Fortune and Misfortune – A Fortuner Adventure – Day 8

2012-07-17 | puppy1952

4 July 2012

Once again it was cold when we got up. Earl was still feverish and had not had a good night. We thought it might be a good idea to cut our holiday short and make our way home. I went to Eric and asked him to try and get us accommodation in Nossob. There was no way Earl could travel all the way to Upington in his state of health. Unfortunately, Nossob was fully booked so we would have to stay another night and leave early the next morning as planned. It turned out to be the best thing as Earl started to improve.

It was even colder today than yesterday. We dressed warmly and prepared to keep vigil on the waterhole. We were a bit horrified to see that the water level had dropped considerably in the waterhole and found out later that the pump was broken. The animals would be having a muddy drink today. New people had moved into the hut 3 – an Italian dad and his teenage son. It was their second visit to Africa having previously travelled through Namibia and Botswana but they had never seen lion. Well at 9:45 a.m. they were to be rewarded. Along came a lovely female.

The dad called across to us – there’s another one and sure enough Number one was joined by her sister.

They stayed for a while and then went off to do what lions do all day – sleep under a shady tree somewhere.

The bush telegraph must have gone out because very few animals came to drink at the waterhole today – they must have known that the water level was low. Eric went off duty and he introduced Andries who was to take him place. Andries turned out to be a very capable attendant. He turned off the water and set about trying to fix our water heater. It took him most of the day and in spite of many attempts at repair it became clear that a new one was required. But he fixed the pump and the level of the water came up. He also fixed the flood light!

There was not much happening after the lion visit but we enjoyed our bird watching.

Acacia Pied Barbet

Chestnut-vented titbabbler

Two jackal sharing a drink

The last photo of the day was of two jackals sharing a drink.

Earl was feeling better and got up to have a shower. We had to use Peter and Heather’s as our water-heater had been disconnected. He was exhausted afterwards and went straight back to bed.

The wind dropped so we made a braai and then turned in for an early night. And what a scary night it turned out to be. Earl had slept most of the day so was not sleepy and we read for a while before going to sleep only to be woken in the early hours of the morning by a prowling lion roaring loudly right outside our hut. I leapt up and unzipped the canvas window but could not see a thing. “He must be behind the hut,” I said to Earl. “Go out on the deck and see what you can see” “You must be crazy!” I was terrified and was not about to risk life and limb to see and predating cat! He roared and roared. It was at once both thrilling and terrifying. We lay and listened to the sound which eventually faded away and we went back to sleep.

Fortune and Misfortune – A Fortuner Adventure – Day 5

2012-07-14 | puppy1952

1 July 2012

Earl was still not feeling good this morning. He did not have a temperature but he complained that his body was aching. It sounded like a dose of influenza was on the way! I left him in bed while we got up and packed and in spite of his ails he insisted on driving.

We were enjoying the early morning drive, snug and warm in our vehicle, no cars in sight and just the odd springbok and gemsbok about, when just up ahead we saw a car stopped and wondered what he had seen. We soon found out. Right in front of him, on the road was a young male lion. Eyes forward we got our cameras ready. We were thrilled to be only one of two cars and did not have to fight for position. Suddenly someone in the car ahead gesticulated to us and we looked around to see a lioness in the distance. She was slowly making her way toward us and we didn’t know where to look – at the lioness or the lion who was really close. I insisted that we wait for the lioness to get closer. “She’s going to join her husband,” I said. And he did keep looking behind him to monitor her progress. Of course, I was right and eventually we were rewarded when she came up right next to the car.

Lioness

After snapping many photographs we slowly overtook the car in front of us and past the male so we could turn around to get more than his back view.

Looking for his wife

: Happy that she’s following her lord and master

It was a great start to our journey to Nossob!

Close by a jackal expressed what he thought about his king and queen

We don’t often see kudu in Kgalagadi so it was great to find these beautiful males at the waterhole.

Kudu

A passing tourist alerted us to cheetah around the corner. We took our time as we’d seen cheetah in this spot before and knew they would be far from the road and not in a hurry to move on.

On the way we spied these two perched high up and surveying the scene.

White-backed Vultures

We could not resist snapping this kestrel either

Rock Kestrel

And then as we rounded the corner we saw a few cars looking over the wide grassland and soon caught sight of cheetahs on the move.

Cheetahs

We wondered where they were headed

Just to a shady tree where they could sleep for the rest of the day!

We continued on our way, delighted to have had 2 cat sightings in one morning. There was not much excitement for the rest of the way but we did stop for birds and enjoyed seeing all the springbok, gemsbok, kori bustards – we counted 97 in one day – there must have been a Kori Bustard convention that nobody told us about. Usually it’s very exciting spotting one but we had become quite blasé about these magnificent birds.

Our plan was to stop at a picnic site and Earl would cook breakfast but by the time we got there he was feeling dreadful so we settled for cereal and coffee.

Isn’t it amazing that you can be 1000 km from home in a reserve where you seldom see another soul on the road and then you can randomly turn up at a picnic site and you recognise the only other people there. Yes – we met Sean and Isobella, members of our bird club, who just happened to be on their way to Mata Mata where they were exiting to go to Namibia! What were the chances!

There was a lot of bird activity but this was the best photograph I managed. This little chap is a black chested prinia. He is in his non-breeding feathers hence no black chest!

Black-chested Prinia

We made Earl as comfortable as possible in the passenger seat and I drove the rest of the way to Nossob. He had the shivers and was not a happy man.

It was after 1:30 when we arrived. We needed to refuel for our trip to Gharagab the following day as there would be no place to do so between here and there. We had also been warned that Nossob was running low on diesel but there was no point on filling up at Mata Mata as we were close on full. It was a Sunday and the petrol pumps were closed till 2! Earl got into the queue while I went to check in. There was some delay at reception too as there was only one attendant who could deal with us and she was busy dealing with a gate and key crisis – not too sure of the details. I got chatting to young woman in the queue who was checking in to go to Gharagab. There were two vehicles and three people in her party and they’d driven all the way from Twee Rivieren and were heading straight for Gharagab 160km away on a 4×4 track. I wished her luck as I was sure they wouldn’t make it before dark! We would not dream of driving from Twee Rivieren to Gharagab without an overnight stop at Nossob. You never know how often you are going to stop for animals, whether you’ll get a puncture, how bad the roads might be etc. etc. But they were young, thought themselves invincible and didn’t have a care in the world. Do I miss those days? No, I don’t think so!

Luckily there was enough diesel, we stocked up on fire wood and mineral water – no drinking water at Gharagab and checked into our bungalows. Earl went straight to bed. Heather, Peter and I, after some lunch and unpacking walked to the hide which overlooks a waterhole.

Wildebeest taking a drink

There was quite a lot of bird activity and we watched a lanner trying to catch doves but he was not successful.

I managed to snap a pale chanting goshawk just as he took flight.

Earl remained in bed and Peter braaied our supper. We debated whether we should abandon the trip and try and get to Upington and a doctor. I had a well-stocked first aid kit with flu medication but no antibiotics. Earl’s fever was over 40 degrees C, which worried me. Once at Gharagab we would be settled for three nights – no driving around as the only road is the one-way, round trip on a 4X4 track between Nossob and the wilderness camp. Travelling to Twee Rivieren would take forever and then it would be another 250 km to Upington. I thought Earl would be more comfortable staying put and decided that he might as well be sick there as anywhere else. So the plan was for me to drive the 4×4 track and see how things went.

Fortune and Misfortune – a Fortuner Adventure

2012-07-10 | puppy1952

A Brief Preamble

You can, if you are brave and not particular about your motor vehicle, travel the roads of The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in an ordinary sedan car. We have done it twice in my Volkswagen Caravelle which is four motion. But we found that it was expecting a bit much and ever since the first shake up of a trip we suffered the consequences as the poor vehicle had its insides and parts severely shaken up and it was never the same again!

The plan this trip was to take Earl’s Toyota Hi-Lux twin cab – not as comfortable as my Caravelle but it still had plenty of room to pack the catering equipment and luggage for four travellers. Earl has never been completely happy with the afore mentioned Toyota which he’s had for about a year. The back didn’t seal well. He was afraid everything would be covered in red dust. It was an automatic and he didn’t like the way it handled on the road and the list went on. After having a special holiday service something went wrong and that sent him over the edge and the day before departure he arrived home with a brand new Toyota Fortuner. Well! All very nice and comfortable with tinted windows (just done and couldn’t be opened for 48 hours) BUT what about the packing space! He should really have purchased one of those aerodynamic roof rack thingies with bags that fitted snugly in included but there was not time for that!

He arrived home late on the day before departure. Our travelling companions had dropped off their luggage and now the Magiver manipulation began to get everything in and leave room for the passenger. Talk about canned sardines – we were canned tourists for the next 10 days! Having said that – it all worked out and got the packing an unpacking down to a fine art for the rest of the trip!

26 June 2012

I am always like a kid before Christmas the day before departure and so of course I was too excited to sleep. I must have dropped off an hour before the alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. Typical! But I was up and out of bed like a shot and soon we were picking up Peter and Heather in Fish Hoek and we were on the road on schedule. We stopped at Muis Huis in Van Rynsdorp for breakfast and spent the night at Kalahari Guest House just outside Upington. Our hostess cooked us a delicious three course dinner – mushroom soup, babootie, roast leg of lamb with sweet potato and vegetables followed by Melba pudding followed by Melba pudding and custard.

She also gave us a packed breakfast – toasted cheese and tomatoe sandwiches, yogurt and juice. I thought cold toasted sandwiches would not be so great but they were delicious!

Earl, Peter and Heather at Muis Huis, van Ryndorp

27 June 2012

It was freezing when we got up but we dressed in layers knowing that the days warm up considerably – so it was a short sleeved shirt, jersey and warm jacket over jeans and shoes and socks all wrapped up in scarves, beanies and gloves. By the time we reached Twee Rivieren we were beginning to peal off the outer garments!

Before entering the gate we were treated to a wonderful sighting of this magnificent eagle.

Martial Eagle

We checked in at around 10 o’clock but could not get into our accommodation before 2 so set off for our first game drive. Everything is exciting on the first day so the cameras were clicking furiously as we stopped for every creature.

The white-browed sparrow weaver is a common resident in these arid parts.

White-browed sparrow-weaver

The black-backed jackal was not too shy to greet us.

Black-backed Jackal

It was good to find our National Mammal – or Rugby Buck as my grandsons used to call it. These beautiful antelope were everywhere and we never tired of watching their antics.

Our National Animal – The Springbok

The Kgalagadi was formerly known as the Kalahari Gemsbok Park and was originally created to protect these handsome creatures.

Gemsbok/Oryx

The Kori Bustard is the heaviest flying bird in the world. He is a magnificent bird and we get really excited if we spot one. This beauty proudly showed himself early in the trip.

Kori Bustard

Another common resident of the Kalahari is the ground squirrel. These cute, cuddly creatures are my favourite. I just love their bushy tails and cute manners.

Ground Squirrel

Earl started complaining that his muscles were sore – I told him to stop being grumpy so he showed me GRUMPY. Watch this space to find out why he was grumpy!

Grumpy Old Man

The last pictures we took were of Red Hartebeest – lovely to see – and then we went to check into our family chalet.

Red Hartebeest

Twee Rivieren did not have a more comfortable bungalow for us so we had to settle for one with one bedroom and a kitchen with two beds in it! You had to walk from the kitchen through the bedroom to get to the bathroom – but we managed and it was only for one night.

Once unpacked we set off for another brief game drive. We found these beautiful black faced waxbills just outside the gate.

Black-faced Waxbills

The Kgalagdi is home to many small rodents and birds and so it is not surprising to find a variety of birds of prey. Lanners and red-necked falcons both prey on small birds and look pretty similar. This one is a red-necked falcon – it has finely barred underparts whereas the Lanner has none.

Red-necked falcon

One of the little creatures that has to keep a constant look out for raptors is this cute little whistling rat. We had great fun watching him and his mates.

Whistling Rat

The colours of the Kgalagadi are beige, stone, brown, cream, pastel greys and blues, pinks and mauves. Now and then you get a splash of brightness like this swallow-tailed bee-eater.

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Just as beautiful but not as brightly coloured, the scaly feathered finch is a common resident and appears frequently with flocks of friends.

Scaly-feathered finch

As our afternoon drive took us back toward the gate – closing at 6 o’clock – we watched a tawny eagle fly over and then settle in a tree giving us a good photo opportunity.

Tawny Eagle

Altogether it was not a bad start to our trip. As the sun set the temperature dropped and we added our discarded layers and sat outdoors to enjoy a good South African braai before tucking up into warm beds to rise early and continue to our next camp – unfenced in the wilderness – Urikaruus!