When the mice can’t play....... KTP June 2018

[Dindingwe]

The Caracal How lucky ! Great picture. The Leopard is awesome too

[GavinW]

lit up these awesome golden gemsbok in the riverbed

They look more like wildebeests to me
OMW I was really still asleep this morning

[Richprins]

very good pics, Gavin!

[GavinW]

Afternoon lions

Earlier on in the day, we had seen a very flat lion sleeping under a tree near the natural waterhole just north of Kij Kij. At the time we had let him be as he was clearly very fast asleep and being watched by quite a few cars
That evening we decided to return to them to see if he would move
After a while we were in luck

The young blonde male which we had seen the previous day, started to call and the got up and moved over to the dune on the Botswana side





He then settled down in the long grass



Next, we saw the reason for his reactions.
A big daddy lion with a stunning black mane was making his way over to the waterhole





And had a long drink



After that he followed his companion up and over the road and into Botswana





Eventually time dictated that we start meandering our way back to Rooiputs
On the way back this Black Backed Jackal posed for us in the road



And these gemsbok were caught in the evening light by our cameras







About 5km before camp a caracal was busy hunting on the dunes. It was a bit far away for any decent photos as the light was fading so we used our mental cameras to capture the moment, at the same time trying to come to grips with the fact that we had just seen our second caracal of the day
That evening back at camp a cloudy full moon watched over the proceedings at Rooiputs

[Lisbeth]

Very handsome lions and lovely gemsboks in the light of a late sun

[Mel]

Cheetahs And caracal And even some lions… a quite successful outing, methinks

Unique perspective from above at Melkvlei

And Botshelo! Happy to see he's doing well for himself. Finally an offspring that doesn't appear after one or two sightings
after it dispersed from his mother

[GavinW]

Thanks everyone for all your comments.


May 29:

The one thing I really love about the Kgalagadi is that it is always different. Like the silver sunrise we were presented with on our third morning at Rooiputs



Our plans for the day was to drive north, and sighting dependant to drive up to about Kransbrak or wherever we got to.
The drive was pretty uneventful until we reached Kij Kij.

As we drove up and over the small hills at the natural waterhole, I spotted a lion far off to the east in the grass. He was walking away from us, but we were able to observe him through our binoculars as he approached a herd of Gemsbok. They eventually spotted him and were off like a shot into Botswana
The lion carried on walking until he too disappeared from view

Rooi Hartebeest aka ‘Kalahari Reindeer” by a friend of mine, are really funny looking antelope, but always somehow photogenic. We saw this chap just near Melkvlei



The day of far off lions continued when after stopping at Melkvlei, we decided to do the loop around the back of the picnic area and spotted a pair of mating lions up in the dunes above the picnic area.
They were pretty far off and again we watched and listened to their shenanigans from a distance

Here are a couple of proof pics of the couple






We decided to carry on as per the plan further north, and had a quiet drive as far as animals were concerned
The local Kgalagadi birds kept us occupied as we went up as far as Kransbrak before turning back to camp

A pale Chanting Goshawk posing nicely



As did this Jackal Buzzard



Once our morning drive was over, we returned to camp to do some housekeeping in preparation for our trip up to Polentswa the next morning

[Lisbeth]

I like your jackal buzzard, I still have to see one

[Mel]

I like it... Kalahari style

[GavinW]

An evening with meercats and others

For a change we decided that for our last evening drive from Rooiputs that we would go south to Leeudril and back
Well, we were hardly 500m out of camp when we came across a (what’s the collective noun for?) for a #$@@% of meercats, next to the road.



They were awesome, doing what meercats usually do, foraging and panicking




We eventually left the suricates and carried on down south. We saw very little, but we did have this amazing sighing of more gemsbok in golden light





And my reminder that I once had a house in Africa




Sunset that evening was followed by



A stunning moonrise



And a nocturnal visitor