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On our way back home (Pretoria) after an absolutely wonderful time in the Park. Thank you for all the advice, I will try to do a TR as soon as possible. The park is absolutely stunning after all the rain....

So glad you enjoyed it and, unlike the weekdend we have just had in KNP, you can still see animlas after the rain as I doubt the grass gets so high that an elephant can hide!!

Drive safely and we wait paitently for a TR!

We will be there age 65 in 5 days time

Hi folks,
Long time listener first time caller. We are off to Kgalagadi in May, (only 74 more sleeps ) and we are travelling with our daughter. Has anyone got any tips for travelling in the TFP with a toddler. She is a very active child but she loves looking at all of her animal books so we are hoping that she will be okay for the 6 hour trips in the car. We will be staying in TR, Nossob and Mata. We are staying in Chalets (thank God we booked them back in January) and can't wait. The little one is going to be tethered to either my wife or myself by her harness at all times in the evenings in the camp. How often does one find Hyena in the camps at night? We are hoping she will be in bed by 7pm or so every evening and we won't be straying from the veranda so I'm assuming that is enough security. We don't want to turn into paranoid nuts, we just want to take enough precautions to make sure we all have a safe and unforgettable trip. Also is there enough bedding in the chalets for chilly May nights? Here's a techie question but I can try to work it out if someone can't give me a ball park figure; how much gas per lamp would you use for lighting over eight nights. Can you rent the large blue bottles in Uppington or do people just buy the small canisters in the park? I've read through the forum posts but haven't seen it mentioned.
My wife and I are veterans of the CKGR and Moremi from two previous trips (so we know enough to know how little we know ) and can't wait to introduce our daughter to the beauty of the bush. We are hoping she wil share our love and respect for the wild and take us back to Africa when we are retired .
I'd like to thank the folks who submit posts and photos to this forum. It is a wealth of information and things like the Webcam just builds up the excitement even more. Well done all. Also your youtube clips are brilliant.
Last question. Can anyone suggest a nice place to stay in Uppington for the night when we leave the TFP, we will have handed back the 4x4 so will have no transport, so need somewhere central. Will get a cab then to the airport the next morning and start planning our next trip.

Cheers,
Tim.

Hi Tim and Welcome!

You might want to send madach a PM as I know that he has recently visited KTP with his toddler daughter.

Have a great trip!

{Edit by SANParks Moderator : please PM non SANParks accommodation recommendations as per the forum rules.}

Hello Relaxevous (great name) and welcome to the madhouse


You may find that a little restricting for all of you. There are pools at all 3 main camps, so (weather permitting) a swim in the afternoon really helps to tire small bodies out.

The main camps are all fenced, so no hyena in camp at night. The chalets at Twee Rivieren don't have a huge verandah, but do have lots of lovely sand and dirt between the verandah and braai area Bucket and spade ?

If you are staying in the river view bungalows in MataMata, they have a huge verandah area where a toddler can play -- you don't say how old she is ?

The chalets in Nossob may be your only concern. Some have verandah areas and some have only rudimentary verandah areas. Again -- lots of lovely dirt There is also the hide -- if she is fairly quiet.

As for travelling in the car -- there is always something to look at -- even birds The shop at TR also used to sell a Kalahari guide for kids -- with animal and bird pics that could be coloured in. Don't know if they still have them.



Yes there is normally an extra blanket or 2 and an extra duvet.


Why would you want one ?
TR has electricity 24 hours and MM and Nossob go out from 10:30pm to 5am
Wouldn't a re-chargeable camping light do for if you had to get up to her at night ?
Could be recharged in the car while travelling as well as mains

Hope you have a wonderful trip

Thanks for the welcome arks and p@m. The small one is 18mths so I'll defintely PM Madach. I've contacted ****, the place looks lovely so I hope they have a vacancy. Thanks. As for the gas lights, I had it in my head that lights were out after 5pm for some reason, a throw back to our camping days I suppose. The rechargable torch/lamp sounds like a safer bet. Hope we can swim in May. The last time in Bots it was low 20s so a pool would have been great. Fingers crossed for similar weather.

Thanks again folks.

What are the rules regarding kids bicycles in the main campsites?

Thx

Bicycles are not allowed anywhere, Saskia.

and in the sand is not easy

Unfortunately bicycles are not allowed in the park's camps.

Unfortunately KG?

I had a little chap on one almost under my bakkie wheel in Addo. Luckily I saw him because he didn't see me!

Unfortunately yes...

I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for a child knowing that there is all this space where they can play and ride a bicycle, but they are not allowed to
.

My children used to enjoy the space and the sand of the Kgalagadi. In camp and at picnic spots they played in the sand. We always took a box with plastic animals, soldiers, tractors and every kind of toy and where ever we stopped they played in the sand. The Kgalagadi is a great place for children and I am sure Tim's children will enjoy it just as much as they themself

Cheers for the tip LR, she has a Duplo Lion family and cheetah but we are going to get her some Schleich animals and bird models for the commonly found spieces in TFP and try to teach her the names and see what we can spot during the drives. I think she will enjoy playing in the sand too. I'm not sure about leaving her play in the sand in the picnic areas though when they are unfenced. I'm assuming that the picnic areas are located in areas with very short grass and plenty of visability. I'll never forget cooking lunch in the past in an unfenced campsite in 2 BC (Before Ciara) and having a pride of Lion walk through from behind the ablution block. Luckily the day was hot and they weren't hungry.