Not what we expected KTP Dec Jan 2017

[Mel]

A typical and enjoyable ride in the KTP

[GavinW]

The prelude to the storm

Being the author of this travel tale, I am allowed a bit of poetic licence, and whilst storms are usually associated with weather, an increase in other occurrences could also metaphorically be considered a storm

We arrived at the Kamqua picnic sight and heard the news of a lion kill just north of Urikaruus.
We still had loads of time in hand so we did the obvious.

We had travelled about 6kms past Urikaruus and we had started thinking that we may have been misled when we came around a corner only to see two young male lions in the middle of the road on a gemsbok carcass



The two lions were as full as ticks and not going anywhere, so we decided to go up to thirteenth and then to turn around and head back.

On the far side of the loop around Thirteenth Borehole a family of five cheetahs were lying flat under a tree on the far side of the riverbed.


I was really excited at seeing cheetah again, but a bit frustrated that they were quite far away and flat out in the shade.
Time was ticking on so reluctantly we turned around and retraced our steps.

The two lions were still creating a roadblock

I really wanted to stay a while at the lions, but they were causing havoc with the traffic and also with the mood inside our car. My SO was adamant that she wanted to move on, but I was reluctant.
Happy wife, happy life....... We moved on

Just before Urikaruus we came upon this guy. We were to spot him a couple of times again in the following few days.



We remembered in previous trips that the area around Batulama and Montrose was spotted with Cape Fox and Bat eared Fox dens, so we were on the lookout for these critters as we carried on south. It was already almost 6pm when Debs spotted this elf like creature peeking out of its den.




About five minutes later this male lion was crossing riverbed





And making his way to his lady, who was lying in the road



The result was a Kgalagadi traffic jam of note, the second, no, third one of the afternoon. The only problem with this one was that the couple were flat bang in the middle of the road ,and all this was aggravated by the fact that we still had to get to Kielie Krankie





However these type of traffic jams are my best, and we certainly were not complaining about that or the so called storm we seemed to be caught in the middle of. The best type ever.

[Lisbeth]

What a handsome lion

[Mel]

WOW!!! Lions in the road twice is incredible Although I must admit that I would have been peeved as well for the cheetahs being at that distance
A family of five, I think it was probably Hanri. But I haven't tried to ID them.

[GavinW]

A Kieliekrankie braai that wasn’t

After negotiating our way around the two lions in the road, we carried on to Kieliekarankie and eventually got there just before 7pm. We were welcomed to the camp by Willem, who allocated us unit no 4. We were quite happy with that, as we had never stayed in that unit before, and it had an amazing uninterrupted view to the west.

As we were only staying at Kielie for one night before moving on to Urikaruus, we didn’t bother unpacking the bakkie, and only took the essential items up to the unit. (We had pre planned this earlier whilst packing up the tent)

The one reason we really enjoy staying at Kielie is for the sunsets you get from it’s situation on top of a
high dune

This evening was no exception and the sunset was amazing





We soon settled down to relaxing with a glass of wine, and I started the braai







After a while, we noticed a brown haze in the distance to the south east, which seemed to be getting closer



I needed to fetch something from the car and asked Willem if it was a sand storm or not. He confirmed it was and that we had about 10 minutes before it would hit us
He was wrong.

I had just got back to the unit when all hell broke loose.

My first priority was to extinguish the braai while Debbie frantically took whatever we had on the veranda inside and started closing all the windows.
These two pictures are not out of focus but are exactly what we experienced





We were very thankful that we were in accommodation as we were sure that our poor tent would not have survived yet another storm

We felt really sorry for anyone camping at TR and Rooiputs as we were sure that they would have been affected by it as well

We had chocolate and dust for supper, before retiring a while later once the storm had subsided.

[harrys]

Wow what a beautiful sunset

I hope we don't get such a storm when we're there in November

[Lisbeth]

A sandstorm is not a nice experience anywhere

[GavinW]

Thanks everyone for following our holiday, and for all your wonderful comments

New Year’s Eve: We explore the Auob

As usual, we woke early and got ready for another Kgalagadi day, excited at what the day held in store for us.

It was 5.45 by the time we had said goodbye to Willem and got on our way. Our plan was to head up the Auob to look for leopards before going down to Twee Rivieren to refuel before booking into Urikaruus for the next couple of nights.

The sunrise showed no evidence of the storm of the previous evening, and once again reminded us why we love the Kgalagadi so much





I never get tired of taking scenery pictures in the KTP, and I couldn’t resist these vistas of the dune road between Kieliekrankie and Auchterlonie.





Our first sighting once we headed north up the Auob was of this Pearl Spotted Owlet



Who, by the look on it’s face was asking to be left alone



The bat eared fox den near Bataluma did not disappoint







And neither did the cape fox den a bit further up the road.





Quite a few pictures as a result of the high cuteness factor





This slender mongoose was posing nicely for us in the sunlight on the calcrete ridge to our left



Near Montrose a stunning herd of giraffe were creating a bit of a roadblock, delaying our progress up north momentarily

[Lisbeth]

The foxes, both species, are absolutely wonderful and so are the giraffes

[GavinW]

The foxes, both species, are absolutely wonderful and so are the giraffes

thanks Lisbeth