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I hope dear forumities,you don't mind,looking at another trip report
from KTP!
We stayed in our fav. park from 28.Sept.- 15.Oct.08.

After a pleasent drive and big anticipation,we arrived KTP in the afternoon.
We were greeted very friendly at the gate and reception!After doing the
paper-work,we moved in our chalet for 2 nights.
Unpacking was quickly done,had a rest and off we went.First stopp,the
petrol station to deflate the tyres!While we had to wait,we decided just
to look at the next waterhole Samevloeiing.
The weather was really beautiful and very warm.About 30°C at 17h.
On the short way to the waterhole,we saw a big herd of springbocks.
Between some small ones.



We waited at the waterholes with 2 other cars,if something would come
for a drink.But nothing! :cry We were a bit dissapointed!We had to go
back,gate closing time!!
SO did a good job,making fire and the braai!!We enjoyed the first evening
very much!
Next morning,we started about 7h.Blue sky again and going to be warm!
We took the road direction Monroe.There we met this grumpy looking
white quilled korhaan.



Further on ,wildies and springbocks came along.Here a few impressions








And this nice looking Kori Bustard




On the side of the road these funny guys.One of them must have had
a busy night.We thought it might be dead.It just had a rest!



Secretary bird was looking for food!




The rest of the road was quiet,so we made a turn to go back.Again some
springbocks and wildies on the way.Near to T.Revieren we saw this cobra
raiding this weavernest.





It was getting very hot at this time of the day,therefore we got back to
camp, to have some rest.
More tomorrow!

Hi all,thank you for your nice and encouraging words to go on with the
report!
After we had a rest,we made a short drive to Samevloeiing.No one was
around!It was still very hot!These springbocks were there for a drink.





Waiting, for more to come.Like the day before,nothing!!That's unusual,because we always had good sightings."Let's go back,we said,tomorrow will be another day!That's what we did!
We started the new day(30.9.)early, with packing to leave for Urikaruus.
Our 2.nd fav.camp!First is Grootkolk!The road in this direction was quite corrugated.We had hired a Hilux and with deflated tyres,we had no problems!Another car was in front of us.It stopped,we did the same.There
we saw them:Lions, the first since 2 days!!!! At Humoed was a group of teenies with dad and mum!









The young males looked a bit sleepy,this young lady was quite alert and
watched carefully ,what's going on!



Dad had something to say!!



We watched them for a while,but they were going to leave the place.So
did we.
After we passed Monro,we saw something crossing the road,very quickly.
It was running back again and disappeared in a hole.We drove carefully
closer to that hole and waited.Now,what came out of it?Here it is:



Suricate!!Wow,we had never seen them in our last visits!!



They looked small to us.Maybe, they were starting a new group?
One was very tired!



Fell asleep and back in the hole!



They are sooo cute and adorable!I'm sure everyone loves them!
We could have stayed there a long time.As more cars arrived ,they all went back in one of the holes and did not show again.I hope,that nothing
bad happens to them,because they are very close to the road!!
To be continued....

Back for a next part!

We left the lovely meerkats and on we drove.Bee-eaters were flying
around.Soon,as they intend to sit down on a branch,they fly away!!
Same with the Crimson B.Shrike!But SO was lucky to catch some pics.









The Tawny Eagle posed nicely for us!



To early to move in at Urikaruus,we followed the road to 13.and 14.borehole.No one was to be seen,we made a turn to go back.
We admired this oistrich for his display,but a fem.oistrich was not seen!




For the first time,we had a sighting from a Giant Eagle Owl,sitting in it's
nest!!!



Now,back to Camp,Cabin 3 was ours for 2 nights!Sitting in the shade on the veranda is one of the best,you can do in Urikaruus.The waterhole in
front is awesome!!We watched the Oistrich mum with her cute chicks.






Later,this Jackal came for a drink!



We were satisfied,sitting here and enjoying this wonderful camp.So we
decided to stay in.
What the next day was showing,next time!!!!!

Hi all and a big thank you to all of you,for your nice words and compliments!!It is a pleasure for me and SO(he's the photographer,
I am the lookout!)to read it.We really like it!
I hope, you will join us again!Let's start!
Morning,1.10.about 6.30 we were ready to go out!One day SO says where to go,the next day I do it.This morning it was my turn.I wanted to go to
Dalkeith.After 1/2 h drive,between 13.u.14.borhole,I spotted some spots! A closer look,yes there they were!Cheetah mum(with collar)
and her little daughter!







Mum,came closer,what a beautiful face!



Little on followed mum,behind the dead tree.



We should meet them on another day again!With a smile on our face,we went on! It was quiet along the road,except these hungry Giraffes.



Before,we reached the Camp,this LBR was sitting on top of the tree!



It was hot,so we had a lazy afternoon at the camp!SO went out to take
a pic from the look out,next to Urikaruus,before the sun disappeared!!




Btw,Michelle Nell ,for donating sightingbooks in the Wilderness camps!Very good idea!Of course,we did use them!

The next day,we headed to Nossob!It began with this beautiful sunrise!




I will be back,tomorrow!

Hello again!
Early morning,we had a look,if we could find Cheetah mum and cub.
Next to Dalkeith we saw them in a distance,feeding on a springbok.



We saw,they are doing very well,so we left them to go to Nossob!
Didn't we see them before?In the middle of the river bed these good looking
young males,near 14.borehole!





For a change,they watched us! No action on our side,they got bored
and got back in the bush. We,left alone went on to take the Upper
Dune road to Nossob.Condition of the road was much better than last year
in Sept.The Dune road always gives you beautiful scenerie!But gamewise
little!Almost at the end of the road,what did I see there?Alien in KTP?Comeing closer,we had a loud lough,SO could hardly take a pic




It looked really funny,a Kori's display!The rest was uneventful!
Checked in at Nossob and ordered of course bred and roosterkoek!!!!
Moved in Nr.9C,nice and quiet!Eat and a rest was next,we did!
It was still hot,when we went for a drive again.This time,Nossob was very
quiet with predators.But these Red Hartebeest were also a beautiful sight.



This whitebacked Vulture too!



We waited at the waterhole Marie the gat,with other cars.No luck!
A last pic ,before back to Camp!



After a good night,tasty breakfast,SO decided to have a look at Kwang!
Off we went.First sighting of the day(3.10)were these Hyaenas,right after
Cubitje Quap.



What are they looking at!



Wow!A Lionesse!!



They watched each others move very carefully.Really thrilling,but nothing
happend! I think,the smallest Hyaena was tired of waiting and wanted to scare these Wildebeests,on their way to the waterhole!



As soon as the Wildies moved,little one got frightend and run to the other
Hyaenas,laying on the ground!





They didn't take any notice of the Wildies!!
The herd passed Hyaenas and Lionesse.



We stood there more than 3 hours,it was getting very hot!I had cold drinks,coffee and more water.And nature was knocking ! !Please,SO drive back!!SO did not really like it! I couldn't understand
why he had not the feeling of.....!He had to watch the Hyaenas and Lionesse!!But I could not stay any longer!Back to Camp without a word!! All went well!We never got to know,how the story ended!!
We drove back,but shame on me,no one was there any more!
SO was disappointed,but after a delicious meal and a bottle of Pinotage and ....all was fine!
Next part will be the drive to Grootkolk,our next Camp.Is it worthwhile to
wait??

Again,I am very pleased about your nice words and compliments!Thanks a lot!
We looked very much forward to go to Grootkolk.This is our fav.place!!
Last year,we had the lions almost in our hut. Now,what's this time?
We started,soon as the gate opened.The first 3 or 4 km were really badly
corrugated!The road further on was much better,therefore it was a relaxed driving.Passed Kwang without any sighting.Well,maybe Bedinkt,the
next waterhole,would deliver something!
I have no words about this!We were so excited!!













What a gorgeous cat!!Somehow,we felt grateful for this encounter.Just
one car shared this great sighting with us.We stayed there for a while,
hoping this beauty would come back!!She didn't!
What a happy morning! 4.10.8 o'clock!
Could it get better?You never know!

This stunning sighting has made our day!!
Langklaas was dry and Kousant the next waterhole didn't offer us anything.We drove on to Lijersdraai,the picnic place.Before getting out,we looked carefully around!You never know,what's comeing along this place!Remembered Africat's report! All was clear for our 2.brekkie!
We don't just like wildlife around Grootkolk,we like the landscape as well!
Of course,peace and quietness!




Isaak,the tourist assistent there,welcomed us very friendly.He was helpful
and told us,what was seen ,the last days.
Hopefully,we moved in NR.1,which was great!Waterhole is quite near!
Isaak told us,the local Wildcat disappeared and didn't come back till now.!

There are 2 trees next cabin Nr.1 and the little birds in there are very busy
and very noisy.I like it very much and never get tired,to watch them.
I always put a little bowl of fresh water on the edge.The birdies love it!

Red headed finches and Sociable Weavers!










There were a lot more at the waterhole!




It was getting very,very hot(40°),so we stayed "at home",in the shade of
the cabin with bottles of cold water!
It did cool down a little in the evening,but we decided to relax and to enjoy the sky,full of stars!.Very romantic!
Next morning,5.10.ca 6 o'clock.I opened the door, visitor at the
waterhole!!SO,(sleepy) grapped the camera to get the pic.Not the best light at this time of the day!!





Even in this bad light,he looked majestically!
What will the day deliver,after this beautiful sunrise??



Are we lucky again?

Hi all,again thank you for following our KTP tour!

We liked it,how the day started!It was SO's turn to choose ,where to go.
Left or right?Yes, right side,direction Kannaguass!!
Weather,was really fine,like all the days before!Half way to the waterhole,
I spotted something through my binos!!!!A bit far away,but we got a pic!



Another beauty this morning!How lucky!! We were all on our own!
That's the big plus,booked in a wilderness camp!It get's never crowded!
We slowly approached the waterhole!Our eyes were growing very big!! Cat Nr.3 this morning!! A most wonderful looking Cheetah!!






She seemed shy and a bit nervous!Did she have cubs!We watched also
carefully the surroundings,but couldn't see or hear anything.







Suddenly,she must have heared something,she moved away,slowly,then
faster!



We couldn't see her any more in the dense bush!We were speechless
about this awesome sighting!Back to camp for a rest!Then we headed to
Unions'End!Relaxed and happy we reached the last point of KTP.We signed
the book,turned,to go to Grootkolk.Way back,there we met the sad side
of nature!An old Hartebeest,waiting for the end!



Further on a Bateared Fox looking for food!



We couldn't resist,having another look at Kannaguass,where we saw the
Cheetah!There we found this little Steenbok!



In more than a good mood,we went" home " to finish this absolute wonder-
ful day!!
More the next time.....

Hi there,and thanks for turning the page!!
Wanderw,you are so right,about this place!!

On this morning.6.10.,I decided to go to Geinab waterhole, direction Union's End.We have been there 2 times the last days,but it looked always
abandoned.The road is sandy and good!
Tracks!!!Cat-tracks,more than one!!!Looks like---Cheetah?
Are we right?Have a look yourself!



A Cheetah mum and cub,with 3 cubs!!They were playing and running around,hardly to get all in one pic!!SO could just get this one shot with
all 3 cubs!!













2 of the cubs couldn't sit still .They vanished behind the dead trees.
.Mum and the 3.cub followed them.Pity,we did not see them anymore!!

The temperature was getting high,so we drove back to get in the shade
of the camp.Late afternoon,we choose the other side of the road.Leading
to Kannaguass,10km to go!It was still hot,therefore we didn't accept nothing.Doves were there to have a drink.
As we wanted to go back,this black-mane came across the road!!



As he got closer,we could see ,his best days were over. :cry But still an
impressive appearance!!




Scarface,could sure tell a lot about his past!!



With some respect,we left him alone and hope for him,his last time will also be a good time!That's the circle of live!!We have seen both on this day,Youth and age!!
Thoughtful and a bit quiet,we went back to Grootkolk.
With a good meal and a bottle of pinotage,we celebrated our last night
in our fav.camp!Knowing to come back next year,the farewell wasn't tooo
bad and sad
Now,Gharaghab is our next stay!!

Let's go on again!
We said good-by to Grootkolk.As there was plenty of time to get to
Gharaghab,we had a look to Kannaguass.You never know!We had a careful look around,watched the tree,if......But,there was nothing at all!
Well,you can't be always lucky!!We turned and off we go, direction
Gharaghab!About one or two km,I saw movement on the other side of the
road.There was a small hill with quite long grass!We discovered his head in quite a distance!!Beautiful head of a male lion!!



And a lioness was near him.Are the up to do something??





The lioness walked away to lay down again!Isn't he a beautiful lion!
Very impressive!!A real black-maned one!!





He moved over to the lioness !



There ,they were resting! Not doing,what we expacted!!



We watched them for a while!I think,they didn't want an audience!
Now,it was really time to drive on!On the way we met some Wildies and
springboks.
The road to Gharaghab,leads through" kind of middle of nowhere!"At
midday we reached the camp.We moved in Nr.1,where we had a good look
to the waterhole. Eric,the attendant,told us about a pregnant lioness,which came to drink the day before! Good news!!
After unpacking,resting and having a snack,we sat on the veranda to have
a look around.Beautiful view,peace and quietness!What a feeling!!
Surprise!!We didn't see her comeing!!Suddenly she was there!!



After quenching her thurst,the lioness moved away to where she came
from.



What a day!!! This wonderful day endet with an awesome sunset!!



Will continue!

A big thank you to all of you!I like reading your compliments and nice
words about our sightings in this great NP.

Gharaghab is not a place everyone would like!It can be very "lonely".You
can't drive around,you have to stay in Camp!We don't mind,we like days,in
between,where you do nothing at all.Just relax body and soul!!
We slept longer than usual!Breakfast on veranda and visit from Red
Hartebeests is a wonderful start in the day!





Later,we had also a visit from this oistrich.Watch his red legs!He was looking for a lady!



There were these shy Oryx comeing to drink.



One of it was brave enough to come to the waterhole,joined by a jackal!



The others ran off,so we thought a cat was close.It wasn't!!

Our 1.catless day!!!

Beautiful view from the lookout-tower!



These peaceful days went by and we were looking forward to go for one
night to Nossob again!!
To be continued!!

To all of you,again a big thank you for your nice words!

@Rusky,this is a 4x4 one way loop!You do a lot of driving,therefore it is
better to stay in camp!Red sand all around you! This is a pic
from last year!



@carolz,in KTP,we always had a great time!!

The way out from Gharaghab is a bit tricky,but all went well!Our first
sighting after we left the 4x4 road was a herd of Wildies at Kousant.
I'm not sure about the bird.It looks like a Cattle Egret!



At Bedinkt,we were looking for the Leopard,which we had seen the days
before.No Leopard,but Hyaenas!







Their full tummy showed,that they had a lot to eat!
We had a break at Kwang for coffee.As nothing was there to watch,we
moved on to the next waterhole,Cubitje Quap!
2 Lapped Face Valtures and a White Backed Valtures were there to have
a drink!







Then they were trying to get away with the right wind!






They are not really beautiful,but very interesting birds!
We reached Nossob about midday.Chalet 9C was nice and quiet.



We stayed there for one night.Next camp will be Kalahari tented Camp!!

Hi again,and again a big thank you to all for looking at my report!

Our drive to KTC was uneventful.It was very hot again,all the animals
were hiding in the shade.We did the same as we arrived at KTC!!
We didn't take pics from the camp,we have done that last year!It is a
wonderful place to stay.They changed it a bit.It has now a wooden door
with windows and sun shades.You can close the door now properly!!So
you can be sure,no Hyaena can get in!! Lock your food away,
or take it with you to the bedroom.Put the kitchentable close in front of
the fridge,so the Hyaena can't open the fridge door!!!! Yes,they can do it!!!!At night,they walk around,searching for food!!!
The Tourismus Assistent gave us this warning!And she came,walked some-
how in the kitchen,but didn't find a thing and walked off! We watched
her from our bedroom through the window!
We did not sleep very well this first night!Always listening,if she would come back again!But she didn't!The 2.night,she tried the neighbours kitchen!They have also been warned and didn't get anything!!
Our sightings around KTC were really nice!We went down to Dertiende Boorgat and saw this cape fox,relaxing in the morning sun!



Not very far away this handsome young male lion and a lioness!





On the way back,we spotted this pair of Giant Eagle Owls in the big tree
at Craig Lockhart.



Back at camp and resting in the shade was our plan!Later on we went out
again to do a loop!And there we met one of my favourite bird:







Bateleurs are such colourful birds!!He was really posing on that tree and
didn't mind at all, the cars watching him!I think he enjoyed it a lot.!
We looked after the G.E.Owls again and they were still there.Surprise,at
Craig Lockhart there were Kudus!!



Before we drove back,to be at the camp in time,SO took a pic of this
Pygmey Falcon.



This was our last night in KTC.Now we were looking forward to our stay
in Kielie Krankie!!!!

Loved your pics of the bataleur ingrid you were so lucky to have him pose for you like that

Now,we left KTC to move to Kielie Krankie!It's always sad,knowing, to go
in an other camp for the last days!
Nevertheless Kielie K.is a really wonderful quiet place with an amazing view over the red dunes!!
These Wildebeests were wandering up the dry river bed and we were driving down the road to K.K



Nice young springboks having a meal on this bush!



Temperature was getting high again(more than 30°C)game hiding in the
shade,so the rest of the drive was very quiet!After a break with cold drinks at Auchterlonie,we headed to camp.There we were also hiding in
the shade!
When it cooled down a bit we enjoyed relaxing on the veranda.This little
familiar chat came to say hello!


And so did this lizzard!A lot of them are running around!


We left camp,for a short drive.Outside the frontdoor,there are often sitting
this beetle(armoured cricket?).You have to be careful not to step on them!



We took the road direction Monroe,lions could be around there!!
Instead of cats,we saw this funny fellow!



For a change,he was watching us!Then he was visited by his neighbour,
the ground squirrel,mum and baby!



It was time to go back to camp.Before we made the turn a quick shot
from the surroundings there.



At night we heard the lions! Ah,perhaps a good sign for the new day!!
This day started with a beautiful sunrise!!



What the day offered to us,I will post tomorrow!!