Arriving at Hlane Royal National Park, the Waterhole by the restaurant was like a scene out of the Lion King!

Rhino, Hippo, Elephants, Impala, Stork, Ox Peckers and Crocodile, all that was missing was the Giraffe!

The Rhino tries to find his way to the water past the hippos, croc and elephants

The elephant looks smug after seeing off that pesky Rhino!

The croc sunbathes on the sand waiting for an easy lunch

Once the coast was clear the whole elephant family came down to the water hole

With one look the hippo tells the Rhino to stay away from their part of the water

The Rhino flops to the ground and sulks while he waits for the Hippos, Croc and Elephants to let him to the water.

Another evening drive for Stephanie and Adrian Tonight followed by an early morning mountain bike ride around the park (to say they are excited would be an understatement!)

The last full day of their nature tour in South Africa sees Stephanie and Adrian taking to the water once more in St Lucia.

Again, these waters contain both Hippos and Crocodiles, but this time Stephanie and Adrian are on Kayaks.

Paddling in the waters with Hippos and crocs doesn’t seem like such a good idea as you carry your paddle to the waters edge…

And they're off! Stephanie and Adrian glide across the surface leaving Justin to catch up with them

…but after the first few strokes of the paddle you are soaring across the water and all thoughts of turning back are gone from your mind.

Stephanie and Adrian leave Justin in their dust!

Lead by our trusty guide Justin, Stephanie and Adrian ventured out in search of the Hippos, Crocs and birdlife of the estuary.

Justin - our guide.

A juvenile fish eagle swoops after the adult female with her eel catch.

"Goliath Heron...way over there!"

Justin takes them closer to the Goliath Heron

Now we know why it is called Goliath, it is massive!

Feeling the breeze from the Goliath herons wings.

Once more Adrian and Stephanie have decided that they’re not ready to leave South Africa yet.

Stephanie and Adrian try to paddle off into the sunset together.

But we caught them and brought them back!

Over so soon... can we go again please?!

Don’t worry you two, the estuary, the crocodiles, the hippos and the kayaks will still be here when you get back!

Missing a leg, Stephanie and Adrian finished their kayak unscathed...

Adrian and Stephanie enjoyed yesterdays full day game drive so much that they’ve decided to go on another one!

They’ve clocked the Big 5 – but it would appear that’s not enough, they want to see a Cheetah in the wild and they want black rhino.

Good luck!

Well done Adrian!

On todays game drive he spotted the first Lion, and before the game ranger!

That never happens!!
Be proud :)

Today was a busy day!

The morning was spent tickling and feeding elephants…

Steph was so determined not to leave South Africa, she climbed in!

Unable to handle the extra wife, Adrian tries to convince Rambo (the elephant) to go to the pub for some male bonding

The afternoon was spent having a spot of lunch at Ilala Weavers (and shopping) and then a tour around a local township.

And then the last item on the days agenda is a bit of a hardship….

cuddling cheetah!!

Not quite sure what Kitten and co, will make of Stephanie and Adrians new pet...

We had a feast last night, everything must go! Due to laws in Swaziland you are not allowed to take any food products into the country so we ate and drank until we were fit to burst!

Armed with coffee fresh from the percolator (Antons travel companion who was greatly admired by Adrian) we woke ourselves from sleep and Stephanie ate Stephanies concuction of Pineapple and fruit Yoghurt :)

We all crossed the border without a hitch and proceeded to our breakfast stop in Swaziland overlooking a small lake. Little crocodile and BIG fish! Not to mention a teeny tiny water monitor who was basking on the frame work below the veranda.

It's a hard life for a little monitor

This redbishop was building a nest nearby to the restaurant.

Leopard! On the night drive last night Stephanie and Adrian saw a Leopard! They saw lots of animals, but I can’t tell you what they were as all they kept saying was “Leopard!!”.

Breakfast this morning brought us a handful of guests to the table, namely the Warthog family.

The baby warthogs are cheeky as their mum tries to steal our food

Mmmmmmm foooooood....

Mummy warthog eyes our lunch hungrily

Out on the boat again today, but disaster stuck. No sooner had we pulled away from the dock than one of the valves snapped on the steering system causing a fountain of pink fluid.

We were covered in hydraulic fluid, but Adrian and Anton were in
heaven as they tried to fix the boat!

After borrowing some tools from a nearby work crew the boys battled with the boat.

Stephanie and I decided that it would be unfair if we let the boys do all the hard work, so we hooked the bait on the lines and opened a couple of beers to keep us hydrated as we fished.

We were going for big catches, namely Hippo and Crocodile (or at least that is what Stephanie and I told anyone that asked)!
After a while the boys decided that the boat could wait as they could see Tigerfish from the boat where it was moored.

Adrian Catches a Tigerfish on his second Cast!

Steph plays with Antons little Catfish

No Hippos, but we did catch our Crocodile!

Another s*#t day in Africa....

Dragon fly radio :)

The worst bit about any trip is the travelling to get there and then once you are there travelling around in-country.

A quick lunch with Meera the birthday girl and then it is off on the next leg

Unexpected lunch guest

Whilst the journey times from our base in Hluhluwe are not too long, we like to mix it up a bit, so the next leg of our journey is by boat.

On the way down everyone is silently thankful that they don't have to walk back up the hill again!

Better than aircon!

Steph makes herself right at home!

Soon sitting back up for the elephants

What a shame it just happens to be on a really good fishing spot too!

Sundowners on the boat with the elephants nearby :)

I'm sure Steph is in here somewhere...

Boo!

Armed with our mask and snorkels (no flippers/fins needed at this reef!) We crossed the estuary feeling the alternating hot and cold currents swirling around us.

Because every holiday needs one of these pictures!

The beauty of the snorkelling at Kosi Bay is that you swim across a channel and walk up on to the sand bank that runs parralel to the reef, walk along the sand bank, and lower yourself once more into the balmy waters of Kosi Bay Mouth.

But now is where the hard work comes… Ok, only joking – all you
need to do now is float with the current, cameras at the ready.

There were fish of all sizes and colours hiding on the reef

Swim with the fishes

Oooooh! lion fish!

Steph saw it swim by, but it was in its hole by the time I caught up

The honeycomb eel was playing peek-a-boo with Adrian

Effort free snorkelling gave us plenty of energy for posing under the water and playing with our cameras.

Steph poses for the camera

"taken the picture yet?"

Cheesy grins are hard underwater!

A beach day at Kosi bay!

Stephanie was more than a little happy at this prospect, although in truth we all were. It is hot, and the mere thought of swimming was making us all eager to get to the beach.

Even Tommy was eager to get to the water!

Tommy was all set for his day at the beach

The visit to the fishtraps is first. this sustainable fishing method is as much a part of conserving the area as preserving the traditional Tsonga culture.

Elmon explained how the fish trap worked to us and gave us spear fishing lessons to show us how hard it is, then it was time to walk/splash out to the fishtraps to take a look for ourselves.

Elmon shows us how it's done

Run away!

Elmon leads us into the trap

Adrian shows that leaf who is boss!

We were in luck, one of Elmons fishtraps had bream, grunter, mullet and even kingfish! So we got to test our wits against that of the fish and try our hand at spearing dinner.

Looking for fish at one of Elmons traps

Fighting over who will be first to spear

Stephanie speared her fish on the first try… Sleep with one eye open Adrian…!

Steph shows us all how it is done on the first throw of her spear

Adrian teaches the fish a lesson

We all emerged from the handmade cage triumphant. We would have a feast tonight!

But no time for smugly posing with our catches…

…oh, ok then just a little…

Mr and Mrs Crusoe won't be hungry tonight!

Adrian plays the man card and pretends he caught them all

What now? Snorkelling!

So, after an extremely long flight from Toronto to Vancouver, to Johannesburg, to Durban and then a 3 hour drive to Umkhumbi Lodge, Stephanie and Adrian were finally with us (and I thought my 18 hour flights were bad)!

After a shower and a quick nap for Stephanie (she made the mistake of lying down – ‘for just a second’) it was dinner and then straight to bed!

Today the tour began with a short commute to Amangwane Kosi Bay, an interpretive walk with Tommy around the area of Kosi Bay including a stop at the viewpoint.

This little agama was waiting outside Steph and Adrians reed chalet at Kosi bay

Viewpoint over Kosi Estuary and Mouth

"Want to try the custard apple...?"

....nope, doesn't look that appetising!

Then back to camp to refuel our tired, hot bodies.

Nothing recharges the weary traveller like an African sunset

Except may be a glass of wine as you relax…

Glass of wine, but still no relaxing for Stephanie, not just yet anyway!

But there is no time for relaxing as Stephanie swaps camera tips with Meera, another guest we have staying with us as Adrian wanders around camp to find a different sunset view from the rest of us.

Finally! Time to relax over Tommys awesome cooking!