Wakkerstroom

It was dark when we arrived at De Oude Stasie campsite in Wakkerstroom, only to be confronted with a CLOSED sign on the gate! However, the gate was open so we went in and camped anyway; we have our own facilities after all… What we found out the next day is that businesses in Wakkerstroom do not operate on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays!!! Being a Monday night the ‘closed’ sign was actually referring to the Restaurant and not the campsite. The same was true for everything else; our only option for coffee and lunch the next day was at the Wakkerstroom Inn.

The wind was relentless but when the low cloud lifted sufficiently we took the 4×4 track up to Ossewakop, which provided a stunning view of the town and surrounding area.

Start of the 4x4 track up to Ossewakop
Start of the 4×4 track up to Ossewakop
Lion Spoor (Euphorbia clavarioides)
Lion Spoor (Euphorbia clavarioides)

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A "bird's eye-view" of Wakkerstroom
A “bird’s eye-view” of Wakkerstroom
Have some wind...
Have some wind…
and cold...
and cold…
On the way down
On the way down

We decided to stay at the Birdlife campsite for the second night. We had no sooner settled in when a huge storm broke. In the late afternoon we were at last able to go for a walk down to Crane Hide.

Glad to be on the ground (said by a true pilot!)
Glad to be on the ground (said by a true pilot!)
Calm after the storm
Calm after the storm

The night was cold, as was the previous one, with the temperature going down to 9⁰C.

The following morning was calm but still very cold. We bought some home-made pies and other goodies before going down to the old Kruger Bridge where we spent some time watching birds. We were rather disappointed though because it seemed our timing was not that great. The resident species appear to keep a low profile due to cold windy weather, while most of the migrants have not arrived yet; all-in-all not a very productive bird watching experience.

Speckled Pigeon - Warblers and Swallows would not sit still long enough!!
Speckled Pigeon – Warblers and Swallows would not sit still long enough!!

During our year-long trip we were invited by Andre Shirley (one of our blog followers) to visit their farm, Komati Springs, near Badplaas to see ‘a real’ colony of Bald Ibis. We decided to take her up on that now and left Wakkerstroom, rather disappointed, at around mid-day.