Flock to Marion, South Africa and the Southern Oceans, January-February 2022. (1 Viewer)

[Jos Stratford]

With the entire trip planned around a unique voyage into the Southern Oceans, I will also extend my time in South Africa to spend a couple of weeks in the magical Kruger National Park and surrounding areas.


Part A. Flock to Marion

Flock to Marion, an eight-day pelagic to the wilds of the Southern Oceans in search of birds whose very names evoke mystic and mouthwatering lust … Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses, King Penguins, Kerguelen Petrels, Antarctic Prions. Travelling into sub-Antarctic waters 1500 km south of the African continent, passing into the infamous roaring 40s with the frequent gales and temperatures little above freezing, this was truly an amazing opportunity to enter the realm of the seabirds.

In the era of Covid however, it also seemed destined to be very much an impossible voyage - the plan was to be eight days on an MSC cruise ship with up to 1700 birders from around the world. Hmm, cruise ships and Covid, madness or blind optimism? Umpteen hurdles and a risk of the whole thing collapsing right up to and beyond the moment of departure, this was indeed an experience even before leaving port!

Originally scheduled for 2020, but postponed due to Covid, everything seemed to be conspiring against this trip happening on the new date of 24 January 2022. After considerable uncertainty whether MSC would even resume cruises in the 2021/2022 season, things looked a little more promising when they did indeed start cruises in early December, even if announcing change of ship several times and flip flopping over the requirements for vaccination and testing.

Then Omicron arrived! A mass Covid outbreak on the maiden cruise of the season saw MSC immediately suspend the season, then most of the world banned flights to South Africa, added the country to red lists and, both in South Africa and elsewhere, the prospect of renewed lockdowns loomed … odds of this trip happening looked bleak.

Planning to fly into South Africa in December, the inevitable happened and my ticket was cancelled three days before departure. I went to the Canary Islands instead. However, as the blight of Omicron began to strangle Europe in early January, things looked more optimistic in South Africa - as case numbers dropped, MSC announced the cruise would take place, albeit with heightened health regulations. Far from confident it would really happen, while still on Fuerteventura, I bought a new flight ticket ...I just had to cross my fingers that (a) MSC didn't suspend the season again following another Covid outbreak on one of its cruises, (b) there were no sudden changes in travel regulations in either Europe or South Africa and (c) that I would not test positive to any of the three Covid tests now required to get on board (PCR to get into South Africa, PCR in the 48 hours before departure and an antigen test at the port immediately before boarding).

Fortunately all worked out, although there was a final unexpected issue, I write this at 5.00 am on the first night as we steam south on route to the Southern Oceans. So to the story, see below:

 

[Jos Stratford]

Daily Log.


15 January. Departure.

Frozen lands of Lithuania, Hazel Grouse and assorted woodpeckers on my land, Covid cases at an all-time high. After a few less than calm days of self isolating and enforcing daily antigen tests on house members, I tested negative on the PCR and then nervously headed for the airport and just hoped my transit through Paris would not see issues ...them there French had basically banned British travellers!

Anyhow, all went smoothly - an afternoon flight from Vilnius, a few hours in transit in Paris, barely a glance from officials at any of my documents, then a five-to-midnight flight to Johannesburg.

 

[Jos Stratford]

16 January. Arrival in South Africa.

Ten hour flight to Jo'burg, temperature check on arrival, all fine, they gave me a three-month entry permit.

Let the birding begin! With a few hours before my onward flight to Cape Town, I grabbed a coffee and headed outside to a postage stamp sized patch of greenery. One of the first birds to fly over was a White Stork - I could have been back home in Lithuania! Mind you, the rest of the collection was decidedly more African - both Little Swifts and White-rumped Swifts, several Lesser Striped Swallows and Rock Martins, a couple of Olive Thrushes, one Speckled Mousebird and a mix of Cape Sparrows, Red-winged Starlings and Cape Wagtails. Just yonder, across the runaways, I added a couple of Long-tailed Paradise Widows in display and an African Stonechat. Not too bad for a coffee break.

A two-hour hop and I was in Cape Town. Picked up a car and headed for Simon's Town, base for the next week. Usual Cape Town birds on route, abundant Sacred Ibis and Hadeda, a Yellow-billed Kite, a couple of Black-headed Herons. Arriving in Simon's Town with a half hour of light left, I grabbed a take away and headed for a small car park just beyond Boulders Beach to munch down my meal. And there, a spill over from the adjacent colony, three African Penguins waddling around the parking area! Another bunch on the rocks and, and cherry on the cake, as the sun set, one Spotted Eagle Owl put in an appearance, landing on a telegraph post. ...nice start to the trip!

 

[Jos Stratford]

17 January. Kirstenbosch.

Arriving a week before the Flock, the plan was to minimise contact for the period to ensure I passed the Covid tests, work a little online and, moreover, to bird the local area. So here it was, my first day, glorious sunshine dawn to dusk, Cape Sugarbirds and Southern Double-collared Sunbirds in the garden of my accommodation, Cape White-eyes and assorted extras nearby. With sun in full control, it was perfect for a visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Lots of birds, including Dusky Flycatchers, Sombre Greenbuls, Olive Woodpecker, Cape Batis and Cape Robin Chats, but my focus soon switched to butterflies - Cape Province generally is quite poor for butterflies, the amazing abundance and diversity of species in KwaZulu and elsewhere simply lacking here, but still not bad - only 13 species, but quite a few Eastern Dotted Borders drifting from flower to flower, 12 Citrus Swallowtails, several African Monarchs too, plus a half dozen Garden Acraea with their translucent wings. Also many African Grass Blues and Long-tailed Blues, along with a Common Zebra Blue, a single Mountain Sandman and, in fair numbers, what I initially understood to all be Common Geranium Bronzes. Careful examination revealed that some were in fact a new species for me - darker underwing and more intense bronzing to the uppers, Karoo Geranium Bronzes.

Back in the Simon's Town area, I also did a little birding further south along the Cape Peninsula. Usual birds, several African Oystercatchers, a pair of White-naped Ravens etc, the highlight of this brief exploration was a nice bunch of Bank Cormorants on a rather distant offshore rock stack, perhaps 16 in all, heavily outnumbered by numerous Cape Cormorants, White-breasted Cormorants and a single Crowned Cormorant.

 

[3Italianbirders]

Very Very envious and very eager to know how you get on!

 

[Jos Stratford]

18 January. Cape of Good Hope.

A work day, but did pop down to the Cape of Good Hope between commitments. Glorious sunshine, pleasant birding - a dozen or so Cape Sugarbirds in flowering proteas, then usual birds such as Cape Buntings and White-naped Ravens nearer the Cape. On the mammal front, one troop of Baboons hogging the road and a small herd of Eland on the fynbos. More remarkable, attracting a considerable gathering of Kelp Gulls, I also found a dead whale, presumably a Southern Right Whale, just short of the Cape of Good Hope.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Whale at Cape of Good Hope

 

[Jos Stratford]

19 January. Cape of Good Hope.

Mega at the Cape of Good Hope! To the backdrop of stunning cliffscapes, white beaches and strings of Cape Cormorants winging past the point, the one bird I had not expected to see was a Palmnut Vulture! With the South African population consisting of about 40 individuals residing in the more tropical climes of coastal KwaZulu, the species is an extreme vagrant in the Western Cape and I assume this is the first ever to grace the Cape of Good Hope. Anyhow, as I glanced up from watching a patrolling Baboon, so arrived the immature Palmnut Vulture - flying in from the north, it circled the lighthouse on Cape Point several times before presumingly deciding the endless oceans stretching south were not the wisest destination for the day. A final loop moderately low over the Cape Point parking area, then to the north it went, slowly drifting back along the Cape Peninsula.

That aside, spending almost all day in the Cape of Good Hope area, it was also most enjoyable in all other respects. Started with a whole bunch of very showy Cape Sugarbirds at the entrance, then shifted to the pristine beaches of Olifantsbos, the white sands here were a treat with Bonteboks mingling with Ostriches and Sacred Ibises and a small beachside pool also attracting Kittlitz's Plovers, White-fronted Plovers and a couple of Avocets. Also present, one Jackal Buzzard overhead, Bokmakerie, Malachite Sunbirds and Grey-backed Cisticolas in the fynbos and a motley collection of assorted gulls, terns and cormorants on intertidal rocks collection.

From there, via a few other stops, I moved up to Cape Point itself, not only finding the Palmnut Vulture, but also having an excellent couple of hours along the adjacent trails. Cape Siskins and umpteen Southern Double-collared Sunbirds the highlights among birds, but even better on the butterfly front: as well as one Citrus Swallowtail and several Brown-veined Whites, I also found two new species for me - a Protea Charaxes at the big, bold and colourful end of the spectrum and a half dozen Grassveld Sylphs at the small and dainty end.

Finally moving off the Cape of Good Hope, I also popped into Kommitjie - mixed roost of White-breasted, Cape and Crowned Cormorants (but no Bank Cormorant this day), plus plenty of Crested, Sandwich and Common Terns, at least 20 African Oystercatchers and, ambling along the beach, about 40 Sacred Ibises, ten Hadeda Ibises and three Glossary Ibises.

Quite happy with that day, returned to Simon's Town, an evening stroll with the African Penguins.

 

[Jos Stratford]

20 January. Simon's Town & Kommitjie.

Having spent a few days based in Simon's Town, I decided it was finally time to visit the actual African Penguin colony. And very nice it was, up to 2000 African Penguins, some waddling up and down the beach, many incubating eggs, a few with grey fluffy young, yet more hurtling through the adjacent azure blue sea. Easy to spend a couple of hours here, also plenty of Cape Cormorants on the sea, Malachite Sunbirds and Fiscal Flycatchers in the shrubbery, a few Rock Dassies also plodding about. On the butterfly front, also many Lang's Short-tailed Blues, several Eastern Dotted Borders and a Citrus Swallowtail.

Leaving the penguins, I decided to pop over to the other side of Cape Peninsula for a return to Kommitjie for another stab at the Bank Cormorants. And immediate success. Gathered on the rocky outcrop, all four of the marine cormorants - about 25 White-breasted Cormorants, 30 Cape Cormorants, eight Crowned Cormorants and, heading the cast, two very nice Bank Cormorants. Also the usual mix of gulls and terns, a Grey-headed Gull ticked in with them, as well as Sacred Ibis, African Oystercatchers and assorted other birds.

With some time to spare, I also popped into the nearby Wildevoelvlei, perhaps the largest wetland on the Cape Peninsula. Very pleasant couple of hours birding here, Greater Flamingoes, African Swamphens and assorted ducks among the species seen on the lake, including four Fulvous Whistling Ducks. This latter species is a bit of a rarity in the Western Cape, though there had however been a bit of an influx in the previous days with several other records at scattered localities. Alongside the lake, also saw a range of common birds such as Cape Sparrows and Cape Bulbul, while both Little Swifts and White-rumped Swifts dominated the skies, Greater Striped Swallows playing second fiddle.

With that, returned to Simon's Town, a little work needing to be done.

 

[MKinHK]

Show us your Palmnut! That's an absolutely amazing record!

Congratulations to you and everyone else who made it on board on navigating the Covid Maze! Looking forward to hearing how the world's biggest pelagic went.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Jos Stratford]

Show us your Palmnut! That's an absolutely amazing record!

Congratulations to you and everyone else who made it on board on navigating the Covid Maze! Looking forward to hearing how the world's biggest pelagic went.

Cheers
Mike

Back of the camera shot for now ....

 

[Jos Stratford]

21 January. Strandfontein Water Treatment Plant & Rondevlei.

Abutting the sprawling informal settlements of the Cape Flats, I had concerns regarding security at these sites, but these appeared misplaced, all went fine. The water treatment plant, an extensive series of large pools, was simply amazing - pool after pool, many hundreds of wildfowl species at each ( Egyptian Geese, Yellow-billed Ducks, Cape Shovelers, Southern Pochards, Red-billed Teals and Cape Teals in the main, but also Spur-winged Geese, Hottentot Teal, Maccoa Duck and, second encounter in two days, a flock of eight Fulvous Whistling Ducks. Also literally thousands of Sacred Ibises, hundreds of Hadeda Ibises, both Greater and Lesser Flamingoes, two African Swamphens, a few Black-necked Grebes and assorted herons and egrets. Quartering, one African Marsh Harrier, plenty of Yellow-billed Kites and a Jackal Buzzard too.

Highlight however was one pool in particular - semi-drained, this was attracting not only a raft of wading birds, but also quite a few visiting birders. And the attraction for these birders, found pretty quickly, was two vagrant Pectoral Sandpipers, neat birds. Alongside, oodles of Avocets and Black-winged Stilts, a hundred or so Little Stints, a Wood Sandpiper, a few Ruff and Ringed Plovers and a solitary Greenshank and Grey Plover. Not bad wader selection. As a backdrop, six White Pelicans and one African Spoonbill.

Layer in the day, I also visited the nearby Rondevlei, a freshwater reserve with reeded pools. A nice supplement to Strandfontein, added here quite a number of African Darters and Reed Cormorants, plus Glossy Ibises and Purple Herons, a Night Heron. One Peregrine too and a tange if scrubland birds, Common Waxbill, Fiscal Flycatcher and Cape White-eyes included.

By day's end, I had amassed a total of 76 species at these two localities, top site for the Cape Town area.

 

[Jos Stratford]

22 January. West Coast.

37 C by 10 am, 41 C for much of the afternoon ...and that was by the 'cooler' coast! Despite the heat however, an excellent day - I travelled north to the West Coast National Park, Blue Crane, Black-shouldered Kites and flocks of Pied Starlings et al on route, as well as mass numbers of African Black Swifts overhead, then male Black Harrier soon after arrival. With the excessive heat, I didn't explore the fynbos too much, but concentrated instead on the excellent wader fest in the extensive Saldanha Bay. Well-appointed hides overlooking, a few good hours here, nothing out of the ordinary, but masses of Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stints, plenty of other wintering Palearctic migrants, including Marsh Sandpipers and abundant Greenshanks, plus some locals such as Kittlitz's Plovers, White-fronted Plovers and Blacksmith Lapwings. Gradually crossing the park, I added a few birds such as Karoo Scrub Robin, Bar-tailed Apalis, Bokmakerie and Black Crake, but a personal highlight for me was Pan Opel, a small species in the broader copper group.

From the West Coast National Park, travelled north to Veldriff, the saltpans here most famous for Chestnut-banded Plover. Didn't take too long to find this exquisite bird, tucked in with White-fronted Plovers and assorted other waders. Along with the neighbouring river, a very nice locality - among the many birds, a mega flock of 480 Black-necked Grebes on one pool, ten Pied Kingfishers knocking about, numerous Greater and Lesser Flamingoes, several White Pelicans and several Reed Cormorants. At the nearby rivermouth, super abundant terns and gulls, plus three of the marine cormorants.

To round the day off, still 40 C as evening drew in, I crossed agricultural areas between St Helena Bay and Paternoster. Very productive for birds with Yellow Canaries, Capped Wheatears and Anteating Chats common, a few Large-billed Larks and Red-capped Larks also seen, plus Jackal Buzzard, several Black-shouldered Kites and Yellow-billed Kites and a couple of Steppe Buzzards. At small watering pools, South African Shelducks and Three-banded Plovers present, plus my second Blue Crane of the day. Turning south to return to Cape Town, my bird tally was standing at 90 species, not bad for a day when the heat pushed many species to cover.

 

[Jos Stratford]

23 January. Betty's Bay, Stony Point, Harold Potter Botanical Gardens, Rooisand.

Dreaded final but one hurdle to jump this morning ...PCR Covid test. Was that little tingle in the throat the precursor to failing the PCR and thus missing the pelagic? What about that person coughing in a shop some days ago?

So, after a nice mix of African Black Swifts, Alpine Swifts, White-rumped Swifts and Little Swifts on the Cape Peninsula, stopped at the testing centre in Cape Town for the nasal swab. Results in two or three hours.

With the duty done, time for a final day's birding before hitting the high seas. Started at Rooi-Els on the east side of False Bay. Truly a fantastic area, a track leading up through the fynbos with abundant boulders and proteas in full flower. Almost immediately, whilst still in the last residential area, saw Cape Rock Thrush and a whole bunch of Cape Sugarbirds, nice males with full flowing tails. Wandering along the track, temperatures a pleasant 26 C, an unexpected abundance of Orange-breasted Sunbirds on show, a few Southern Double-collared Sunbirds and Malachite Sunbirds for good measure too. All eyes here were for the true iconic bird of this locality, but in the meantime, a steady trickle of added extras - Familiar Chat, Grey-backed Cisticola, White-necked Raven and Yellow Canary. And then, eventually, a couple of kilometres along, bingo - scampering from boulder to boulder a mere couple of metres from the track, a most fine family of Cape Rockjumpers, a striking male most welcome. With success on this, wandered back towards the car. No ping on my phone, Covid test results not appearing.

Drove a half hour south, next destination Stony Point. On a rugged headland, another colony of African Penguins here, smaller in size than at Simon's Town, but very atmospheric with the wilder seas and rocky beaches. African Penguins waddling all over, a bunch of moulting individuals hunched on a beach, many more bobbing in the sea beyond. Aside from the penguins however, Stony Point has one more attraction - one of the most reliable localities for Bank Cormorants in South Africa, as well as the other marine cormorants. Indeed so it proved - in the midst of the penguin colony, no less than 55 Bank Cormorants on nests, surrounded by about 25 Cape Cormorants, 40 White-breasted Cormorants and ten Crowned Cormorants.

And then a ping on my phone, an attachment with Covid results ... negative. Excellent, i would at least make to the harbour now, just one more antigen test to go before boarding.

Rapidly spreading fynbos fire engulfing the slopes above Stony Point seemed destined to cancel my next planned locality for the day, but a pretty impressive response by helicopters and ground firefighters soon had this under control, so moved the half dozen kilometres or so to the green and leafy slopes of Harold Potter Botanical Gardens. Alternated between birds and butterflies here, a quant locality considerably smaller than its bigger cousin at Kirstenbosch. Not a bad way to pass a couple of hours - Black Saw-wing Swallow, Sombre Greenbul, African Paradise Flycatcher and several Dusky Flycatchers and Fiscal Flycatchers among the birds, Zebra Blues and Eastern Dotted Borders among the butterflies.

It was now mid-afternoon and hot, but still time to add another locality. For contrast, I decided to add a bit of wetland, visiting the Bot River, both the estuarine section at Rooisand and a bridge over an upstream part. Good birding at both - African Spoonbills, White Pelicans, Pied Kingfishers, a flock of 35 Caspian Terns at the former, along with 14 species of waders, while a healthy number of both Reed Cormorants and African Darters at the latter, along with several White-faced Whistling Ducks and a very nice Gymnogene.

And from here, back to Simon's Town for a final evening before the real trip started.

 

[Jos Stratford]

24 January. Flock to Marion, Day One.

The day finally arrived! Black Sparrowhawk and Cape Sugarbirds over morning coffee, then a quick drive to Cape Town. To the backdrop of the iconic Table Mountain, with Hartlaub's Gulls on the waterfront, passengers were assembling on the dock, the great bulk of the fourteen-deck MSC Orchestra standing to welcome passengers.

Originally had been due to depart at 6pm, but threats of strong winds in the afternoon that could have confined us to port had shifted this forward to midday, so clutching my vaccination certificate and negative PCR, I waited in line for the final antigen test. Fortunately, it was negative, all was go. Several passengers failed this test, end of the trip for them. Boarded, found my cabin, very nice with balcony at the very rear of the ship, Crested Terns and Cape Cormorants zipping about.

11.30 am, we edged out of Cape Town, Flock to Marion underway, Sacred Ibis did a fly-by. We however only went a short way out into the bay, coming to a stop not far off Robben Island. Due to the earlier departure, 50 odd passengers were still due to arrive in Cape Town in the coming hour or so, so for those on board a few hours of warm sunshine and coastal birding ... many Crested Terns and Cape Cormorants, one Crowned Cormorant, plus the first goodies of the trip - a flock of 18 Sabine's Gulls close to the boat and three African Penguins on the water.

Eventually, after little boat boarding of the missing passengers later in the afternoon, we turned for the south, sailed out beyond the Cape of Good Hope. Aside us, mass flocks of hundreds of Common Terns, several Arctic Skuas harassing them. One Humpback Whale, four Southern Right Whales, a pod of Heaviside's Dolphins, a bunch of Cape Fur Seals.

Into open waters, in the dying hours of the day, Cape Gannets, White-chinned Petrels, Sooty and Cory's Shearwaters, one more Sabine's Gull, four Grey Phalaropes. Much anticipation on board, months of uncertainty were now behind us, ahead lay the great open expanses of the Southern Oceans.

 

[Jos Stratford]

25 January. Flock to Marion, Day Two.

Position at dawn, c. 6.00 am, 36°11'32.3"S 20°28'21.2"E, just over 300 km south west of Cape Town. Warm, moderately little wind, blue skies. For the first hour or so, streams of Cory's Shearwaters with the boat, good numbers of and Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses too.

Then at 7.30, as we passed over the edge of the continental shelf, a fishing trawler to the port side, immense number of Shy Albatrosses to its wake, soon our boat immersed in the flock. White-chinned Petrels among, two or three Great-winged Petrels, one Northern Giant Petrel. A shout, right aside our boat, one Sperm Whale surfacing, the hump of its dorsal fin prominent. One Manx Shearwater briefly, four European Storm Petrels even more briefly.

Unfortunately, we did not linger and steamed on south. Leaving the fishing boat, that serving as a magnet sucking in all the birds, there followed a relative patch of 'quietness', though still a fairly regular line of Shy Albatrosses and Great-winged Petrels passing, plus one or two Sooty Shearwaters, my first Brown Skua of the trip, another Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross and a Cape Gannet.

Breakfast at 8.00, then back out on deck, continuing streams of Cory's Shearwaters and ever increasing numbers of Great-winged Petrels for the next couple of hours, plus a couple of White-chinned Petrel, another Cape Gannet and a single Shy Albatross. From late morning through to mid-afternoon however, things dramatically quietened down - long stretches with no birds at all, though punctuated with regularity by occasional Great-winged Petrels and Cory's Shearwaters and, more importantly, a brief Little/Subantarctic Shearwater at 1.30, a young Wandering Albatross a half hour later and a Soft-plumaged Petrel another half hour after that.

Peace and tranquility aboard abruptly came to an end at 4 pm ...from that moment on, things went a little crazy with a never ending stream of better and better birds and mammals - no doubt aided by an approaching storm on the horizon, bird numbers immediately took an upswing and in the three hours till sunset, I notched up no less than 22 Soft-plumaged Petrels, two White-bellied Storm Petrels, one Leach's Petrel, an adult Wandering Albatross, two Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, one Shy Albatross, a dozen White-chinned Petrels and oodles of Great-winged Petrels and Cory's Shearwaters.

Topping it off, we also had a pod of Arnoux's Beaked Whales breaching to our portside, a rare and little known whale species. As sun edged towards the horizon, we were now at 38°03'52.5"S 23°22'09.0"E, 390 km travelled this day. A final Soft-plumaged Petrel zigzagged across in typical erratic flight, an Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross arched in middle distance and two Long-tailed Skuas harried each other.

 

[MKinHK]

Sounds fantastic Jos - and looking forward hearing more.

Cannot imagine the heartbreak of being turned away at the dockside.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Steve Lister]

Just wondering about the style of birding - are you doing your own thing or is it more of a group activity? Is everyone on board a birder?

I assume there are 'experts' shouting things out. Although the only remotely similar thing I have ever been on one of the 'experts' was frantically shouting "Orcas, Orcas!" over the PA system from his viewpoint on the bridge while the group I was in were watching Risso's Dolphins.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Just wondering about the style of birding - are you doing your own thing or is it more of a group activity? Is everyone on board a birder?

I assume there are 'experts' shouting things out. Although the only remotely similar thing I have ever been on one of the 'experts' was frantically shouting "Orcas, Orcas!" over the PA system from his viewpoint on the bridge while the group I was in were watching Risso's Dolphins.

Only birders on board, or at least only birders and some non-birding partners. Total number of passengers somewhere in the region of 1500, though never seemed that - boat is huge and many decks suitable for birding, so no crowding and many excellent decks totally empty. 40 guides at set points around decks, some at front, some at back, rest on either side - all had walkie talkies and news spread very rapidly, so if someone got something at the front for example, the news was fast enough for folk to get the bird elsewhere, or even move to see it.

Guides were excellent, a collection of basically the world's best seabird experts - Peter Harrison, Peter Ryan, Trevor Hardaker, Jonathan Rossouw, etc

 

[Owene]

Sounds amazing. Have you been to the region before Jos or are a lot of these new to you?