A Cat a Day, almost every day: Kgalagadi Oct/Nov 2023

[GavinW]

Our trip down to Rooiputs was HOT

Like 47 degrees in Nossob hot

We did see a bit on our way down though

At Bedinkt waterhole

A Southern White faced owl in the Nossob campsite
(Where we restocked with ice and diesel)

An eland hiding under a tree in the shade

As was this lioness near Dikbaardskolk

[GavinW]

The roads going down were in great condition, and we eventually arrive at Rooiputs at about 5pm
At 6.30 the temperature was still 41 degrees in the shade



After pitching, we relaxed in our new home at no 6 Rooiputs, had a drink along with a nice braai whilst watching the evening sunset

[Richprins]

Those temperatures are insane, Gavin!

But a cat a day again, what a lovely way to interrupt packing up!

Nice scenic shots too, and the owl!

[Lisbeth]

I have experienced "only" 42° in KTP and all we could do was taking a loong drive with A/C in the car on

You did see the lion drink and from all sides

[GavinW]

Thanks Lisbeth and Richprins once again for all the feedback.

Yip
November in the Kgalagadi is hot. But it is a dry hot so quite manageable

Saturday 11 November 2023

A very hot night, and not soon after we had managed to get to sleep were awakened by the sound of a lion roaring.
Really close by

And close by he was, some 50m away from our tent in-between campsites no 5 and 6
He had obviously also woken up our neighbours in no 5 and they had a light on him providing us with a stunning view of the big boy as he let the whole world know who was boss!

A female joined him after a bit, and the mating began

This resulted in some very broken sleep until 5am when our alarms went off

By the time we had got up and sorted, the lovebirds had moved over to the road in between no 5 and the new waterhole just below the A frame of campsite no 5

He was yawning his head off after a long night,while she was just parked off on the road, causing a bit of a traffic jam

All of this resulted in us leaving camp quite a bit later than what we had planned, but wow.
We had a reason

[GavinW]

We drove up to Melkvlei and back.

The trip up was uneventful, but I did manage to get a photo of these wildebeest on their morning stroll to the waterhole

Coming back, 2 male lions were peeking their heads out from the top of the dunes near Kij Kij

We watched then for a while until they went flat and we lost sight of them.


It was still early (just before 8am), so we decided to carry on south down to Leeuwdril


Supermom and her 3 cubs were in attendance, but at 9 am and with the temperatures climbing rapidly, they weren’t too active

[GavinW]

So, back to Rooiputs to check up on the progress at the waterhole...........

[GavinW]

Back in camp, the mating pair were still busy when we got back to camp, but they hadn’t moved much from campsite no 5

[GavinW]

We took a couple of photos of the two before returning to our tent

There we were treated to a rather nasty surprise

[Lisbeth]

Today seven cats, so you have five jollies for other days

A very handsome male

Cliffhanger But there are no monkeys in KTP.... so it must be something worse