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We are off to the KTP tomorrow and will be meeting up with Dreamer and Annemarie at Nossob and then Dreamer and family as well as our party have Grootkolk to ourselves for what will, I am sure, be a memorable meet! We hope to meet others along the way - look out for the Silver bus flying a yellow ribbon!

Eish but its a mighty long trek for us Durbanites to visit KTP but with an overnight stay at Kimberley booked we were prepared for the long ride.

23rd September 2009

The bus is packed, 50 litres of water in two large plastic drums with taps and the yellow ribbon is in the cubby hole and we set off at 5.30 a.m. Our first stop was to be Dankie Pa se Gastehuis in Kimberley and then the next day the second leg of the trip to Twee Rivieren.

24th September 2009

We enjoy a full English breakfast and head out for KTP. We were absolutely amazed at how many vineyards have sprung up just outside Upington.



We always know when we are getting closer to KTP as the sociable weaver nests manifesting themselves on trees and both light and telephone poles - the excitement starts to build!!!!!



Just before the entrance gate we came across a vehicle on its roof on the road and the police and tow truck in attendance. It was apparently two Swiss tourists who had rolled their car trying to avoid the animals (probably goats) on the road but thank goodness although they were shaken they were unhurt.

The new entrance to KTP is most impressive. It would be great if the actual entrance gate to the Park was attended to as with a sand build up it no longer opens fully and the access is getting narrower and narrower by the day.



Our first afternoon drive afforded us sightings of the beautiful Springbuck lambs, the ubiquitous jackal and Gemsbok!







Whilst we were sitting looking at Meerkats in the middle of the Auob river bed a kind gentleman stopped and told us that he thought we should go and investigate the picnic site at Achterlone as it had some surprise visitors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As we got to the top of the rather steep rise that leads to the picnic site we knew this was a good one - there were already 8 cars there.



There were 10 of them altogether - 4 sprawled right outside the museum door and another 6 under the water tower to the back of the picnic site. I am sad to say that lion sightings seem to bring out the worst in people and the jostling and pushing together with those who just blatently drove past the well into the bush was sad to see.

We did not even know that this big male was there until he suddenly appeared from around the side of the museum house!



The four that were alongside the museum clearly wanted to cross the picnic site to get to the females that were all under the water tower but people became ridiculous once they started to move and even tried to cut them off!



We headed back to TR thinking what an awesome lion sighting to start our 15 day stay in KTP and expecting that there would be loads more to see in our travels. Little did we know!

Thank you one and all for your very generous praise, what I have decided to do is to continue with the trip report with my mediocre photography and hopefully by the end of it the Boss will have figured out how to get some pics of his video to supplement the dearth in my photography!

25th September - TR to Nossob

This was a very long drive made even longer by our own stupidity and to a certain extent a mishap on the part of Sanparks! When we got to the bottom dune road and were going to turn right we noticed a sign that said "Detour to Nossob" (spelt with a P) BUT it was pointing straight up towards Mata Mata. Oh boy - major discussion in the car - have the roadworks got up to Kij Kij and now we need to use the top dune? What happens if we travel the length of the lower dune road only to find it closed? Unanimously we all decided that we could not afford to waste either the time or km's if the Lower dune road was closed so off we went to the top dune road. We later found out that somehow the sign had either been moved but WAS pointing in the wrong direction! We could have used the bottom dune road but we didn't so added a bit of extra time to our journey.

We did find a manor of meerkats however and managed a picture but they were very active and quite far away!



The springbuck lambs were just everywhere - large nursery groups and smaller ones - too precious for words.



It was also not long before we were seeing the every present Pale Chanting Gowhawks everywhere. Has anyone ever noticed that there appear to be more PCG's on the Nossob side than on the Auob side?



Marie se Draai was exceptionally quiet for us this year after all the sensational viewing we had there in 2006 we were anticipating that the status quo would change but it sadly did not. However the jackal warding off the bees at Marie se Gat were comical to watch and this one figured that if he went in on his belly possibly he might minimise the amount of his body that would be exposed to a sting!





Another jackal came to drink covered in blood so there must have been a kill somewhere.



We became obsessed with tracks and spoor on Marie se Draai and it was so frustrating to see it all there on the road but not the animal that had made it. One morning we even sat at the Gat and could hear lion roaring nearby but could not find them.

BTW I clean forgot to mention that it was great to meet Charmaine, Brad and family - the first of the forumites that we were to meet.

No sooner had we got to Nossob when I sought out Dreamer and family and it was great to catch up as we had not seen them since our first meeting in 2006. We were to get together again at Grootkolk for dinner!



The squirrels and yellow mongoose in camp are always entertaining and hang around on your verandah waiting for any scrap that might fall.

African sunsets just have to be about the best in the world!



I took a dish from my garden as a waterbowl and we had a neverending queue of takers for fresh and cold water!



The shrikes are so difficult to capture on film as they are constantly on the move!



We also spent a fair bit of time in the evenings dedicated to one of us being in the hide in case there was anything of note and we were not disappointed to find the genets very active in the tree next to the hide feeding royally on all the bugs and moths that are attracted to the light. There were times when we feared that they would lose their balance and fall out of the tree!



We had a brief glimpse of a brown hyaena which sadly did not come down to drink. We have the most wonderfully powerful torch that has outlasted all the other ones we have bought over the years and the beam was able to pick up the brown hyaenas presence after we heard the jackal calling so knew something was coming. In 2006 we had the same sighting of brown hyaena and nary another sighting so we hoped that this was was not be be an omen that we would have the same experience again.

On an interesting note it appears that keeping the Nossob camp gate closed has virtually eradicated the jackal problem except for two individuals who seemed to spend most of them time alongside the laundry at night.

There is so much to photograph in and around camp given the fact that the hide is accessible from the camp!

From little agamas to the resident yellow mongoose and the squirrels to the birds which included a rather cheeky crow. The mongoose and squirrels materialise from nowhere when one sits down to a meal on the verandah and pounce on the smallest tidbit which might accidentally fall to the ground! We always use the verandahs to make jaffels on the gas cooker and even to preferring to eat our meals out of doors.









We had the most delightful evening with Annemarie - gosh what an intrepid and charming lady she is. To tackle South African Game Reserves never mind the KTP is one thing for an overseas visitor but to tackle it stone alone is quite remarkable. Fortunately Snake Lady has a good command of the French language so was able to facilitate the translating of the conversation. Annemarie was heading off to Kruger National Park after the KTP and she was literally travelling alone from one end of KNP to another as she did with KTP. I salute you Annemarie - your dedication to your passion for wildlife is a true role model for many!!!!

I was enchanted with the melodious gurgling noises that our crow visitor made but Bob the Builder was not so enchanted when it tried to enter the kitchen making those noises so chased it away.



The squirrels were so funny - the males really had a hard time keeping their (Ahem) appendages from burning on the sand and they would keep retreating to the shade cast by the wall where they would cover themselves in the sand there which was obviously far cooler than the sand out in the blazing hot sun.



For those of you who wondered what the camera looks like at the Nossob hide - here is a picture!



Three days sped by way too fast and although we were not overly rewarded with stupendous sightings there was enough to keep us all fairly happy.

One of the strange incidents to which we still do not have an answer was the dead wildebeest on Marie se Draai which we spotted one afternoon. It appeared that its neck had been broken but there was not a predator in sight. Eventually after staking out the carcass for a couple of hours a jackal wandered by and although he made a valiant attempt to open up the carcass (from the rear end) he was unsuccessful. We later found out that during the day it was subsequently noticed that a lot of vultures came to feed on the carcass.

The other talking point was of course the fires and we were very worried at some of the reports filtering down from the North regarding the devestation that had been caused by these fires. Knowing that next camp that Dreamer and family were to visit we asked her to please relay a message via the radio as to whether it was a waste of time for us to go to Grootkolk or not and we would then attempt to obtain bookings elsewhere. Finally the message came through to Gert - "Hudson se jy moet kom". The message actually sent was - "we have no water or electricity but its up to you".

HMMMMMM - this opened the next chapter of our trip report which I will attempt on Friday

With tales of devestating fires and much grazing laid waste by fire we faced the next part of our trip with some trepidation. I must confess that the fires although severe and frightening in that they did threaten certain camps were no where near as devestating visually as the large fires that KNP experiences.

Half way to Grootkolk the Boss spotted what he thought was a large cat but then 4 Kudu came into view who also started to gaze in a certain direction with some concern and suddenly there it was off in the distance a beautiful cheetah! Now we had not passed a single car on our way up to Grootkolk so we were thrilled that we were to have this wonderful sighting to ourselves. Slowly but surely the cheetah made its way closer and closer to the road with us driving at about 10 km's an hour so as to not frighten it - 15 mins elapsed when suddenly down the road came a convoy of four 4 x 4's travelling at huge speed. They sped past us with nary a glance to see what we were looking at until the last vehicle suddenly twigged that we were onto something good and reversed back and asked me - I reluctantly told them them of the cheetah's presence and that was the end of the sighting!!!! Radios were whipped out, U turns made and they came back to see what we were looking at. The cheetah took fright with all the activity and racing engines and fled across the road into a burned area where it disappeared over a dune leaving us feeling absolutely robbed and somewhat indignant!!!! Here is one of my few gripes about the behaviour in KTP - the speeds that the fancy 4 x 4's travelled at was positvely frightening. On a separate occasion later in the trip three CAW registered vehicles passes us on the Nossob road at such high speed that they missed a cheetah sighting and mating ostriches. It is so sad to see the wanton and flagrant ignoring of speed limits and I am sad to report that it is always the same culprits!



Our arrival at Grootkolk was rather strange to say the least. No water, no electricity and a major sewerage problem which was being attended to on our arrival. Unpacking the bus was an excercise that I would not want to repeat again in a hurry as it was a case of grab a bag, gag with the dreadful smell and run into the unit with it! Just as well that our socialising was done at the communal area where there is plenty of room so one does not have to stand too close to those you are talking to as we were not able to shower for 3 days. There is also a fair bit of construction going on front of each unit and the communal one with the addition of fences, gates and new braai apparatus.

I do agree Pumbaa and I asked whether any attempt was going to be made to make the new structures fit in with the old and I was told that reeds were going to be put on the "metal farm gates". I can't make out how but that is what I was told. Each of the units now has one of these in front of them and the communal area also has a cage! I also asked whether these were due to the lion activity in camp and was told no that they were merely giving more room to the units and removing the braai from next to the unit. If that is the case then I wonder why the communal area is being enclosed.

Micetta the speed that many luxury 4 x 4 vehicles passed us at was in excess of 80 to 100 kms - we gave up waving our hands in dispair as this brigade with air con and windows wound up just seem hell bent on getting from one end of the Park to the other as fast as they can and I actually wonder why they bother being there at all! Its certainly not for game viewing!

The only sighting of any note was this awesome little Kalahari Sand Snake and an immature Pale Chanting Goshawk!







We had the most awesome evening on the night we arrived at Grootkolk with Dreamer and family. We all got together in the communal area and prepared the dinner - Thai chicken soup as starters, chicken kebabs, boerewors, potatoe bake, salad, peaches flamed with brandy and stuffed with fruit mincemeat. Dreamer and Moo joined us for our afternoon drive which although extremely convivial did not produce any spectacular sightings. It was quite a late night and with all of us sitting around the huge dining room table chatting not many of us had glanced at the waterhole until Bob the Builder said the word LION in a stage whisper and there was a magnificent male that had come to drink. He then lay down under a tree to the right of the waterhole and that was the nudge that we all needed to get to our individual units before he was joined by any more lions.

The next morning we bid goodbye to Dreamer and family - its taken us 3 years to meet again since 2006 so we hope it will not be as long a wait next time.

Having said goodbye and seen them on their way we turned back inside to gather our belongings for the morning drive when the Boss yelled from the next Unit, Oh boy cameras grabbed and although it is very bad photography it is just for the record so that folks can see what visits the Grootkolk waterhole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really must apologise for the poor quality of these pictures but as I said before I am no photographer and they are just for the record. They were all so bad I could not actually find one that was really clear.











The next morning bright and early we headed off to Unions End as we had really wanted to do this sojourn on our previous trip but never managed to get that far up.

As we approached the Unions end waterhole which is a couple of kilometres before the actual "end" someone in the vehicle shouted STOP - SOMETHING IS DRINKING AT THE WATERHOLE!!!!!!!

We could not believe our eyes and crept forward after taking a few tentative pictures just in case it ran away but it was obviously thirsty and stuck around for long enough for us to all obtain fairly good pics and video footage!!!!

Thanks Micetta.

This was the awesome sight that awaited us at Unions End waterhole!





Note the sandgrouse in the background!



We arrived at the actual point where the three countries join together and searched for the meerkat manor we were told was very close to the information board but nothing could be seen except for a very good burrow system which I am sure is what they utilise.

For those of you who do not know Unions end is where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet and the Namibian side is behind the fence whilst of course the Botswana side is open and just has a no entry sign. Thanks Caracal for the book - we duly made our mark in it and then returned slowly back to Grootkolk.





My trusty waterdish was much appreciated in every camp where we stayed and Grootkolk was no exception with a 4 striped mouse and a skink drinking out of it together!





We were thrilled that the occupants of the other two units at Grootkolk for our remaining 2 days turned out to be none other than great friends of Dreamers thus more new friends were made in Ken and Kirsty and their two lovely children!

That evening the Kalahari delivered another of her spectacular sunsets!





Our last day at Grootkolk brought no further sightings of any import other than 4 very friendly meerkats who came right up to our vehicle. Sadly once again yours truly managed to fluff the photographs so I will have to wait for the ones the Boss took and will tack them onto the end of this report. We once again searched the Kannagauss waterhole area for the leopard that so many people had seen to no avail.

That evening none of us were quite prepared for what the weatherman threw at us!

BH, nice.....

Our last night at Grootkolk was extremely memorable for all the wrong reasons. We were back in camp after our evening drive when the skies become grim with foreboding and the lightning and thunder started. Then the gale force wind started and we all had no choice but to gather in the communal area as there was no ways we could have contemplated cooking outside with the prevailing weather conditions.

Well it just got worse and worse and we could see the lightning in both sheet and fork forms hit the ground on the other side of the dunes and start a fire which the torrential rain would then put out. We all hurried though our dinner preparations with the storm worsening by the minute. At this stage the storm was right on top of us and I must confess it was quite frightening. We decided to make a run for our individual units as to have delayed any longer was not wise. We were drenched when we got to our units and our hearts sank when we found the floor awash with rain water. It had forced its way under our closed door and flooded the whole bedroom. That was not a pleasant evening - no hot water for a shower and only a trickle of cold water and we were cold and miserable. It poured all night!

The next day we packed up bright and early and started our long trek back to Nossob where we were to stay for another two nights. I can now imagine how bad the Kalahari roads must be in the rainy months as they were all flooded and there was water everywhere! Even though our vehicle has a fairly high clearance some of the roads were flooded for such long lengths we really were concerned as to how we would get to Nossob without a mishap!









The water came right up to the windows of the bus!



Back at Nossob our evening drive was back to Marie se Draai where the only interesting sightings were this puff adder and yet another mole snake!




Another gorgeous sunset!


And just before camp a Cape Cobra!