We needed a place to stay. Aberfoyle’s cottages were full and we were not going to pay Aberfoyle Lodge prices. Dave, as he usually did, found the solution: You can camp at Pungwe B power station – and only US$5 a head! Boy, I like prices like that.
We had traveled south to get down the mountain. As we headed east across the Honde Vally we saw the falls we’d hiked to a few days prior: Mutarazi Falls and its twin – the Muchururu Falls.
The road to the power station was quite rugged and steep. Beautiful, and – birds along the way. On the way there I got a pair of Red-throated Twinspots. On the way out, Dave got a Black-winged Red Bishop. New to me in southern Africa – I had seen one in Malawi under ‘interesting’ circumstances decades before.
The weather was fair; The weather was foul; We had sunshine and we had a few torrential downpours that got the stream roaring. They’re used to rain in the mountains – check the roof for the outdoor braai.
Once again a communal shelter came to the rescue – we could cook and eat in dry comfort. We did ironically have a little power outage as we sat in the power station, but they soon fixed that.
And outside our loo with a view, Hooligan’s Robin sang his heart out.
Cossypha heuglini – The White-browed Robin-Chat, thanks xeno-canto.org
And here I have to admit the camper canvas seemed to have sprung a tiny leak and the mattress was ever so slightly damp! Jess may dispute my downplayed description of the problem! She was a star as ever, simply getting on with life.
Two nights here and now on to the famous Aberfoyle that every keen southern African birder has read about.