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Our long awaited trip was upon us!

20 March 09.

After an unprodutive night's sleep (we were to exited to sleep) we got up at 3:00 am, packed our last few things, and started on our long journey to the unexplored terrain (newbie's) of the KTP.

We had some rain till Pothcefstroom, and had bad mist till Vryburg, average speed was about 100, could not see anything........

Had a lovely breakie at Wimpy in Kuruman, stop in Upington to do some last minute shopping. (Forgot yellow ribbon on kitchen table )

Took the R360 and headed for Molopi Lodge............

Every were you could see the signs of good rains, the grass was long, there were flowers in bloom, and it was green, green, green.

We had our wish list of course:
Lion
Leopard
Cheetah
Meerkats - Suricate
Honey Badger
Brownie
AWC
Caracal
Batties
Cape Fox
Giraffe
(saw 8 out of 11)

And all the usual - Gemsbok, Springbok, Blue Wildebeest, Steenbok, BBJ .......

Got to Molopi about 3:30, had a swim to cool down, was still quite hot, had a lovely dinner, and luckily, got to sleep early, was a bit tired of the long trip from home......................

Thanks CC and yes there is , just sorting them out ........

# Sandiem, I love the KNP, but KTP was a truly unexpected treat, and I strongly suggest that if you have been to Kruger before do the KTP thing, you won't go wrong, and for the passport stamps, that is part off it all.

Namibia would defiantly be on my list - have not been to Botswana yet.

When are you planning to do your trip ........

An Elephant Encounter?





Realy!!!!!





As previously stated the person that did this, had no clue

Some pic's of Molopi Lodge








Will defiantly stay there again, the people were so friendly and the food was good.
We stayed in a overnight cabin, so it just had a bed, bathroom no selfcatering.

After supper we went for a walk and came across these:


Not the best photo but I was so exited .......


They were everywhere!!!!!!

21 March

We got up very early, wanted to be there at gate opening times, so packed all our stuff, quickly made some coffee for the flask on the camping gass little hiking stove - fortunatly we packed them and the kettle......... and off we were, in the dark.

We saw a little duiker alongside the road, but it darted away as soon as we passed it.

The road was in very good condition, and I can't think how it was with the dirtroad .......... (well after our first few k's in the park we defiantly had a good idea )

Our first climpses of the KTP was, in the breaking of a new day, and it was quite a new experience for us, the sand it was something else (we are KNP fanatic's so for us this was a revelation )



We had our cofee and rusks infront of the gate, and was thrilled that we are finally here, all the planning, the TR's I've read, the advise you guys gave - we made it, and we are on our "maiden vogues" so to speak ........

Eagerly waiting for the gate to open, we sat there and waited, till a lady came down open the gate, got our gate pass, but was told that we must wait until the reception opens at 7:30 - what we have to wait there a whole hour .........

We did not know that................ so we had a hour to kill, we wanted to get started, well we decided to go for a short ride just to get the time to pass.

We saw our first Kori Bustard, could not get a good photo - and I was so disapointed, needles to say at the end of our trip we had seen our fair share of them .......

Ok.....

We saw the Kori Bustard, stood a while there to look at him/her, turned around and headed back to Twee Rivieren, SO wanted to let some more air out off the wheels, he was not happy with them, and I wanted to go to the shop to get a Mapbook.



Wel, we got to reception about 7:20, and the door was standing open, so we thought we can go in, but just as we wanted to enter the reception, someone slammed the door shut in our faces.......... So you can think, by this stage SO was a bit hot under the collar - waiting a hour for reception, and now getting the door slamed in our faces.

7:30 they opend the door, we booked in, they asked if I wanted a R10.00 map, and I said no I will go to the shop to buy a Mapbook, and off we went - just to hear that I have to buy the Mapbook at Reception!! - Communication gap somewhere!!

Our Route for the day: Because the road was still closed till Kij Kij we had to take the other one ...... we later learned that they are extensively repairing that stretch of road, bringing in the high inbankments and so on....

We were sleeping for our first two night in Bitterpan so we had some traveling to do.

We wanted to have breakfast at Melkvlei Picnic Site.

We saw our first Gemsbok, Whistling Rat, Springbok, Red Hartebeest and Meerkats before Houmoed water hole.................



He was lying there and eating.



This was also one off the little quitters that was in abundance.



This poor Oryx had a bad "Hornday"



They were busy licking the ground.



They were going at each other quite fiercly, the dust was all around them.

By now we were astounded, it was so green, the long grass, and were where the red dunes they have disappeared, and insted of them there were these beautiful grass covered hills .......

We have hit the green pastures of the KTP!

That worked........

Back to the Springbok, there were quite a few of young ones, only showing the beginnings of their horns, and one of theese young fellows was a bit mad, running and jumping up and down and then he saw a Kori and did not like the idea of Kori so close to them, so he charge the Kori, and the poor thing had such a fright that it flew straight into the air, just missed the shot, but it was funny, the young Springbok was jumping around in triumph........

We drove for a while and something caught SO's eye - Meerkat he shouted......

Where, where .................



And there he was standing in all his glory, my ever first Meerkat, I was so happy that I sat there and just watched them not thinking of taking more photo's, there were 5 of them, bussy looking for things to eat, keeping a watchful eye out for predators.

Luckly I got some more photo's

These are some photo's that I could not get tinypic to load at first, but I got it right.........

Were we saw the Gemsbok with the "Bad Horn Day" something caught my eye in the grass.







At first we did not know what the heck was going on there, but then we realized, it was a Mommy Whistling Rat and two babe's........







We asked some of the guides and they say that the babies suckle and cling at the same time, so that Mommy can move in and out of the burrow if there is danger

Just after Houmoed we came across some Blue Wildebeest, they look a bit different, and Hubby and I could not decide if it was their coats, or the hair of their mains..........





At Monro we saw some Red Hartebeest and a Kori.

We stoppped at Auchterlonie to look at a Ostrich male taking a sand bath, and flapping his wings.





We stopped at the Museum but there was a bus full of people that was heading to the Museum, so I only got this pic.....





I am not sure what you call the road that you have to take to get to Kielie - Krankie but it is the only road at this stage because of the other section that is closed for maintenance, but on this road we saw plenty of Steenbok, and some Korhaan.




He stood still just long enough for me to take a photo, they are the sweetest little things, they are my favorite.




This handsome fellow was making a racket about something, maybe we caught it of guard but it was loud, very loud......

We passed the burned mark on the ground and I am pretty sure it is of A-J's burned out 4 x 4 (We left our hearts ........)

It was a flowerfeast at Tierkop, with purple flowers all over, we could not believe that this is the Kalahari.....

After Tierkop and all the amazing flowers we headed for Melkvlei picnic site for some breakfast, on our way there we saw 2 steenbok and all the usual game, it was getting a little warmer, so the animals was already starting to head for the shade.



These two was already under the shade at 10:20 ..............

We had to stop and take a photo of this Sociabel Weaver's nest with a S Pale Chanting Goshawk on top of it.








Then we came across this fellow amongst the yellow flowers..............




At Mellkvlei we were the only people there and it was so nice not be surrounded by other visitors, that was so nice and peaceful............

We had a black lizzard, a Whistling Rat and I think it was a Ground Agama but not to sure about that ..............







This little guy was running to a bush bit a piece off and ran back to the shade, it was quite entertaining, it was o-so careful while running to the bush and back, checking for anything that might try to catch it......





Please can someone confirm if it is a ground agama

After our breakies we headed of to Nossob again, I just want to state the road was hectic - very bad gorrugated, and you could see that it had been a while, since it was last grated, so that was not that good, but the scenery made up for that............

At Jan se draai we came across this guy - we christened him "Hay Wire"




We saw plenty of Kori, and Oryx, but they were mostly under tree's, for the shade.

I was wondering when we will we see some of those young ostriches, that was babies........




They are teenager now, we sat and watched them, they were so funny, not letting the adults out of their sight, following their every move..........
Probably, the best thing to do.

At Dikbaardskolk we had something cold to drink, must say I love the loo concept...... only thing is that we came across on or two of them, that was not closed properly, and then also do you close the door-door after you have finished

We came across some stranded people a few k's after Dikbaardskolk, it was a "Oom" - gentleman and his crew, they were coming from Nossob and their Bakkie broke down.............

They were standing their in the heat of the day, with no shade, I felt so sorry for them.........

They were working in Nossob on some waterpipes or something like that, they were heading for Dikbaardskolk to pick up their other vehicle that was standing a few k's on the road to Eland's waterhole.

So 1, 2, 3 and they were hooked and we towed them back to Dikbaardskolk, hooked them loose and took one of the guys back to their other vehicle that was standing there, it was a little truck...........

So, again we were of to Nossob a second time, happy that we could be of assistance to someone in need......

The road was bad - there were not much to see, the animals were under the shade of the tree's, we saw some Whitebacked Vulture's near Kaspersdraai, but it was to far away for a pic.

We were a bit worried for the time, we still needed to book in at Nossob and drive to Bitterpan........................

We were on our way to Nossob, and came across these oaks, they were also at Kaspersdraai.



And finally we saw Nossob gate ..........




Our welcome committee



Stopped for petrol, check the tire pressure, booked in and met up with very nice people, that was aslo on their way to Bitterpan, it was now about 02:00, so we were quite happy with our time. The estimated time to Bitterpan is approximately 3.5 hours

After all the formalities was done we set off to Bitterpan on the one way 4 x 4 dirt road................

Very excited, we were awaiting the four-by-fouring to start ......... wel let's just say our "Green Beast" (Range Rover) had a fun ride in the dunes, not the extreme 4 x 4 that we thought.........

But must mention that there was people previously there, that did not had a clue, on how to do the 4 x 4 thing, the road was so bad, at some places there were deep holes in it (we had to cling on, otherwise we were like jumping jacks in the car), form not knowing how to drive the right way on the road, and can you believe it, it was corrugated aswell .......

Did not see that many game in that area, lots of Korhaan, a few Gemsbok and some Kori, the grass was very long and when the wind blew, the grass made a wave like movement, very suttle, it was like that scene from Gladiator, were Russel Crow stands in the field and stroke over the wheat with his hand, I felt like doing that .............

We made good time and finaly saw Bitterpan, pulled in and was welcomed by Nico (his is the guy that stay's there) and the other guests that was already there.

Nico showed us were we would sleep, and our bathroom (we got the far left room because we were there for two nights), everything was very neat and tidy, the room consist of two bed's and a cabinet where you can pack some off your stuff in, and the most beautiful view of Bitterpan's pan .....

After unpacking our stuff and getting the things into the fridge we could relax and enjoy the view, and wow what a view...........

The grass was long, and green!!!! And unfortunately it was so long that you could not see the waterhole that was infront of us..............

Hubby did some exploring and climbed the lookout tower, with one of the other guests, when he got at the top we only realized that he should've taken the camera with him , but luckly we were there for two nights, we have time to climb the tower again, to take some photo's




I saw a lifer - Shaft Tailed Whydah, but did not get a shot of it, but later in our travels in the Mata Mata area I got a pic of one........

The sun was setting on our first night in the KTP, with new friends.......... at first it was a bit strange, strange people thrown together, but must say we had a very nice group of people - 2 sisters and their SO's and a nother couple that was behind us from Nossob.

We lit the fire for the braai, got a sundowner, and just watch the sun go down..................






View of the pan with the setting sun on the one side..........

We had a little bat in our room, so we had to open all the doors, and try to get it, to fly out of them, luckly it did not take that long for him to exit the room..........

We did not hear a thing that night, not that I think we would've heard if there was, we slept like babies.................

22 March 09

We got up the following morning made some coffee had some rusks,and just enjoyed looking over the pan in the morning light..........

There where a few Gemsbok, a Red Hartebeest, Ostriches and a Secretary Bird doing the rounds in the pan........

We said our farewells to the people, everybody was on their way, and we stayed behind.

After we had a lovely breakfast, Hubby went for a midmoring nap, I got my note's up to date, and did some bird watching.................

This was the best view ever, from where I was sitting on the "stoep" porch, busy catching up with my pre-trip report............



I had this visitor, keeping me busy.




After SO's midmorning nap we decided to go for a drive, because we were sleeping there for 2 night's we were allowed to take the 4x4 route to Moravet and come back on that same road.

A few k's in the road we came across these two, had to take the photo in the ride so cut a but off the one..............



They are the cutest little things, they look so dainty.....

We saw a few Gemsbok at Morevat.



Namaque Dove's and also some Redheaded Finches at Vaalpan




And the flowers was also again striking, purple,yellow and the green of the bushes ..........

Ok let me go on.............

When we got back to Bitterpan the next guest had arrived, we decided to have a afternoon nap, it was hot and there were no animals in the pan, so we headed off to have a snooze...............

After that the rest of the guest had arrived and we were 8 people again..............

At sunset we lit the fire again.

This was the first evening that we heard the Barking Gecko, it sounds like when you bang to stone's together, the funniest sound they make, and they were all over. I wonder why they were busy only on some night's?








This is the two rooms on the left hand side - front view




The kitchen and braai area with the lookout on top - front view




The other two rooms on the right hand side - front view




Our second night in the KTP.......................

23 March 09

We awoke with bird song and a new day in the KTP, and what a beautiful day it was, everybody else was getting ready to leave so we greeted them and had the place all to our self again, so we took our time packing...... we only needed to go to Nossob, so there was no rush.

SO wanted to go up the lookout for the last time, and was teasing me that I wont do it, so I got my camera and off I went very bravely (knees shaking)

The first few steps are not so bad, I must admit the going up was not to bad..............




What a view from the top. You can see the little waterhole threw the tree branches




This is were the keeper - Nico stays.......

Now it was time to go down, heart thumping knees shaking even more, you had to go down backwards, this was the hard part, but I got down in one piece...........

We left Bitterpan just before 9, and headed to Morevat again, on the way there we saw a Secretary Bird, some Gemsbok and a Korhaan doing some sort of diving meneuver, were it flew up in the air and dived back down, and making a noise while doing it

We saw plenty of Gemsbok, Red Hartebeest, Steenbok, Blue Wildebeest and Kori's, to me, they look like elegant, the way they walk, threw the grass, as if they are someone that is very important......... walking slowly and gracefull.

We came across this chap, had to take the photo while driving.


(in the corner, you barely see him/her??)

After much discussion, we made the conclusion that it is a dark form of Campe Cobra - on the camera you can zoom in and see the yellowish copper colour on the underside of it.

Near Nossob we came across a big herd of Blue Wildebeest and some Springbok.

Finaly we were in Nossob...............

At reception we saw this little chap.



We asked one of the people there and they said it was a Sandsnake........... I just love the paterns on him, before I could take some more pic, he disappeared into a hole in the ground.

After booking in we headed for our Chalet and found this guy busy eating something..............





On closer investigation, it looks like a Sandsnake.



We booked in and got chalet 9b - (the chalet is a block that is divided into 3 separate chalet) For future references, don't take the B one's, as we found out it is smack bang in the middle of A and C, the thing is that when on entering the chalet, you enter in the kitchen, then it is the bedroom and then the bathroom.
So you don't have any windows in the bedroom, and remember the power goes at 11 o'clock.................

But must complement them on how clean and tidy everything was, in the chalet, the fridge was working, the bathroom was very nice, with a big shower, it was just, a bit stuffy in there.

Chalet A & C had a big window, that was coverd in netting, so you can leave it open.

We booked a Sunsetdrive for that evening, so the rest of the afternoon was divided into, checking the camp out, going for a swim and went to the hide.









After the hide we went back to our Chalet and just chilled out till our Sunset drive...

Sunset Game Drive

As we steped out of chalet we came across this little fellow - Caracal favorite



The guide greeted us at reception, and we boarded the game drive vehicle, everybody was friendly and off we went in the direction of Kwang.

First up was this beauty.



They look so military with the black tripes across their eyes.

Then we saw this Pale Chanting Goshawk



About 5 k's I spotted something in a tree on the right hand side off the road, and after we stopped, I could ID it as a Bateleur on it's nest




It was not quite happy with us so it stood up, just to let us know he/she was there