After leaving Johannesburg we drove in the direction of Kruger National Park but we had one more place to stay. As we drove down the nearly deserted country roads we would make stops every time we spotted a bird nearby. Here are a couple of species we observed:
An African Marsh Harrier flew overhead with the harrier’s distinctive “owl face”.
Another flyover, there were many Western Cattle Egrets in the marshes and fields
We came upon a colony of South African Swallows swooping low overhead in their search for flying insects.
We saw some cool birds on the ground as well. A pair of White-bellied Bustards were walking across a field. Here’s a shot of the male (the female lacked the black feathers on the head).
We continued to encounter a variety of lapwings in South Africa. Below is a Black-winged Lapwing. Note the red eye-ring.
A Greater Striped Swallow perched next to the road. It must have been making a nest for it had mud caked onto its beak.
Our lodging for two nights was the Forellenhof Guest Farm just outside of the town of Wakkerstroom. The Forellenhof Guest Farm guest rooms were in what used to be the main family house and a couple of standalone buildings. Karen and I were assigned a large room (perhaps the old master bedroom) – to get to it we had to walk through the dining room and living room. Here’s the dining room set up for dinner.
As you can see, the kitchen was just past the dining room table and after we were seated we would watch the hostess and staff put the finishing touches on our meals (which were excellent). Here’s a nice finishing touch to our dinner one night. Mmmmmm – chocolate!
Wakkerstroom was the hometown of our local guide David, who had been with us since we arrived in Capetown. Of course David knew every nook and cranny where birds could be found. He put us on some of my favorites of the trip, which I’ll cover in the next post.
CLICK HERE to see all the posts about our South Africa Bird Tour. Karen and I have had the opportunity to travel to many interesting places in search of birds. If you would like read about some of our other Bird Tours CLICK HERE.
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