Not what we expected KTP Dec Jan 2017

[GavinW]

We arrived at Auchterlonie a whole lot earlier than we anticipated, so instead of taking the Dune Road straight away, we kept going up the Auob
Much to Debbie’s delight, because we spotted

This mongoose



And then this family of Bat eared Foxes out and about enjoying an early morning frolic





We stayed with them for quite a while






Lots of fun.



Watching the youngsters as they hurtled around the place after one another.






Then mom decided that they had had enough and that it was bed time, and after a bit of persuasion, they obliged and retreated to their den

[GavinW]

A little bit further on it was the turn of the suricates to entertain us
A suckling mom



Peek a boo



An always on the lookout.





We drove on until we spotted our last lions of the trip.
Another two flat chaps near Montrose



So sorry to disturb you!!

We turned around and continued with our originally planned route, over the Dune road to Kij Kij and then on to Twee Rivieren
Nothing much out of the ordinary was about, bar this juvenile PCG doing it’s mud bath thing



Saying... Don’t mess with me!!!!




Some KTP road



And then we spotted the Tawney and the tortoise






The Tawney flew off



And we returned to Twee Rivieren for a nap before our last evening drive

[nan]

of course one more night = one more day ... the stohlen one

nice BEF playing and Suricates and Mongoose
Like the PCG bathing, the road in the Kgalagadi

[Mel]

Lots of youngsters around! Very cute BEFs and also love the meerkat mum shot

Brilliant lion sequence in the previous instalment

[GavinW]

The Waiting game pays off:

We left on our final evening drive of the trip and went over the dune road and up towards Auchterlonie.

The plan was to go there and back and see what we could spot.
Debbie, after 3 weeks of practice had her spotting eyes working to perfection
I know pink is her favourite colour, but honestly, do we really need to stop for flowers??





Her reply a few minutes later was: “Well if not for flowers, what about some ears?”



I conceded
We sat with the ears for about 90 minutes, as cars came and went, but hey, I was saving petrol
Then the trio sat up



They started moving down to the road, but eluded us.
For a while we had lost them
Then we spotted them on the other side of the road.







There were some springbok up on top of the far dune, and we thought that FINALLY we were going to see an actual live cheetah kill





The cubs waited



Mom looked around





But after a while the springbok spotted her, and the family went to bed without supper



We got back to camp in the nick of time

[GavinW]

The final curtain:

Having a 12hour drive ahead of us, as usual did not stop us from going out for one more drive.
We snuck out of the gates as they opened at 5.30 and set off, direction Kij Kij

As if to say, OK stop being greedy now, the KTP revealed very little to us that morning

Well, that is never really the case, because we did see this African wild cat disappearing into the bushes



As well as these stunning eagle owls



We returned to camp, packed and left the park at 9am in pouring rain.

We were safely home by 10pm, back to reality, in drought conditions, and ecstatic about yet another wonderful time which we had had in the Kgalagadi yet again


Thanks

Thanks everyone for all your input and comments. I know I am not good at thanking everyone individually as we go along, but we do appreciate all your comments.
Also thanks for putting up with the months break, whilst we were in Kruger.

A trip report will follow

Till May 2018 we bid our beloved Kgalagadi goodbye.

[nan]

wow... Corinne and the youngsters (well almost sure )

love too the Owl, AWC even far away
and pink flowers... with ears behind

[Dindingwe]

I love the Kgalagadi and the more I see beautiful pictures like yours the more I love it.
A great diversity, nice summer light, and magnificent sightings all over.
So many lions and cheetahs, and so many babies. Cute Cape Foxes and Bat-eared Foxes

[GavinW]

Thanks Dindingwe
we are back in the Kgalagadi in May/June (81 sleeps) so keep tuned for the next trip report