Extended KTP Trip oct 2013

[Toko]

So do I, Mel.

Well captured series of Sandgrouse collecting water

Am a squirrel lover, too

And perhaps, you don't know, Kesheshe, I am a hornbill lover Hope there a some tokos on the programme

[Tina]

BEFs and squirrels

We are now near Lijersdraai and SO turns to me and says wonder what if anything we will see today.

[Kesheshe]

I could have posted this on monthly topic but will post in my trip report.

WHAT A WATERHOLE THIS IS.

Day 6 - 8th October (Continued)

For those people that do not know Lijersdraai well as you turn of the main road there is a slight rise in the road so you cannot see the waterhole till you crest this so it builds the excitement.

After cresting the rise you get a glance of the 2 water points and even thou there are not a lot of trees there are enough to create some shade. We stopped about 150m from the waterhole to scan around and saw no animals but as we got closer this is what we saw (guess we need new eyes).

Lion

The lion's worst enemy might come as a surprise, as the culprit is the size of a small dog: turns out the porcupine is the thorn in the big cat's side, or rather mouth, as a lion tricked into sniffing the clever porcupine's sharp quills often ends up with one or more stuck in its jaw for life.









The female then decided she was hot and wanted a drink.









While SO was taking these shoots I scanned around and under the tree in the shade of the waterhole we had 4 spotted hyena, one more than yesterday and 2 BBJ's. The hyena decided to get up and occupy the other waterhole as if to say to the lion you can have that one but this one is ours.

As you can see from the photo's the lion look in great shape and full so the mating pair must have eaten during the night.

Spotted Hyena

Cubs fight viciously, often quite literally from the moment they're born. A hyena has given birth to three cubs, and two are already fighting savagely -- until they notice the third, still being licked dry, and attack it. As many as 25 percent of all cubs may die from such fights before adulthood. The worst fighting is between two sisters in the same litter. As soon as she can, the stronger female will kill the weaker. Unlike most carnivores, hyenas are born with their eyes open and teeth functional.



OK now I can finish the spotted hyena story from yesterday. The rest starts by telling you we meet gatita at the waterhole and had a nice chat. The information she provided helped us fill in a part of the jigsaw but it is still a mystery.

My previous instalment showed the hyena with what may have appeared to some as a kill next to her. This in fact was not the case it was a premature baby hyena. If you review that post you will see and also observe that you can clearly see the sadness in the mothers eyes. We saw them at around 10h15am and gatita saw the same hyena at 2h30pm the same day and the baby was gone.

The question was who ate the premature baby. Remember the only animals there at the time were the 3 hyenas. Later on during the trip we meet up with Jan and asked him what he thinks could have happened. He advised us that in some cases they would each the premature baby but the mystery is still which hyena. To this day we do not know whether it was the mother or not - guess we will never know. It was just very sad!

[Kesheshe]

Day 6 - 8th October (Continued)

We decided after a while to continue our drive north to Grootkolk where we would be spending 4 nights. Our next sighting was a bird we saw a few times during the trip but was extremely difficult to get a photo of in fact worse than the crimson breasted shrike.

African Hoopoe

Egg Size: 26 x 18 mm Egg Weight: 4.4 g (of which 8 % is shell)
Number of Nest Records: 0
clutch Size: 7 - 8 eggs
Incubation: 15- 16 days by the: Female
Fledging: 26 - 29days
First Clutches Laid: Does not breed in Britain, or too few Nest Records
Number of Broods: 1(2)
Adult Survival: 0.380



We arrived at Grootkolk at 12.30pm and were met by Andries. He allocated us to unit number 3 (yes seems we are doing 3’s) as our stay would be for 4 nights we really had a lot of unpacking and organising to do which took us a lot of time.

After unpacking we were hot so decided on nice cold water with ice and cheese and biscuits for lunch. We eventually settled for an afternoon rest as it had been a long drive not so much for the distance but the sightings etc. We awoke at 4h30pm and it was just starting to cool a bit so we had a nice cold drink and started the van around 4h45pm to take a drive north to unions end. I cannot give you a reason why but both me and SO think this is one of the best drives in the park and it cannot be for animal sightings as it has not been overly productive for us.

In saying that in general all our late afternoon drives were nowhere near as productive as our morning drives and I cannot really understand why.

We made good time as the sightings were limited and reached unions end where we signed the book. We turned and on heading south we encountered our first snake of the trip.

Cape Cobra

The snake makes use of a neurotoxin that targets the respiratory system. If the cape cobra bites an adult human, there is a 60 percent chance of death if no antivenom is available. Bite victims die from respiratory failure, due to the onset of paralysis from the venom. Large amounts of antivenom is needed to treat a bite. Because this cobra has the most powerful venom out of all African cobras, it has the highest rate of fatalities.

These photo's are not great but it at least told us they were around.









The remainder of the drive back to Grootkolk was quiet but as we turned right into the entrance road we had a chance to sit and absorb this.





Each night we were there we good the same view so look out for it. Best position was a couple of hundred metres from the turn in to camp. Just for information the gate in October closes at 7pm. We arrived back around 6h50pm handed in our permit and had our first drink in our hand by 7h05pm.

We elected not to take any photo's tonight and just mess around with the new spot light and just observe the goings on at the waterhole. It was productive with the usual but not big predator's. It was SO's turn to cook dinner which was rice with savoury mince.

Just a note the gas stove worked but it takes a while which is not really a concern. We used our water to cook with as we did not want to take any chances so early on in the trip. The new light worked very well and so did the red filter. The red filter does however diminish the light and the distance quite a bit but then again it has a purpose to protect sensitive keys when animals are fairly close.

After dinner we sat and relaxed for a while before getting into the unit to shower and go bed at 9h50pm.

[nan]

I like Lijersdraai... for other reasons


Like Cobra

[Lisbeth]

The lions certainly blend in with the colors of nature in the desert

[Tina]

I like Lijersdraai as well

wonderful sunset pictures and hoopoe

[Toko]

Everything in stylish Kalahari colours: Orange skies, orange Hopoe, orange Cobra

[Mel]

Grmpf... I'm not gonna comment on what you got to see at Lijers (ooorrr Unions End ) -
I'll just keep on being jealous. Just like I'm on the flavour of the month.

But I did get to see some rarer birds there. Does it count as well?

[Kesheshe]

Day 7 - 9th October

We had a very good nights sleep and awoke ready to tackle another day in KTP where you never know what lies ahead.

It was 5h15am and see sat with coffee outside and discussed like many other people whether to spend the day in camp or drive. We decided on a mix and match day and agreed we would stay in camp to about 8-8h30am and then drive.

The sun was starting to rise behind the units and spreading this gorgeous early morning light over Grootkolk. There is certain times where words cannot accurately describe a situation and this is one of them. As they say silence is golden and in this instance me and SO just sat with our own thoughts. Africa is just amazing!!!

First to visit us at the waterhole.

Brown Hyena

These species get sexually matured at the age of 2 or 3. The females usually mate with males of their group. The pregnancy period lasts for 97 days. The males usually assist their partners for a good upbringing of the babies.

The mother gives birth to 1 – 5 offspring somewhere in the outskirts of sand dunes protected from other hyenas and lions. Usually the cubs weigh 1 kg at birth. The female reproduces every 20 months. It is mostly the powerful females who reproduce.

When 3 months old, the babies start feeding on solid foods. At this time, the mother usually shifts into their caves. The mother including the rest of the partners arranges food for the babies.

The eyes of the baby brown hyenas are closed when they are born. They usually open their eyes after 8 days from their birth. The younger ones leave their mother when they attain maturity after 14 – 15 months.