Weekly Fun Photo Challenge – Wildlife

2018-02-28 | puppy1952

This week’s Fun Photo Challenge from Cee calls for Wild Life Photographs. This should be easy for me as I have literally thousands of Wild photographs. BUT what to choose – that is the question. I have limited myself to ten! I hope you enjoy the ones that cracked the nod.

African Darter with prey – Lake Panic, Kruger National Park

Piggy sun-downers at Sunset Dam, Kruger National Park

043 Brown Hyena Helen 2015-03-16 08-09-33 AM 2620x1961

Brown Hyaena at Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park

Giraffe – Kruger National Park

Kicking up dust while racing to the waterhole

Cheetah – Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park

Nothing beats coming upon this with not another car in sight – Kruger National Park

Life is good in The Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park

I love you Mom

A cuddle of cubs

Caravanning in The Kgalagadi Twee Rivieren Saturday 28 March 2015

2015-04-20 | puppy1952

The rain seems to be holding off and there is no wind at all today. We go out early as usual and take the Mata Mata Road until the Dune Road turnoff and then take that. It is a very successful drive as far as birds are concerned. Once again I will let the photographs tell the story.

An early morning Tawny Eagle

Black Shouldered Kite

Elegant Giraffe striding up the dune bank

Earl has not yet filled up with Diesel so we do not go any further than Melkvlei which is largely flooded but we find a table that is on dry ground and have a late breakfast there. On our return trip we have some interesting sightings. A tortoise and springbok find the road puddles convenient drinking places.

The Springbok eyes the tortois with suspicion

The tortoise decides to make way for the springbok

The thirsty bokkie can now take a drink

Soon after this Earl nearly jumps out of the window when he spots a cobra right in front of the car. We get some good photos of him before he slithers off into the bush toward a secretary bird. They haven’t seen each other but if the sec bird spots the snake he will become lunch!

The secretary is contemplating something – lunch or a bath?

No – the secretary is more interested in his abutions.

Refreshingly cool on a hot day

Tip toe out

And shake the feathers

Back at camp we go to the shop which is better stocked than Mata Mata and Nossob. We get hot pies and ice creams for lunch – what a treat!

We spent the afternoon in camp catching up with chores and diary writing etc. For supper we pooled ingredients and Maureen cooked us a delicious chicken stew.

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 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 – Wednesday 11 March 2015

2015-04-03 | puppy1952

We have still not learned to keep up with Jim but we have improved. Maureen is second in the queue, a chap named Des – a hardened bush whacker who has to be out first – has been waiting since 5:45! I am third! We chat with Des and he says it is vital to get to the waterholes as early as possible and that if something exciting is going to happen it must be right next to the road or it won’t be worth watching! But we are still torn between wanting to see the cats and wanting to enjoy the early morning birdlife!

It is already 23 C and rising. The first animal of the day is a Black-backed jackal.

By 7:10 we’ve spotted Gemsbok, Springbok, Kori Bustard Giraffe and Tawny Eagle.

Our first proper stop is at 13^th Waterhole where there is quite a bit of action. A jackal is drinking and so is a large tortoise.

Black-backed Jackal taking an early morning drink.

The birds – Namaqua doves, red-headed finches, lark-like buntings, grey-backed sparrow-larks, yellow canaries, Cape sparrows and laughing doves are flying down is flocks grabbing a drink and flying up into the trees again. The juvenile Gabar and a Lanner are there swooping down on the hunt. We see the Gabar take a lark-like bunting and settle in the tree to enjoy it!

Larklike buntings taking refuge in the trees

Juvenile Gabar with prey

We then head to the breakfast spot – Kamqua – and find a good table under a tree but the shade hasn’t reached it yet so Jim uses his canopy which works perfectly. This time we decide to have muesli and yogurt.

We then head toward Montrose Waterhole find very little so turn around and come back. We find a hyena lying in the shade on the side of the road.

He gives us a look that says “Hey – what are you looking at?”

Just let me sleep!

As we continue I yell STOP Go Back, I’ve seen a White-faced Owl. Earl reverses and sure enough there among the foliage is the bird I’ve been looking for in camp! Soon after this we find 4 spotted dikkop.

There were supposed to be a pair of these in camp but we never found them

One of the four spotted dikkops we saw

At Dalkeith a lovely family of ostriches runs away from us.

We watch a Namaqua Sandgrouse take drink

And a grey headed sparrow goes rock jumping

A car stops to tell us there is a lion at Craig Lockhart and when we get there we look toward the waterhole and see nothing. The chap in the car parked next to the big tree that dominates the site points next to us and there in all his glory sits a big male lion!

No peace from the tourists

Please go away

I wonder what Human tastes like

I have very sharp teeth

Half an hour later we find 4 cheetahs resting under a shady tree. We return to camp after a cursory glance at some beautiful giraffe and then return to the cheetahs later in the afternoon. They wake up and mover around and we hope to see them hunt but all too soon it is time to go back to camp so we don’t have that privilege.

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!