BELOVED KALAHARI - Our Home Away From Home

[Lisbeth]

Micetta (kitty cat)

The slender mongoose has an incredible colour

Not a nice experience having worms all over the place Next time you must collect them and have fried worms for lunch

The squirrels try to see how far they can go, just like small children Maybe they have seen mongooses do it

[Richprins]

What a selection, Ex!

Never seen a martial on a nest!

Amazing how caramel-coloured those mongeese are vs their counterparts down here...

And a hunt viz. the skink!

What an experience with the caterpillars, wonder what species they are?

[ExFmem]

nan - yes, the worm episode was a bit creepy, but we also got a few smiles out of it

Sis - the kitty cats are so cute and innocent looking even tho' they live in such a dangerous environment. Could you send me your recipe for fried worms please? Sounds delish! The squirrels are so curious about everything...

RP - I have no idea what the worms are. When I Google worms in Kalahari, etc, mostly only info on Mopane worms comes up, but it's not that.

[ExFmem]

In addition to the many lions, there were more giraffes this visit than before.


















The jousting was fun to watch













Also amusing was a Kori Bustard dust bathing

[ExFmem]

At Samevloing waterhole one morning were 3 male lions that we hadn't seen previously on this trip.








A pair of South African Shelducks were also enjoying the waterhole.





"Supermom" lioness with the 3 youngsters that had previously killed the wildebeest, had now taken down an eland.








Naturally, the scavengers swooped in that afternoon.













At night the numerous geckos were as bad as the fox at Urikaruus in stealing the insects before I could get a photo. This is a HUGE lacewing that the gecko was able to swallow.

[Lisbeth]

Twin giraffes That's very rare

If there are ducks, it must have rained..?

The photos of the vultures are great

The dustbathing kori looks hilarious

There cannot be much nurishment in lace wings

The dry heat of the Kalahari would do me a world of good, especially for my neck right now.

[Richprins]

Lovely stuff, Ex!

You certainly saw all sorts, and your sightings continue way into the night!

So nice to be able to revisit a kill, as other things turn up.

I didn't know there were so many vultures in KTP!

Love the gecko kill.

[GavinW]

Love the vulture pics

[Mel]

The gecko is your foe and my friend when it comes to the creepy crawlies. I think, I would haved died right there and then if it had been me who dropped the worms on *Mental note to make sure to get rid of the riverfront chalet at Mata*

That cheetah... more guess work than anything else because the grass is hiding the already few available spots. On that day a female named Valeria was seen at Kij Kij in the afternoon. It'll probably be her.

I just love that slender mongoose photo. Cutes thing

[ExFmem]

Sis - as for the ducks, it didn't rain our entire trip (5weeks), so don't know exactly what draws them there. Thanks for the other nice comments.

RP - yes, night sightings (bugs etc) are almost as fun/exciting to me as the daytime animals. Lots of vultures in KTP from my experience.

Gavin - thanks, the vultures are rather creepy and the encroaching darkness made for a fun contrast

Mel - that's the first time in many, many trips we had ever experienced the worm invasion, so I suppose your chances are slim during your trip (unless it's a new phenomenon??)

Valeria is a new name to me - very pretty. I have another cheetah sighting in this next entry, maybe it will be her also...Thanks for all your effort.