Thursday 10^th July,2014…..Mkuzi Game Reserve……had a great barbecue last night and camp fire…we have been so lucky with the weather…we only had a light drizzle one evening in Kruger which meant we had to sit inside for dinner otherwise we have been outside every evening…lots of stars in the sky as no pollution on these game reserves…they are such wilderness areas……lots of animal noises last night as we slept in our tent in the middle of this game reserve……7 am this morning and we were on yet another game drive…about  1 ½ hours later we stopped by a big lake in the reserve and our guides did a big cook up for breki….today we have seen two more animals we have never heard of…Nyala and Red Duiker…..just so many species on this planet but what has amazed us is the variety within the same species….for example the wilder beest are a blacker colour here whereas in Kenya and Tanzania they were more grey in colour…we’ve even seen brown wart hogs here having only ever seen black ones in the other parks…..but the best are the zebras here…they are not the black and white of Kenya and Tanzania….they have a real orange tinge in their coat and when the sun shines on them they are truly beautiful….after breki we drove to a water hole within the park that has a big seated area for you to view the animals….the viewing area is closed in so that the animals can’t see you….we sat there for about an hour and it was amazing the variety of animals that came to drink…….then we were off to a local Zulu village 9 kms outside the park…..a local guy took us through the village, to the ancestors house, the kitchen, where they sleep etc…..absolute poverty and really sad…the kids were filthy but our guide said they all go to school……we gave the guide a tip but where do you start when there is poverty all around you….we thought the kids at the kindergarten in Soweto needed help but when you see the poverty in this Zulu village, it’s tragic……..back to the park…time to wash the breki dishes (most of our lunch spots have no water so we have to do the dishes when we get back to camp and we have a roster for doing the dishes) and then late avo’ another game drive…..Mkuzi Game Reserve is 42,000 hectares so it is one of the smaller parks in SA….50% of the roads are sealed within the park so it seems like it is the way they do their game reserves in SA…..M & F