The hand-wash bowl was solid ice one morning in Mountain Zebra National Park. We’d consulted our weather maps and concluded that Mnt. Zebra would be the warmest place to camp in this area – that it was the warmest place and still the water froze gives you an idea of how cold it can be here in a South African winter.

Still it was well worth the visit. We’d thought to stay only one night and ended up staying for three. The scenery is delicious – cacti and succulents and great blooming aloes. The vegetation is thick, the rocks are intriguing, and animals abound. Nearby, the Marakele National Park boasts the largest breeding colony of Cape Vultures. Squadrons of these huge birds rise up over the hills – we were lucky enough to get to the viewing site early before they rose too high for us to see them.

Now we are on to Addo Elephant National Park, and to a long-awaited reunion with our friends Adrian and Rentia. We’ll camp with them for four days, no doubt sitting up well into the cold night telling stories around the fire and pouring over maps during the afternoons. We’ve missed them, this wonderful South African couple who have been so encouraging.