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Righto - my first trip report I have so enjoyed reading everyone elses - so I will do my best to entertain. We didn't write down what we saw when when we saw them and as each day was so full and exciting to us newbies things may not be in chronological order
I have resized my photos and will start the report tomorrow (it's 11.40pm downunder now!).

Well here I am and have been trying to get into the Forums for the last few hours - hey Mashona! SO I won't be here for as long as I had planned to be but the good news is that I have the day off tomorrow so may be able to spend some time here!

Monday 5 January 2009
We had spent the night at the Askham Sands Guest House which I can highly recommend. Hannetjie does a brilliant dinner and Piet her SO has many tales to tell. They also have the best and cheapest firewood! We left at daybreak and drove straight to the Park. We entered TR and couldn't believe our eyes! What a place. We decided to pitch the tent and go for a drive. What I should probably point out is that we were not campers at this point. I had never camped and Steve my SO had but years and years ago so we were anxious about putting up the tent. We were fine however! We didn't take time to unpack anything else not being sure of security. So all of our stuff from fuel to water to food to clothing was still in the truck (this point is important later!). We headed up the Nossob Road intending to do the loop turning off at Kij Kij and heading along the dune road and then back down to TR. We saw heaps of lovely animals along the road.
OK now I need help please ....how do I insert a picture???

Let's try that again! GavinW I think I have got the hang of posting pics now - thanks!

This is not strictly KTP but just on the way. We had been tipped off by a regular visitor that the best place for this shot was just outside the park and we weren't disappointed.


Got to get the classic first timers shot!


As I said lots and lots of beautiful animals all in excellent condition.

Perhaps the bird experts (I believe you are called the stiff necks) can tell me what this is? We watched him for ages at Kij Kij strutting around at the waterhole.

We stopped at the Tierkop dam(?) but nothing there and then came up the rise and noticed something in a tree (the only tree for miles and miles!). It was then that we were surrounded by what we thought was dust. Steve and I looked at each other and realised that that wasn't right considering we were now travelling on sand. We both got out and couldn't believe our eyes. The entire back of the 4X4 was engulfed in flame. I pulled Lachlan out and told him to run as fast and as far as he could (he had 1 jandal on and his socks. I grabbed my bag and camera which was in the front with me and ran after him.


This was taken about 10 mins after we got out.



Then it just went from bad to worse. Steve had managed to pull out a small bag of clothing which in hindsight was fantastic as it allowed us to continue the trip but more about that later. At this point the alarm starting going off and the lights started flashing.



It was terrible. Lachlan was just saying over and over again "Make it stop Mommy, make it stop". The noise was incredible.
I'm going to stop now. It's still hard telling this story and I still dream about what might have been at night. I will continue in the morning. Also not sure what the story is with the number of photos in a posting or on a page?

Thanks for your concerns Magriet, TheunsH and Gav.
Gav - the people that we talked to in the Park afterwards as well as the rangers thought that it was probably a loose connection between the fridge and the battery. The hire company had placed the fridge and the battery at the back of the truck and most people seemed to think the best place for the battery is right up towards the front thereby minimising the movement from the rutted roads but I guess we will never really know. The fire definitely started right at the back - thank goodness as it gave us time to get out and far away. We thought that it was going to explode but found out later that diesel just burns - if it had been petrol then perhaps we wouldn't be here to tell the tale ....
Right now I am really heading off to bed! It's late downunder!
Just seen your post BillyF - yes - passports included!

A-J

Before the obvious WOW, The bird at Kij Kij is an imature Bateleur

The wow facture, the vehicle burnt out!!!!

Still can't get over the fact that Andre had sent them to me a few weeks back and it was only after driving over your "burnt" out spot did it click in the memory files again.

Told Dave the story and sent him your pics last week

Its a small world hey

Thank you all so much for your comments! I was just saying to Moshona that the Forumites understand the severity of what happened to us. You have all been in the spot where it happened. Here in NZ people can't really get their heads around just how lucky we are to still be around. Most people have asked why we didn't just call someone!
Anyway - back to the story.
A few more pics




1.30pm
Once Lachlan and I were far enough away from the car we started looking for shade. We found out from Willem (at Kielie-Krankie) later that it was 47 deg C. We had no water just a small container of chewing gum! As it happens just before we left NZ we watched a programme called Ultimate Survivor - and he had been dropped into the middle of a desert .... we hoped that we wouldn't have to wee on our kikois before tying them onto our heads to keep cool like he did! He had said that the most important thing to do right away was find shade. This was hard as the best tree in the area now had a burning car right next to it! We found the biggest bush we could, broke some branches off and crawled underneath. We couldn't believe what was happening. I kept trying to reassure Lachlan whilst going into shock myself. We weren't even thinking about animals at this stage but the rangers assured us afterwards that they would have all taken one look at the fire and run!
We settled in for what we thought might be a long wait. After an hour or so I started thinking perhaps we would be there for the night. The car was still burning at this stage but it all seemed contained. A thought that had crossed our minds was what if it had started a bush fire?
Just after the hour and a half mark I thought I heard a car and to our absolute delight and relief a car nudged it's way passed the still burning car and along to where we were.
Charl and Suzie from Windhoek were making their way home from the KNP!
They were fantastic - not melodramatic at all. They unpacked and repacked their car so that we could squeeze in, gave us some grapes and water. We headed to Kielie-Krankie.

Ingrid60 thanks so much for your empathy. I have to say once we were safely ensconsed at Kielie Krankie I did shed more than a few tears. The relief that it was over is something I will never ever forget. We also swore that we would never moan about being cold again!!!

Back to the story ....

Willem at K-K radioed in to TR and they dispatched Andre and Contable Ntole. They arrived about 2 cups of tea later! Charl and Suzie carried on their way once they were assured that we would be taken care of. We sat on the stoep looking over the landscape and realised that we were in a magnificent place. I think that it was at this point that individually and privately all three of us made the decision to carry on although nothing was verbalised. Poor Constable Ntole .... he had only been in the park for 6 days. His first question was to ask us if we had the registration disc from the window!!!! I think that this was the first time in four hours that we smiled. At this point Steve pulled out the camera and CN had a look at the photos. Even he then realised that perhaps getting the disc hadn't been the first thing on our minds! After our statements had been taken we thanked Willem for his hospitality, put our megre belongings into the back of Willems bakkie and endured a bone rattling trip at high speed over short cuts back to TR. Amazingly Andre told us that noone had reported seeing any of the smoke. Just shows! He also said that it would have probably been around 10pm before they would have found us ....

Back at TR
On arrival at TR we were met by Riccardo and Dupel (the Manager). They, like all of the other park staff, were sympathetic but realistic about how lucky we were especially after seeing the pictures. They offered us whatever we needed. Our first call was to the insurance company back in NZ - they assured us that we were covered and to do what ever we needed to do. Our next calls were to our embassies who were also fantastic, happy that we were OK. The hardest call was to the Car Hire Company. They were understandably shocked. People were coming in and out of the office and one thing that stood out for me was a man who came in complaining, very loudly and quite rudely (I hope it isn't any of the Forumites although I'm sure it isn't) that the fridge in his chalet had broken and their butter had melted! I couldn't believe that someone was making such a fuss about what I considered to be such a trivial thing - he went on and on about getting his money back and moving back to Molopo where things were better. At this point I walked up to him and suggested that he calm down and worse things could happen like having your car and all your belongings burn before your eyes. He certainly shut up quickly and to his credit apologised. I think his butter was replaced! Anyway - we had a little family meeting in the reception area and decided that if we could get another car and some provisions we would carry on with our trip, a decision we would be glad we made over and over again! I am submitting at regular intervals as I don't want to lose stuff!

Billyf - my son seems totally unscathed by the experience. When I asked him how he was feeling the next morning - he said "Mommy that was yesterday" ... from the mouths of babes. The school counsellor had a chat to him when we got back and said that he was fine although trauma like this can resurface years on. I also think that we told the story so many times at the various camps that it almost 'normalised' it for him. He however does not like looking at the pictures and has only seen them a couple of times.

Right ...
We called the car hire company and asked if they could find us another car which they said would be impossible. We asked them to try. In the meantime the rangers had asked us if we would like a private game drive in the morning which we accepted. We had dinner in the restaurant - Lachlan ate like nothing had happened but understandably Steve and I were not very hungry. We started making a list of things we would need the car hire people to buy for us. We got a call via the reception in the morning that they had found a car for us and we would have it in the late afternoon. Our game drive was lovely - Cape Foxes, owls and a solitary male lion settling down for a big sleep. We just soaked up the atmosphere and the fact that we were alive. I think that it was when we got back to TR after our game drive that morning that we first met Gavin and Jenny from Zululand who we would bump into again and enjoy spending time with at Nossob. I should mention that the only change we had to make to our itinerary was cancelling our booking at Mata Mata for one night.
The car and our new supplies arrived mid-afternoon. It was an inferior vehicle but at this point we were just happy to be mobile again. Just for our own peace of mind we decided to go on a little drive out the gate to Samevloeiing. As we drove out we noticed a light on the dashboard - looked it up in the manual and couldn't believe it when we read that the light meant we should take it in to a Toyota service centre, it was at this point that we also noticed that the speedo wasn't working and neither was the odometer. So it was back to TR reception and another call to the hire company.

Steve was pretty sure that the odometer had been disconnected as the car that they had sent us wasn't a hire car but one off their second hand lot - so perhaps they were hoping to sell it anyway??? I must add at this point that we don't have any proof of this - it is just our opinion. Steve was now to say the least. He was assured by the mechanic in Upington that everything was working when he put it on the truck. Oh - just realised that I missed out the tow truck bringing our wreck back into camp.

The wreck was brought back to TR on the back of a truck at around 5pm just as people were arriving or leaving for their evening drives - to say that it caused a stir is putting it mildly.



Seeing the car brought everything back and I'm glad that Lachlan decided not to come and have a look.

Back to the faulty second car! We now had another decision to make ...did we feel comfortable enough to continue our trip in a car that we didn't trust. We had the mechanic at TR look at it and he said that he couldn't see anything else wrong with the car. We decided for the second time in two days that we should continue. We would just stick to the main roads and make sure that we had people behind us at all times! Wish I had known about those yellow ribbons!!!! We went out on our mini drive and to be honest I can't remember if we saw anything! What we did find out was that the handbrake didn't work either ...

Thank you so much to everyone for the comments both heartwarming and funny!

8 January 2009
After a good night sleep under the Kalahari skies, waking up to the most beautiful morning - our minds were made up .... we would carry on with our trip come hell or high water! Luckily the first part of that saying didn't happen (although perhaps it had already!), as for the second part of the saying ... the high water bit ....well keep reading!

We packed up the tent and said au revoir to our new friends at TR - we would be back. Our next stop would be KTC. We took a slow drive. As we turned the corner just passed Monro we couldn't believe our eyes. A leopard! We were so excited. By the time I grabbed my camera the leopard was walking away but I snapped away never-the-less.


I learnt my lesson and for the rest of the trip my camera was on my lap!

We looked under all bushes and behind all trees - as we realised that spotting things was a lot about luck but also a little committment! I was thrilled to see a hoopoe (my Mom's fav bird).


We arrived at KTP and were allocated Tent #9. We had a look around - boarded up the hole in the floor just at the entrance (someone else also mentioned this!) and headed up to the pool. IT was hot! We were told by people at the pool that there was a cheetah and her son lying under the trees on the other side of the waterhole. We hot footed it back to #9 and pulled out the binocs and yes - there they were!


Please excuse the distance but definitely have that cheetah pose. The pair split up with one hiding out near the waterhole and the other moving down the valley.

We had another swim and dinner. We could feel rain coming although there was no thunder or lightening.




We went to bed very happy Kiwis but were to wake up well before morning!

I'm not sure what time the rain woke me but it was definitely still very dark outside. I listened to it for a while very thankful at that stage that we were inside a 'permanent tent'. I must have gone back to sleep only to be woken by my son saying he was wet. I fumbled around and found the torch - I would have loved to have seen my face when I discovered that the rain was pouring in all over the show and the floor was covered in about a cm of water! We put all of our stuff into the bathroom, the only dry area and moved one of the beds into the middle of the floor and all crawled in. We couldn't zip up the flaps round the front of the tent and thought that perhaps the staff should have come round warning us! We fell back to sleep - 3 in a bed only to be woken by the most bone chilling sound I have ever heard. As we are newbies to this we think it was hyena. There had been a wildebeest carcass in front of #9 and we wondered whether the rain had softened it allowing for more gnawing?? Anyway - the spine chilling sounds continued for an hour or so and then we fell asleep. When we woke up we couldn't believe the change in the waterhole.


We watched a procession of animals enjoying the cool water with springbok pracitising their skills but to SO's disappointment no pronking!

We left our very wet tent at KTC and headed to our home for the next three days at Nossob. We kept our eyes peeled for the giraffe that seem to lope around Criag Lockhart but to my disappointment (they are my fav animal) we weren't to see any this trip. We were a little nervous about heading over the dune road to the Nossob road as you can well imagine but knew that there were people behind us! OUr fears were unfounded and we saw some iconic Kalahari animals.



and I think my fav animal pic of the trip which I call "bumshade"


We arrived at Nossob without incident, set camp and headed to the hide. There wasn't much going on but it was lovely to sit, hidden away, feeling so insignificant and vulnerable. Much to our delight we bumped into Gavin and Jenny from Zululand. It was unbelievably hot so we headed to the pool and met up with several people who had either heard about our story, seen the truck being towed or driven over the 'burnt patch'. I do believe that this telling and retelling of the story has helped us normalise it. Later whilst we were braaiing a chap from Swaziland (wish I had got his name) came over with a bottle of wine for us - saying that whilst it wouldn't make up for what we had been through - he thought it was great that we had continued our trip. As I said at the beginning of my report - it was actions and words like this that helped us make the decision to carry on in the first place.

The next morning we followed the Zululanders to some lions lying on the road just past Cubitje Quap. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw that the female was actually lying on the road. She eventually moved into the shade next to the three males. I think she was fed up with people driving around her (although I'm sure preferable to going over her!).

I was hoping to upload a couple more pics of the lions but Tinypic is not cooperating so I will carry on with what I have. We decided to turn around and drive south because we were planning to head to Union's End the next day. We saw another gorgeous lion


We were finally starting to relax and enjoy seeing familiar cars and faces. We were even getting creative with the camera!


We went out for an evening drive and were lucky to see a Cape Cobra.


As we headed back to camp we realised that we were in for one of the famed Kalahari thunderstorms and we couldn't wait!


We got back to camp and while the SO got the braai going and Lachlan went swimming, I wondered the camp taking photo's of the most amazing sky. We just knew that we were in for a fantastic storm. The thunder was far away but getting closer and closer.



That night we were treated to a spectacular spectacle. Those of you who have been lucky enough to experience one of these thunderstorms will know what I mean. The lightening going every few seconds like strobe lighting in the best disco in the world and the thunder so loud you can feel it through your body starting at your feet. As with these storms the wind is intense and at one stage we thought that perhaps the tent would blow in. We were however glad to be in a ground tent and were wondering how the Zululanders were fairing in their roof top tent! We never thought that we would be able to sleep but we all woke the next morning having slept like babies and we were dry - we did wonder how the folk in #9 at KTC went! I think it was this night that we truely fell in love with the Kgalagadi.