Sixty, and stuck in the sand. KTP summer 2018

[RogerFraser]

Giraffes drinking always remind me of a water fountain .Not sure how much they actually get down

Also find the bat eared foxes very cute .

Lovely pronking Sprinboks and sunset shot

[Dindingwe]

Always annoying to have problems with the car or the trailer in holidays It also happened to me with the brake caliper in Mata-Mata and the mechanic told me to go back in Twee Rivieren and once there, they told be to go back in Upington to have fix it. Result : more than one day lost !

You really saw many Brown Hyenas, in full day, nice sightings

The Fox pup is so cute

[GavinW]

A frustrating start to 2019

Sometimes being first out the gate in the morning has its pros and cons


As is our custom, we were at the “gate” ready to go at the designated gate opening time, not wanting to miss out on any of the nocturnal animals going home.

Just before we reached Sitzas, we heard and the spotted this majestic male lion on top of the dunes to the east.
He was roaring loudly as he walked along the crest of the dunes before settling down under a bush.





We decided to stay with him for a while to see if he would join up with any other lions, or move down into the valley.
It had been a while since we had seen a reasonably active lion over the last few days.



While we were waiting for some action, quite a few cars passed us and carried on down south.
We eventually decided to do the same.

It must have been not even one kilometre further on when we came across a whole lot of tyre tracks criss-crossing the road.
That results in only one thing

FOMA

Our worst fears were confirmed as we noticed two cheetah disappearing over the dune in the distance

The cheetahs had been on the road and all the cars who had gone past us had had an awesome sighting

Totally phased, we decided that we wanted to go back to the lion, so we did a 180 degree turn
(in about 8 attempts as is the norm in the Kgalagadi) and retraced our steps

What we found was nothing.

That was until some kind gentleman asked us. “Did you see the cheetah kill at KTC?”
Oh my hat........


So off we trundled to where the cheetahs had been seen

When we got there, most of the action was over. We managed to see the trio on the kill hidden behind a whole lot of bushes, and some jackals trying their luck.

We had been past the site too early and had missed out on the action
You can’t be everywhere all the time.

After a while, we needed to return to camp to pack up for Urikaruus.

[GavinW]

We got back to Kalahari Tented Camp and after packing up and after having shower, we were back on the road at about 10:30

We returned to Mata Mata to do all the admin type things one has to do whilst on holiday before we set off for Urikaruus
It was just before 12:00 when we got to 14 th borehole and we came upon these two cheetah parking off in the shade under a tree







We carried on to Urikaruus, dropped off our trailer, and went for a short drive down south to Montrose and back before returning to camp for the afternoon

This spotted eagle owl was in camp watching us with intent



We had a quiet evening drive back to the cheetahs at 14th where we watched them for a bit before they disappeared over the dunes
That night, besides having drinks with Rob and Glynnis, Zazu joined us for sundowners

[GavinW]

To follow, one of the most insane days we have ever experienced in the Kgalagadi

[RogerFraser]

Lovely cheetahs after all the back and forwards and the Owl Always a tough choice go with the crowd or do your own thing -we tend to rather do as you did and find our own sightings away from the crowds

[Mel]

Awesome sighting of those BEFs. Their puppies generally are so cute!

Where did you miss that cheetah sighting in the road?

And would you have any photos of the kill around KTP? Well, not the kill itself, but the cheetahs on it.

The other two is definitely Hanri sitting up, and I assume her daughter.

[GavinW]

Our insane day on the Auob

We left Urikaruus on the second day of 2019 and headed north up towards 13th borehole

We hadn’t even got as far as the lookout point when whilst reading the morning newspaper (aka the road), we noticed a whole lot of lion tracks
Heading south

So we turned around



As we were approaching Kamqua, the shop supply truck, on its way up to Mata Mata, pulled us over and told us of 4 lions, walking down the riverbed just past the picnic site


We soon caught up with them

It was two males, the one being Silver Eye and two females

Silver Eye:

The other male was an awesome specimen

And the girls were not too shabby either
We followed them as far as Rooibrak, hoping that they would stop and drink.

They just carried on past the waterhole, and slowly moved over to the far side of the riverbed.
By this time the cars from Twee Rivieren had started coming up, and we were told that there were two leopards near Bataluma.
Not having had seen any leopards so far this trip, (and they are my most favourite), we needed no further incentive to leave our lions and carry on down south.

We didn’t get to Bataluma


Just after Montrose I spotted movement in the riverbed to my left.

This small leopard was being chased by some black backed jackals, and was not a happy chappie

The attachment P1730165.JPG is no longer available

The leopard crossed the road in front of our vehicle and went up onto the calcrete ridges to our right



The leopard eventually settled down in a hole in the ridge
After waiting a while, I know, we left a leopard sighting, but we had heard of the other sighting a bit further down the road
The day was only beginning...............

[Michele Nel]

I do adhere to the rules most of the times, but I would not ask if I could take a shower (or if I'm allowed to take one if I paid for it) -
I'd just do it. There are so many more much worse offences that have a much greater impact on the environment and they are done
anyway - even by park staff

The colours and the scenery ARE amazing

That's naughty Mel...why should you shower at Nossob if you are not paying to stay there. Water is at a premium at Nossob...there were times when we camped there that there wasn't a lot of water to go round. It would irritate me immensely if all the folk staying at Polentswa and moving into Bots would just pitch up and shower and fill up all their water tanks at Nossob. Gavin did the right thing by asking if they could pay to shower ...but actually money does not solve the problem..money does not and cannot buy water at Nossob.

[Michele Nel]

Just out of Nossob, we bumped into Monty and her passengers. Always good to catch up with friends from Cape Town




Lovely travel tale of our most favourite place...:)