Dirt Roads again

The River Lodge at Stanford was 3.7km out of town along gravel road and after a couple of journeys our pristine new Ford was more than a little dusty and streaked after a heavy dew. However this was just a taster since whichever route you choose to get to De Hoop involves at least 60km of similar roads and clouds of dust in this season.

However, the journey is well worth the coating of dust which seemed to reach everywhere - the lake was as we remembered it although the water was a little greener than usual due to a bloom of algae.

However the accommodation and restaurant was just as comfortable as before and we had an excellent dinner in the Fig Tree restaurant. We managed a couple of early morning bird walks, a trip to the sand dunes at Koppie Alleen and a cycle around one of the trails.

In addition to the Eland - each with their attendant Cattle Egret

Mountain Zebra

Bontebok

and a pair of Ostrich with three juveniles,

we also recorded a couple of new bird species - although there did not seem to be either the numbers of individual birds or the variety of species which we recorded on previous visits.

However it remains a magical place and one that we will definitely revisit - although perhaps in the Whale season next time.