Ballito 3

Two posts ago I promised you a better photo of our resident Spotted Eagle Owl, and here it is! We had a troop of monkeys that came through early one morning and to our advantage they disturbed the owl, causing it to wake up and move, much to his dissatisfaction I am sure…

Our time here was rather restful and uneventful. Roger made all the arrangements for purchasing, delivery and installation of the transponder for Buzz, we chatted to the neighbours (Arthur and Lynne, Chris and Margie, Tommy and Eva) and even did some housekeeping.

We took long walks on the beach most days and on one occasion went to see what Salt Rock beach looks like. Well, it has the best tidal pool I’ve ever seen. And believe me the sea is not to be messed with here so a tidal pool is safe and comfortable.

We were rather amused by the last of a long list of rules relating to Tidal Pools displayed on the wall and which read: ‘DO NOT RELEASE SHARKS INTO TIDAL POOLS’.

This little guy was less than 1 cm long but they grow to about 4,5 or 5 cm. Sand Frogs have hard, calloused tubercles on each heel and they use these to shuffle backwards into the sand, corkscrewing slowly around as they burrow.

We planned to do a scuba dive on Friday but all dive operations were cancelled on Thursday due to the severe tropical storm Guito coming down the Mozambique Channel. They were expecting 25 kt winds and 3,5 metre swells so the Sharks Board removed the shark nets and closed the beached for bathing and surfing.

We woke up to some gusty wind and rain on Friday morning but it seemed as if Guito had passed us by. Either way, conditions were not favourable for diving. The boat hatch in Ufudu was leaking again so Roger will have to make a plan and find the problem before we get to the rainy Cape winter. At the moment he cannot yet figure out how the water gets in.

And as always, there is plenty to see in and around the campsite.

To top it all Dolphin Holiday Resort, where we stayed in Ballito, has a short trail through the forsest. We spotted Collared Sunbirds on our first walk but I did not have my camera with me then. This morning we went for an early walk and were lucky enough to see Blue Duiker! Fancy that, in the middle of a town… The light was poor but at least we got a photo to show you as they seemed unperturbed by our presence. They are Southern Africa’s smallest antelope, measuring just 30cm shoulder height, and seldom seen.

On Thursday we watched a movie (The Wolf of Wall Street) and on Friday evening we got together with some Aviation and Conservation guys for drinks and curry at the Salt Rock Hotel. Unfortunately Steve McCurrach (not the one in the photo!) and his wife could not join us due to a prior arrangement they had.

It is time to move, so today (Saturday morning 22^nd) we plan to get to Oribi Gorge and thereafter move on to the Southern Drakensberg.