Africa Wild

Whilst in camp, I was busy having a shower when Debbie noticed that the water from my shower actually came out in a stream from under our chalet and flowed into a hole a bit further down the dune. I’m not sure if this is by design or by default, but the birds were lapping it up.

Here is a yellow canary taking advantage of the bonus.



We were a little restricted in our evening drive as to how far we were able to travel as I was a bit concerned about running out of petrol before we reached Mata Mata tomorrow, but Debbie did persuade me to go and have a look at the bat eared fox den we had found a few days previously.

We may have been a bit early, but no one was out and about. We did see this Swallow Trailed bee-eater along the way though.



We decided to turn around and head back to Kamfersboom to see if the lion would get up and drink.
At Aucherlonie, these ducks (I need an ID please) were enjoying the evening light.



We carried on towards Kamfersboom,, and just before we reached the waterhole we spotted this Brownie walking back towards us.



Wow, bonus, much more exciting than a sleeping lion!!!!





We followed him as he made his way up the riverbed, crossing from side to side.



Pasting along the way



Eventually with time (and the light) running out we were forced to leave the sighting and return to Kieliekrankie.







We got in with minutes to spare.

WOW, what an awesome day.............

Day 9: 3 January. The little guys come out to play

There is a saying in the KTP that The Kgalagadi will only reveal herself to those with a pure heart. I have always read that as being in order to see the KTP at its best, you need to appreciate all that she has to offer. In other words, take note of even the small things you see in the park, and the rest will follow. (sometimes!!)
Today would be such a day.

As usual we were up at 5.30am, a bit sleep deprived with all these early mornings by now, but keen and rearing to go.

No guesses as to in which direction we were headed today. Thanks to the petrol shortage in Twee Rivieren we were forced to go up to Mata Mata, which wasn’t my preferred choice of route (I wanted to go back to Kij Kij) but nevertheless, I didn’t have a choice.

All was quiet as we bounced along for the first half hour or so, with very few animals around, but we were able to we admire the stunning sunrise.




Just after Batulama, I spotted some movement on the right.

Cape Foxes at play.

It was a mother with two pups








Well we spent a fair amount of time watching their antics



Talk about a high cuteness factor!!




Hello mommy


Another really special sighting.

We had moved on and, literally only about half a kilometre later we spotted these meercats on the side of the road.



This stretch of road was fast becoming “Small Chap Ally”, with bat eared foxes previously, and now Cape Foxes and meercats



The meercats were pretty stressed out, and for good reason. A juvenile Pale Chanting Goshawk was taking quite a bit of interest in the colony, which for obvious reasons was not going down too well back on the ground.







Thanks nan

After a couple of fly byes, eventually the PCG flew away leaving the colony in peace
We stayed around a bit watching the suricates going about their daily business








A bit further on, these hyenas were settling down for the day under a tree after a long night.

Meerkats, foxes and hyenas will always make my day in the KTP

Not long to go now. Will be in Uri on Friday.

You may keep all the lions, if I can have the foxes and meerkats

lovely Suricates

Thanks everyone for your comments

To continue..............

The hyenas were going nowhere so we carried on north to Mata Mata


These wildebeest were soaking in the morning sun up on the dune



Whilst a bit further on, just before Rooibrak, we saw one of the few martial eagles of the trip, playing with a stick on the far dune. It was really far away, so this is purely a proof pic.




These gemsbok were on the dunes near 13th borehole



And we saw this sleepy Giant Eagle Owl at Craig Lockhart.





Thankfully Mata Mata did have petrol, so I made sure that I filled up to the top.

Whilst we were there we bumped into more friends from Cape Town, myles and his SO, and caught up with them for a while before heading back south.

The trip back was uneventful, besides the fact that the hyenas had moved slightly closer to the road.






We spent a short time with them before returning to Kieliekrankie, and the resident barn owl.

@ nan, yes we did, but it kept hiding away. Also saw the one at Aucherlonie in the well (coming up later)

I have developed a lazy habit of late. I have stopped looking at my photographs when writing this travel tale, and relying solely on Debbie’s pics, as she is the photographer in the family, and I am the driver with a part time camera at my feet.

I had a quick look and saw these few photos that I had taken on our morning petrol drive up to MM and back.

This Lilac Breasted roller,



And, the idiot who alerted us to the giant eagle owl at Craig Lockhart.



That evening we decided to go north again in the hope of seeing the cape foxes again. Debbie was adamant that they were just the best thing so far!!!

We went as far as Rooibrak before turning around, where these wildebeest were having evening drinks



This Tawny eagle was being harassed by a couple of PCG’s,



And we saw some far off spotted hyenas, who showed us where there den was.
High up on the eastern dune, 1.9km south of Rooibrak. (too far away for pics)


Back at “Small Chap Alley”, these ears were peeking out of a hole in the ground.



We rattled to a stop, and turned off the car.

Eventually, a couple of the bat eared fox pups briefly faced the big scary outside world.





But we had to leave in order to get back to camp.


That night, steenbok, BBJs and a caracal visited the waterhole, but sorry no pics. The bulb of my powerful torch which I had brought along, (and only used a couple of times before) had blown, so we were restricted to a torch which enabled us to see what was going on, but it was not powerful enough for photos.

Day 10: 4 January The Kgalagadi reveals herself again!!

As is our custom, we were up at 5.30am yet again and on our way. Today we decided to go south along the Auob down to Twee Rivieren. We advised Willem of our intentions, and agreed to take a bundle of washing back to the main camp for him,which we loaded into the back of the bakkie before setting out.


Another stunning Kieliekrankie sunrise greeted us as we drove out.



As we were approaching Kamfersboom, we wondered as to whether the male lion which had been sitting on a wildebeest kill for the past two days would still be around.

We drove around a bend just before the waterhole and our question was answered for us.



He was a beauty, and we were so chuffed to get to see him close up, (He had been lying under a tree on the far side of the valley up until now, so we had only seen him through binoculars and on our camera using the zoom)





We must have just missed him drinking as he soon started walking up the road in the direction of Auchterlonie, marking his territory.







He eventually settled down on top of a dune to the west, and seemed pretty settled, so after a while we carried on towards Kamfersboom.

Little did we know, but our day was just beginning.

We were pretty satisfied with our lion sighting and busy chatting about him and how he had been around with the kill for about 3 days.

We stopped to look under the tree where the kill was, and saw that the jackals had moved in.

We had travelled no more than a few hundred meters when Debbie spotted some movement up on the calcrete ridges on the far side of the riverbed.

A Leopard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Warona




She slowly walked along the ridge and down into the riverbed

(Sorry for all the pics, but I DO love leopards!!)





We were ecstatic, and although we were looking straight into the rising sun, we didn’t care.



We took a few proof pics, and we were convinced that she was definitely headed for the waterhole, so we turned around all ready for a super sighting of her.



However, all of a sudden she noticed the jackals up on the hill on the far side of the valley, and immediately turned and headed up to them.



She chased the jackals away and then disappeared into the dunes.
We waited, went forwards then backwards looking for her, and waited some more in the hope that she would come and drink, but she never did.
No matter, we had had a great, albeit brief sighting of the lovely lady.