Tag: kruger-national-park

South Africa Safari 2025…Day21- The day of the giraffe.

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We packed up our baggage and loaded it into the car…we were away about 8.30 having showered and had yogurt for breakfast. The housekeeper showed her face, the first time we’d seen her in our 4 night stay…but there had been evidence of her…she had made the beds and done the washing up….so her loitering gained her the expected tip.

It was a really cold grey day. In fact most of the day the temperature was only 16 degrees Celsius…the highest it went to was 19 degrees Celsius…and what’s more it rained for most of the day…not a downpour but that annoying drizzle which is too much for intermittent windscreen wipers but not enough for them to be on all the time. We kept our long trousers and fleeces on all day.

John selected zebra and I went with wildebeest as our first spot of the day…..it was in-fact a lovely line of wildebeest…..John has surrendered …I am just to in-tune with the wild….he has admitted defeat…and wants to start a new game tomorrow….so as from tomorrow it’s guess which animal we see 10 of first…ummmm Today it would have been giraffes.

We saw a lovely family group not long after setting off down the H1.

 Giraffes are the tallest of all land animals; males (bulls) may exceed 5.5 metres (18 feet) in height, and the tallest females (cows) are about 4.5 metres.  A newborn giraffe is about 6 feet (1.9 meters) tall at birth and weighs about 150 pounds.

They are quite easy to tell apart…the males horns are thick and bald ( no wise cracks about them representing most of the male species🤣) Where as the females horns are much thinner, with fluffy hair on top they also often curve inwards.

Some giraffes are darker than others due to a combination of factors including genetics, which determine an individual’s base pattern, and age, with males often darkening significantly as they mature to signal their status to other giraffes. Environmental factors like diet and climate may also play a role in coat color variation.  

When there are a group of giraffes together browsing they are known as a “Tower of giraffes”, when they are walking from place to place they are known as a “journey of giraffes”. They are fascinating creatures, I could spend all day watching them….but we had to continue our journey south.

We saw some big herds of buffalo, both breeding herds and smaller groups of dagger boys. Lots of elephants were browsing the trees and bushes all around.

We had been travelling for very nearly an hour before we saw our first impala and then we saw a massive group…and a lot more throughout our trip. Some rather cute wart hogs were munching on the sweet grass at the side of the road.

While a pair of steenbok were hunkered down in the bushes trying to escape the inclement weather.

We felt privileged to follow a line of zebra up the road…so long as I didn’t get too close they were content to just walk along the road in front of us. If I got too close they broke into a trot until I dropped back…. We must have followed them for about a kilometre ….just us and them…we felt like a sheepdog shepherding them along. Then out of the blue they all looked to the right, startled they cantered off to the left…we looked to see if it was a predator but saw nothing….it was a lovely moment in time…no other cars just them and us…

We decided not to stop at Tshokwane as it was so busy. We continued on towards Skakuza…..the main tar road was appalling. In most places totally covered in sand which had been there so long it was corrugated. This is the H1 the main spinal road which runs from one end of the park to the other….how the parks board can have allowed it to get into this shocking state is beyond me…there were some road works taking place…typically 2 men were doing the work, while 20 stood watching them…one side of the road was being worked on but both oncoming and our direction traffic both had the go sign showing with no one working it …so inevitably be both met in the middle..ummmm …one of the workers moved a traffic cone so we could pass…..” piss-up”and “brewery” spring to mind…. Shortly after this we saw the unusual sight of a ground horn bill up a tree.

We also saw a variety of different eagles…tawny and bateleur …in trees.

We drove past quite a few herds of elephants before arriving at Skakuza. A quick loo break and a swift reccy of the shop and we were off again.

Onward towards Prestoriakop. We stopped at Transport Dam for our lunch. The usual hippos were wallowing and 3 big crocodiles were on the opposite banks.

We also saw a sight we’d never witnessed before…. A dead buck on the shoreline with a massive crocodile swallowing it…..presumably it had caught it, killed it and was now demolishing it…quite a sight.

On we travelled and between the Napier loop was a den of hyenas…..a very cute very young black one and two elder pups…

We got to Shitlhaven dam ….or as my son used to call it for years when he was a little boy “have-a-shit dam”. It always makes me laugh…there were just hippos in the water….

We continued on…I have to say I was not impressed with Viva Safari vehicles…they drove fast, overtaking then stopped, blocking the road when they saw zebra or giraffe etc…they showed no regard for other vehicles whatsoever…in-fact yesterday one had put me in a precarious position by blocking the road when a young male elephant was showing me attitude….this company will begetting Safari vehicles a bad name…its not just about their customers it’s about showing everyone respect. Grrrrr…whinge over

We got to camp and booked in….had a rest for an hour before driving towards numbi gate for the last hour…we saw another group of dagger boys and another den of hyenas….a lovely end to a very good spotting day.

Our supper was at the restaurant…if you can call a Wimpy a restaurant…John had a breakfast and I had sausages with hard microwaved mash and gravy which was so thick it wouldn’t come out of the bowl…then it was a game of cards and bed.

South Africa Safari Day 20 The day of the hyena

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We got up early 6.30am, showered, put on relatively clean clothes🤣🤣, breakfasted, made a pack up lunch and got on our way. It was our last day in Satara…tomorrow we move down to the south of Kruger to Pretoriuskop.

We headed down the tar…I selected zebra today and John selected wildebeest as first spot. It was a cold grey morning a real contrast again from yesterday’s sunshine and heat. We drove some time before seeing some Zebra …sorry John 8-4 to me🤣

Today we had decided to take the S126 which cuts across to the Orpen tar road. It’s a lovely scenic route, with chances to see lots as it runs alongside a twisting and turning river, which has patches of water in it.

We saw a huge amount of varied game around a waterhole…elephants, wildebeest, zebra and impala…a lovely wildlife picture…

We travelled on, the road was not great…unless the parks board spends some money on upkeep of their dirt roads, it won’t be so long before only 4×4 vehicles will be able to handle them.

We came across 2 big lone male buffalo, called dagger boys.

As we slowly picked our way down a hill I suddenly stopped, asked John for the binoculars….there about 400m on the far side of the river was the derrière of a large rhino. It stopped its route march and turned sideways giving us a wonderful view…this is really a majestic creature, reminding us of prehistoric times. A few moments later he continued his route march and completely disappeared from sight…how lucky were we…even John had to marvel at how I had seen it….these eagle eyes still work when they have to🤣🤣

We travelled on to the picnic spot….its unfortunate that I needed the loo…a long drop…defiantly not to be recommended…not only did I have to contend with that but the door had no lock and a lady walked in and caught me on the throne🤣🤣….never mind, I’ll never see her again and I hope I didn’t traumatise her too badly🤣🤣

Back on the road we crossed the main Orpen road. Had a Quick Look in the dam…the hippos and crocodile were all happy and we continued onto the dirt road which comes out on the tar north of Satara…..This road had been graded so it gave us a more comfortable ride.

We passed elephants, impala, zebra, wildebeests and giraffe.

……before long we saw a Kori bustard…its thin greyish neck made us think it was a female as it was very different from the two males we’d seen several days ago.

Around the next bend there were 3 more Kori bustards…a really lovely sight.

Further up the track a car stopped us and asked what we had seen…they were as excited as we were by the Kori bustard.

They told us of a leopard sighting just a few minutes away. However when we turned back onto the Olifants Satara tar road there were about a dozen cars all vying for position…we asked 3 different cars and none had actually seen the leopard…the 4th car said it was no longer viewable as it had laid in the long grass..another almost saw it, moment…..!!!!

We returned to camp and decided to go to the Cattle Baron for brunch rather than eat our sandwiches, they would be ok tomorrow…brunch was great

After a rest we headed out for our usual S100, H6 circuit. The cool, dull overcast weather meant we only really saw groups of the plains animals- zebra, wildebeest, impala and a scattering of giraffe and a few largish herds of elephant.

On the H6 there were some WBV on the giraffe carcass, which is a sure sign that the lions have left …as seen in the pictures above…..( I haven’t worked out yet how to move a picture when I put them in the wrong place !🤣)

We stopped at the hyena den and sat patiently. It was very quiet and our patience paid off as the mum and 2 pups appeared.

Hyenas are nocturnal and have interesting social structures. Their clans are led by a female matriarch, mostly because hyena females have three times more testosterone than males, meaning they are physically stronger and have more aggressive temperaments. The highest-ranked individual in a hyena clan is the alpha female, followed by her cubs. Hyenas are Intelligent, curious, and opportunistic in matters of diet, they are known as the vacuum cleaners of the bush…basically they eat all the left overs from other animals kills….that doesn’t mean they won’t kill something themselves, but they tend to be scavengers.

We watched on our own for quite some time before continuing back to camp.

Our count for the day was 99+ impala, 99+ zebra, 9 vervet monkeys, 1 red billed hornbill 3 lilac breasted rollers, 23 giraffes, 5 yellow billed hornbills, 4 Kori bustards, 7 grey Lourie, 2 bateleur eagle, 2 buffalo, 24 Chacma baboons, 1 rhino, 88 elephants, 1 crocodile, 6 hippo, 4 hooded vultures, 1 tawny eagle, 1 martial eagle, 58 waterbuck, 1 steenbok, 9 warthogs, 99+ wildebeest, 2 WBV, 3 hyena, 7 kudu, 3 guinea fowl……not a bad days viewing.

We returned to the Cattle Baron for a light supper then an early night.

South Africa Safari 2025 Day 19 – the day of the lion.

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We had a lovely long lie in followed by yogurt and toast. We got to the petrol station to find loads of vehicles waiting and a rather fraught attendant saying “cash only, internets down”. So we went to the front of the queue and paid cash…how long the people who had already filled and now couldn’t pay, would have to wait heaven only knows…it just reinforced my philosophy that you must carry enough cash to see you through infrastructure hiccups….

Off we went before we got to the gate John selected Zebra as first spot and I said wildebeest…….shucks….before we actually got out of the gate we saw a herd of zebra grazing…in-fact we didn’t see wildebeest until much later, although I hastened to add they out numbered the zebra by the end of the day…anyway they put John on 4 wins so the score is 7-4…. Yikes he’s catching me up 🤣

We quickly saw a few giraffe and a rather handsome kudu, who insisted on being camera shy.

We went down the S100 and saw some wildebeests hiding from the heat of the day under a thorn tree/bush.

We were just commenting that the extreme change of temperature …today it was 33 degrees Celsius, was keeping the mammals hiding away from sight…suddenly we saw 2 WBV on a nest in a tree…a lovely sight.

We turned onto the road which links the S100 to the H6….this road is not for the faint hearted .. most the top soil/sand and gravel has gone….you would think that would be a good thing as it can’t be corrugated….but what it actually means is that you’re picking your way slowly across rock…trying to find the flattest way through, without driving over sharp bits or bits sticking up which could damage your tyres or your sump….it is hard driving…no rest for the driver and absolutely no way of using cruise control……on top of this, the road crosses several fords/ pontoon bridges with water flowing over them…some deeper than others…one in particular you get half way across with the water about a foot/30cm deep and suddenly the car drops down another 10 inches/24 cms…I wouldn’t even try it in a saloon car…it certainly makes you think you’re about to end up in the river…but hey Ho we’ve done it several times and I just hold my breath and pray…. I actually stopped in the middle this time to view the impressive bed of purple water lilies…one has a bee on it ….

…..and a little further across we found a young crocodile hiding in the lilies and reeds.

We got to the H6 without incident….we stopped at the dead giraffe and saw a swish of a tail.. and then it turned over it was a lioness and her cub. Lions sleep 20 hours out of 24 hours so catching them awake is always difficult. Lions usually live in groups of 10 or 15 animals called prides. The females are the hunters, if their pride has any males after the hunt the males eat first then the females. When food is scarce up to 80% of cubs can die of starvation as they are the last to get to eat. An adult male’s roar can be heard up to 8km away.

We watched for a while before driving on…we located the hyena den but could see no sign of them…they were obviously in their den..a culvert under the road. Heading back to camp for an afternoon rest we came across some more elephants and Chacma baboons. We pulled up next to a wonderfully sociable wildebeest and ate our lunch in his presence.

Back at camp we rested until 4.00pm when we went to join the Parks Sunset drive. This time we were with Tiani and her truck was full. She set off down the tar towards Orpen gate and turned onto a parks board only road…it ran parallel to the tar. She had a companion with her and they took it in turns to talk about each animal…zebra, wildebeest, warthog and giraffe. To be quite honest it was a little tedious especially as she seemed focussed on sexing the animal other than looking at the more obvious genitalia. She turned back onto the tar and went to the dam. There was a lovely breeding herd of elephants. They crossed the road in front of the truck and there was a tiny calf, which was between a week and a month old.

Retracing our steps we we saw very little until she turned on to the H6. We stopped for a sunset shot.

She stopped at the hyena den and sure enough they were out next to the culvert.

Further on we saw the same lions just off the road near the giraffe kill. A few kilometres further there was a loin on the tar…like the Chacma baboons they often sleep on the tar to enjoy its warmth.

On our return we saw two more lions near the road,

….a few more hyenas around the den and a marsh owl.

The sightings were superb but they weren’t spotted, they were seen because the animals walked out into the road.

Our sightings count for the day was 99+ impala, 1 hoopoe, 1 yellow-billed hornbill, 99+ zebra, 2 vervet monkeys, 13 giraffe, 1 kudu, 32 waterbuck, 2 WVB, 2 bateleur eagle, 25 elephant, 99+wildebeest, 7 lion, 1 crocodile, 1 steenbok, 3 lilac breasted roller, 18 Chacma baboons, 5 hyena, 2 warthog, 1 marsh owl.

We ended the day at The Cattle Baron, using their Internet…then back to the rondavel for a game of cards.

South Africa Safari Day 18 – 1st October 2025- Formidable Viewing

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It’s hard to focus on a specific species when you stay at Satara….you see so much…

We started off by going towards the H6 before we got to the turning we came across a massive herd of buffalo….John said 150+ I thought even more……

Johns choice for first spot was waterbuck mine was giraffe……we saw plenty of the later before we had even turned on to the H6.

We soon came across some kudu and once again a male ostrich.

We went the same route the truck had gone yesterday evening….we didn’t find the hyena but we did find the giraffe kill…evidently the lions were guarding it and laying flat in the grass unseen by the human eye….

We saw some lovely sights…long lines of wildebeests, a scattering of zebra as we headed off to the S100.

Part way down the S100 we came across a pride of lions resting up against an old water tower. The male lion had at least 4 lionesses with him.

Further on we came across a small herd of elephants with an absolutely tiny calf…probably the smallest we’ve ever seen.

Along the almost dried river bank an African Fish Eagle greeted us with its call.

We called back at our rondavel to use the facilities before heading out in the opposite direction….again an interesting route. Just after the gravel road we were going to take we could see an absolute frenzy of activity with dozens of vultures obviously feeding on something we couldn’t see.

We headed up the gravel to circle back around onto the S100… just after a quite deep Ford we came across a secretary bird. It took off and flew a short distance before landing and once again strutting around.

A male ostrich having a dust bath caught our attention.

Finally John saw some waterbuck.

The route was prolific with wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, elephants and a scattering of Waterbuck.

We stopped to have our lunch next to a group of impala and a pair of giraffe…such a peaceful.

Turning back along the S100 we were alone watching 1 lone lioness next to the water tower…the rest were obviously sleeping. We made our way back to camp for a rest.

At 4.30pm we went out again …we decided the H6 was our best bet. No sooner than we had turned on to it we saw a reed buck…took us a few minutes to identify as we don’t often see them.

The zebra and wildebeest were milling about on the edge and in the road.

We saw 3 hyena pups at their den before turning around and heading for camp.

On the main road near to camp we found a troop of Chacma baboons in the road…lots of youngsters were rolling in the road…we can only imagine that the tar was retaining the heat of the day and they were keeping warm.

The temperature rose to 26 degrees Celsius at midday but it also dropped sharply as the sun went down. We had a lovely sunset.

Our daily spotting figures were 99+ impala, 99+ zebra, 99+ wildebeest, 35 giraffe, 7 warthog, 1 grey heron, 2 ostrich, 3 lilac breasted rollers, 2 yellow billed horn bill, 4 hyena, 14 kudu, 1 bateleur eagle, 7 hippo, 50 Chacma baboons, 5 lions, 54 elephants, 50 WVB, 5 spur rowel, 1 grey Lourie, 2 steenbok, 1 Secretary bird, 24 waterbuck, 1 quail, 1 fish eagle, 1 reedbuck, 1 hoopoe.

We went to the Cattle Baron for supper. This time we chose two different chicken dishes….mine was a poor choice…it sounded nicer than it was….John enjoyed his…

Back to the rondavel for a game of cards.

South Africa Safari 2025 Day 17 …Almost the Big 5

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A frustrating start to the day…I had written Day 16 blog at the end of the previous day and scheduled it to post this morning…first it didn’t and then it did but the photos didn’t upload…..I spend considerable time writing the blog, I am not a natural with words, but dyslexics can achieve if they try hard and I am an achiever!! ….i have to read it back to John so I can hear my mistakes to make corrections. John down loads both his and my camera to his laptop. Then he selects the photos for the day, and I am proud to say a lot of them are mine, then he sends his selection of both of our shots back to me via messenger and I down load them and then upload them to the blog…..he has an arduous task, in getting them to me, if the internet is running slowly as do I in uploading…..it is particularly frustrating to think you’ve succeeded and then find out you’ve failed !!!! Thanks John for your patience.

Back to Day 17…. We were not really sorry to say goodbye to our only just basic mud- hut…opps I mean rondavel! Although we did spot 2 hippos on the river bank from our veranda.

A yogurt breakfast and then a brief conversation with the maintenance men who were trying, in vein, to unblock next doors sewage pipe….at least we hadn’t had that to contend with…..there was a giant African millipede next to the car which we asked them about, when I lived in Malawi we called them shongololo (or chongololo). The maintenance men told us its name in their language, it sounded very similar.

….and then we were off.

We headed down the 9km tar to the main road…not a single sighting… oh! John had selected Zebra and I had selected giraffe as first spot….We turned on the tar towards Satara. It was a cold morning but slightly brighter than the day before. Our first sighting were 3 warthogs in the riverbed, followed by 3 waterbuck.

Then we almost missed an elephant at the side of the road. You’d think something so big couldn’t hide in a small bush !!!

We turned off the tar to the right on the same gravel road we had taken yesterday. Braving the corrugations we rattled along…. Our first spot was a small group of Zebra..6-3 to John, he gloated he was catching up. Within a couple of minutes we came across a tower of giraffe, 11 in total…a real family gathering. We stopped where we had seen yesterday’s jackals and sure enough we saw a pair of ears sticking up and there was one of the jackals nestled down next to a bush. I was happy… walking along towards this area was a Kori bustard. It was a handsome male with his seemingly thick neck – the feathers around the neck are loose, giving the appearance of a thicker neck than they really have.

On we went and shortly came across three parked vehicles…we quickly saw what they were watching…yeah….a pack of wild dogs and some youngsters. There were some adults laid to the right of the track, who got up trotted around and crossed the road before lying down in the long grass making them vanish from view. The youngsters were huddled together under the edges of a thorn bush, protected from the coolish wind. What a wonderful sight.

We stayed watching for some time, eventually moving in front of the other cars, taking some pictures before moving on out of their way.

Not much further on we came across two male giraffes having a fisty-cuffs….its actually called “ necking”….male giraffes use their necks and heads to compete for dominance.

We were laughing about how wonderfully productive this route had turned out to be, when we caught sight of 3 ground hornbill. These are enormous, sociable, ground-loving birds which are easily recognized. The adult male has an extensive brilliant red face and throat wattles.

We scurried along to Timbavati picnic area…basically because I need the loo…the corrugated road really does shake your insides up!

Not long after my loo stop we pulled up next to a parked jeep. They kindly showed us where to look for 3 lionesses. We saw 2 ..they were watching zebra on the far bank of the river and soon disappeared from sight in stalking motion. We would never have seen these if the kindly couple hadn’t pointed them out and moved their car so we could get a glimpse.

Wow what a day we were having….around the next bend a martial eagle was eating something it had taken up a tree.

We continued on to the tar road which goes to Orpen gate…we turned the opposite way towards Satara.

Stopping at the dam we ate our lunch watching the hippos and their young frolicking in the water, while a hooded vulture watched on.

We continued along the tar sighting an ostrich before we got to camp.

We arrived at Satara Camp at 2.15pm and booked in…Luckily we were allocated C51…we like circle C and have often stayed in a rondavel there before. Whilst in reception we asked about a sunset drive, we had decided not to try for tonight as the windchill factor was high and we thought we’d be too cold. So we asked for the following night but it was fully booked. Oh No !!!!! …So I asked for the night after …our 3rd night and we booked that. I then asked for tonight and yes it was available…so to Johns some what dismay I booked that as well🤣🤣.

We soon found our chalet…this time we had a full kitchen and the rondavel was quite roomy. I rummaged through both cases finding a pair of jeans each for us. For John a polo neck to go over his tshirt and another tshirt to go over that, and his fleece, a pair of shoes and socks. For myself a cami vest, a long sleeved vest a cardigan, my fleece and a scarf….and because I am my mothers daughter – intuitive and resourceful, I also put 2 new hankies in my pocket so I could use them as earmuffs inside my headscarf….let me tell you they worked an absolute treat and my head and ears were as snug as a bug in a rug🤣🤣

Off we went on our sunset drive, John was still mumbling “waste of time….too cold to see anything..” Patrick was our driver…over the years he’s taken us many times…he has a wicked sense of humour and is a great spotter and guide…what’s more the truck wasn’t full so I moved to the double seat infront and Patrick really took the Micky when I said it was because my husbands “butt“ was too big 🤣🤣

Off we went, he started on the S100 then turned round and went on to the H6… a road which goes up to the Mozambique border. We hadn’t been going long when he stopped…there was a whole pack of hyenas, both youngsters and mature adults, both sides of the road.

We haven’t seen many yet, this holiday so it was a real treat.

Not much further along the road was the stench of death and our guide pointed out an elephant which had died of old age. He said the hyenas, jackals and vultures would soon dispose of every sign of it.

On we went and suddenly out of nowhere an adult rhino strolled across the road…what a treat. We’ve never seen rhino near Satara before. Within 5 minutes it was completely out of sight.

A while later we stopped again and about 80 metres from the road was a dead giraffe with lions feasting on it. As it was dusk it was difficult to focus on. We could see a lioness and several youngsters.

At this moment a young man on the truck dropped his phone out onto the ground. Patrick then spent a considerable time shifting the truck, moving the phone with a firebeater, shifting the truck again so that it was between the lions and the phone. He then stepped down from the passenger side and retrieved the phone. What a palaver, Patrick did so well and the young man didn’t even say thank you….so I thanked Patrick for being so kind. We watched the lions a little longer before heading back in the direction of camp…it was by now very dark and people were using the spotlights.

We passed the elephant carcass and our driver took us close to it so we could watch the hyena arriving for their supper….sure enough they did.

Continuing on ……Suddenly Patrick stopped the truck and right down in the grass on the verge of the road was a young female leopard. We watched it walk along the road and disappear back into the bush for nearly 10 minutes.

By now John was laughing and whispered in my ear “ who said we wouldn’t see much” …this was probably the most successful spotting day we have ever had and we will certainly remember it forever.

Even after the leopard our spotting wasn’t over, we had clear views of 3 different marsh owls both sat in the road, on a tree and in flight….wow.

Thank you Patrick for a marvellous drive, thank you John for forgetting to be cold and thank you Mother Nature for showing us your treasures.

Back in Camp we said goodbye to Patrick…he had certainly earnt his big tip.

Our viewing numbers for the entire day including sunset drive were 1 millipede, 99+ impala, 3 warthog, 8 steenbok, 24 hippo, 2 jackal, 1 Kori bustard, 5 WBV, 17 waterbuck, 15 elephant, 54 zebra, 36 wildebeest, 30 giraffe, 8 wild dog, 6 yellow billed hornbill, 1 quail, 1 grey Lourie, 2 African fish eagle, 1 bateleur eagle, 1 lilac breasted roller, 7 lion, 3 ground horn bill, 5 kudu, 1 crocodile, 1 ostrich, 1 martial eagle, 1 rhino, 1 leopard, 3 marsh owl, 1 hooded vulture, 11 hyena, 1 African wild cat.

We scurried to the Cattle Baron restaurant and ordered Chateaubriand flambé in brandy with chips, butternut and spinach and mushroom sauce …it was superb, we rounded it off with ice cream…..all for the superb price of £28.00 for us both….

We went straight to bed, it was too cold to sit outside playing cards…we were very happy, very grateful and very well blessed.