“All for the Birds”

On 20 December 2009 myself (Adriaan) and fellow guide Jerry departed Johannesburg with a family of 4 on a “Rainbow Route” tour through South Africa.

The whole family was keen birders. Oliver the 10 year old boy had immense knowledge of our bird species especially birds of pray. This gave us (the guides) the opportunity to not only concentrate on the ‘Big 5’ but also the smaller creatures and in particular the birds.

On our way to the little historical town of Pilgrim’s Rest we decided to stop of at the bird of pray centre in Dullstroom and witnessed the marvel of falconry.

We spent 2 hours watching them fly four magnificent birds. Of special interest was the Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird in the world. We were told that the fastest speed the falcon reached that day was a 162 km/h.

Kruger National Park also gave us fantastic sightings. The game drives were vary productive in that all the creatures made an appearance, big and small. – Dung beetles, scorpions, snakes, antelope, giraffe, zebra, rhino, elephant, serval cat and even cheetahs!

On one specific morning game drive we stopped off at a bird hide and spent about an hour there just enjoying the peace and tranquillity that Kruger has to offer. We were joined by a lone elephant bull, pod of hippos and an array of birds. The elephant bull drinking while the hippos kept an eye on the old fellow, grunting and wallowing! Plenty of Kingfishers showed themselves, and we where also lucky to see the rare Malachite kingfisher. Herons were fishing, open-billed storks wading in the water, foam nest frogs nesting and a crocodile waiting patiently! What a place to loose yourself completely!!!

By Adriaan