Caravanning in the Kgalagadi Twee Rivieren Monday 30 March 2015

2015-04-21 | puppy1952

It rained during the night and it is quite chilly when we wake up this morning. However, I still think shorts will be okay. Luckily I take a fleece with me as the weather does not warm up above 20 degrees C.
Earl goes ahead to wait in the queue while I go to the loo. As I walk towards reception I notice that two cars are already lining up at the gate. This means that they did not hand in their permits last night and are illegally up front! The rest of us wait for the gate staff to arrive and check us out before we can drive to the game area gate! Jim should be first but is now third and Earl is fourth. We take the Rooiputs road and have a brief encounter with some playful jackal.
At quarter to eight we see the illegal starters stopped on the side of the road – they are looking at lion.
The first one I spot is a big male.

then Earl points out two females near to him. They are just lying there in on the dune.
Another male is short way away fast asleep. While we watch, the females get up and go up onto the ridge. Then three more come over to meet them. We can hear roaring and suspect there is another male somewhere.
We watch the male get up take a walk and find a puddle to drink from but nothing else special happens so we move on.

A few kilometres on we find a female crouching in hunting mode at the crest of the dune. We watch her for a while but do not see what she is stalking so we move on.

Martial Eagle

We stop at Melkvlei for a loo break and then decide to retrace our route and take the Dune road to Achterlonie. We find the same female and hear a roar. At first we think a male is calling her but then see that she is the one making the din!
On the Dune road we are delighted to see that beautiful yellow flowers have sprung up after the rains. I think they are called Dubbeltjies.

We see korhaan and Kori Bustards and two Spurwinged geese fly overhead. Some ant-eating chats don’t like the tawny that perches in their territory.

Two jackal puppies are exploring unattended by their parents. They seem nervous of the car at first and then ignore us and continue their antics. They are so cute one feels that one can pick them up and take them home for pets.

We have breakfast at Achterlonie and take a look at the old historic cottage. It is so cold that we eat in the car.
The rest of our trip produces very little and we are back at camp by 12:30. At half past three we decide to go to The Kgalagadi lodge for a late lunch instead of cooking supper tonight. We are delighted with our meals – pepper steaks for Jim, Maureen and Earl and I have an Adam and Eve – Rump steak with green fig and blue cheese sauce.

When we return Earl and I decide to take a quick drive to the waterhole – but stay out longer than we planned! We try to find yesterday’s caracal without success but enjoy a bit of bird-watching. The highlight is a martial eagle and when we get back into the gate we find black-faced wax-bills.

Caravanning in The Kgalagadi Twee Rivieren Sunday 29 March 2015

2015-04-21 | puppy1952

There is great resistance to rising early this morning and Earl lies in a little later while I am off to the showers at 5:30. I hear later that Jim felt the same way! As we wait in line for to collect our permits, Maureen says – It’s so overcast today – we probably won’t see very much – not the right conditions. Don’t be so sure, I say, anything can happen – the bush is unpredictable! We go through the gate as dawn is breaking and a brilliant red sky greets us, Earl says – I don’t see the point of these early starts! No self-respecting animal will be at the waterholes and there is so much water lying about they don’t even need to be near the roads! Blah-blah, moan-moan. I smile sweetly and offer to drive which is met with firm no thank you. It is 7 am and what is this up ahead. Jim and another car are stopped and as we approach I call out – Lion – no cheetah! Three are crouched together chewing something in the dirt. The animals tend to lick the dust for its salt content. We cannot make out anything else edible. We watch the three interact and have fun and the scene is on the correct side of the road in the golden light! There is a single gemsbok on the dune watching carefully, fully aware that he could become breakfast. The trio suddenly get up and one by one start walking towards the dune. We follow and hope to see a chase but not today. The gemsbok decides that caution is the better part of valour and gallops off. A little further on we Jim stops. We catch up and see a jackal taking off. But wait there are two more and they’re on a kill! Did they take down this springbok on their own – I think not. It was probably a leopard. The jackals tear at it and one by one as they satiate themselves quickly leave the scene. This is a pretty good start to our day. Let us content ourselves with birding now as there can’t possibly be anything more exciting in store. It is 8:30 and what do we see? More cheetahs – but on the East side of the road – into the sun. There are 5 of them – Mother and four teenager kittens. And they are eating a fresh kill of Gemsbok! How lucky are we! We watch them and photograph them for ages. The cheeky jackals are hovering and trying to get a paw in. But the mother chases them off. The tawny eagles – three of them fly in and try to make a grab but Mom jumps into the air to frighten them off. The little ones scrap and fight for dominance of the kill. Then Mom comes to get her share, disciplining the greedy kids. Every now and then she chases the jackals away. Then all of a sudden all five of them take off across the road with us following and disappear over the hill. We realise that something has frightened them off and return to the scene to find a male lion making a meal of the left overs. Clearly the howling of the jackals have alerted him to the fact that a canteen is open nearby. We watch the lion feast and then walk off. He finds a puddle of water and drinks for a while then walks back and over the dune and disappear. What an amazing sighting. We continue to Melkvlei for breakfast and then retrace our steps to find the kill site awash with vultures and tawny eagles. Wow! Jim and Maureen are ahead of us but we waste time watching baby ostrich and then slowly follow on. At the site of the jackal kill from this morning we find more vultures and take photographs of three different species. At Rooiputs waterhole we find the wildebeest having a Sunday afternoon nap. We try to catch up with Jim but he is way ahead Earl yells – Lynx – and a caracal crosses in front of us with a ground squirrel in his jaws. Omigosh! I am beside myself trying to get a photograph but he darts up the dune and disappear. I’ve lost my opportunity. Let’s wait and see, I say to Earl. He may appear and sure enough he emerges from behind a tree and looks at us – kill hanging from his mouth.

Poor ground squirrel

We keep him in our sights until he settles under a distant tree. The squirrel is behind him and he is panting to regain his breath. We manage few poor photographs and watch to see if he will feast upon his prey – but clearly he is saving it till later.

Tired after the chase

No other car comes by and we need to move on. Around the corner we see “Boshuisie” – grandparents in a campervan with their little grandchild. We stop them and tell them where to find the caracal. Follow us, we say, we will turn around and show you exactly where Two other cars appear and we show them all where to find the caracal. I persuade Earl to turn into the waterhole and we find two birds – a greenshank and double banded plover. Back at camp Jim and Maureen are just tucking into their lunch. We tell them about our special sighting then make chicken sandwiches for our own lunch. We plan to bird in the camp but the rains come and we only manage to get the pearl spotted rain lets up enough for me to cook and for us to eat our meal. Earl and I drive to the ablutions to shower and do our teeth and by the time we return the rain is coming down – much needed in this dry environment.

Caravanning in The Kgalagadi Friday 27 March 2015 Polentswa to Twee Rivieren

2015-04-19 | puppy1952

Friday 27 march 2015 polentswa to twee rivieren

It is a long drive to Twee Rivieren and we are packed up and ready to leave by 6:40. We stop off at Nossob to refuel and find out if the road south has suffered any damage from the storm There is no diesel! Fortunately we have enough to get us there with some to spare!

The sightings are mainly bird. There are the usual gemsbok, springbok and plenty of red hartebeest about but otherwise nothing particularly exciting. The pictures below will tell the story.

Red Hartebeest

We find the campsite very full at TR. Our site is small and we are cheek to jowl with other campers but we all have sufficient shade. We do not have an electrical outlet nearby but we have two long leads and so the men make a plan with a long extension lead.

Once we have unpacked we check in at reception and then drive 5km to the Kgalagadi Safari Lodge where they have a wonderful shop with fresh produce! What a treat to find a variety of fruit and vegetables as well as bread, yogurt and plenty of other things that are unavailable in the park! We are like kids in a candy store as we pick and choose – goodbye canned food!

After our shopping we sit on the deck and enjoy sundowners before returning to camp.

To our surprise and delight we find that the Bush Lapa Caravan next to our site belongs to Daan and Jeanette. We do not realise it is theirs until they return from their game drive. It is their last night in the park and we all braai together – Maureen does the butternut, Jeanette the potato salad and I make a Greek Salad. We have a delightful evening around Jeanette and Daan’s table and a firm friendship is forged. Hopefully we will catch up with them in Wellington sometime in the future.

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi Polentswa Thursday 26 March 2015

2015-04-18 | puppy1952

Thursday 26 march 2015

It is a lovely morning once again and we go out for an early morning drive. The owl is in his usual place, screaming for food from Mom.

We drive 5 km north and then turn around and go to Koussant Water Hole but do not see anything too exciting. We enjoy the birds, however, and are delighted to see that there is so much water around. The KTP really needed these rains. It does mean that the animals don’t need to come to the waterholes and are making themselves scarce. There is quite a bit of devastation after the storm and we find blown down trees across the road. Fortunately there are detours that we can take round therm.

We are once again fascinated to find water birds in the dessert. Isn’t it amazing how creatures instinctively know where there are new water venues! We have fun watching the jacana hawking in a puddle in the middle of the road.

Not often seen in the Kgalagadi – A juvenile black-winged stilt

We return to camp for brunch and have bacon and egg sandwiches. Later in the afternoon, M and J decide to stay in camp to complete their packing and Earl and I go for a birding drive. The results can be seen in the photographs below!

Red Hartebeest confrontation

Three-banded plover

scaly-feathered finch

Familiar Chat

Lesser Grey Shrike

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi Polentswa Tuesday 24 March 2015

2015-04-16 | puppy1952

It rained again in the night but this morning, though cold the weather has cleared. Nevertheless I dress in jeans and a long sleeve shirt and we head for Polentswa waterhole. The baby owl is the only creature of real interest.

We continue to Kannegaus and on the way find a rabbit in our path. There is plenty of water on the road and all the waterholes are flooded with other water lying about nearby. We see mainly wildebeest and gemsbok drinking.

002 Kousant Water Hole flooded Helen Powershot 2015-03-24 07-48-03 AM 4608x3456

The Gemsbok seem amazed at the extra water at the borehole

The sandgrouse are having a lovely time with more choices of water supply and less hassles from lanners. We find them drinking all over the place.

We do not see much but here are photographs of what we did see today.

The Crowned Lapwings were everywhere – just loving all the puddles

A lanner wondering where all the doves are

A jackal relaxing on the muddy river bed

We were back in camp by lunch time and the weather had warmed up to shorts and t-shirt status again.

The enormous sky

And the sun starts to set

Red Sky at night Kgalagdi delight

For dinner Maureen cooked a lovely meal of mince, potatoes and gem squash. It was pleasant sitting out but by 8 o’clock it looked like it would rain so we got into our caravans and had an early night. There was a brief storm but nothing too serious.

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi – Nossob Wednesday 18 March 2015

2015-04-10 | puppy1952

We wake to a calm and pleasant morning. But there is desert sand everywhere! Maureen and I head for the showers at the same time and decide to deal with clean up after our morning game drive when it is light enough to see. The showers are cold again this morning and as the temperature of the day is cooler I don’t feel as tolerant about the cold water as I did yesterday!

We head North on our drive and see very little. There is a family of three jackal that amuse us and watching the Lanners chase doves at the waterholes is always fun.

They are up to something

Annoying a bateleur

Earl has a tummy ache and we decide to return to camp. At 9:30 I give Earl a Myprodol. An hour later the pain is gone! It It just 10:40 when we get back to Nossob and the delivery truck has arrived. However, very little produce is delivered. We buy water, ice a packet of tomatoes, bread and some canned foods. I spend the next hour or so cleaning up the sand and wiping down the caravan. Fortunately there is no damage. We set up the side wall of the canopy and all is well again.

Maureen and Jim arrive an hour later and I take all the dishes from last night to wash. I boil some eggs and make and add them to our left over salad which we all have for lunch along with some canned fish and 3 bean salad that Maureen produces.

After lunch Maureen and I both have a bit of washing to do and to of course the lunch dishes are done before we go to the pool for a swim. Earl has a nap and feels much better afterwards.

We go for our afternoon drive at 4:30 taking the South Road and Marie se Draai. We stop to watch a PCG catch and devour a mouse.

On the way back on the Nossob road we see a traffic jam caused by 18 lions lying asleep all the way across the road. We decide to turn around and go back via Marie se Draai.

Supper is a delicious Chicken and vegetable stew cooked by Maureen. Stormy weather threatens and there is a spit and a spot of rain but nothing soaking. We photograph a lovely rainbow and pray that more rain will fall. The wind is blowing but not as violently as yesterday. We watch the lightening for a while and then decide to turn in early.

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi Mata Mata to Nossob Sunday 15 March 2015

2015-04-07 | puppy1952

We are up very early and start the final packing for departure. The most difficult part is getting the roof of the Comfort Van down. It is very difficult to clip into place there being a front part and a back part that needs to be done. If the one end clips the other won’t and we have not yet learned the knack of getting it right. One is also in danger of bashing one’s head on the ceiling if one doesn’t duck just in time. I am uselessly impractical and tend have serious coordination problems which frustrates the perfectionist in my darling husband. He has soon collected several reasons to divorce or kill me when Jim comes to the rescue and offers to help. I feel fractionally better when I find that the two men have as much trouble as I did with the task but they finally do it without destroying their beautiful friendship. This particular caravan has a problem and Earl says he will have to make a few adjustments so that the mechanism will work more easily in the future!

We had planned to leave at 7 but are ready to roll at 6:35 and we are out of the gate by 6:40 – just 10 minutes later than our usual start. This is as well as we have 160km of rough roads to negotiate while towing our caravan and the maximum allowed speed is 50km/hr

We spot at speed for a while and get Jackal, White-backed vultures and gemsbok before Jim and Maureen stop at 7:00. What do they see – then I spot them – 3 female lions and a tumble of the tiniest kittens. I call them kittens because they are the tiniest cubs I have ever seen. They must be only a few weeks old. Other tourists are turning their vehicle round to follow them and one chap teases us – “Why don’t you turn round and follow too!” If only!

But we are delighted to have got this much of them. I find out later that M&J had seen the male too. He was sitting down proudly watching his family. Somehow E and I missed that!

We do not take the loops round the waterholes but travel the bypass road instead keeping a sharp lookout for anything interesting. We spot three cheetahs (which J and M miss) on the ridge of the dune. It looks like they intend going to 14^th Waterhole.

We pass some giraffe then turn onto the Dune Road toward Nossob. The vegetation is denser now but the game is sparse. We find one or two steenbok which we haven’t seen this trip yet. A Kori Bustard struts past and a lanner flies into a tree. At Vaalpan we find a black headed heron in a small waterhole.

Jim is ahead of us and when we catch up he is stationery – we think to wait for us but when we draw up beside him he points to Northern Black Korhaan – the dunes are famous for these birds.

At Elan Water Hole we find a jackal and a little later we spot red hartebeest.

Our loo stop is at Kikbaardskolk picnic site where we meet some people who warn us that there is ‘nothing to see’ in the Nossob area. The annual rains have not yet arrived and may in fact be too late. There will be consequences to the wildlife if good rains don’t come soon.

We find Gemsbok at both Dikbaardskolk Water Hole and Kaspersdraai Water Hole where there is also a jackal. Finally we arrive at Nossob at about 9:30. Jim and Maureen go straight to the camping area and find the shadiest spot they can. I go to reception and the man complains that people seek their camping spot before checking in! We decide not to go out for a game drive today as it is just too hot!

I am finding camping so much nicer than staying in chalets. Ones fellow campers are all so friendly and one gets to meet some interesting people. After breakfast I take the dishes to wash and find a gentleman sitting at a counter, laptop plugged sorting out his photographs. He calls me over and shows me the most amazing video and photo sequence of a leopard that came down to drink as Kaspersdraai water hole. It was on his granddaughter’s birthday so he named her Tara. Later when I return to do some washing he is there with his friend Peter – both of them on their computers. They are discussing birds that they might see and mention that in the rainy season you could sea knob-billed duck. Isn’t that now called comb duck, I ignorantly chime in. Oh no, says Peter – the comb duck is in India – we’ve changed our one’s name back to knob-billed duck. And if you read my book you will have all the new names. Turns out he is Peter Ginn chief editor of The best companion to Southern African Birding.

I meet Peter, his wife Irene and their friends in the pool later. Peter offers me his set of books at a reduced price and I tell him that I’ll chat to E which I do later and Earl is dead keen. Other campers had shown us these beautiful coffee table books at Mata Mata and E was impressed. Peter agreed to give us his banking details and we are now the proud owners of these stunning books signed by both him and his wife who is co-editor!

For supper we do steaks, sweet potato and onions on the braai and combine our ingredients for a salad. It won’t be long before we run out of fresh veggies so we’re making the most of it while they last.

It is very hot tonight and I wring my sarong out in cold water and sleep with it draped over me. I don’t wake till 5 the next morning!

Caravanning in The Kgalagadi – Mata Mata Friday 13 March 2015

2015-04-05 | puppy1952

It is a calm day today – no cats but we do have fun seeing birds and other creatures as the photographs will show.

We ended our day early and came back to camp at 2 pm. The temperatures gets up to 36 every day but while in an air conditioned car this is not too bad but in camp it is energy sapping. I decide that I will go to the pool for a quick swim but stay in for an hour! I meet some interesting people. Mike is a vet from Hout Bay and heavily into Bird Watching so we have a lovely chat while his companions tease us about looking at birds when there is a lion right in front our noses. This is too true!

When I am out of the pool I chat to a lady who is on one of the recliners in the shade. It is her first visit to Kgalagadi and she is not impressed. “It’s just a dessert,” she says – “I miss Kruger.” I tell her that it will grow on her. “Why,” she asks – “The -vastness of the dry, scorched land, the muted grey-green-pink-mauve-lime-green-khaki colours that contrast with the orange dunes and brightly coloured bee-eaters and crimson breasted shrikes, the huge sky and the dusty pink clouds, the very earthiness of the place – I don’t know – but it does grow on one and one keeps longing to come back. Kruger has a different kind of fresh, lush beauty. Kgalagadi has a rugged character that keeps drawing you back time and time again.

Maureen cooks Puttanesca (Prostitutes’ Pasta) for supper and Earl is impressed. He wants me to learn to cook it!