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What our you complaining about
Cheap airfare turned out to be business class
And campingspot became a bungalow
Happy that you got accommodation at TR

Hello!!!
Where are the real joyes from KTP?
You made a promise!

Illie, Please do NOT use that word, as it is like to swear to God.

And I will keep to it.
I'm getting there...first am sorting out my pics and than it's story time.

Looking forward to your report!
I had a look at some of your pics!!
They are just great!!!!

After a bit of arguing at TR reception (mind you, all in a friendly atmosphere) we went to our bungalow, basically very happy that we could stay in the park and didn’t have to leave for that night. I will say even more…we were actually pleasantly surprised by our unit. Apparently
The TR bungalows underwent a refurbishment since the last time we were there…nice. And of course the usual “welcome sayers” also showed themselves.



Finally it was time to go on the first game drive. First arranging the car…cooler box over here, cameras over there, binocs in that corner, birdbook in the other one and the most important thing…get used to the position of the cup holders.

We didn’t have the choice today because the Nossob road was closed (a shame really because the Leeudril and Rooiputs waterholes are among my faves) so the plan was to drive up to Auchterlonie and come back.

I red some reports in where there were quite a lot of complaints about the new road over the dunes from Samenvloeiing to the Auob valley but personally I love this stretch (I am actually fond of those dune roads) as it almost always delivers Steenbok and BB Korhaan. This was also the case on this occasion. The korhaan was too fast for a pic but the steenbok wasn’t.



Than we arrived in the Auob valley and soon we saw one of the sights we love so much in this park. Buck at the rims of the valleys…here it were springbok not too far from Munro. It would turn out a few days later that this was only a part of a huge herd (400+) and that this herd would give us one of our most memorable memories of game parks ever. Wait and see.



Next to this we saw very little: some oryx, some ostrich, 2 or 3 lone wildebeest, a few PC Goshawks and 1 kori bustard.

We decided to drive up to the viewpoint a bit before Houmoed (at least that’s where I think it is) and when on top we saw 3 bat eared foxes. They were pretty skittish and ran off right after I stopped the car. Here is one.



We were happy with the sighting nevertheless and enjoyed the view from the viewpoint before driving back to TR.



That evening, because of the long journey we just made, we didn’t feel like cooking or braaiing any more so we went to the resto. Food was good and so was our night rest.

Great pics, great story, please keep it coming.

(Sorry about the start of your trip though)

Thanks Jazzie. Don't feel too sorry...still had the enormous priviledge to be in one of the greatest parks of this globe and fully enjoyed it. And still feeling sorry that you could not join us. By the way, having to write a trip report all by myself feels a bit weird...

Lovely pics

Great start Salva....and lovely pics.
Like everybody else I am eagerly waiting for you to continue

Thx Dotty and Michele!

15/04: day 2

Notwithstanding the fact that we were pleasantly surprised by the TR bungalow we were happy to leave because today we were finally going to see Kielie Krankie. We wanted to arrive there as soon as possible in order to soak up the so much praised views from our unit so we left at gate opening time. This way we could travel at a very slow pace. Nothing would escape our eyes!

The little dune stretch before reaching the Auob gave us the “usual dune suspects”: steenbok, ostrich, gemsbok, korhaan and…a wonderful black breasted snake eagle.



It would soon become clear to us that, along with the pale chanting goshawk, this would be the most viewed raptor of this trip. I think we must have seen over 50 of these guys.

And than we drove into the Auob valley, once again with a sense of great expectation.



We saw numerous kori bustards, secretary birds, oryx, wildebeest, springbok,…no real special sightings but how great it was t drive in this narrow valley once more with crisp blue skies above us.



A bit before Auchterlonie we were treated to a sighting of these two lovely meerkat. We hung around for quite some time but only saw them along with some squirrels.



Than a quick lunch at Auchterlonie picnic spot, enjoying the views over the valley from there…





…and than finally on to lovely Kielie Krankie. A shame we didn’t get our first night here but hey, we finally saw the camp and the views really did live up to their reputation. Just wonderful.

"we finally saw the camp and the views really did live up to their reputation. Just wonderful""


It's true whatever one will say about whatever there can be said about Kieliekrankie nobody can argue over the view

Thank you Salva, it is making the counting bearable

Thanks Salva for these beautiful landscapes

AWESOME! Salva!
I love the Black breasted snake eagle. Wow, what a shot!

Thank you Salva for sharing your report and your
stunning pics.
They are just beautiful!!!