The wonders never cease
In December we were extraordinarily lucky while we were out canoeing with a Belgian guest on the river. The Siyadla river flows into the fourth and last of the Kosi lakes, furthest away from the mouth. When we describe it to our guests beforehand we call it our own Little Amazon because it is here that you will find the giant raffia palms, loved by the Palmnut vultures, and you can hike for hours under a canopy forest.
We were canoeing early afternoon on a cloudy day when suddenly we came round a bend and looked up to see a Pell’s Fishing owl in a low branch five metres away from us. This was our first eyeful of this magnificent and elusive bird and naturally we made a big commotion and I had to back paddle so that we do not glide into the shore just below the owl.