16 November, 2018

It’s Lauren’s birthday today – she turns 47!   Where did the time go?  

We left camp at 05:30 but as we know our daughter rises early for school we sent her a message promising to phone in the evening when she’d have time to chat.

We drove all the way to Twee Rivieren and back today.  The Earl needed to have a good phone and internet connection in order to get hold of Ford in Upington to arrange for a new back windscreen.  The result was that all was organised for 23 November when we would be making our way back home. So we could relax and enjoy the rest of our holiday.

It took the whole day to drive there and back, of course with many stops to view game.  

The first fun thing we saw were springbok pronking just for the fun of it.   They looked like they were just doing their morning exercise and thoroughly enjoying being alive.  Perhaps they were celebrating missing the lions claws last night!

We had seen flying bateleurs but today we saw two perched at the top of a tree. 

There were also a number of vultures around.

Just past Viertiende Boorgat (Fourteenth Bore Hole) at 7 in the morning we found a den of Cape Foxes.  How cute to observe the babies learning to dig and find their own food.  

At Dertiende Boorgat (Thirteenth Bore Hole) we watched the little quelea,sparrows, finches and doves swarm down to the water and up again into the trees while a lanner falcon flew over. They are expert bird catchers but didn’t try their luck this morning.

We stopped at Kamqua Picnic site at quarter to ten and had a cereal and boiled egg    breakfast.

Each waterhole we stopped at had one or two creatures of interest but not like the herds and herds we saw in Etosha. 

Just before Montrose we oohed over a brand new baby springbok suckling his mother.

At Montrose a jackal took a drink and a little further on another was scavenging on a kill left by cheetahs we were told.

We almost missed an immature martial eagle on a log on the ground.  Pat called – Ooohh what was that?  The Earl screeched to a halt and rapidly reversed. He was quite content to let us stare at him and take some photos.

It was midday when we got to Twee Rivieren.  There is a restaurant there but it was closed. However there was a small patio with a kiosk that sold snacks and drinks so we sat there while The Earl tried to sort out the windscreen.  We also did some shopping at the park shop. 

After a snack and ice cream we made our way back to Mata Mata.  As we drew up to Leeudril we spotted two Fords.

What luck –  9 lions were lazing in the shade.   They were all awake but sluggish and about to nap. Their tummies were really very full.

The rest of the afternoon produced some birding and a few of the usual animals but no cheetah nor a leopard!

We got back to camp after 6 pm and after some cold drinks went to the pool for a refreshing swim.  Then I cooked savoury mince and rice for dinner.   Dessert was our favourite – Amarula and condensed milk shooters.

Thursday 15 November 2018

We made a late start this morning.  Earl managed to get some plastic sheeting from one of the staff at the park shop and he and Tony did a good job of sorting out the lack of a back window.

We had an excellent “Earlie” breakfast of scrambled eggs, tomato, bacon and banana and then set off for a game drive at half past nine.

Peter Derichs had produced a series of guides to various game reserves in South Africa called Peter’s Guides.  The snippets of information I have given on the names and places in the Kgalagadi come from such a reference –  Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – by Peter Derichs”   

Kgalagadi means ‘salt pans’.  It is part of a 89000 square kilometers sand field which has a red colour caused by a thin layer of iron oxide on the sand grains. 

The park has two rivers – the Nossob and the Aub which are mainly dry and only flow when there are heavy rains.  There are many years between flooding and the average annual rainfall is 200 mm.  To meet the water needs of the animals, over 86 water points have been provided. These were previously powered by windmills but now most are solar powered.

Today we followed the Auob riverbed road  and checked out each of the waterholes until we reached the Kamqua picnic site where we had lunch and then drove back again.

The Aub River is part of an ancient drainage system and runs in a southerly direction until it joins the Nossob River near Twee Rivieren Camp.  There are 18 water points in the river.

The quality of the water at Craig Lockhart bore hole is good.  Craig means rock and Lockhart is a person’s name. It is derived from the French word Loche meaning a fresh water fish.  It is assumed that Lockhart was a name given to a fresh water fisherman.

Craig Lockhart is a good place to spot birds. We spotted a black-breasted snake eagle.  He did not seem to want to pose for his portrait but I managed to get a reasonable shot.

The Gemsbok were enjoying a drink until theu saw the bullies arrive.

Dertiende en Viertiende Boorgat (thirteenth and fourteenth bore hole) were originally known as Kleinskrij and Grootskrij – small and big diarrhoea.  This is because when a surveyor named Jackson camped there his oxen ate tsamma melon and drank the poor quality water which gave them diarrhoea!

Kamqua like all the picnic sites in the park is not fenced so one must be on the lookout for wild animals when getting out of the car.  Fortunately I have never seen any animals passing through while I’ve been there but cheetah are often in the vicinity.   Kamqua means green pothole.