Social distancing in the Kgalagadi Oct/Nov 2020

[Alf]

Great photos of the cobra and squirrel

[Lisbeth]

Surprising how brave such a small squirrel can be when it comes to defending her offspring and they hardly never gets bitten

Nice those small caves, especially with a leopard inside

[GavinW]

Thursday 29 October 2020

Today we were moving camp to Mata Mata, so even though we were awake at 5.30am, we only managed to leave camp by 7 am after breaking up our campsite

We were only about 5 minutes out of the Twee Rivieren gate, when Debbie shouted “leopard!!”
We had often heard of leopards on the calcrete just out of Twee Rivieren, but had yet to see one.
A big male was making his way along the side of the dune

We didn’t have too long with the cat before he disappeared over the top of the dune

We hang around for a while waiting to see if he would return, but unfortunately he didn’t oblige
What a great start to our day

[Alf]

How did she managed to spot that leopard

It took me a few seconds to see it

[Richprins]

Lucky!

[Lisbeth]

How he blends in with the landscape

[GavinW]

With the leopard not returning, we carried on towards Mata Mata
Because we had left the camp a little later than most others, when we came upon a roadblock just after Gemsbokplein, we knew two things.
Firstly, that there must be a cat in the vicinity, and
Secondly, that we were in no position to jostle for a good view of whatever it ws, as we were towing our trailer, and only the left hand side of the road was open, so we couldn’t stop for long either without blocking the road.

As a result, all we could do was to drive past the cheetah on the side of the road and get a proof pic.

We heard later that she had hunted and killed a springbok a few hours after we had passed

A smaller traffic jam awaited us at Batulama, where Miera’s cubs were out and about again.
They were walking along the side of the dune, before moving over the top.
Can you see both cubs?

[GavinW]

Could this drive get any better?

It did

Before Rooibrak, a honey badger ran across the riverbed and across the road behind our vehicle

More proof pics as it hurried off to keep it’s distance from us.

By now it had started to rain and this pygmy falcon enjoyed a shower whilst perched on a nearby bush

[Klipspringer]

Wow - what a drive.

Love the Goshawk

[Richprins]

What a safari, Gavin!