Sunday 20 August 20, 2023

It was freezing last night and freezing when we awoke this morning.  Cathy, Alec, Earl and I were packed and ready to leave Nossob by 08h15.   The Twins still had some packing to do and they followed at a slower pace, stopping to see game, while we, the caravanners tried to get to Mata Mata as quickly as possible so that we could find good campsites.

Alec set the pace and we tried as best we could to keep up but other cars got between us and were driving below the limit of 50 kph so we got a little behind.  We caught up at Dikbaardskolk picnic site where we had a leg stretch and loo break. Then it was 50km over the beautiful dune road. This road is undulating and there is a sign that recommends that you take care and keep well to the left.  This is because as you go uphill you cannot see what is approaching in the opposite direction. 

We kept pace with Alec until Earl slowed and stopped. 

“Look – a honey badger!” he exclaimed.

How he spotted him I do not know.  He was on my side of the road but behind some dune bush and with him was a jackal.  Mostly you see honey badgers on their own but sometimes in pairs. Often, though, you might see a jackal and/or a pale chanting goshawk with him. The wily jackal knows that if he sticks with the badger, he might get a free meal. The badger digs up mouseholes causing the occupants to run for their lives. I’m sure the badger gets first pickings but the jackal might get lucky too.

We spent at least ten minutes with these creatures and got some lovely video footage of the badger digging with the jackal looking on hoping he would find them a meal soon.

We hoped we had not got too far behind Alec but could not resist stopping to photograph a few birds making us as least 20 minutes behind him.

When we arrived at the picnic site for breakfast Alec was about to unhitch and come to look for us!  

After breakfast, we still had another 50 km to go and this time we kept pace with Alec and Cath.  There was one little delay for both of us when we came upon a lion sighting.   We saw a sleeping female and a male a little further away feeding on a carcass.   Alec was ahead and Cath managed to get some photos. I tried as we overtook the other observing cars but was hooted at for blocking everyone’s view. It would only have taken a few seconds, but The Earl did not want to annoy the tourists, so he hurried on! (See Cathy’s upcoming post.)

We arrived at camp at about 13h00, checked in and found two lovely campsites near each other but not right next door.  The sites were not on the perimeter, but we could see the water hole and it was just a short walk to the hide.

We did not go out for an afternoon drive but decided to sort out the caravans, do laundry and visit the hide.  

Her calf who is probably still nursing did not drink but waited patiently for mom then walked off with her.

The Twins arrived at half past three after having some lovely sightings including a leopard!   Priscilla was responsible for the meal tonight and cooked us a delicious tagliatelle with cheese and ham sauce.

Camp all set up and ready for Priscilla’s dinner

Monday 21 August 20, 2023

Today the twins packed up and were ready to leave on the first leg of their trip to Pretoria where they will be visiting their brother, and sister-in-law who is not well. We travelled in tandem and visited the waterhole loops before bidding them farewell after Dertiende Watergat.

A little while ago there was a veld fire in the area and this seems to have affected the sightings. Nevertheless, we had some interesting experiences.

The surname Lockhart originates from the old French word ‘loche’ which describes a freshwater fish. It is believed that Lockhart was a nickname for a freshwater fisherman. (I obtained this information from Peter Derich’s book – Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – Self Drive Guide.)

After bidding the twins farewell we continued slowly to Kamqua picnic site where we had coffee and a snack and then made our way back to camp.

The next day was a rest day.

Tuesday 22 August 20, 2023

Everybody felt a little tired of the corrugated roads so we decided to have a rest day today. We stayed in camp and relaxed reading, birding around camp and checking the waterhole from time to time.

A family of Meerkats have made a burrow near the entrance to the camp waterhole. They leave to forage in the reserve when it warms up and then come back later in the afternoon.

After some discussion, we decided to swap our last two days of camping at Mata Mata and try to get sites at Twee Rivieren. Unfortunately, camping was full so we opted for 2 chalets instead.

More about that next time!