Africa Wild

Auchterlonie is situated in the Auob riverbed (31 kilometres north of Twee Rivieren) and also has a picnic site with a little museum on top of the dunes where you learn about the ruins that dot the dunes behind the riverbed.



The information displayed reveals that in 1884 Germany annexed South-West Africa (Namibia today) as a colony. When in 1914 World War I started, the government of the Union of South Africa began to drill waterholes along the Auob river to provide water for the troops should the South Africans invade South-West Africa from there.

To protect and maintain the waterholes people from the the local community were hired. Those people were allowed to bring their family and their livestock in and to settle close to the boreholes. Homes were built with wattle and daub and calcrete that could be found there respectively. As South-West Africa was invaded from another route, the people living around the boreholes in the Aoub were forgotten about.

A Scotsman named Roger "Malkop" Duke Jackson surveyed and divided what we know as the KTP today into farms between 1913 and 1917. (The fact that this guy was Scottish is the reason why there are many waterholes in the park today that have a Gaelic name.) When World War I had ended those farms were given to white and later also to coloured people. But not many people were interested in setting there, so in 1931 the then Minister of Lands, Mr. Piet Grobler proclaimed the area a national park.

Further land along the Kuruman river was purchased south of the park to re-locate the people who lived on the then national park land. The structures they had built in the park were abandoned and the ruins of those are shown at the Auchterlonie museum.

(Adapted text from the info on displayed in the museum)

The waterhole itself:

Peter Derichs - Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park:

Old Irish:
uachdar = summit
loinn = joy, glade, area

Probably named by Scottish land surveyor, Roger Duke (Malkop) Jackson, who surveyed the farms in this area.

This very unusual surname is of Scottish origin, and is locational; the lands of Othirlony in the town of Forfar
being the place of origin of this Old Scottish name. The name, perhaps not surprisingly, has a number of
alternate spellings which include: Auchterlonie, Auchterlony, Ochterlonie, Ouchterlony and Ochterlony. The
name translation is believed to be "the field of the elk", derived from the Gaelic "achadh na lon" or it could
possibly translate as "the field fo the blackbirds".

The nearest camps are:

Kieliekrankie (7 km)
Twee Rivieren (31 km)
Urikaruus (36 km)

Auchterlonie also provides a picnic spot with braai stands and ablution facilities.
It is located close to the entrance of the Southern Dune Road that leads from the
Aoub to the Nossob riverbed. (35 km)

Our first sighting ever at Auchterlonie was on a dull day and it was Lisette and her cubs Pudding and Pie:

22/03/2010

Quickly disappearing into the dunes on the other side of the road:

22/03/2010

22/03/2010

We should see them again a few days later in a far more favourable light:

27/03/2010

27/03/2010

27/03/2010

It also provided our first and only Abdim's sighting in the park so far:

28/03/2010

Great pics Mel.

Not seen anything as exciting as Cheetah there, but here's my only pics of the area.

Looking South from the building.


The waterhole.


Familiar Chat on the chimney stack.


and one on the covered picnic benches.


Lizard on the stone walls of the building.

Dewi, I would have expected a 'nothing as exciting as an Abdim's' from you of all people. -O

Thanks for your beautiful photos!

Also tried my hand at b&w for the first time.

White-browed sparrow weaver - a very common bird in the park:

21/04/2011

Panorama view:

21/04/2011

The tree next to the windmill is a grey camel thorn.