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By the time we started the trail proper, we were stone last (and got lovely churned up sand to drive on), mainly because of great bird sightings. There were many expectations and reasons for taking this trip. Some to take on a tough lady, others to go where you cannot normally. There were also various levels of experience and knowledge. I still don't understand the jargon of the experts and those who sounded like experts. There were those who felt it was a competition, and those along for the ride. Opinions differed then and still do.

It was hot and we had to be self sufficient.

Ok ok, now it's my time to chip in! (Being away from work for a while makes you a real wanted person when you are back...)

May I just add that I think BB's vehicle's name is not suited anymore. It used to be called "Fire Engine", but what is a Fire Engine without water... Barcud may have left his ironing board at home, but in the dark of the morning when BB and I arrived at Twee Rivieren, a serious repack / reload had to be don just so that BB's passengers can sit in some comfort. In the end, I loaded about 50l of BB's water onto my vehcile.

@ JenB: On day two...

I must just appologise - I haven't been taking as much photos as I would've loved to. It was SO hot that I just didn't have the energy / or will to walk around with a camera the whole time... Some photos will follow though.

Bertha will come...but we are not there yet. We just stopped at the start of the trail - not far from Polentswa. Today we hit the first dunes. I was so worried that I will get stuck on the firts proper dune, that I went over way to fast for comfort .

I decided to ditch the background music for the time being - it makes for a more real life experience for the forumites watching the clips. Enjoy Day1, clip 2:

.......The searing heat of the Kalahari sun was starting to take it's toll. The four occupants inthe rear vehicle of the column had lagged behind somewhat due to one of the passengers obsession with small, obscure little birds that were forever flitting about along the track. They were now well and truly stuck and were unable to proceed over the dune due to the churning up of the baked red sand which had become so loose as to be un-navigable. They now wished that the 50 litres of water sitting in the back of Switchbacks bakkie was still with them on the back seat.

The heat became unbearable, the four men inside were slowly roasting and loosing moisture quickly. How long they would be able to survive this was anyones guess. Suddenly, a head popped up over the dune. "Do you want a tow?" asked the man. "Yes please." they chorused like a barber shop quartet. Their relief was palpable as their saviour hitched them up and towed them to safety over the dune. It was Flintstone's SO who had noticed that the big red Taxi was not in view anymore and had returned to look for the stranded vehicle.

So the column edged forward once again, heading in a Southerly direction towards their first camp.

"Oh look, there's a Fawn Coloured Lark" said one of the passengers.................

Nice video WKK!!

Ok, when I said I'm going to chip in, I really ment, CHIP IN!! There's still a few things that I want to share from the beginning. First of all - our first KTP sunrise!



Quick story: While still camping in Nossob, the day before we left, we obviously had the usual visitors:








...Right, nothing strange about that... BUT, have you ever seen the Yellow Mongoose actaully killing one of the Ground Squirrels...?!

WKK and I were sitting around camp, waiting out the heat and I noticed a comotion in the bush, but never gave it a second look, until this guy came running past with one of the younger ones in his mouth. He didn't give me a chance to take a decent photo unfortunately, he was off like a bullet with his kill...

Great photos Switchback. You did well to get a nice shot of the Yellow Mongoose! The harder Switchback chased the Mongoose for a nice pic, the more it tried to get away - funny to watch the duel between photographer and predator, but well done in the end Switchback! .

@ Dreamer,

It is a pleasure to do the video - gives me the opportunity to relive all those special moments!

I did contemplate to add subscripts to the vehicle footage - indicating who rides where but again worried about peoples privacy. The footage is on YouTube for the whole world to see so if all participants agree I can add them on future footage. You're right, it is Jo and her dad's Prado behind Scouter, family. In any way the white Isuzu is mine.

WWK - great video clip!!! Interesting to see how things looked from the outside of the car!

Switchback - ....poor squirrel......at least the mongoose had lunch . Did you try that other route home? Any good?



Hi Dreamer ....yup, that was us......not coming after a landy for any particular reason.....



Barcud - hope you travelled home safe and got some great feathered photos......and here we thought you guys had stopped for coffee.....

Trying to sift through 2,5 weeks of KTP pics.....will post soon!

So we all pulled into Swartbas camp.......and collapsed into the shade !!! Eventually after much liquid refreshment, and a drop in temperature.....we all decided it was time to set up camp.....







Barcud.....marking his territory (note flag in tree!!!!)



Stephan doing his bit...



And then enjoying sundowners around the fire....



And Aubrey showed us to the loos.....all with a fab view.....and not for the faint hearted at night.....



And then KTP churned out an amazing sunset........to be continued

Great photos Jo!

Swartbas is a lovely campsite, with awesome sunset vistas. Enjoy clip 3 of day one:

Well, they sure do make for some interresting photos some times.

A few more pics of camp:





Our first awesome sunset!!











Jo and Venessa in deeeep conversations...

The heat does not really come through on the pics....

Before we leave Swartbas I would like to post a pic or 2.

Switchback - lovely shots, you got the mood just right!! .....PS - can I steal your wide angle lens???

Some more sunset pics......knowing you really are out in the kalahari made the sunsets feel even richer









And then the pic I posted earlier.....a good "Kuier" (a good sit down and chat) around the fire.....