Enjoying the great outdoors

Last Friday morning we joined our nature club on an outing to a nearby wetland area. It was a pleasant day and we have visited this spot many times with some dear friends as it is literally on their doorstep.

In the pond we saw a number of different birds: ducks, Mallard ducks, Egyptian geese and last but not least, Coots with their newly hatched offspring that hid among the reeds.

The mountain views were spectacular. I love our mountains. Perhaps I am so fond of them as we could could always see them from our childhood home. I miss seeing them from our current home. When we lived in Dar es Salaam I missed the mountains tremendously and often while driving, I would look to the horizon and something would be "missing"....it was the mountains that "should have been there".

On our walk we encountered this tree covered in seeds that were ready to be whisked off into the wind. The children stood under the branches and shook them and the seeds dispersed like falling snow. I am not sure what tree this is.

We spotted a couple of Weaver bird nests. Sadly a passer by told us there had been many more but in the last couple of weeks some children had destroyed them.

I loved the idea of these plastic bag dispensers dotted around the wetland for doggy do. A very clever idea!

My poor K was suffering from the end of tonsillitis and she took the opportunity to rest in the shade with a friend. Usually she brings her nature notebook and sketches something to remember her time outdoors but that day she needed rest.

This post features on the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers where South African home schoolers share experiences, ideas, philosophies and much more. You can join the carnival too by heading to the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers sign up page. In the meantime, head to the Hayes family where the carnival is hosted this week. We hope you enjoy the carnival as much as we have!