Once again it was time to move. The car packed up we were ready.
As I reversed out of our parking position in front of the chalet I was thinking to myself I was glad to be moving.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard and felt the car hit something. A nasty crunching sound.
You may or may not have experienced it yourself, I don't think Claire ever has but it's not my first time I have to admit.
A thin tree( must have sprung up overnight) was obscured from the view over my shoulder by the rear roof support and the raised headrest on the back seat. I did have a wing mirror though.
Should have seen it! Plain careless really.
It's only a bit of metal, actually it was plastic when I think about it, no one was hurt. It was easy to fix but it still ruined my day. Claire was supportive , it was only minor but I was annoyed with myself.
Hey ho! I eventually got the bill and it wasn't too bad the labour ridiculously cheap at 280R, the paint ridiculously expensive at 1800R but even so it still not worth bothering to claim on my excess policy.
The drive didn't get make the day much better either.
We tried the Red Rocks route again, then the S56 to Sirheni.
Nothing out of the ordinary to be seen and when I arrived in Sirheni I declared to Claire I wasn't going anywhere until it was the day we were leaving.
Our chalet in Sirheni was fabulous!
We had a big lounge/diner.
The kitchen was very well equipped with everything you could need.
The bedroom was big and spacious.
There was an outdoor but covered seating area
We were right in the corner so it was very quiet, very private.
I set off to investigate the two hides that are there but there wasn't anything to see although I did flush a Bushbuck that was grazing inside the camp fence.
The view from our chalet showed us that game was passing through.
We saw Impala, Reedbok and Zebra. The tragedy is that until a few years ago we'd have been looking at a waterhole but the dam broke and it has never been repaired so the two hides no longer have the same appeal they no doubt once did.
The only water was in the tiny little concrete bird bath below our patio. I immediately filled it with water and during the course of the next 36 hours sat and watched to see what turned up whilst sat at the table processing my previous photos.
It was lovely to have a break from driving.
From a birding prospective the camp wasn't the best really but perhaps that was a view that was twisted by the fact that nearly all the species I saw had already been seen elsewhere.
Arrow-marked Babbler
Blue Waxbill
Yellow-fronted Canary
Red-headed Weaver
and the ever present Cape Glossy Starling were some of the many that called in..
There were however two new additions, one to the drinking pool, a Yellow-throated Petronia which I almost overlooked as a Sparrow.
The other I would never have found if one of the staff hadn't shown me exactly were to look!
This African Scops Owl is so well camouflaged and actually much smaller than the photo suggests.
I went back a couple of times before eventually getting a shot with an eye half opened as dusk was approaching.
I'd had a very restful day and a half but that was me ready to go again, so much so I decided to spend the last hour of our second night there by driving over to the Boyela waterhole . It's a short drive maybe 10-15 minutes away and you never know, there might be some Lion action again!
Well there wasn't. But there were some Zebra but they were just leaving
One single Elephant monopolised the water for most of the time so I just messed about with that one.
We didn't haver that many nights left in the park, might as well fill my boots with Elephant while I can, might be a long time before I get another opportunity!
I have to say I did like Sirheni, personally I would definitely say it was the best all round accommodation for space and facilities. The camp itself wasn't as good as Shimuwini in terms of the views from the camp. Neither are as well placed as Talamati in terms of drives from the camp but Sirheni has excellent options too. It's certainly my view that Bushveld camps are a better proposition for us.
I have mentioned weather in my appraisal of the camps accommodation and for good reason. We were lucky that only on one night, and that was in Sirheni, were were obliged to "eat in" and that wasn't exactly true either. We ate on the undercover outside table. The problem was the wind.
In our corner position near to the adjoining bush, with an area littered with crisp dead leaves and the park in a drought there was no way I could risk a Braii when the wind was blowing so strongly.
One of the nearby chalets at Olifants showed the outcome and the risk of a flying spark.
The flames had spread from one thatched roof to the neighbouring one too. Fortunately the fire was contained to the two chalets, no one was injured thankfully but two of the best located chalets are still waiting repair.
No, we used the provided oven to cook on this occasion which was really useful. We would have been stuck in Shimuwini with the two poor gas hobs and no electrical appliances. The main camps all have restaurants of course.
Quite literally food for thought before you decide what might suit you.
Or should that be thought for food?
TBC
As I reversed out of our parking position in front of the chalet I was thinking to myself I was glad to be moving.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard and felt the car hit something. A nasty crunching sound.
You may or may not have experienced it yourself, I don't think Claire ever has but it's not my first time I have to admit.
A thin tree( must have sprung up overnight) was obscured from the view over my shoulder by the rear roof support and the raised headrest on the back seat. I did have a wing mirror though.
Should have seen it! Plain careless really.
It's only a bit of metal, actually it was plastic when I think about it, no one was hurt. It was easy to fix but it still ruined my day. Claire was supportive , it was only minor but I was annoyed with myself.
Hey ho! I eventually got the bill and it wasn't too bad the labour ridiculously cheap at 280R, the paint ridiculously expensive at 1800R but even so it still not worth bothering to claim on my excess policy.
The drive didn't get make the day much better either.
We tried the Red Rocks route again, then the S56 to Sirheni.
Nothing out of the ordinary to be seen and when I arrived in Sirheni I declared to Claire I wasn't going anywhere until it was the day we were leaving.
Our chalet in Sirheni was fabulous!
We had a big lounge/diner.
The kitchen was very well equipped with everything you could need.
The bedroom was big and spacious.
There was an outdoor but covered seating area
We were right in the corner so it was very quiet, very private.
I set off to investigate the two hides that are there but there wasn't anything to see although I did flush a Bushbuck that was grazing inside the camp fence.
The view from our chalet showed us that game was passing through.
We saw Impala, Reedbok and Zebra. The tragedy is that until a few years ago we'd have been looking at a waterhole but the dam broke and it has never been repaired so the two hides no longer have the same appeal they no doubt once did.
The only water was in the tiny little concrete bird bath below our patio. I immediately filled it with water and during the course of the next 36 hours sat and watched to see what turned up whilst sat at the table processing my previous photos.
It was lovely to have a break from driving.
From a birding prospective the camp wasn't the best really but perhaps that was a view that was twisted by the fact that nearly all the species I saw had already been seen elsewhere.
Arrow-marked Babbler
Blue Waxbill
Yellow-fronted Canary
Red-headed Weaver
and the ever present Cape Glossy Starling were some of the many that called in..
There were however two new additions, one to the drinking pool, a Yellow-throated Petronia which I almost overlooked as a Sparrow.
The other I would never have found if one of the staff hadn't shown me exactly were to look!
This African Scops Owl is so well camouflaged and actually much smaller than the photo suggests.
I went back a couple of times before eventually getting a shot with an eye half opened as dusk was approaching.
I'd had a very restful day and a half but that was me ready to go again, so much so I decided to spend the last hour of our second night there by driving over to the Boyela waterhole . It's a short drive maybe 10-15 minutes away and you never know, there might be some Lion action again!
Well there wasn't. But there were some Zebra but they were just leaving
One single Elephant monopolised the water for most of the time so I just messed about with that one.
We didn't haver that many nights left in the park, might as well fill my boots with Elephant while I can, might be a long time before I get another opportunity!
I have to say I did like Sirheni, personally I would definitely say it was the best all round accommodation for space and facilities. The camp itself wasn't as good as Shimuwini in terms of the views from the camp. Neither are as well placed as Talamati in terms of drives from the camp but Sirheni has excellent options too. It's certainly my view that Bushveld camps are a better proposition for us.
I have mentioned weather in my appraisal of the camps accommodation and for good reason. We were lucky that only on one night, and that was in Sirheni, were were obliged to "eat in" and that wasn't exactly true either. We ate on the undercover outside table. The problem was the wind.
In our corner position near to the adjoining bush, with an area littered with crisp dead leaves and the park in a drought there was no way I could risk a Braii when the wind was blowing so strongly.
One of the nearby chalets at Olifants showed the outcome and the risk of a flying spark.
The flames had spread from one thatched roof to the neighbouring one too. Fortunately the fire was contained to the two chalets, no one was injured thankfully but two of the best located chalets are still waiting repair.
No, we used the provided oven to cook on this occasion which was really useful. We would have been stuck in Shimuwini with the two poor gas hobs and no electrical appliances. The main camps all have restaurants of course.
Quite literally food for thought before you decide what might suit you.
Or should that be thought for food?
TBC
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