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Sunshine in CT, you were so lucky! We were there last Aug, and were greeted with clouds, rain and wind fro 5 days in a row. Well, except the day we drove the peninsula, which turned out to be a nice day. We loved the city though and promised to go back :)

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michael-ibk

We moved on to Table Mountain NP and the Cape of Good Hope. Very lucky with the weather today, it was a perfect sunny day with not much wind. As we would learn a few days later when returning to Cape Town it can be very different this time of the year.

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I loved the coastal landscape here. More than one, I was reminded of the coasts of Ireland.

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While the Cape is very, very beautiful, this is a once in a lifetime experience. Once meaning "never again" in this case. :) I guess it would be alright early morning, but now, at early noon, it was just far too many people, here and at Cape Point!

But much better after climbing the hill/rock at the Cape. Puny People Pah!

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Don´t misstep here!

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Lots of seabirds here, especially Gulls, Terns and Cormorants - and Cape Fur Seals.

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Edited by michael-ibk
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michael-ibk

The view from Cape Point.

 

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No escaping the masses here.

 

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But some nice smaller stuff!

 

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Greater Double-Collared Sunbird

 

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Four-Striped Grass Mouse

 

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Cape Bunting

 

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Troop of Chacma Baboons seen on the way out.

 

Dantes suggested to drive a bit to have lunch farther away from the masses. We gladly agreed, and found a very nice, quiet restaurant in Scarborough (I think), the Carmel Rock Restaurant.

 

We then took the scenic drive around Chapman´s Peak. A stunning place, just awesome, probably the coolest road I´ve ever been on.

 

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We had originally planned to also go to Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens in the afternoon, but with our pace that would have hardly been possible, not even in a rushed way. And so we decided to just tweak the itinerary a bit and do it next morning, give it the time it deserves. And often, often stopped here to take the beauty of the coast in. This was magnificent, and I could have happily sat there until sunset, just watching, breathing sea air and feeling the sun and a mild breeze on my face.

 

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Well, I guess I could just about bear living in a place like this. :)

 

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We saw a Jackal Buzzard, a quite common - and beautiful - bird of prey at the coast.

 

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In the evening we had dinner at the Gold Club. A totally "authentic" location with "traditional" dances. ;) A terribly touristy place of course, but well done for what it is, and food was excellent. And I admit, it was fun. We even had our faces painted. :)

 

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Edited by michael-ibk
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Your trip report is perfect timing for us, we are just back from our third visit to South Africa and I have been planning for sometime to go to KTP next year and had contacted Dantes, your report helps us confirm that Dantes tour is the one for us - we are planning on the KTP/Augrabies/Witsand/ Mokala. Really looking forward to the rest of your trip report especially Augrabies as havent been able to find out a lot about that area.

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Oh, yeah ... the salt air can be smelled even in my office, and the blue skies helps forgetting about the grey clouds outside ... and your photos, @@michael-ibk and @@AndMic , are as good as I was expected to be!! Keep them coming, regularly!

 

As for the gained kilograms, well, Zvezda lost a couple of kilos in 2014 ... the rice only diet could help you also :D:D

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Beautiful photos thoughout (I hope Andreas is as much into birding as you Michael!)

A great start to the trip. The penguins are very cute, the scenery stunning. I really like the Cape Bunting and the Mouse

When you get to DeHoop make sure you give practical details as it is a place we are thinking of visiting!

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you're taking me back along the same journey to Cape of Good Hope NP but we avoided all the touristy places and I had a wonderful wonderful day that day. sigh.

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@@michael-ibk thanks for your lovely photos especially of of the seals and penguins;you have me excited to be returning to Cape Town next year. I will be going there on my way to and return from Tswalu Kalahari. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Cape Town is one place that is so exciting and one could never get bored of visiting.

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5 kg's in one trip! Awesome though I think I beat that once before though it was over 3 months not 2 weeks!

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Beautiful pictures of the Cape scenery.

 

Love the seal relaxing in the tyre picture.

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@@michael-ibk, had wondered if you were self-driving this trip, so I appreciate that you can share your experiences on a guided Kgalagadi trip. 5kgs in two and half weeks is impressive, should have joined the cyclists?? The Leopard looks "not to be messed with". Looking forward to the fun ahead.

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Peter Connan

Great so far!

But I think your Grey-headed Gull is actually Hartlaub's?

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Michael, like Geoff said, excellent pictures in the intro. Your photography level improves from report to report.

 

I couldn't agree more with this. Love that seal shot in the tire and the penguins are perfect. Great stuff Michael.

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Wonderful photos - so vibrant! And I like that you focus on both beautiful land/seascapes and "zoom in" to show us the wildlife abounding in the area.

It's been almost a decade since my one trip to Cape Town, but you're taking me right back. Great stuff.

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Your De Hoop teaser takes me back! You had the most fantastic weather in CT. I just hope we are as lucky in September. That trip is flowers on the West Coast, Richtersveld, KTP, Cederberg and whale watching at Hermanus. We are also going to see the penguins and will remember to get there early. Looking forward to the rest. Pen

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As always, a lot of them will be by secret lurker @AndMic . Say Hi, Andreas!

 

Hi :) !!!

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(I hope Andreas is as much into birding as you Michael!)

 

@@TonyQ

 

I suffered! ;) I do like birds but not as enthusiastically as Michael. For me, the birds are often too quick (or I am too slow for them!).

My favourites are Kingfishers, Bee-Eaters and the Lilac-Breasted Roller.

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michael-ibk

Thanks again, @@xyz99 , @@Safaridude, @@KiwiGran , @@xelas , @@TonyQ , @@Kitsafari , @@optig , @@dlo , @@Zim Girl , @@elefromoz , @@Peter Connan , @@Marks and @@penolva .

 

I see I have impressed most of you with the weight thing. Well, I can accomplish most astonishing feats when I put my mind to it. ;)

@@michael-ibk

 

It's a shame they've renamed the jackass penguin.

I always wonder - who are "they"? Is there some kind of central authority on which name a bird should have? I´m glad some changes simply aren´t accepted, like Short-Tailed Eagle ( :angry: ) for a wonderful name like Bateleur.

Your trip report is perfect timing for us, we are just back from our third visit to South Africa and I have been planning for sometime to go to KTP next year and had contacted Dantes, your report helps us confirm that Dantes tour is the one for us - we are planning on the KTP/Augrabies/Witsand/ Mokala. Really looking forward to the rest of your trip report especially Augrabies as havent been able to find out a lot about that area.

Glad my report is helpful for you. Dantes is a very professional, hard-working, knowledgeable and friendly guy and a great guide, you really can´t go wrong with him. But you will gain weight. ;-) Your itinerary sounds interesting, Dantes recommended Mokala to us as well for a return trip.

Great so far!

But I think your Grey-headed Gull is actually Hartlaub's?

I hate Gulls because I´m rubbish at identifying them. I thought only the Grey-Headed (which are not grey-headed when non-breeding) have the red eye ring (which is not mentioned for Hartlaub´s in my bird book), but apparently Hartlaub´s have that as well. So I do think you´re right.

 

I will just stop taking pics of Gulls. :)

Your De Hoop teaser takes me back! You had the most fantastic weather in CT. I just hope we are as lucky in September. That trip is flowers on the West Coast, Richtersveld, KTP, Cederberg and whale watching at Hermanus. We are also going to see the penguins and will remember to get there early. Looking forward to the rest. Pen

That sounds fantastic, Penolva. Hopefully you will get to see the Whales, we were too early for them.

Edited by michael-ibk
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michael-ibk

Next morning it was already time to say Good Bye to Blackheath Lodge. I was very tempted to abduct this little lady and take her on the trip, but Anthony would probably not have been amused. :)

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We drove straight to Kirstenbosh which opens at 08:00. Like with the Penguins, it was good to be there early, because the place was still very quiet and peaceful - and beautiful!

 

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It is called one of the great botanical gardens in the world, and rightly so. The background is just stunning. We spent two hours there, and I could easily have stayed much, much longer. Very productive place for birds of course.

 

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Forest Canary

 

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Egyptian Goose

 

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Cape Spurfowl

 

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Helmeted Guinea-Fowl

 

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Cape Robin-Chat

 

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Southern Boubou

 

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Dinosaur. :)

 

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Cape White-Eye

 

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Juvenile Jackal Buzzard

 

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Rufous-Breasted Sparrowhawk (I think)

 

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And hey, some birds for Andreas that did not fly away! :)

 

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Hadeda Ibis

 

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michael-ibk

I admit Kirstenbosh is first and most of all a garden (and not a birding playground) :) - so here are some of the beautiful flowers there. (Sorry, no idea about their names.)

 

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I do know that these are some kind of Protea at least.

 

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These were my favourites.

 

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michael-ibk

Kirstenbosh is a fantastic place for one of my (and most people´s probably) favourite birds - Sunbirds. Of course May (start of winter) is not the perfect time for them because not as many plants are flowering, but I did find several Greater and Lesser Double-Collared Sunbirds, males and females.

 

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michael-ibk

We left Kirstenbosh at about 11:00 am. A really beautiful place which I would happily visit again and again every time I get back to Cape Town.

 

Originally we had intended to drive to Bontebok NP this day, but since we had postponed Kirstenbosh to this morning Dantes did a bit of reshuffling and we decided to do the coastal road via Agulhas to De Hoop instead and Bontebok on the way back. Cape Town to De Hoop can be done by car in about three hours time (via the N2 motorway), but we took the long way and drove along the coast (R44, R43 along Kogelberg and Hermanus, then a shortcut gravel-road to the R319, and then Agulhas). Then, on the way back from Agulhas we drove North to Bredasdorp, left the R319 there and used a gravel road to De Hoop (where a arrived at about 17.30 am.) Very scenic, many idyllic places and villages, I really enjoyed this drive. All roads are in very good condition (including the gravel roads), and there´s not much traffic - so driving there is really easy.

 

Some impressions from the route:

 

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Familiar Chat - it deserves that name, our constant companion during this trip

 

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To our delight we saw Flamingos (Greater and Lesser) twice on the way, once just past Hermanus, and once on the shortcut to Agulhas.

 

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Most people think the Cape of Good Hope is the Southern-most tip of Africa. But actually that´s Cape Agulhas, and somehow we just wanted to be there. :)

 

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Two Oceans meet. :)

 

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Next stop - Antarctica!

 

Agulhas is probably not a must-see but we enjoyed it, and not too many people seem to be visiting there.

 

From what I saw, apart from the parks, there are no wilderness areas in this part of South Africa - all the land is used for agriculture. Very much like Europe - in general I thought that the Cape Region is similar in many regards, though much more sparsely populated of course.

 

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Interestingly, the national bird of South Africa, the Blue Crane, generally a vulnerable and declining species is thriving in this area - they especially like wheat fields Dantes told me, and plenty of them in this region. I tried to find out why they are the national birds but couldn´t find anything, so maybe @@Peter Connan could elaborate on this?

 

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I agree entirely with your impression of Kirstenbosch. It was one of the best memories of our trip. Birds, flowers and a very decent lunch. What else can I ask for ?

The King Protea is now my screensaver.

I also wanted to go to Agulhas but the drive was a bit too long for two teensgers !

I wait to hear about those Blue Cranes from Peter.

Edited by Chakra
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