Walking Around the Gardens

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Geo: -26.153, 27.8657

Early this morning we went back to the botanical gardens. Firstly we stopped at the hide. From here we saw quite a few Red Bishops that were mostly puffing their feathers out. There were also Masked Weavers flying about. Half an hour later we left the hide and went for a walk in the direction of the waterfall.

We walked through the picturesque gardens. This morning I was on the lookout for the giant tortoises that I saw yesterday. I then spotted a pair. One was slightly smaller than the other one. I followed them as they slowly walked away from me.

I decided to walk away from them. In the little pond I spotted some frogs and a terrapin swimming around, its head popped out among the moss. I took some time to photograph various butterflies.

We came across the tortoises again. They were still walking with the larger one in front and the smaller one behind it. I could then see the top of the waterfall – we were nearly there, but the walk took us so long, as they are such interesting gardens. I then spotted another tortoise – a much smaller one.

I was walking ahead of Paul along the river. I then saw an interesting bird fly into the trees next to the river. Luckily I was quick enough to get a photo of it, even though it is a bit blurry. When Paul came along a few minutes later I showed him the photo. He identified it as a Paradise Fly Catcher.

A few minutes later we were at the bottom of the Witpoortjie Falls. We took a few photos of us in front of the falls and then walked back to the car.

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Photos

01 Puffed Up
A Red Bishop all puffed up.

02 Red Bishop
The bird looking out at the dam.

03 Red
Another Red Bishop sitting in a tree.

04 Back to Us
This Red Bishop has its back to us.

05 Dragonfly
The dragonfly stayed still long enough for me to take a photo.

06 Weaver
A weaver sitting in a tree by the dam.

07 Shrike
A juvenile Fiscal Shrike.

08 Sitting
Me sitting in a beautiful carved wooden seat.

09 Butterfly
A butterfly on a violet coloured flower.

10 Touching
Me touching one of the huge tortoises.

11 Open Wide
The tortoise has its mouth open.

12 Close Companion
The tortoise behind is closely following the other one.

13 Eating
The tortoise is eating grass.

14 Close Up
A close up of its head.

15 Smaller One
The smaller tortoise behind the larger one.

16 Eating
The tortoise eating grass.

17 Still Following
The smaller tortoise is still following the larger one.

18 Frog
A River Frog in the pond.

19 Coming Up for Air
A terrapin coming up for air in the pond.

20 Frog
Another River Frog in the pond.

21 Butterfly
A butterfly enjoying the flowers of spring.