbuck, Zebras and Elands, they began to race away from us, not like when we are in a vehicle and they just calmly stare back at us Walking Safari. It was cool to watch them head one direction together, halt, then run another direction. It was a mini-version of a mass migration.

We headed back to the vehicle because it started to sprinkle, but we thoroughly enjoyed our short walking tour.

It began to rain in earnest while we were having lunch. Bill and I burrowed into some cozy chairs on the second level of the lodge. They had a fire burning downstairs and the heat and the wonderful smell of burning logs drifted up to us. I updated some blog entries, but we did not promote them because the connection keeps dropping and the pictures will not load.

Thankfully it quit raining before our afternoon drive. We met two new couples from Vienna and Munich. It looks like for once, we are the oldest people on the Cruiser. We are missing one couple, but Dave figures out that they are at least 30 minutes out, so we did not wait Elephant Fight. I hopped into the passenger seat so that I can get some good photos tonight.

The new guests spotted the Giraffe behind our rooms, so we popped over to get a closer look. We also saw the Warties hanging out too. Dave showed us a new plant, Milkweed, which is also known as Old Man's Balls. When we saw it, we did not need any further explanation. The African Monarch Butterfly feeds on this plant.

We could hear the Burchell's Coucal calling, hopefully that does not mean we are getting more rain! We also heard the alarm call of the Southern Boubou. It is a very unusual sound and is impossible for me to describe.

We saw some more new babies, Nyala babies!

As we arrived at the passage for the marsh area I spotted a Giant Kingfisher on the post Elephant Love. When we were stopped Dave looked through the fence to the pond and became very excited when he saw a Purple Gallinule. He was so thrilled that I was able to get a photo of it because he has never seen one in the wild and has only seen one in an aviary when he was young. The other guides were very envious that we had seen it.

We saw a Crash - Mom, Dad and the 2 year old baby White Rhino by a small pond, so the new guests are very happy! They were loudly and contentedly eating the tall grass.

The majority of our time tonight was spent watching the elephants. They were in rare form and the one Bull Charlie was play fighting with another young Bull. Their behaviour must have been contagious because the youngsters started fighting too.

Everyone was very playful and even the youngest elephant was in on the action Finally a Sundowner. They got a little carried away though and one gave Mom a fright when she realized that baby was not by her side. She bellowed and ran past our vehicle to the little one's side.

Other birds we saw were: Yellowbilled Kite on the ground, Black Crow, Spurwinged Goose, Hadenda Ibis and a Speckled Mousebird.

We saw a Forest Fig Tree that I like a lot, It reminds me of my new necklace, but the guides think that it looks like a type of Acacia.

Bill and I were pleased that we had a sundowner tonight. Dave even made a special drink for all of us, a Springbok with Peppermint Schnapps and Amarula. It actually tasted pretty good. As we enjoyed our drinks the sun finally came out. How perfect is that?!

Dinner was served Boma style, but we stayed indoors because it is too cool. We met the couple that was too late for the afternoon drive. She was born in Brazil, but lives in Munich. He is moving back to Munich after living in South Africa for 22 years to be with her after this trip. We had a great meal with lots of great food and wine. We headed to bed around 10:00 to do some packing and to get some sleep before our 5:15 wake-up call from Dave.
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