Having a Whale of a time in Zavora, Tofo, Kruger and Sabi Sand

[kittykat23uk]

Zavora, Tofo, Kruger and Sabi Sands

I usually do a day by day account of my holidays but for this one it may be a little different since each day in Zavora was much like the next. We had planned this trip to focus on the following:

Zavora &Tofo: We timed the trip to coincide with the peak of the humpback whale migration. We decided to spend the majority of the time at Zavora, with only 2 nights in Tofo, as Zavora is known to have a number of shallow (easier) dive sites where Manta rays congregate. Natalie, who travelled with me is not a qualified scuba diver and so had signed up for a discover scuba course to enable her to experience the shallow sites and hopefully dive with the Mantas. We included two nights at Tofo to give us a chance of doing a couple of ocean safaris with the hope of maybe seeing whale sharks, but as it was not the peak season for whale sharks we knew that this could be hit or miss. As it happened, things didn't quite go to plan.

Kruger: We considered a number of options for this section of the trip but after eliminating a few possibilities that involved staying in the park, principally due to a lack of enthusiasm from the tour guide I was corresponding with, we settled on using the same agent who booked our diving trip to make the arrangements, Scuba Mozambique. The lady we dealt with, Janeen recommended we book Needles lodge in Marloth Park with us flying to Maputo and transferring in from there, it being well located for a swift transfer to Southern Kruger. We booked five full day drives in Kruger with two sunset drives run by SAN parks.

Sabi Sand: I was also keen to see what Tydon Camp had to offer in Sabi Sand, and improve our chances of Leopard (Natalie had struck out with leopard in SLNP on a previous trip), so we also booked three nights there with a transfer via the panorama route back to Johannesburg on Sunday 8^th September.

[kittykat23uk]

22^nd August 2013

I flew from my home of Norwich on the 06.15 am flight via Schipol with KLM to Johannesburg arriving the same night. Getting into Johannesburg, I was shocked to find that the locks had been removed from my case and there was now a tear in the lining. Thankfully nothing seemed to have been taken, nor added to my luggage this time. I had a bit of a worry when there seemed to be no one waiting to pick me up but eventually the guy showed (he had to go between the two terminals to pick other guests up) and I overnighted at the Sunrock Guest house in Kempton Park, before connecting to Inhambane the following day.

I met Natalie at the gate and she was buzzing with excitement over the diving after reading a guide book whilst waiting for our connection (she flew overnight via Heathrow). Arriving in Inhambane we were met by Jon who runs Moz Divers and were transferred to Zavora Lodge http://www.zavoralodge.com/.

On arrival we were shown to our room, one of the Dorado sea facing en suite rooms. These were perfectly comfortable, which was a relief considering some of the poor reviews this lodge has received on Trip Advisor. The rooms do not include tea and coffee making facilities, but we had found this out in advance and stocked up on a few essentials en route. There is a kitchen available with kettle, gas stove and fridge for these purposes. The water is safe for drinking. The food was surprisingly good and the spaghetti bolognaise in particular could have fed two people.

It was too late to organise to do anything that afternoon so we spent the time whale watching from the shore. We immediately began to see plenty of humpback whales blowing out in the ocean and we saw the occasional playful tail slap as well.

I had gone down to the bar to see what was going on when Natalie came to find me saying that there was a problem with our room. She was about to use the facilities as one does, when she discovered a large mouse shivering in the toilet bowl. It's mate was peering over the edge of the bowl as if to say “what are you doing down there?!” The poor thing looked so pathetic and didn't struggle as I picked it up by the base of it's tail and showed it out of the bathroom. We later found it looking somewhat bedraggled on the little shelf above the cistern. I believe this might be some kind of climbing mouse, going by the length of the tail.

Untitled by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

24 August

This was our first full day in Zavora. The way things are organised with these dive centres is as follows, usually if they have one boat going out, they will take the divers who want to do a far reef dive out first. This is because the far reef dives are deep dives of 28 to 30+ metres. Then they will return to shore and pick up people who want to do an inshore dive, which is usually shallower. Depending on the number and skills/wishes of the divers, they may do a double tank dive. This is where the boat doesn't return to shore and they will do two deeper dives. However, the depth and lack of a long surface interval will limit the length of the second dive when doing this, due to the nitrogen build up in the body.

After the challenging diving that I did in 2011 in Tofo I wanted to stick to the shallow sites, hence why I chose Zavora over Tofo and of course Natalie with her discover scuba was also limited to shallow dive sites. So while they were out doing their first dive, I opted to do a skills tune up with Natalie in the pool.

The divers returned late morning and informed us that the conditions were very bad, with poor visibility and strong current, meaning that they couldn't get anywhere or see much under the water. So the plans to do a shallow dive were abandoned and we all piled on the RIB to go whale watching instead.

We had great views of about ten or so humpbacks, but I quickly discovered that trying to take pictures or video footage was going to be very challenging on the choppy ocean in a RIB. So anyone hoping to visit Mozambique and get quality images of humpbacks breaching from close quarters on a boat will be sorely disappointed! But photos aren't everything and just to be so close to these magnificent creatures was reward in itself.

We ended up going for a walk along the beach after lunch, where Natalie made some new friends who invited us to bush church the next day and then I whale watched from shore for the remainder of the afternoon.

P8242867 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

S1060010 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

S1060011 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

25 August Whale song in the Witch's cauldron

Natalie had made arrangements to join the friends she'd made the previous day for Bush Church whilst I decided to join the divers on the boat to whale watch whilst they braved the deep dive. In addition to the dive masters, there was a father and daughter from Israel. When they returned from the dive they reported conditions much improved from the previous day, which gave us hope for our shallow dive. As we headed to shore we encountered a few whales close to the boat, including mothers with calves.

We picked up Natalie and refloated the boat with some effort and then were on our way, as we approached the dive site we encountered a magnificent Manta Ray at the surface, but it vanished quite quickly. The shallow site was called “witch's hat”. To be honest, when we got down it was more like a witch's cauldron, as we could barely see a thing! Thankfully we went down on a rope so it was easy enough to get back to the surface. But as we descended slowly down to 11 metres, I experienced the eerie sound of male humpback whales singing. People say they dream of being on safari, but I have had very vivid dreams of swimming underwater with humpbacks, so I am not exaggerating when I say that this was one of the experiences that I had dreamed of having. Even though I didn't see the whales, to be underwater with that sound filling my soul was just magical!

[kittykat23uk]

After lunch back at the lodge I filmed the whales from shore. I believe that I might have caught some footage of a mother nursing her calf as she seemed to be on her back and the little calf was slapping it's tail up and down on the surface of the water. Judge for yourself in this little video, the bit I'm talking about is at around 7 mins 30 sec:

 

Fact of the day: The first humpback to be scientifically described was in New England, and was christened Megaptera novaeangliae, or “big-winged New Englander,” by German naturalist Georg Borowski on account of their humongous pectoral fins!

[kittykat23uk]

Natalie and I got itchy feet and so went for a walk behind the lodge in the late afternoon. Behind the lodge is a large reed bed. A flowering bush was attracting sunbirds including Purple Banded Sunbird and Scarlet Chested Sunbird and butterflies. Speckled Mousebirds could be seen feeding on cacti, and a pair of Little Bee-eaters were hawking for insects over the reed bed. A Brown-hooded Kingfisher perched on the telegraph wire and later was replaced by a Lilac-breasted Roller swallowing an unfortunate skink. Yellow-billed Kites soared overhead and a Dark-capped Bulbul perched upon some cacti. A colony of Village Weavers were adorning a tree some distance away. We stopped to examine a Painted Reed Frog and some interesting grasshopper-like insects. As we continued along the road we came across a pair of skinks which appeared to be practicing for Strictly Come Dancing.

S1060015 Painted Reed Frog by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

S1060017 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

S1060022 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

[Game Warden]

@@kittykat23uk Just catching up now...

[michael-ibk]

A bit unusual for a trip report to start with a mouse, but a mouse in a toilet is of course something different. Maybe your little rodent could make friends with @@Atravelynn ´s lizard blocking her toilet on her Kenya trip.

 

Sorry the diving part of your trip didn´t work out the way you had hoped for but the weather is the weather. "Diving in a whale song" must be a wonderful experience, however.

 

What exactly is the blue thingy in post 3? And of course I am very curious what horrific creature threatened you in your tented camp later in SA. Snake? *shudder*

[kittykat23uk]

@@michael-ibk that is a little Blue Bottle Jellyfish I think. No not a snake- I like snakes. There is only one creature that can get this Kitty riled up... You'll have to wait and see..

26 August

As I'd got a bit chilly going out twice the previous day I opted to wait and see what the results of the offshore dive were. As it happened conditions were somewhat better but not great, but unfortunately an examination of the inshore site revealed no change in conditions and so the shallow dive was cancelled. Instead, we went out on the dive boat with the other divers who opted to do a second deep dive, where conditions were better. We saw one whale well, as it dived down revealing it's massive tail fluke and others could be seen blowing further away. The divers returned from their second dive quite quickly, as they hadn't had much of a surface interval and the current was also strong. I believe they spent the majority of that time getting down and back up to the surface so they didn't seem too happy.

As we headed back we came across three Reef Manta Rays resting at the surface. But the visibility in the water and the swell made snorkelling with them a dubious prospect and nobody seemed keen to get in the water. By the time we got back it was about 3PM, so, after a late lunch we decided to go and watch the sunset from a nearby lighthouse.

[kittykat23uk]

27 August

Early morning I stood watching the sunrise out to sea looking for the tell-tale blow of the humpback whales. Later on, after breakfast, I decided to explore the extensive camp grounds, seeing more of the same birds as on previous days. Zavora Lodge in peak season must be a busy place going by the number of chalets and camping spots available. But it was very quiet whilst we were there with seemingly only the Dorado rooms occupied.

From the experience of the previous days it seemed most unlikely that the conditions would have improved sufficiently to do a shallow dive, so we decided to work on the assumption that it wouldn't happen and instead planned a snorkelling trip to the rock pool instead. The rock pool is a large rock amphitheatre at the end of a reef that projects out from the shoreline. It is only accessible at low tide, which at the time we were there was around 13.30. This allowed us time to confirm with the dive boat that conditions were indeed not improved on the day before.

We got kitted out in wetsuits and sturdy boots and walked along the beach until we reached the reef. Then we followed the top of the reef out to the pool. This was tricky terrain to traverse at times as it was studded with sharp rocks, interspersed with waves breaking over the top of the reef. We eventually made our way to the edge of the pool and put our fins and masks on.

Under the water, which was at least reasonably clear in the shallows, were a myriad of soft corals, weeds and sponges. Bright purple sea urchins and starfish were in abundance. There were quite a few different small reef fish, and I managed to spot a pair of interesting nudibranchs. I did take some video but it would probably make you feel rather seasick, so I won't impose it on the viewers here, those who are keen to get a feel for the rock pool can view the videos on my Youtube stream.

DSCF1776 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

DSCF1780 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

When we got a bit cold we headed back to the lodge. Sadly on the way we came across a disturbing sight, the spoils of the day's fishing trip, at least five small reef sharks had been butchered, their heads left for the scavenging kites, and even sadder, a number of rays including the head of a huge manta, waiting for the sea to reclaim them. We discovered that the fishermen divide the meat up between themselves, so this is not the remains of a finning operation, although this is, sadly rife along the Mozambique coast these days.

DSCF1786 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

A fisherman had also been taken to hospital on account of having an unfortunate run-in with a stingray, who's barb had pierced his leg!

When we returned to the lodge we met some new guests, Tom and Norma, Tom was originally from Norwich and Norma from Mexico and they were both now living in London. They hadn't had a good first dive, as the current was apparently terribly strong, and the second dive had also been cancelled. They had also had the disturbing experience of being present when the fishermen brought in the manta ray alive and began to dismember it. I can only imagine how harrowing it must have been to see this magnificent denizen of the ocean hacked to pieces whilst it was still alive and I am very glad that we were not around to witness it!

[kittykat23uk]

S1080002 Brown-hooded Kingfisher by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

DSCF1790 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

S1080014 Dark capped Bulbul by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

DSCF1749 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

DSCF1750 The top of the reef leading out to the Rock Pool by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

28 to 29^th August

Our time in Zavora was almost at an end. On the 28^th we had a leisurely get together, watching the whales from shore before breakfast and then we were on our way to Tofo for two nights. We arrived around lunchtime and just had enough time to dump our gear in our room in Casa do Mar. The owner bought this imposing three-storey property, which is set up at the top of a hill overlooking the bay, with the intention of moving her family in. This didn't happen and so she turned it into a guest house.

It couldn't be more different to the rustic Zavora Lodge, with it's clean modern lines. The entrance, spacious lounge/bar and dining area/terrace was sited on the top floor, which is accessed from the back of the property at the top of the cliff. Our en suite room was on the next level down, and was small and narrow, positioned to the back of the property. The two single beds lined up lengthways against one wall, the bathroom with shower positioned at the end of the room and a small table with tea and coffee facilities was provided. Strangely, the adjoining corridor was like another room with built in wardrobes, that we were told we could use for our clothes, but as there was no way to secure this space we didn't actually make use of this and just lived out of our cases.

At the front of the property on the same floor was another viewing terrace with comfortable sofas with fantastic views of the bay and on the ground floor was a small bathing pool and hammock. We didn't have much time to take this all in as we had to quickly get ready for the first of two ocean safaris. Now, last time I was here the ocean safaris were primarily used to look for and snorkel with Whale Sharks. Sadly it had been a few weeks since whale sharks had been seen in any good numbers so basically these trips became additional whale watching safaris instead. Last time I was here I dived with Tofo Scuba, who are located further down the bay out of the main area of the town. The diving outfit we went with this time was Peri Peri, who are located next to Casa Do Mar. this meant a steep walk down steps to reach the beach.

Over the two days we were here we had two great whale watching trips with several close encounters of Humpback Whales, one mother and calf even passed right underneath the boat. We also watched a school of Humpback Dolphins and Bottle-nosed Dolphins performing acrobatics right in front of the boat. I also spotted a small turtle that came up for air. White Chinned Petrels and Wilson's Storm Petrels were also spotted out on the ocean.

I'm afraid this is the best footage I got of the whales out on the rib:

and the dolphins here:

Tom and Norma had a dive booked for the morning of the 28^th but arrived later that afternoon. Again their experience had not been great. We hoped that things would improve for them as they had more time devoted to the diving to go before they would again cross paths with us at Needles Lodge for their safari.

We returned to shore and later took a walk in the market to browse for souvenirs. The Marine Megafauna Foundation gives a number of talks at one of the local eateries, Casa Barry. Natalie was keen to go, as it was “Whale Shark Wednesday,” so, after having a delicious Spaghetti Bolognaise in Tofo Tofo, we wandered down to listen to the talk. It was fascinating to hear all about Mozambique's whale sharks, which are by and large immature specimens. There are still a lot of unknowns about where the whale sharks go to mature and breed, and where the mothers give birth to their live young, and very little is known about where the young sharks spend their formative years. So the Foundation has started to photo catalogue the sharks and uses images provided by divers to keep tracks on individuals. They use the pattern of spots on either side of the head to identify them, as these are as unique as a human fingerprint. They also attach GPS trackers to some sharks, but this is an expensive business. Apparently aging sharks is much like ageing trees, you count the rings of cartilage in their vertebrae. One thing is clear, the research had shown how vitally important the population of whale sharks in Mozambique is, as they are one of the largest populations discovered.

The Foundation is also doing research further afield and has discovered an interesting association of Whale Sharks with offshore oil platforms in the arabian gulf. You can read more about their research here: http://www.marinemegafauna.org/research/

[twaffle]

I hope you enjoyed yourself despite the lack of dives and the sadness of the fishing methods. Hard for me to relate to this sort of safari, I.e. what makes it a success, or pleasurable. Must be very hard to plan for. Interesting though.

[pault]

Well, the mouse is the highlight so far.Happy ending too! Whales sounding good - especially the songs underwater, but I don't dare to watch your videos in case I get sea sick! Am I being silly?

 

You go out in small boats right? Looks like a dinghy in the still from the last videos that I don't dare watch for fear of sea sickness.

[kittykat23uk]

Yes @@pault it is a Rigid Inflatable Boat or RIB. Like the sort used by coast guards etc. not exactly a stable platform for videography, and lots of sea spray to contend with! Not the sort of boat to risk my DSLR gear on!

[kittykat23uk]

On the morning of our second day in Tofo I had arisen early as usual and was on the viewing deck as dawn began to break. Fishermen prepared their little boats and set out to sea. The Humpback Whales seemed to be particularly playful this morning and I was witness to multiple breaches as these behemoths launched themselves out of the ocean creating a huge splash ash they crashed back into the sea.

I was concerned for the fishermen in their tiny rowing boats as whales could be seen all around them. Suddenly, one particularly playful whale breached multiple times close to the boats. Once, I think it was so close that they must have tasted the spray from its re-entry! Natalie was in the shower and missed all of this entertainment!

Some screen grabs from the video:

Humpback-1 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Humpback2 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

WHALE!!-3 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

WHALE!! 4 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

And then...

 

WHALE!!-5 copy by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

Too close for comfort?!

[kittykat23uk]

@@twaffle yes, we did, very much so! Witnessing the above was rewarding in itself. Of course it would have been wonderful if the diving had come off. I suppose I am fortunate to have dived with Mantas and snorkelled with Whale Sharks on my last visit to Tofo, which meant that I wasn't as disappointed to focus on whale watching as Natalie must have been. It really is just the luck of the draw when visiting this particular area.

[Super LEEDS]

Someone at work sent an email today to our biggest partner (they do the most business with us) which included in the subject "..... Princess of Whales.......".

 

Before laughing and mocking my colleague in another team, I first thought of your TR @@kittykat23uk!

 

ST is taking over also helps endorse how good your TR is so far.

[kittykat23uk]

Glad you are enjoying it @@Super LEEDS. I always find it strange how many divers have no interest in land-based wildlife and similarly how few safari enthusiasts never venture underwater to experience the magnificent creatures that lurk beneath the waves.

 

P8292984 adj by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

After breakfast, while we waited for the ocean safari we decided to take a walk along the beach around the point towards Tofinho. We were rather glad we did because a huge Humpback Whale breached right in front of us just offshore from where we were stood! We had barely time to register what we had witnessed, it was over so quickly. I set up the camcorder and hoped for the best, my Olympus camera also poised at the ready! But alas, a breach of the same magnitude was not forthcoming.

DSCF1811 adj Humpback Whale by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[wilddog]

That boat looks so tiny next to the breaching whale!

[kittykat23uk]

Yep, it was just a little rowing boat!

[kittykat23uk]

We wandered back via the market and decided to stop in at one of the local shacks for an early lunch. Last time I was here, the guys who I met were raving about a local dish called “Bunny Chow” so I decided I wanted to try it. They way Chris had described it was “a bread roll stuffed with meat”, which sounded yummy. Natalie wasn't convinced and as we were not that hungry we decided to share one. As it turned out, this meant that it was just served up as a couple of doorstop slices of bread with stir fried chicken and veg slopped over the top. Not at all what I was expecting, so a bit of a let down to be quite honest.

Then it was time for our ocean safari, which as I have mentioned was great for whale watching. Afterwards we met up with the divers, they had dived Manta Reef on their deep dive, but the visibility and current had been bad. Plans to dive the shallow site, Salon had been abandoned as well.

That evening it got rather breezy, so we decided to stay in at Casa Do Mar and eat there. The mood in the place was quite sombre, most of the guests had been out on the dive and were pretty disheartened about the conditions. I utilised the wifi to catch up on my emails, and of course Safaritalk!

I was delighted to see a familiar face, a beach dog who had befriended our group and followed us everywhere in 2011 had come to visit us. Here he is in 2011:

P1470283 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

30 August

We were both awake early and returned to our usual spot on the verandah watching the whales for our last few hours before catching our flight to Maputo. There was a pod some distance away, one whale breached a few times before they all stared swimming purposefully up the coastline.

A mousebird almost got blown away in the wind, this was not looking good for the divers...

But a few of the dive boats were still braving the weather.

After breakfast I popped down to the market to buy a little souvenir wooden whale shark carving for my mum. I haggled hard, but these guys don't go that low on their pricing. I also went to the Marine Megafauna Foundation to get a long sleeved shirt in support of their work.

Then it was time to leave for the airport and our time in Zavora and Tofo had come to an end, but the safari still lay ahead of us...

[kittykat23uk]

Our flight from Inhambane to Maputo went off without a hitch and Justin Barr of Mkhumbe Safaris http://www.mkhumbesafaris.com/ was there to greet us. We left Maputo and headed into South Africa via the Komatipoort Border post. There was hardly a queue at the Mozambique side, but on the South Africa side they were queuing out the door and back up into no man's land! Eventually we were through and on our way for the relatively short drive to Marloth Park, Gateway to Kruger Park.

 

I understand that Scuba Mozambique use Justin regularly for their safaris, though we found that the organisation of the safari left a few things to be desired! Our first indication that something wasn't quite right was when we got talking with Justin about our itinerary. He said that we were down to do a full day in Kruger on the 31^st, as we expected, but that we then had nothing until a sunset drive the following day. He also had us down to do a walk later in the week, leaving only three full day drives in Kruger! I was pretty sure that I had booked five full day drives and two sunset drives for this section of the trip, so when we arrived at the lodge I checked against our itinerary and confirmed this was indeed the case. I immediately got onto Janeen to reconfirm the itinerary, which she duly did, so this issue was, thankfully, resolved quickly.

 

Justin is a qualified guide and we were under the impression that he usually does the guiding himself, and we were expecting him to guide us. However, he was having some problems with vehicles and at the time we were there he was needed to do more airport transfers and so had contracted out the game drives. In the event, the local guide we had for the majority of the days at Needles Lodge was the regular guide that Dennis, who runs Needles Lodge, usually worked with.

 

We arrived in Marloth Park, which is a wildlife sanctuary and holiday town located on the bank of the Crocodile River between Malelane and Komatipoort on the N4 national highway. It boasts four of the “Big Five” with the exception of elephant. Buffalo, rhino and lion are confined to Marloth's game reserve "Lionspruit"; the rest of the game such as kudu, zebra, giraffe, blue wildebeest, nyala, impala, warthog, ostrich and others aren't restricted by fences and roam freely between the units that are built on 3000 ha. On the southern boundary of the Kruger National Park, Crocodile Bridge gate is 14km and Malelane gate 35km from Marloth Park.

 

P8303009 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

It opened in 1972 as a holiday township. Marloth Park is separated by a fence and by the Crocodile River from Kruger Park. Apparently the fence was taken down at one point, to try and widen the area where the animals could roam freely, but unfortunately someone decided to have a braai on the banks of the Crocodile river, which the Sanparks authorities took offence to and the fences were then reinstated. The mammals, having now been confined artificially by the fences, are supported by the lodges who put out feed for them. This means that one can witness a whole host of mammals at close quarters before even entering Kruger park.

 

We arrived at Needles Lodge, located on bushpiglaan (Bush Pig Avenue) about 14.30. Dennis, the owner, greeted us when we arrived along with Sandy, his bubbly assistant. We were shown to our nicely appointed room and I took a quick dip in the pool to cool off. We then decided to go for a walk down to the Crocodile river, the view of which was somewhat obscured by the fence. As it was getting towards dusk, we headed back to the lodge. A small group of warthogs were foraging around the deck. A little while later a shy Grey Duiker and then a herd of four female and one bull Kudu arrived for the pelleted feed that the lodge puts out for them.

 

P8303027 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

As we relaxed and had a pre-dinner drink with the other guests, Sandy started laying out pieces of banana along the banister of the deck. Soon we were treated to the sight of several Lesser Bush Babies bounding across to furtively take a sweet treat before retreating to the shadows of the nearby trees.

 

Then flitting through the trees, Peter's Epauleted Fruit Bats began to appear, snatching pieces of banana off the rails. It was fascinating to watch these little mammals and, despite being rather hungry, as we hadn't a big lunch, I was almost disappointed when we were invited to take our places in the boma for dinner. But the show continued as banana was strategically placed around the top of the fence surrounding the boma.

 

Dinner consisted of three courses, usually soup and homemade bread, pate or prawn cocktail and tonight for the main we had a braai of springbok, mutton and boerewors with a variety of veggie accompaniments. The deserts were all very tasty as well.

 

P8303040 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr