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Zululand Zenith
African Birdlife
|September - October 2020
It was the penultimate day of five weeks of the strict lockdown in South Africa.
I was pushing the open safari Landcruiser as fast as I could down the muddy main road through the Manyoni Private Game Reserve. My two-year-old daughter’s hat blew off and I slammed on the brakes in frustration, reluctantly reversing to retrieve it. A herd of elephant crossed the road ahead but I managed to slip past them, much to my relief and the kids’ disappointment. I had to get to the northern boundary asap!
Quailfinches flying up off the roadside didn’t slow me down; we shot past a perched Bateleur; Pink-throated Twinspots and Rudd’s Apalises vied unsuccessfully for my attention from roadside bushes; and we sped past a Hooded Vulture, a provincial rarity, with barely a sideways glance. After what felt like an eternity, I spotted another game-viewer parked on the roadside and held my breath, hoping my nemesis was still there.
This story is from the September - October 2020 edition of African Birdlife.
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