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 Thursday 12 March 2015

2015-04-04 | puppy1952

Once again it is an early start to the day – I am second in the queue behind Des today. Maureen is a close third! We decide to stick as close to J&M as possible as they seem to bring us luck!

We speed-spot on the move and I mark down jackal, giraffe and Secretary Birds before we stop for a hyena at 7:05.

An early rising spotted hyena

At Dalkeith Waterhole we find a beautiful group of giraffe drinking and Gemsbok are there too.

Gemsbok drinking at Dalkeith

At 13^th Waterhole we spot a Tawny Eagle in a tree and also the usual bird activity going on.

Tawny by Earl

It is 9:30 when we arrive at Rooibrak Waterhole and here we are delighted to find 5 lions. They are drinking and then start moving. We follow them until they drop under some shady trees and clearly settle there for the day.

Lovely lions

We retrace our steps and go to Kamqua for breakfast – Muesli again as I forgot to pack the cutlery!

We meet some interesting people. A Dutch couple who have shipped their huge camper over for a 4 year sojourn in Southern Africa tell us all about their plans. They have everything they need in the bus and it requires a special licence to drive it. They were able to get a pensioners’ Visa to stay in the country for this length of time.

We hear about a cheetah who has killed a buck and then left it lying in the open while she and the cubs are taking a nap at the top of a ridge under a bush. There are a couple of Tawny Eagles in the tree watching and waiting for something to tear it apart so they can get a share too. But no jackal, hyena or any other predator appears. We watch the cheetahs for a while and then Mom gets up and makes her way over the ridge. The cubs follow but then return to their slumbers. A few minutes later Mom reappears with a buck in her mouth! It looks like bits have already been eaten. We assume she killed this first, started snacking on it then went and made the kill that she has now left to whoever wants it. She takes the kill to a bigger tree with more shade and the cubs obediently follow. We watch them feast and then decide it is time to leave.

Mom Cheetah

She has something

She brings it to the cubs

On our way back to camp we find two beautiful bee-eaters.

Swallow-tailed bee-eaters

I cook a risotto for dinner and as we sit down to eat a fellow camper calls to us – Lions at the Waterhole – we leave our supper, grab binoculars and cameras and race to the fence. Sure enough there are three beautiful lions taking a drink. What fun – right on our doorstep.

Lions at Mata Mata waterhole

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi – Mata Mata Tuesday 10 March

2015-04-03 | puppy1952

I wake up from a comfortable night in my comfort van with the usual feeling of excitement and anticipation when I’m in a wildlife park. We are up at 5:15 and get ourselves ready for our first trip around Mata Mata. It is already quite warm and the air is dry, dry, dry. We are still drinking coffee when Maureen and Jim say they’re heading for the gate and will see us on the road. Wow – travelling companions who are ready before us – that’s a first! We take our coffee in the car and chase after them. In the Kgalagadi you have to check in and out before leaving camp. Gate opening time is 6:30 and it is quarter past six now. Maureen is number 2 in the queue. I am number 4. It takes a while for the guy on duty to meticulously write down time of departure and whether you’re on a game drive or leaving the camp/park and he only starts at 6:30 on the dot! So it is a while before we actually get going. By the time I’m through Maureen and Jim are long gone. It is our practice to take it very slowly in the park and to stop for every bird and tiny creature. After today we learn – get to the waterholes as early as possible and don’t dawdle or you will miss the sightings as we do today! When we finally catch up with J&M they tell us that Lions came down to drink at 13^th Water Hole and they had 9 cubs with them! They also went as far as Achterlonie and the spot where we’d seen our leopard and there they found lions eating its kill! When we go to the spot a little later the lions have left the scene. They have not left much of the leopard’s kill.

The lions left this for the poor leopard

Oh dear! But we do enjoy our bird watching. We stop to admire Pale Chanting Goshawk, Secretary Birds, Familiar Chats, Sociable Weavers with the condominium nests, ant eating chats, Namaqua Doves, Lark-like Buntings, Grey-backed sparrow-larks, Marico Fly-catcher and swallow-tailed bee-eater among many others.

A typical Kgalagadi Scene - Dalkeith Watherhole

A typical Kgalagadi Scene – Thirteenth Watherhole

Red-backed shrike

Tawny Eagle

White-backed Vultures

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Lark-like buntings and female red-headed finch

Red-headed finch

We also see wildebeest, giraffe and the ever present springbok and Gemsbok. Jackal are also commonly seen and as it is our first full day in the park we stop to photograph them of course. J&M. While waiting for them we are told by other tourists that there are Cheetah lying under a tree a short way off so we head out to look at them. They are quite far from the road under a shady tree so photography is not great. However, we enjoy them for a bit before returning to meet up with the Gibsons.

The picnic site is busy and all the shady spots are taken but no problem – Jim has a canopy on his bakkie and we cook in the shade of a tree and have our chairs so between us we have enough shade. The Gibsons are surprised that we cook eggs and bacon while they settle for cereal! They decline our offer to share brekkie.

After breakfast we follow Jim and Maureen and find lions and later a cheetah with a kill. So all is not lost today!

We also find lions lying about in the shade of the trees – it is really hot.

Today we have a long day out and only return to camp at 4:00 pm. Our campsite is big and shady and we enjoy watching the birds and the ground squirrels who try to beg food from us. We are on the perimeter and a water hole is not far off. We hope to see game come down to drink before dark but only the odd springbok appears.

I cook Risotto for supper and we turn in early.

Caravanning in the Kgalagadi – Veldrift to Molopo Lodge to Mata Mata

2015-04-02 | puppy1952

We survive our first weekend in the caravan. Prior to this It has been a week of stressing, faffing and fussing to get everything ready for a month long trip away in the Kgalagadi. Isn’t it amazing what people will do for fun? Here we were in a large home with everything that opens and shuts, electricity, hot and cold running water, air-con – the list goes on – and what do we do? We swap it for a tiny hut on wheels. I think this is going to be so much fun! But I think my darling husband anticipates every hiccup and tries to squash our familiar life-style into this small abode. Not gonna happen honey – we have to be prepared for the odd discomfort – and don’t panic – I will survive!

Sunday 8 and Monday 9 March

We are wide away just before 4 am on Sunday morning – the noise of the Sishon Saldana iron ore train being our alarm clock! There is no point going back to sleep for 15 minutes so we rise and get ready to leave. The biggest hassle is getting the roof folded down – there must be a knack that we haven’t mastered yet – but with only a minimum of grumpiness and a few giggles we finally did it. By 5:00 am were are on the road in beautiful weather and only a few stop goes to negotiate.

It is a 950 km journey to our overnight stop Mopolo. I love driving through the Karoo. It has a stark beauty all of its own but the roads can be long and straight with little change in the scenery. But I just love the muted green-grey and orange-khaki colours, the low scrub and mauve, flat-topped mountains and koppies that resemble crusty loaves of bread or Christmas cakes.

We stop at Vanrynsdorp to refuel and take-away toasted sandwiches and coffee. I am impressed with the pristine state of the loos and the quality of the coffee! The staff are gentle and friendly too.

We arrive at Molopo Lodge at 3:30 and decide to check into a chalet as there are no campers in the camp site. Also it’s been a long, hot drive and we don’t feel like battling to set up the caravan for just one night. What bliss to get a chalet with a plunge pool right in front. We spend a couple of hours in the pool and watch the many birds flitting about in the tropical garden. This place is like an oasis in the middle of the dessert. In the evening we go to the restaurant. The service is shocking – the waitress doesn’t know what Dry White wine is and brings a sickly sweet glass of something awful. We send it back and order a bottle of Durbanville Hills sauvignon blanc. I have a couple of glasses and take the rest with me. However, the Gemsbok steaks are really good and are accompanied by beautifully prepared vegetables and chips.

The plunge pool

White-backed mousebird

Red-eyed bulbul

Looking toward the Lodge Pool

Monday 9 March

The hot water doesn’t work in the chalet but as it is very hot we are not too fussed about it. We are up at 6:00 and ready to leave by 6:45, pay our bill and ask for the ice bricks we asked them to freeze for us. But they are not frozen. Clearly they were put in the fridge and did not see the inside of a freezer at all! Oh well!

We arrive at Twee Rivieren at 8:30, check in and pay the balances we owe and then check in at the Botswana side too. Maureen has already paid for us here but the receptionist insists we fill in the register too. We decide to breakfast at the restaurant – our last bit of luxury for the next three weeks.

We have over 100km to travel and the first 15 takes 3 hours as we tend to stop for all the birds and little things too!

The Kalahari Sky

The Pale Chanting Goshawk is very common in the park

Most of the flycatchers we see are Marico Flycatcher

A familiar bird is the Familiar Chat!

Here he is with a kill!

Before taking the Mata Mata Road we detour to Samevloeiing Waterhole which is very rewarding.

Namaqua Sandgrouse

Sociable Weavers and Red-headed finches

A jackal slakes his thirst

The signature animal of the park – Gemsbok (Oryx)

En route we find a lanner falcon in a tree

Lanner

What a delight to find the Northern Black Korhaan

This cross little chap is a scaly-feathered finch

Kgalagadi is famous for the swallow-tailed bee-eater

Here we are at Agterlonie Picnic Site

Soon after leaving the picnic site we find a car with its occupant staring into the bush. I look into the tree and say – He’s looking at a leopard’s kill

In the “pan-tree” springbok for lunch.

And then we see him – on the ground but well hidden. Imagine our first cat of the trip – a leopard!

Leopard resting up after making a kill

We see a whole pool of secretary birds at Montrose waterhole. Here is one of them.

Secretary Bird

The main diet of the predators is springbok and there are plenty of them

Taking shelter from the sun

Giraffe

The cutest creatures reside here – Ground Squirrel

We arrive at Mata Mata at 16:00, check in at reception and are told we have to find the campsite as none are allocated in advance. We find Jim and Maureen easily – fortunately they are not out! In no time we set up the caravan – Jim lends a hand and gives some good advice. Maureen kindly offers to cook the meal for all of us this evening and I will repay the favour tomorrow. Her chili con carne is to die for!