At Sun City's Cascades hotel, pigeon fanciers have been gathering all morning in small groups for a bus trip out to the SCMDPR lofts, which are situated near one of the resort's two golf courses.

There, trainer Dave van der Merwe shows the fanciers around. It's not an easy job, training so many pigeons over a year for a million–dollar race, but van der Merwe is pleased with the results.

"When you train a few thousand birds, everything is complicated," he said, "But the state of this year's pigeons is excellent – they're in great shape."

Asked about the year's race times so far, van der Merwe says that they've been quite good, on the whole, with each race producing its own surprises.

As for the main event this year? "The Germans are looking good – as they always do," said van der Merwe. "But it all depends on the weather and other factors." He has no doubt that we'll have cause to raise an eyebrow or two when the first pigeons return to their lofts on Saturday afternoon.

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The Americans are coming! Or rather – they're here already. Meet Bill Jeffers, Frank McLaughlin, Dan McLaughlin and Ann and Duncan Harvey – east coasters who have, between them, more than a dozen pigeons in this year's SCMDPR.

Dan is the leader of the pack – he's been a pigeon fancier for almost 40 years, he said, having started racing at the tender age of ten.

Here's a gallery of snaps from the morning's visit:

Here are some further snaps from this morning's visit:

Dan and his wife have dabbled in various ventures over the years – including owning two fitness centres in the States – but pigeons remain the focus: McGlauglin Lofts has been in business for almost as long as Dan's been racing.

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Snaps from the morning's visit: