Last night we put our camp chairs into the back of the car just in case it rained and rain it did! We had quite a few downpours during the night but by morning it had all gone away and we awoke to sunny skies.

This morning I was at the showers by half past seven and the Earl and I left camp at half past eight to meet our daughter and granddaughter at the Sedgefield Market. Only I had misread the time on my watch – it doesn’t have numbers – and it was an hour earlier! It was only when we saw the digital time in the car that we realised my mistake! So we did a scenic tour around Wilderness and then wandered around the Wild Oats Market until Lauren and Shannon met us at 9.

The Farmers’ Market at Sedgefield is well worth a visit. It is held every Saturday morning and is popular with locals and tourists alike. 

Opposite the market grounds are a few shops and more craft market stalls and when the kids arrived we went there and found a lovely restaurant where we could sit comfortably, have breakfast and chat. It was lovely to catch up with Shannon as we did not see when we visited for the Christmas holidays as she was in Queenstown with her fiance. She is getting married in March and the whole family will be gathering at St Francis Bay for the Easter Weekend. As you can imagine most of our conversation was about the forthcoming Big Event!

The rest of the Gecko gang did their own thing all day today and gathered for a communal braai for the last evening which we missed as we had to leave to attend a function in Struisbaai. Our good friends Cath and Alec kindly left with us to provide support should anything go wrong. We really appreciate their support.

Thanks to all the Gecko Gang for a fantastic getaway. We had such fun and thoroughly enjoyed bonding with everybody at Ebb and Flow.

John Magner as I mentioned before took the opportunity to do a pentad for SABAP2. This project is very important for tracking the movement of birds in South Africa and where they are likely to be found. Many dedicated birders send in their cards to help with this project and we really appreciate their contributions. 

This is the list that John got during our Gecko Camp. I have put an asterisk on the ones I personally saw too.

Laughing Dove,*

White-throated Swallow*

Red-eyed Dove*

Ring-necked Dove*

Knysna Turaco,*

Black-headed Oriole,

Bar-throated Apalis*

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

Cape White-eye*

White-breasted Cormorant*

Egyptian Goose*

Helmeted Guineafowl*

African Hoopoe*

Sombre Greenbu*l

Southern Boubou*

Fork-tailed Drongo*

Reed Cormorant*

Common Moorhen*

African Fish Eagle

Cape Batis*

Purple Heron

Burchell’s Coucal

Hadada Ibis,*

Fiery-necked Nightjar

Cape Weaver*

African Black Swift

Little Swift

Pied Kingfisher

Red-faced Mousebird*

Barn Swallow*

Lesser Swamp Warbler*

Pied Crow*

Hartlaub’s Gull*

Little Grebe*

Blacksmith Lapwing*

Kelp Gull*

Southern Double-collared Sunbird*

Red-knobbed Coot,*

Malachite Kingfisher*

Western Cattle Egret*

Cape Wagtail*

African Swamphen*

Little Rush Warbler,

Great Crested Grebe*

Domestic Goose*

Giant Kingfisher,

Fiscal Flycatcher*

Black Saw-wing*

Southern Fiscal*

African Sacred Ibis*

Yellow-billed Kite*

Red-winged Starling*

Swee Waxbill

Forest Canary

Cape Bulbul*