Coming from CT on the N2, you pass the little town of Swellendam on your left, and after the road turns in an easterly direction(towards Mossel Bay), you will see the green Sanparks sign. You turn right onto a good gravel road and after a further 4 or 5 kms, you will come to the unassuming entrance gate of BNP. After going thru the gate, reception and a tiny shop(all in one) is a further 2 km further on. The shop sells a few souvenirs, as well as icecreams, chips and cooldrinks. If you need provisions, Swellendam is about10 kms away. The Lang Elsie’s Kraal rest camp is about 5 kms away, on the banks of the Breede river.’Lang Elsie’ was a female Khoi Khoi Chieftain, who lived in the area between 1734 and 1800.
The roads are gravel(reminded us of the KTP) and a bit stony in parts, but generally smooth so that all vehicles can travel on them, with the occupants being relatively comfortable. There is an eastern loop to drive, with a few view sites along the way, as well as a western drive, which winds along the river for a short distance then climbs up a hill, and ends at the scenic picnic site on the banks of the Breede river - called ‘Die Stroom’(translation - the stream). The picnic site is also the turnaround point of the ‘river’ hike.
As for the animals......we were told that bat eared fox, cape fox and caracal occurred there, so we kept our eyes peeled. One of the rangers also told us that he had seen a bat eared fox with young ones a day before we arrived, so that really got us into spotting mode. At the end of this trip we would add 3 more ‘lifers’ to our list of mammal species seen.
Some of the buck.......
Bontebok and babe.....
Grey Rhebok(first time seen)....
The birds........
Hamerkop.....
Blue Crane......
And Black Harrier.......
We unwittingly flushed out this guy right next to the road, by the time we had the camera aimed, this was the best pic we could manage. We saw black harriers every day we were there, flying low and fast, and not conducive to great pics I’m afraid.
Not quite a bee.......but enjoying the flower none the less!
The flowers.......
And the trees..... actually the birds inside and out.........
(Apologies - subjects were very small quite a distance away)
An Acacia Pied Barbet was very busy in the nest........
And the Cardinal Woodpecker just had to see what was going on.......
The woodpecker pair had their nest at the top of the same dead tree.(At ‘Die Stroom’)
And of course .......Hapoor and his harem........
Just a tiny part of his harem.....
‘Hapoor’ translates as ‘bite ear’! Hapoor was a very protective ‘mountain zebra’ stallion(there were quite a few other herds as well), and snorted at us telling us to keep our distance, as well as trying to keep between us and the herd. The other herds seemed to have ‘calmer’ stallions. Going by the state of his ear, you could tell he was more than willing to fight for his mares.
To be continued......(the hikes and more animals, birds, not quite a bee, flower and trees)
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The wind blew from time to time ,it was overcast and rained one night, and we could not swim in the river because the river had flooded a week before, and was still busy receding, with staff busy mopping up debris. Taking all the above into account, I can still say that BNP knocked our socks off!
It was really getting hot then ) We surprised a steenbok, who was gone in a flash, met up with lots of birds, toads and skinks, and came across the remains of a kill - looked like the feathers of a spotted eagle owl - we wondered what had made the kill. At the viewing deck we spotted a distant pair of fish eagles. Some pics taken on the hike......
ME! 
I was creeping forward to see what the movement was, and when I eventually saw the colours, 
