22 July 2006    to      24 July 2006

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Its amazing how quick another year has gone by. It was time to go and celebrate Silvias birthday again. We decided to go and do some camping at the Eiland resort and Spa just north of Tzaneen. To get there from Johannesburg, you need to travel through the "city" of Pietersburg (Polokwane), which will "try" and host some of the games for the "big soccer event" in a few years time......no joke!

The stadium that will do the hosting...well they did say they will upgrade it a bit..big joke :-)

About 20km outside Pietersburg you drive past Zion City, which is the annual gathering place at Easter of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC). They are the largest and fastest growing of the African churches with anywhere between 2 and 6 million members. At Easter time a huge pilgrimage takes place to Zion City where about 1 million of its members gather for several days of services.

We arrived at the Eiland resort and spa at just after midday on Saturday.

After pitching tent and doing some shopping, it was time for the hot pools. Its a very pleasant and well equipped resort and we managed to get a very secluded spot away from the main caravan and camping site.

A few fairly tame buck roam in this area.

That evening we had a nice quite braai (barbecue) and relaxed around the fire enjoying the peace and tranquility.

Sunday was Silvia's birthday. Here she is opening her present.

Next door to the Eiland resort is the Hans Merensky Nature reserve, which besides hosting a very pleasant easy 3 day trail (Giraffe trail) also has a nice 11km day trail (Waterbuck trail) through mostly Mopane bush.

Its really worthwhile doing this trail, just watch out for the ticks!

A large anthill along the way.

Eventually after about 4km, one comes to a rather dilapidated hide next to a dam.

As it was midday now, we did not see many animals besides a few Impala in the distance. The best game viewing times are dawn and dusk.

The trail is generally flat and very easy going. The winter months are the best time to visit the area as the summers get very hot here.

Another large anthill.

Along the way one comes past a resting area next to a large tree.

A hippopotamus scull at the visitors center.

That night we celebrated Silvia's birthday with some champagne.