Africa Wild

Another quiet Rooiputs day:

We woke up to a calmer day and after bidding our farewells to our friends we set off to see what the Kgalagadi would supply today.

In preparation for this post, I looked back at the photos we took on the 3rd of November and found only a handful of usable ones, indicating another quiet day.

We drove up north as far as Gunong before turning back. We had 4 wild cat sightings in trees along the way, but all were either too far away or straight into the sun for decent photographs

Once back in camp, and as the wind seemed to have abated, we decided to do a bit of a clean up and get some of the sand out of our living area of the tent.

That took a while, and as the tent had partially collapsed in one section I dismantled part of it to find two scorpions taking refuge under our groundsheet.

The braai tongs were quickly used to flick the unwanted visitors to the perimeter of our campsite

Next moment this guy swooped down and thanked us for his bonus lunch snack.



We were really surprised and amazed to see how beady eyed the birds are, even when you least expect it.
A kill is a kill though I suppose

On our evening drive, we returned to our “Owl Tree” where we had previously spotted a Giant Eagle Owl and her chick in residence. We were not disappointed .







A chilly November evening and a pleasant dinner ended the day off.

Pilates Pranks by Kamqua crazies

There is no better way of being woken by than by the sound of lions roaring, however when you are In an unfenced camp and need to get going (and to go to the loo, some 50 meters way), you tend to send your SO out first.

I duly did the recce and declared all was clear. The lions continued to roar as we got ready to go out whilst waiting for the gate opening time to arrive.

The lions seemed to be getting closer and by the time we were on our way, they must have crossed over towards the lodge and had disappeared.
Lions teasing tourists!!!

Following the false alarm, we continued on our way.
This was to be our last day at Rooiputs, and as we were heading up to Polentswa the next day, we decided to explore the Auob today.

The Lower Dune Road was quiet bar this Whistling Rat who came out to say hi



Our trip up the riverbed was peaceful, and whilst we were really enjoying being in the park, some game would have been good.

We arrived at Kamqua, at the same time as Chris , Johno and Traigh, who came down from Mata Mata. They too had not seen too much.



We started chatting as one does, and eventually the conversation got on to Debbie being a Pilates instructor.
Well one thing led to another and before long, never seen before in the Kgalagadi was her first Pilates lesson for the group.







We did get some strange looks, and a big thank you from a German tourist for the entertainment.

All things being done, and due to the fact that Chris and Co had also not seen anything further north, we decided to return to camp.
This lanner graced us with it’s presence on the way home




Where we returned to a now peaceful campsite for the evening.

We move to Polentswa

We woke early the next day as we were travelling all the way up to Polentswa that morning.
There is something eerie trying to take down your tent and pack everything up whilst a lion is roaring in the near vicinity.

Must have been the same lion as yesterday, which was intent on teasing us.

By the time we were ready to move, all we saw were his tracks on the double track road just outside camp as it headed off into Botswana

A little bit further on, an indication that our fortunes were about to change presented itself, when we came upon this porcupine in the river bed. A proof pic in poor light :




The wind was still around however, as can be seen here:



We carried on slowly towards Nossob, and again it was the bird life which kept us entertained

A juvenile PCG



Then a hoopoe



And a group of Namaqua doves

Polentswa provides

Thanks everyone for the comments

One memory we have always had of Polentswa is that of stunning raptor sightings, so when we eventually got to Polentswa, we had a quick look at the waterhole before going to strike up camp.

True to form, a juvenile bateleur joined us at the waterhole



We went to set up camp and returned that evening for sundowners.

This bokkie joined us for a drink



As did this brown hyena







Our luck was changing

A busy waterhole

We watched as the brownie continued to drink at the waterhole



And as quickly at it arrived, it disappeared into the distance on the open plain in front of us



Not too long later, a herd of wildebeest arrived.

They are one of my most favourite ungulates, so I was a happy boy as we watched them arrive and frolic around the place





We left them at the waterhole at about 7pm to head back to camp some 3 kilometres away

A Polentswa procession: 6 November

We woke up early and set off to the Polentswa waterhole as soon as we were able.

As we arrived a spotted hyena was startled by our car and quickly moved off. A bit frustrating but what can you do.

I wasn’t long before we had a whole procession of dogs coming to visit and have a morning drink.

First up
This spotted hyena




A black backed jackal





Some doves


Whilst waiting for our next brown hyena of the trip




This was turning into a brownie trip of note.

An animal that had pretty well eluded us in the past.
Every trip to the Kgalagadi is different

GavinW wrote:Off to Namibia for a few days
Will try post if I have wifi

OK so I've got wifi, so hear goes:

A Hyena filled morning

No sooner had the first brown hyena moved off, another arrived.

It really was having a bad hair day



And after drinking, it soon moved off into the distance



Next up for a drink was this pretty chap




And after a while, as things seemed to be calming down as the morning heated up, we decided to take a drive up to Lijersdraai and back

We saw very little on the way up, not that we could seem much as we were too focussed on trying to navigate the badly corrugated road.



At Lijersdraai waterhole we met this character



who was carefully monitoring these guys, enjoying some pork ribbetjies

Thanks everyone for the input, I really do appreciate it

You can’t be everywhere all the time

We eventually bounced our way back to Polentswa, only to discover that after we had left to head up north, we had just missed a big daddy lion at the waterhole.

Nothing we could do about that, and we were quite satisfied with or mornings sightings in any event.

We headed off back to camp, and saw the big boy far away on the other side of the pan. He walked along the edge of the pan and flopped down under a tree.
Way to far for our cameras, (and possibly also our binocs!)

We had a quiet evening drive that evening, with this bateleur being the highlight of the drive




We experienced this dust devil on our way home



As well as another stunning Kgalagadi sunset

Richprins wrote:What is IAAF?

International Association of Athletics Federations, the world controlling body for athletics

I wonder why we have never seen an adult bateleur They seem to be all over the place in KTP as in KNP. Something for the future