"Imagine" - A Comfort Van in the Kgalagadi*

[puppy]

30 March 2015 Twee Rivieren
It rained during the night and it is quite chilly when we wake up this morning. However, I still think shorts will be okay. Luckily I take a fleece with me as the weather does not warm up above 20 degrees C.
Earbirdl goes ahead to wait in the queue while I go to the loo. As I walk towards reception I notice that two cars are already lining up at the gate. This means that they did not hand in their permits last night and are illegally up front! The rest of us wait for the gate staff to arrive and check us out before we can drive to the game area gate! Jim should be first but is now third and Earl is fourth. We take the Rooiputs road and have a brief encounter with some playful jackal.
At quarter to eight we see the illegal starters stopped on the side of the road – they are looking at lion.
The first one I spot is a big male.

then Earlybird points out two females near to him. They are just lying there in on the dune.
Another male is short way away fast asleep. While we watch, the females get up and go up onto the ridge. Then three more come over to meet them. We can hear roaring and suspect there is another male somewhere.
We watch the male get up take a walk and find a puddle to drink from but nothing else special happens so we move on.



A few kilometres on we find a female crouching in hunting mode at the crest of the dune. We watch her for a while but do not see what she is stalking so we move on.

We stop at Melkvlei for a loo break and then decide to retrace our route and take the Dune road to Achterlonie. We find the same female and hear a roar. At first we think a male is calling her but then see that she is the one making the din!
On the Dune road we are delighted to see that beautiful yellow flowers have sprung up after the rains. I think they are called Dubbeltjies.

We see korhaan and Kori Bustards and two Spurwinged geese fly overhead. Some ant-eating chats don't like the tawny that perches in their territory.

Two jackal puppies are exploring unattended by their parents. They seem nervous of the car at first and then ignore us and continue their antics. They are so cute one feels that one can pick them up and take them home for pets.

We have breakfast at Achterlonie and take a look at the old historic cottage. It is so cold that we eat in the car.
The rest of our trip produces very little and we are back at camp by 12:30. At half past three we decide to go to The Kgalagadi lodge for a late lunch instead of cooking supper tonight. We are delighted with our meals – pepper steaks for Jim, Maureen and Earl and I have an Adam and Eve – Rump steak with green fig and blue cheese sauce.

When we return Earlybird and I decide to take a quick drive to the waterhole – but stay out longer than we planned! We try to find yesterday’s caracal without success but enjoy a bit of bird-watching. The highlight is a martial eagle and when we get back into the gate we find black-faced wax-bills.
I think this is a wood sandpiper

Lovely martial eagle

And the special little black-faced waxbill

[puppy]

31 March 2015
Today is our last full day in the park. We are up at the usual early hour of 5:15 and ready to leave by 6:15. From tomorrow gate opening time moves to 7:00 am.

It is still overcast but the air temperature is warm. We take the Rooiputs Road. Just before Rooiputs Jim and Maureen stop ahead of us. I look to the right and spot one cheetah,


then Earlybird says there is one in the tree


then a second one jumps down from the tree.


We watch the three cheetah play and roll under the tree and generally get going for the morning. Soon other cars gather and we all jostle for position while watching what the cheetahs will do. Eventually they make their way to the ridge and disappear.

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Next up is a tawny
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We also find a nice lanner


At quarter to eight we find the same two male lions we saw yesterday. They are fat and lazy and do very little but sleep. We wonder where the females are and Earl finds them on a distant dune but they do not make a proper appearance. After watching the more wakeful male do his ablutions we move on as the loo is calling.






At Melkvlei we have a brief loo break then move on to see if we can find the other cheetahs but don’t have any luck so we return to Melkvlei for breakfast.

Later we find one of the males on the move. We hear the first one had already gone over the ridge.



We then make our way back to Twee Rivieren stopping to enjoy the smaller things.
like a capped wheatear


ground squirrels


Erich's favourites


And a pale chanting goshawk on the ground


Back at camp, I do the laundry and make sandwiches for lunch. The Pearl Spotted owl is back in our tree

and while photographing him I find a brubru as well.

Earl takes a nap and I wander around camp to do some birding.
Ground scraper thrush poses nicely

And so does the scaly feathered finch

I find some cute ground squirrels too.

One peeps out of his house to greet me

A barking gecko is an interesting find


When Earlybird wakes he joins me. We then go for a short drive to find more birds. We do find a Brant’s Whistling Rat!


And a secretary bird on top of a tree


For supper Maureen makes a delicious lamb chop curry. We turn in at 9. And so ends our first caravanning adventure in KTP! Thanks for joining me on the trip.