5 July 2012

I was nervous about going outside before daylight this morning.   It was freezing and I got dressed under the blankets!   Earl said he was feeling better but I made him lie in bed until the last minute.

Heather, Peter and I packed up and loaded the car and by 9 o’clock it had warmed up a bit.    Earl wanted to drive but I refused to allow that.  The return track was a bit more hectic but with his careful instruction and my sound effects I managed.     The Italians were just ahead of us and at one point we spotted them stopped up ahead. They had found meerkats close to the road!

This chap used a tree for a higher view point

He made sure to look both ways

There were certainly enough little rodents for the birds of prey

An exciting find were these Namaqua sandgrouse parents with their chicks

Trying to get up the dune – he managed

We stopped at a waterhole to observe wildebeest

And gemsbok

The weather was once again hot and we started to strip off our outer clothes.  We arrived at Nossob just after 2 o’clock and checked in.  Earl was feeling very much better and after lunch went to spend some time at the hide.

I was pretty tired and spent the afternoon resting and downloading photographs onto the computer.   Peter and Heather walked around camp for a bit and then also had a rest.  Our huts were quite far apart but we kept in otouch with the walkie talkies.  I did a chicken stir fry for supper and for the first time in days, Earl ate well.

6 July 2012

This morning we were up early and made our way to Twee Rivieren.  We were supposed to spend a night there but decided to push on to Upington so we could get some medication for Earl who was now battling with his sinuses.

We saw lots of bateleurs flying and were thrilled when we finally found one perched in a tree.

Bateleur

There were plenty of juvenile pale chanting goshawks

These two were chasing each other in the air and then landed in a dead tree

It was great to find a herd of eland

Nearing Twee Rivieren we found another troop of meerkat

They were vigilant in keeping an our out for raptors

Ground Squirrels were in close proximity

This sup-adult Pale Chanting has almost completed growing his adult plumage

We had hoped to have lunch at the restaurant at Twee Rivieren but found that it only opens for breakfast and dinner.    So we settled for some very good pies from the shop, refuelled and checked out.  We got to Upington just before 5 o’clock, got medication from a local chemist and then checked in at Evergreen B&B.  We were given two well appointed en suite bedrooms and the owner recommended we go to a Bilou Bistro for dinner. So after a good meal we returned to warm beds and a good night’s sleep.

And so ended our safari – a mixture of fortune and misfortune – but happily Earl recovered quickly and fully and drove us home the following day.