On Safari..again...

As we've had so many visitors we've been on safari every month since the Froonchen was born, and as usual, she slept through most of it! We stayed at Mpila which has no fence. The hyenas visit every night to try and steal your sausages off the braai. Armed with some Christmas stollen and the biggest watermelon this side of the equator, we drove around Imfolozi on the hunt for lion, cheetah and leopard. We didn't see any cats, but we did see elephant, a mini croc and the usual list of sightings. It was also a very good trip for spotting birdies, with confirmed sightings of a secretary bird (think large turkey but wth more interesting head gear), bee eaters and a blue waxbill. We also spotted some really colourful lizards. The only downside to the trip was the Froonchen peeing on my bed when we still had one night to go. As no-one was willing to brave the very creaky top bunk in our 4 bed rest hut, it meant sleeping on pee. Looking on the bright side, at least it wasn't a poo!

Donna Meets The Chief

It was a roasty toasty day for our visit to Shakaland - one of the few days of sunshine. Shakaland was good fun though, with Donna manouvering her way past the doddery old ladies to get a photo with the chief. After lunch we watched the Zulu dance show but were very disappointed to spot that all the blokes were wearing black pants under their little skirts.

Donna Does Durban

Its been a couple of hectic weeks on the tourist trail with Donna. Typically, the weather has been piss poor again! This did not stop Donna braving the pool - I've not even been fully submerged in it yet. Its far too chilly for that sort of nonsense! Hermann and Donna also went swimming in the sea while I very sensibly kept my feet firmly on dry land.

Smiley Baby 2

The last couple of weeks have been pretty quiet as we attempt to get the garden and drains sorted before Hermann returns to paid employment. We spent the weekend in Greytown raiding the gardens of Tante Inge, Tante Edith and Hermann's parents. We came back with a car load of botanical booty! Hopefully the garden will be looking lovely by the end of the summer. Right now it looks like its got plant acne - it'll be a bit spotty until the plants fill out a bit!

It was the Froonchen's birthday today - she's now 3 months old. Unbelievably she's managed to survive 3 months with us as parents relatively unscathed. We celebrated by attempting to take passport photos. We're off to Scotland for Hogmany but its debateable whether the Froonchen will make it - let's hope the British Consulate in Pretoria doesn't run on Africa Time.

As you will see, 2 weeks of smiling practise appears to have paid off!