Going to the Northern Cape slowly - the complete story.

[Guinea Pig]

We arrived at Twee Rivieren on 16 December. I had all kinds of expectations - lion expectations. I guess I expected one every couple of hundred metres. Not quite...took two days to see a couple in tall grass above 13de boorgat. First impressions weren't all that enthusiastic. Hot, very badly corrugated roads, very little animals. I did like the scenery though especially since we managed to be around a couple of thunderstorms.

My first Kgalagadi animal was a Gemsbok:



And one that you start ignoring after a couple of days...



Scenery like this crawl under your skin very quickly...



And the Kgalagadi sunsets... Our first night was at Urikaruus.



we were reminded of keeping your eyes open at all times in the Wilderness camps. Duco went to fetch the braai stuff from the car, put it down at the braai and watched the Urikaruus hyenas walk past where he just came from.

[Guinea Pig]

Day 2: We drove out early as usual and up all the way to Mata-Mata. Then it got hot, REALLY hot. We returned to Urikaruus and measured the temp at 45.4 degrees in the shade. We stayed in camp most of the day until late afternoon when it cooled down somewhat.

The Urikaruus hyenas taking an early morning bath:



Kori Bustard:



The little guy that soon became one of my favorite KTP mammals - the Batty! Good lord, they are like little ping pong balls! Here there no I forgot that no over there!



Lots of jackal:



I see you!:



Playful giraffe:



Dignified Secretary birds:



...sleepy owls:



...and crashed out mongoose:

[Bushcraft]

First impressions weren't all that enthusiastic. Hot, very badly corrugated roads

I have never been to KTP, so I’m always interested in seeing how Kruger fans feel about their visit

Maybe I’m jumping the gun, but how did you feel at the end of your trip

45 degrees

Love the batty

Great pics

[Toko]

Stunning Kalahari skies (with or without lion )

[Guinea Pig]

Maybe I’m jumping the gun, but how did you feel at the end of your trip

45 degrees

I loved it and can't wait for our next trip. Somewhere along the line you look at the surroundings and every bad piece of road and realize you don't want to leave. The heat is bearable because humidity is so low. We had days that our weather station simply said Low. The roads are disastrous. The Aoab side got so bad that we bypassed the waterholes completely and used the top road. And we were in a 4x4... But who cares.

As you will see later...when you get a sighting it blows your mind away. The Kij Gamies lions that I posted one photo of at the end of the KNP trip report, spoilt all future lion sightings in KNP forever. We sat alone with them for 2 hours. The cheetah sightings...wow. I don't think they are cute anymore but wow. The sunsets and sunrises - you'll see later what I mean by KNP is no match.

[Flutterby]

Great pics to start your KTP trip.

[nan]

ow magnificant skies

[Guinea Pig]

Afternoon drive from Urikaruus. We've been told we photoshopped some photos from Kgalagadi etc, the one I made at Auchterlonie and the Eagle are some of the first that got that response. Before any wise-ass over here go the same route - ALL photos are available in RAW on request. That should shut you up like it did some other know-it-alls. Kgalagadi is its own artist, especially if you're lucky.

Black-chested snake-eagle.



A very unique sighting as we only heard afterwards. This Springbok seems to have had twins. She was the only mom looking after them both and suckling both. A whole series of photographs show no other Springbok interested or involved.



A batty:



A scaly one - never found out what these are called:



Auchterlonie. I wasn't very comfortable walking around here with the lions that are often in the picnic area itself, but they were nowhere to be seen. We never saw the Auchterlonie lions.:



Spike-heeled Lark:



Full moon at Urikaruus:

[Toko]

Cracking of the Black-chested snake-eagle

The LO's are adorable

Look up the scaly one here!

This is indeed Kgalagadi art

[Flutterby]

Wow, fantastic scenic shots!! And those lambs are too cute!