SANParks.org Forums

22.11.

Early in the morning we had a visitor to the waterhole.
A Hyena was coming from the dunes and slowly made her way to the hoel to have a sip before returning home.

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

That morning we took our time and watched the waterhole, waiting for some more action.
It always is a hard decision, whether to leave early in the morning or to stay in camp for a while and wait what might visit the waterhole
Three Lanner Falcons were attacking the birds at the waterhole and then finally one of them caught a Dove.

Larger View
(Francolin took that photo as I was chatting to our neighbours at that moment …)

All this were the reasons why we started quite late for our morning drive.
The Hyenas were out to play once again.

Larger View

Larger View

This time we were decided to only drive up to the 14th Borehole,as it was already quite hot again .
Shortly before we reached the turnoff to the camp on our way back we spotted a lovely Tawny Eagle in a low bush right beside the road.

Larger View


Then we passed the camp entrance road and headed south towards Rooibrak waterhole, close to that we came across this lovely Springbok herd.

Larger View

But now we returned back to Urikaruus, our plan was to make the most of our last day there......
It is such a wonderful camp (definitely one of our faves) and so we sat on our balcony reading, watching the waterhole and observing the Squirrels that were looking for some shade underneath the cabin in the afternoon heat.

Larger View

Later we were driving the direction to the boreholes for the last time during this year...
And really felt sad about that…

Along the way we met this little fellow.

Larger View

And a little later a PCG in lovely evening light.

Larger View

No question we just had to stop at the den and spend some time with "our " Hyenas…

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View


Later we said goodbye to them and returned back to the camp, a bit heavy hearted as this was our last night there before returning back to Twee Rivieren for our last couple of nights….

23.11.

Today we were on the final leg of our trip.
Leaving Urikaruus for Twee Rivieren…..
I think I don’t have to mention that we did not hurry to leave that wonderful place.
Enjoying another brekkie on that gorgeous balcony with a view to the waterhole and watching the Mongoose begging for food at each and every single hut. Just too wonderful....

Larger View

Nevertheless it was inevitable that we had to leave…..

First sighting of the morning was another of those tiny Pearl-Spotted Owls.
Aren't they the cutest ?!

Larger View

Pearl Spotted Owl

South of Kamqua we met another of the numerous Ostrich families of our trip.

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Near Gemsbokplein we spotted a Crimson-breasted Shrike enjoying a nice Agama for lunch.

Larger View

And our next sighting on the way down south, was an Ostrich taking a dust bath.

Larger View

Later we found a lazy bunch of Lions. Unfortunately a bit far away from the road.
It was another hot day and as usual there was not much action to be expected.
So we soon left the sighting.

Larger View

Coming closer to Houmoed Waterhole we remembered our lovely Lion with cub sighting we had during one our trips…
And then we spotted a small Lion pride in the shade of the trees.
They were, of course, having a nap

Larger View

But as they were (of course ) not moving at all, we decided to drive on to Twee Rivieren and return back again later that afternoon.

Returning back to Twee Rivieren meant that these were our last couple of days in the park,yet it was good to be back again.
It is so nice to see some familiar faces and to hear the words: “ Welcome back !” and “ Long time no see.”
Now we moved into our home for the last couple of days and enjoyed the amenities of a bungalow with air-condition….

Later we set off again into the Mata Mata direction.
And no question the Lions were still there. But there was a little bit of movement in the group.

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Well, in fact only a little bit of movement….

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Some of the Lions had some kind of skin desease , but apart from that seamed to be in good shape.

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Well we waited and waited and waited….

Larger View

At first a highly alert Jackal was coming for a drink at the waterhole.

LargerView

And finally one of the young males was kind enough to come down to the waterhole….

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

And then the whole show was over

Lions 1

Lions 2

Lions 3

Lions 5

That evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner at the restaurant and sat outside our bungalow for quite a while just listening to the silence.

24.11.
No other choice than going towards the Mata Mata direction in the morning.
Hopefully the road (at least parts of it ) to the Nossob direction will be open again during our next trip…..

We had not reached the t-junction when we discovered a Cape Fox den close to the road.
Twee Rivieren is always good for nice sightings….

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Cape Foxes

We made our way over the dunes towards the Aoub Riverbed.

And found some birdies along the way.

Larger View

And a Steenbok in high grass.

Larger View

Coming closer to Houmoed Waterhole, we found some Meerkats yet again. This year we were blessed with Meerkat sightings.

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Later we found a pair of Dikkops under a tree. And to us it looked as if they were breeding....

Larger View

We always check the caves in the ridge very well. We already found some interesting things up there and indeed. This time FRancolin discovered a Spotted Eagle Owl.

Larger View

Then he was suddenly there…
A Honey Badger , high on our wishlist.
But Geez he was soooo very fast.
This is the only pic I was able to take before he ran up the dunes again.

Larger View

It was great to observe.
He and a PCG were “hunting together”.
The HB was digging and the PCG was watching very closely. Then the HB dug up a Snake and the bird snatched it from him. But it was hard to fly for him. And he dropped the Snake again (you can maybe see it in the bottom left of the pic, the thing that looks like a giant worm… ) and the HB was happy again, running away with his prey.

Larger View

What an exciting sighting.

Now we returned back to Twee Rivieren, for our usual noon siesta.

Of course we observed the wildlife in the camp as well.
And so we spotted one of the Mongooses roaming the camp.

Larger View

Larger View

We left again for yet another afternoon drive later that day.

Our first sighting was this cute little Mouse….

Larger View

And then we found our Dikkops again. And indeed we had been right about them breeding, we discovered some eggs.

Larger View

Larger View

At Monro Waterhole a Giant Eagle Owl was sitting on the ground trying to ignore us completely….

Larger View

Giant Eagle Owl

Time to return back to camp once again.
Just as we were driving up the street back to the dunes road we discovered a couple of Spotted Eagle Owls very well camouflaged in one of the trees.

Larger View

And luckily we sighted one of the adult Cape Foxes again.

Larger View

Tonight while we were having a braai another little visitor came to join us for dinner.

Larger View

Wow what another exciting Kalahari day we had….

25.11.

Shortly after we had left Twee Rivieren we met the Cape Foxes again.


Larger View

Larger View

Our second stop was Sammevloeiing, as usual.
By the time we arrived a huge Springbok herd has already started to leave the waterhole.
Then all of a sudden they began to run and jump.

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

What a fun to watch !

Springboks

Then again over the dunes into the Aoub riverbed.
Of course we checked the tree where we spotted the Owls the evening before and indeed they were still there.

Larger View

And again we met "our" Meerkats….

Larger View

Larger View

Meerkat

At Houmoed Waterhole a lone Oryx was having a drink.

Larger View

We were surprised when we arrived at Monro waterhole that we spotted one of the Houmoed Lions we had met the other day. He seemed to have had a good meal the nose was still a bit bloody and the belly full.

Larger View

We were happy to spot a Pygmy Falcon.
We saw quite a lot of them but most of the times in no good positions for a photo

Larger View

And a little later one of my favourite colourful Kalahari Agamas.

Larger View

Another.... ??

Larger View

These were our sightings for the morning.

In the afternoon we met a Korhaan in the dunes.

Larger View

And a little later a rare sighting for us, usually we only see these little white ones….

Larger View

We were happy to see the Eagle Owl again.
But she was still trying to ignore us….

Larger View

So far we were still without a Leopard sighting on this years trip.
We were looking so hard but without success….
That evening we drove till halfway between Monro and Kamfersboom and
decided to turn around to drive back home, then we discovered her.

In a tree right beside the road, we were chuffed and simply could not believe our luck. Even more as we discovered, that it was the Leopard lady we already saw in the years before ( easy to recognize by of the cuts in her ear).
We were so much hoping to see her again….

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Thank God she then got down the tree and left…
Thank God, as it was way past the time we needed to return back to camp relaxed

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

She walked up the dune and lied down right on top of it, now it was really time to leave…
It was already 6.47 pm ....

Larger View

Leopard 1

Leopard 2

Leopard 3

Leopard 4

Leopard 5

So we drove to the southern direction.
At Houmoed we saw that there were still several cars, oh no….
Please no Lions, we are not going to stop for Lions.
But we slowed down and looked around at what the others might have sighted. In that moment a Cheetah was coming around the water container of the waterhole….
Ok, stop!

She walked around and lied down.

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Cheetah

Now we really had to hurry.
We kept our fingers crossed that we had not more sightings on the way back home.
Finally we entered the gate at 7.28 pm… :rolleyes:

That evening we had yet another visitor outside our bungalow.

Larger View

Even if I am in danger to repeat myself
What a day !

26.11.

This was the last full day of this trip.
Once again in the morning we made our way over the dunes.

This was one of the rare occasions when a male Korhaan stopped log enough for a pic,:lol:

Larger View

We checked the waterholes,and found nothing….
Just after we had passed Monro we spotted two Bat-Eared Foxes in the riverbed.
They were excited to say the least.
They were calling hysterically and so we searched the area for some larger predators, without success.
Nevertheless it was a great sighting of the Bat-Eared Foxes….

Larger View

Larger View

Bat-Eared Foxes

Of course we sighted "our" Meerkats yet again…

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Larger View

Meerkats

After spotting Ludwig’s Bustards this year for the first time, we kept seeing them again and again and again…

Larger View

And of course I could not resist, another of my favourite Agamas.

Larger View

We wanted to have a small breakfast at Auchterlonie.
Just as we reached the waterhole, we discovered that a Springbok has been killed during the night.
No sign of a Predator around and already the Springboks and Oryx were back again for a drink.

Larger View

We had a nice brekkie at Auchterlonie with some guests.

Larger View

But we did not feel too comfortable, as we always had the dead Springbok in mind, and were asking ourselves, if maybe the Predator was still around…

We stopped again at the carcass on the way back.
This time two Jackals were having their share.

Larger View

Larger View

Jackals and Springbok

A little further south we found these two PCG’s in a tree.
We kept our eyes open for a Honeybadger, but there was none..

Larger View

And even further on a Meerkat Sentinel in an obvious comfy postion

Larger View

Sentinel

At Houmoed we stopped (as always....) at the lookout point north of the waterhole.
Isn’t this Double-banded Courser very well camouflaged?!

Larger View

We stopped again at Samevloeiing on the way back to camp.
As I said before, I am always surprised to spot Waterbirds in an environment like the Kalahari.

Larger View

Time for the afternoon siesta.
Again we were very happy to have an air-condition….

Later that afternoon we started again for our last afternoon drive.
And yes there were the Meerkats again.

Larger View

Later we found him, a Capped Wheatear.

Larger View

And a Crow, that tried to open one of the Cocoons of the Kalahari Silk Moth.

Larger View

And just shortly before we reached Houmoed a farewell meeting with the Meerkats.

Larger View

At Houmoed itself we stopped for a Jackal and some Sandgrouses.

Larger View

Larger View

On the way back to camp, we stopped at the t-junction to the Nossob direction.
And the Kalahari showed us once more her beauty, with one of those wonderful moody sunset landscapes.

Larger View


What an end to our last day in the park.
Tomorrow we will only be able to drive for a few hours before returning back to Upington and the outer world…..

27.11.

These were definitely our last couple of hours in the park….
We packed everything and left early for a last drive, as we wanted to make the most of it before leaving …

First stop Samevloeiing.
Nothing at the waterhole, a lot of little critters in the dunes that are adjoining the parking space.

Larger View

Larger View

Isn’t this little one just too cute ?!

Larger View

And a Whistling Rat.

Larger View

Later in the dunes we came across an Oryx teenage group.

Larger View

And a beautiful Shrike.

Larger View

As I said before, after spotting a Ludwig’s for the very first time we now sighted them on and on again…..This time even three of them in one spot….

Larger View

Ludwig's Bustard

Then at Monro we sighted the Lions again. They were lazy and the road was a bit busy, so I just too one pic of a young male, before heading towards Auchterlonie. They would be surely still be there when we will be driving back to Twee Rivieren.

Larger View

A short toilet break at Auchterlonie, observing some Squirrels and then we were on the road again.

Larger View

Larger View

Reaching the main road again we had a look for the dead Springbok, but today it was gone completely, as if it never happened….

Of course the Lions were still there when we reached Monro.

Larger View

One of the females seemed to have had a close encounter with a Procupine.

Larger View

A little further south we found this PCG on a quite small lookout.

Larger View

This Steenbok was our last sighting before we reached Twee Rivieren again.

Larger View

At Twee Rivieren reception we said farewell to quite a few familiar faces…..
There is no need to tell you that we were very, very sad.

No need to tell you as well, that we will be back again….