KTP March 2013 - Now I've had the time of my life... *

[Mel]

Spots left around 7.30 am and I sat watching the doves.



And some hartebeests that looked a bit irritated with the dove action at the waterhole.

Video: http://v6.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=288qibt&s=6

The only way for me to get the lanner going after the doves is with a video:

http://v6.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=2gtu889&s=6

Also, some springboks called in.


And I had my one and only sighting of a Namaqua dove.


While I was sitting on the deck reading my book a bird flew into the tree right next to our unit. When I looked up I couldn’t make sense of it immediately as I had never seen it before. I didn’t have my camera ready and before I knew it the birdie had disappeared around the corner. So I went to the front of the unit to investigate if I had a chance to catch it there. I did – my first ever pearl spotted owlet.



I was happy as could be!

Also, the bully from yesterday returned:


And a lanner feeling really hot.


Otherwise there wasn’t much going on apart from Jacques coming and going between his cleaning duties to have some chats. He also fixed some holes in our unit after I had discovered that the bat community had grown again since last night. He also told me that Willem had radioed him to let me know that Spots had left Kielie (he had to take up something from Twee to be dropped off at Kielie) and should be around soon. Well, Spots wasn’t arriving soon, which left me suspicious of what he might have seen on his trip. When he arrived, he said he wasn’t late because he had seen anything but because he had helped out a family who were stranded at Kamqua with a … flat tyre…

Yet I grabbed the camera the SO had taken with him and checked the photos. Well, this is what Spots saw at Monro:









I didn’t know whether to start pouting or not… A total of 6 lions together and the smallest cubs I would have get to watch ever so far… But despite the slow day in the camp, I reasoned that my chances of seeing tiny lions cubs would probably be better than seeing a pearl-spotted owlet. Plus, I hadn’t have to endure the ordeal at Twee. Plus, I hadn’t have to sweat at Kamqua. Plus – which I didn’t know back then, but which makes it even easier to get over it now – I would have one of the three bestest sightings to come later on the trip.

Spots also saw an Egyptian goose just outside Twee:


A very common bird, but not in KTP. At least I would get to see some in flight a day later as well. -O

[Mel]

Sooo true about the roads, Lis... They were abysmal on some stretches.

Seeing that nan arrived after me, but already passed me again, I'll
need to post my afternoon quickly as well, I think. -O



After the SO had had some breakfast around 2.30 pm he decided it was time for a nap. While he was out, I had a visit of some banana birds:




And three giraffes.


As I had been caged in the camp for the whole day, I felt like needing to get out. Not far, but out for a while so we headed towards Kamqua and sat at an empty waterhole when a huuuge herd of wildebeests came walking in a single file and took over the waterhole. Some funny behaviour was on show again.

Videos:
http://v6.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=2hebpqv&s=6

http://v6.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=1zn748n&s=6

http://v6.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=11t6bns&s=6

http://v6.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=14aeqt1&s=6

On our return I quickly made it to the shower to avoid colliding with the bats in there. But they only watched from the roof and left me to my business. Later, Spots and I would do alternate checks on the little critters and evacuate another 15. It was actually the last of the lot as we spend the rest of our stay completely on our own.

[Mel]

That evening we had dinner with Jacques and nan. nan arrived first and we enjoy a yummy first real sundowner together. Also, if you want to know what we saw that evening – go to nan’s tale. I was way too busy to enjoy the evening to bother with the finer details -O and nan had managed to set up her camera that she was able just to snap away when something moved. We talked so much that I have long forgotten what topics were covered but I can tell you that we had a magnificent time that lasted way too long for Kalahari standards. But it goes to show just how great the company was. We had hardly departed from each other at around 11 pm, when …

[Mel]

... when the next leopard made his entrance:



His entrance, because once again Matthew Schruch did his utmost to get his one ID’ed as well and confirmed Dakotah.

What a way to round off a terrific evening!

[Mel]

Thanks, guys and gals for your comments! Highly appreciated

Time to plow ahead - nan is already on the 27th


26/03/2013 – Urikaruus

At 4.00 am I woke up to the distinctive sound of a leopard coughing right next to our bedroom window. Fully awake I let my eyes adjust to the darkness – and there he was again: The big male from last night was headed straight into the thickets next to our bedroom. The commotions I caused got Spots up as well and so he was able to catch a glimpse of the leopard as well. After the excitement had subdued again, we returned to club duvet to get some more sleep. Seeing that we had been up well into the night the day before, we had planned to have a bit of a lie in this morning and only got up with sunrise.

Sipping coffee and watching the waterhole, some hartebeest came for a drink.

[Mel]

Around 8am we set off towards the north where anne-marie had left to already earlier in search of Gertie and her cubs. It was another quiet drive bar from the birdies that made themselves available to us:

At 13th Borehole we saw a wattled starling and another sandgrouse:

[Mel]

The colourful lilac-breasted roller and swallow-tailed bee-eater sat in trees along the road.





We went up all the way to Mata-Mata without any further sighting. I just hoped that nan had got luckier!

[Mel]

It was getting hot and we were desperate to get back to the camp to get some rest, so we travelled at high speed – the allowed 50km/h. Still we checked every waterhole on the way and on the loop of the 14th we met some friendly fellow visitors who told us about a melanistic gabar goshawk sitting in a tree we had just passed. Of course I made Spots turn around to see that special raptor myself.



They had also told us about a martial sitting very close to the road on the 13th loop, but by the time we got there, the martial had put quite some distance between himself and the approaching cars.

Just before the camp we ran into a giraffe feeding close to the road.

[Mel]

The sky was starting to cloud and darken, the air hot, heavy and not a breeze to easy the warmth. Nothing was moving anymore as the critters seem to have sensed the upcoming rain. Well, the squirrels were still active though:







And some oryx came around as well.



But soon they ran for cover as well, when the rain set in. It would be the first of some heavier rainfall to follow over the next days…

[Mel]

Seeing that the waterhole would probably be very unproductive in the rain, I wanted to go on an afternoon drive, hoping for some spectacular colours over the riverbed once the sun broke through the clouds. Well, it didn’t really…