Flock to Marion Again! 2025

Earlier last year it was announced that Birdlife South Africa would be revisiting Marion Island. As it was such a good trip we decided to do it again. This time we would be joined by Jake and Ian. Following the cruise we arranged to visit Mkuza, Hluhuwe and Imfolozi Parks for a different set of birds and another try for  Cheetahs.

As our flight was at 10.00 am, I was picked up,around 5.30 for the drive to Copthorne for off airport parking for Gatwick. All went well until I noticed we had missed the Tunbridge Wells turning. Checking the sat nav on the phone there were two options. One was to go up to the M25, along to the M23 and down then back towards Copthorne, which sort of messed up the reason for parking there. The other option was to go a little more cross-country which was a few minutes longer but missed the possibility of problems on the M25. The route turned out to be through many narrow and windy B roads but we had few problems and arrived at Copthorne parking relatively easily. We booked the can in, handed over the keys and got on the bus to North terminal, via the South.

Check in was quiet with just a short wait before we got rid of our luggage. Unfortunately, we will have to collect and re-checkin our luggage in Johannesburg so hopefully we have time. We then went through security, again very quickly, bought a sandwich and a drink and then met up with Jake and Ian, making our way to the departure gate. We ate our sandwiches and then boarded the plane. It was a very easy boarding as the plane was half empty. We were given a packet of rusky things and a drink just after take-off and lunch of creamy chicken, rice, peas and salad, plus cake after a couple of hours with a drink and tea or coffee. Not long before landing we were given a meat and cheese roll with tea and fruit juice and then we were on the approach to Addis Ababa. We had a smooth landing, disembarkation was relatively quick, with a bus to the terminal and then a bit of a walk through the airport to our gate for the onward flight. There seemed to be a lot of activity in the toilets with people hanging about, changing clothes and water being sloshed about, one girl was washing her feet in the sink.