Ken Borland

Travel from South Africa may be blacklisted now by many Western nations due to the discovery of a new Covid variant, but the Netherlands cricket team made it clear on Saturday that their decision to postpone their series against the Proteas had nothing to do with safety concerns but was all about the uncertainty created by the travel bans that have been instituted.

Cricket South Africa and the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond released a statement on Saturday afternoon saying they had agreed to ‘defer’ the remainder of the ODI series. That means the matches at Centurion on Sunday and the Wanderers on Wednesday will no longer take place. The first ODI at SuperSport Park was washed out two overs into the Netherlands’ pursuit of the Proteas’ target of 278.

“We have been taken care of by Cricket South Africa in a magnificent way, they have done everything to make us feel safe,” Netherlands manager Steven van Dijk told The Citizen on Saturday.

“So it’s not that we feel unsafe at all, the bubble has been executed perfectly. The only insecurity we have felt is not being able to fly home.

“So we have not been able to end the series because there is so much uncertainty. Some guys need to fly to New Zealand, others to England, which is a problem, the Netherlands too, people had to sit for hours at the airport.

“The players are getting phone calls from home, worried messages, some of them have young kids at home or pregnant partners. So we are looking at all the options for flights – two people getting tickets here, another three there,” Van Dijk said.

Worries about how welcome the players will be upon their return to Europe are also weighing on the minds of the squad. Van Dijk said there was also no clarity over what will await the team on the other end of their flight.

“The conditions of entry change by the hour. The people on Friday’s flight to Schiphol had to wait seven hours to be tested and if they were negative they were allowed to leave the airport and go home for a 10-day quarantine.

“If they were positive then they had to quarantine in a hotel. Of the 600 people on that plane, 61 tested positive. But at the moment we are all just guessing what will happen when we land.

“We were booked to fly on December 2 but we are not sure if we can leave earlier. That’s probably the worst-case scenario and the guys who urgently need to get home, like those with pregnant partners, we are trying to get home sooner,” Van Dijk said.

The friendly little Bearded Robin at our campsite.

One of my greatest delights is discovering a new and terrific campsite and Bonamanzi falls into that category perfectly!

We had been in St Lucia – where we saw Red Squirrel, White-Eared Barbet, Blackeyed Bulbul and Glossy Starling – for Deon & Caroline’s lovely wedding at Seasands, so it was just a short trip up to the False Bay side of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park along the N2 and then about 5km on a dirt road until you reach Bonamanzi.

After stopping to check-in at the well-organised reception, it was off to our campsite on the very good sand roads and through enticing Tongaland Sand Forest – the southernmost occurence of this habitat.

I was blown away by our campsite – each one is private, secluded in the forest and has its own toilet/shower and little kitchen area. Sitting at night under the incredible stars just listening to the sounds of the forest was awesome – you really felt that there wasn’t another person around!

There’s also a swimming pool to use on those hot Zululand days – although it was pretty green during our visit.

Because I was using Bonamanzi as a base to explore places like Muzi Pans and Mkuze Falls, we did not do much birding there, but I did have a lovely walk.

At one stage I was a little alarmed by a game guard suddenly pointing his rifle down the road, so I decided to be very quiet and not spook him as I approached him through the forest at right-angles. He had no idea I was there and seemed a little trigger-happy!

With our camp being right in the forest, we had Yellowbellied Bulbul and their quaint nasal calls, Forest Weaver and their lovely swinging-gate calls, and a cute Bearded Robin all around us.

Best of all, we could hear Vervet Monkey nearby, but they never bothered us!

Driving out the second day, we had a great sighting of a Lizard Buzzard sitting on a telephone pole, his little black throat stripe showing beautifully. He’s not one you see too often, it was probably only my fourth or fifth sighting.

Sightings list

Impala

Nyala

Red Duiker

Crowned Hornbill

Yellowbellied Bulbul

Forktailed Drongo

Greenbacked Camaroptera

Cardinal Woodpecker

Blackbacked Puffback

Bearded Robin

Southern Black Tit

Natal Robin

Warthog

Collared Sunbird

African Goshawk

Moreau’s Tropical House Gecko

Squaretailed Drongo

African Hoopoe

Vervet Monkey

Lizard Buzzard

Hadeda Ibis

Forest Weaver