A Karoo birding safari 2017

It's nearly a year since I last wrote a blog. Much has happened since then, and life has changed in many ways. Yet life continues after death, both for those who have left us and we who are left behind. And so I went on the Karoo birding safari that Dad had booked for the first week in August, way back in March. I suspect even he thought he was planning too far ahead!
I am not a birder. This became my middle name on the first day. I used the phrase as an excuse for having left the following 'birding' essentials behind: binoculars, bird book, hat, gloves and face cream. This meant that: I couldn't see most of the little brown jobs, couldn't mark them off in the book, had to wear a scarf in the bitterly cold Karoo wind, kept my hands in my pockets a lot and had to use a friend's incredibly expensive face cream that came in at about R100 a dab (but I do look a lot younger now). 
Despite my nickname, it turns out that 61 years with Dad had taught me more than I thought, and the tour guide, who knew Dad from many trips, told me that I was definitely my father's daughter, which I took as a huge compliment. I climbed in and out of the 4x4 at every stop, dutifully observing to the best of my ability and occasionally using my friend's binoculars. Unfortunately she only has sight in one eye and so, by the time I had readjusted the eyepieces, the bird had flown! We saw 140 species of birds, an aardvark (in broad daylight) and the most spectacular Karoo landscapes the heart could desire. The tiny Karoo flora, battling it out in the harshest environment, were fascinating, as were the different rocks to be added to my collection.
The other birders were knowledgeable in different fields and the entire trip proved to be educational, inspirational, a feast for the eyes and hugely entertaining. Pitstops at the side of the road were a source of great hilarity and entirely without risk as, if we passed three cars in a day, we thought the traffic was heavy.
We stayed on farms where traditional food was prepared in vast quantities and consumed with gusto. Tree trunks were burned through the night in fireplaces big enough to braai an ox, and no water pipes froze in the week we were there.
The pleasures of life are made up from experiences and I can state unequivocally that such an excursion should be on a bucket list even if one is 'not a birder'.  I will certainly never forget the binoculars again, and a new camera is looming into view.