KNP November ’08 Continued
1 November
Late morning and twelve lions later we headed in the direction of Nossob. We did a “pyjama run” on the Auob River road and had a lion festival. First a young male, then a lioness with four cubs, a mating pair and a few paces on, another male with three females. In between these we were also fortunate to see a pair of Cape Foxes and three young ones. One can safely call it a breathless successful morning.
By the time we left for Nossob, it was incredibly hot, but we felt quite prepared – airconditioner worked and we had lots of cool refreshment… Not a lot of sightings on the way to Melkvlei, but we were contented and happy – the early morning’s sightings made up for the quiet road that met us. After a scrumptious breakfast of cold braai samies and cold juice, we were on our way again.
At Kameelsleep water hole, we noticed something new – flowers! The Driedorings (Three-thorns) were laden with pinkish-white flowers. Spring was approaching the desert in small patches. Fat-bellied springbok ewes were nibbling delicately on the blossoms, which brought me to my next wish – to see little springbok lambs running around in the Kalahari, although I knew that much more rain had to fall to sustain new life.
Merrily driving on in the thick sand, it felt as if the vehicle suddenly had a blow-out. We stopped and scanned the area…partner got out to check. He walked to the window to announce that we did not have flat tyre – it was worse. The vehicle’s spring had broken, but luckily the wheel was still in a position to turn. Our speed limit changed from 40 kilometers per hour to twenty. It was 45 degrees outside, thus the sand temperature must have been close to 60 or 70. About three kilometers onward, the engine cut out and there we stood once more. The fuel tank was overheating from the surface temperature because we were traveling too slowly. I deduced; we have a rooftop tent, water and food and in five hours the sun will set and cool down, that is if no one else passes us on the road. In the end, we were “rescued” and towed to Nossob. The longest four hours I had ever spent in a vehicle. We had no airconditioning and needles to say, my left-hand side of my body turned a beautiful nut-brown in the process. (Two-tone human…).
I kept on visualizing the cool water of the pool awaiting us in Nossob and that was exactly what I did once we were parked at the camping site. I jumped into the pool with my clothes on and just absorbed the cool water that swirled around my baked body.
It was dark when we finally settled down to look at the spectacular display of stars in the sky over Nossob. Our day held so many acts of kindness, the help we received with a broken vehicle to safely arrive at Nossob, the staff who received us like old friends and assured us that the necessary parts will be ordered first thing the Monday and also the friendly lions that did not present themselves at the moments when the car broke down…
As for sightings later in the day…I saw a number of Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters entering their nests in walls of the road, Ground Agama’s and a large variety of lizards and also striped mice. I was happy that nothing else presented, as it was impossible to stop…
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