Two Geckos on a Road Trip – Day 13 – Mountain Zebra National Park

Today we drove the Sonnenrust in tandem with Alec and Cathy. The Earl was not all that keen on doing any 4X4-ing and I think it might have been because he ‘aged prematurely’ after doing the most hectic of the trails last time we were here. The Umgene Trail is described in the guide book as one to provide either great excitement or premature aging! We survived that one after having to move a large rock out of the road so this one was a piece of cake! It was quite hectic but we all thought it was enormous fun.

Our first sighting of the day before getting to the Sonnenrust Trail

What a handsome Gemsbok/Oryx

Finally an Ant-eating Chat posed beautifully

A Black wildebeest on his own

This springbok was also on its own and kept company with the white-tailed gnu

There are over 1000 mountain zebra in the park

Love birds

At the start of the trail we found the buffalo who are known to frequent this area

Who are those canned people, Mom?

Come on Mabel. Keep up!

What big horns you’ve got

Black-throated Canary?

Inquisitive Zebra

Stunning grazing for the zebra – Spot the Northern Black Korhaan behind the tail of the middle zebra

Having fun

Way in the distance I spotted a single suricate

Bright eyed and bushy-tailed

Ground Squirrel by The Earl

At the viewpoint

We should be so lucky to come across lions in or out of the car!

Stunning views

Yesterday I posted photos and was not sure what the birds were. At first I thought sandgrouse but seeing these made me think Shelley’s Francolin. I went back to the post and saw that Anne suggested Grey-winged francolin and of course she’s right! Apologies to all for the confusion.

Look out for Kudu we are warned by this signpost and for good reason

Because who should walk by one second later?

Back at camp we had a snack and a cuppa and then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon We did not go for an afternoon drive but I took short walk at about 17h00.

Fiscal Fly-catcher

Cardinal Woodpecker

Pied Starling

It was Cathy and Alec’s turn to cook. I lent them my Romosca pot and they did the most divine chicken casserole served with mash potato cooked in the smart space pots on a gas cooker and mixed veggies done in the micro

A wondrerful cooking system

A yummy meal was enjoyed by all