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This is going to be my first attempt at doing a trip report so please be patient! I always enjoy the trip reports done by other forumites, so I am giving it a try.

Our party consisted of 3 couples in 3 vehicles. My wife and I and my brother and his wife are regular visitors and our friends G & L were on their first (and surely not their last) visit.

We were initially worried about the heat, but at the onset I want to say that it was not that bad at all. It got to 42 degrees, but we coped well. At night some of the fans in the wilderness camps were not effective and we had to resort to wet towels, but I'll get to some minor gripes at a later stage.

Our trip was planned as follows:

10/1/2009 - TR
11 and 12/1/2009 - Urikaruus
13 and 14/1/2009 - KTC
15/1/2009 - Nossob
16 and 17/1/2009 - Grootkolk
18 and 19/1/2009 - Nossob
20/1/2009 - TR

We arrived at TR around 3 pm and after unpacking, I was keen for the first game drive. We were informed that the Nossob road was still closed and we planned to head over the dunes. However, as we left the camp a car was parked under the large weaver nest tree. On approaching, I assumed they were looking at a cobra in the nest or a pygmy falcon. The driver of the car calmly informed us that there was a leopard in the tree! After some scanning we eventually saw the spots, but not much else as she was fast asleep.

Decisons, decisions ... do we wait for her to wake up or do we come back later? After informing my friends of how extremely fortunate they were to be this close to a KTP leopard in the first kilometre of two of their first ever KTP game drive, we decied to wait.

About 30 minutes later she started stirring and moved around in the tree, but without giving us a clear view. I never knew leopards climb so high up in trees!

Then she decided to come down and posed for us. What a sight! Were we lucky or what? I knew she had a cub, but the cub was nowhere to be seen.



She stayed with us for about 20 minutes before heading off over the Nossob river. But what a way to start a KTP trip!

The rest of the afternoon was spent waiting at Samevloeiing waiting for her to return (with the cub?), but this was not to be.

That night we had our first braai and a noisy, wet thunderstorm welcomed us to Summer in the KTP.

The tar road from Ashkam to TR is now complete and many would welcome this, but I miss the dusty trek as it was part of the build-up to count the km's on the bad road. My Prado would probably argue otherwise.

I'll post the next day's sightings later tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for the response from all. I've been somewhat busy sorting out the many pics and picking up on some outstanding housework so this report may take some time.

I include a portrait shot of the female leopard, she really looked majestic!



Our second day started off with my early morning drive over the dunes and we saw the usual korhaan. This female gave us quite a display.



The roads showed no real sign of the heavy downpour the previous evening. I can report that the roads all over the park were in excellent condition, the best I've ever experienced. During the rest of the 'condensed' morning drive the normal gemsbok, springbok and wildebeest were seen in the Aoub riverbed. Then we returned to pack for two nights (my first visit) at Urikaruus. More about that a bit later.

Hi guys, I'm sorry this trip report is taking so long to be written, but being back at work does not help. Missing the KTP already!

Well, we arrived at Urikaruus behind a proper road grader and not the old tractor towing tyres. What a welcome - perfect entrance to a perfect place. This was our first stay at Urikaruus and we soon got to understand what other forumites meant when they talked about the creaking floorboards.

On the way we saw two cheetahs at a distance under a tree, but not photographable. The Aoub riverbed was extremely dry in this area, but all the usual inhabitants were still there.

The Gemsbok against the red sand made me feel right at home.



This agama lizard posed nicely.



Fortunately, we managed to see numerous bee-eaters and I managed to get a flight shot.



It was getting extremely hot so we decided to have a cold (water never gets cold in Summer!) shower and thereafter lunch on our balcony (we were in number 2). Thanks Michele for the sighting books in the cabins. Reading the recorded sightings, we were getting extremely excited for what might happen that evening at the waterhole. And we were not dissapointed... to be continued.

After a siesta, we went on a leisurely drive back towards TR, hoping to see the cheetahs again, but they had disappeared.

There were lots of Springbok in the riverbed and they carried on as usual. Note the rear legs of the left one, off the ground. It looks like the young one is trying to stop the fighting of the adults!



Being a birding newbie, I tried to concentrate on what the trees had to offer and was pleasantly surprised to see two tawny eagles in one tree next to the road. They were quite happy to be photographed.



I even got a cute stare!



When we arrived back at Urikaruus, I asked the attendant whether I could walk towards the waterhole to get a shot of the cabins and after checking that it was safe, I got this shot. Should bring back pleasant memories?



Then it was time for sundowners and firelighting... and preparing for what was to come.

Thanks for all the feedback thus far.

I'm updating the TR from work now so won't be able to include photos for now. Unfortunately, I could not get shots of what happened at the waterhole as it was past 8pm and getting dark already.

We were having our sundowners and chatting about the day's sightings, having a casual glance now and again at the waterhole, which had been quiet for some time. Suddenly, the camp attendant came (creaking floors and all) rushing in to say that a cheetah was heading for the waterhole! I immediately saw the shape and confirmed (via bino's) that it in fact was a large male leopard.

He drank for a short while, looking edgy and reacted to each sound coming from the cabins. Note to cabinites: be quiet when there's a sighting at the waterhole! He then walked away to the other side of the riverbed.

Within 10 minues, two spotted hyenas came and started bathing in the waterhole. They also looked edgy and would keep on staring towards the right of the cabins. Probably 10 minutes later they leapt out of the water and dashed away at a great speed. You guessed it, out of the darkness appeared a majestic male lion. Without a sound he came down and had a drink. The hyenas were about 30 metres away from the waterhole and were watching the lion all the time. After his drink, the lion walked towards the hyenas and they rushed away again. The lion went to lie down in the middle of the riverbed where the hyenas had been, as if guarding the waterhole. This interplay between the hyenas and the lion went on for some time, but the poor hyenas must have been exhausted at the end of the night as they took off every time the lion just looked their way.

What will remain with me for the rest of my life are the sounds of the lion's roar and the competing 'laughing' of the hyenas. Amazing and chilling. Those of you who have stayed at Urikaruus will now that it's pretty quiet at night. One cannot describe the awe-inspiring sounds eminating from these three creatures.

We could not always see all the action due to the darkness, but the sounds were just as good.

We eventually managed to get to bed and fall asleep, well satisfied with what we had seen at the waterhole during a period of not more than 30 minutes. That's the beauty of staying at Urikaruus.

The next morning I was up early and ready to leave at 6am, the major decision being whether I should turn left or right at the T-junction. I eventually decided to turn towards Mata Mata.

At Thirteenth Borehole it was very quiet as there was no water in the waterhole. Eerie silence.

At Fourteenth Borehole I came accross six lions right next to the waterhole. They seemed at ease but when a giraffe came to drink at the pool some 20-30 metres from the waterhole, they seemed alert and very interested.





After watching them eye-balling one another for a while I drove on to Dalkeith where there were another four lions against the dune, but slightly obscured so no good for a phot opportunity.

Around Dalkeith there were two Cape Fox dens and I managed to get a few shots.





At Craig Lockardt I saw another four lions lazing under a tree some 200m from the waterhole, on the Mata Mata side, almost against the dunes. This was some way from the road, but some 'idiot' had actually driven from the waterhole right up to the lions! I did not see the culprit, but assume that it was not Sanpark staff. The tracks are probably still visible today and in the context of the sighting, was an eyesore.

Driving slowly back to Urikaruus I concentrated on the birds and managed to get a few shots:

Juvenile Black-chested Snake Eagle



Red-necked Falcon (cropped heavily and thus not sharp, but was my first inflight shot of the bird)



Black-shouldered Kite



Back at Urikaruus, it was time for some breakfeast and a nice cool shower as it was already hitting 34 degrees!

To be continued...

The next morning we headed off for Kalahari Tented Camp and as always took the loops which pass the waterholes. It seemed like it was going to be a quiet morning as nothing was to be seen at 13th and 14t Boreholes. We passed the waterhole at Dalkeith and eveything seemed very quiet indeed, until we came accross this sight:











The six lions had taken down a (the) giraffe next to the loop road at Dalkeith, halfway between the waterhole and the main road (Mata Mata side). This must have happened during the night and we were the first on the scene. I had heard that lions are able to hunt giraffe, but now I was seeing the result. Felt rather sorry for the giraffe.

As always, there were numerous bbj's hanging around, waiting their turn. We sat at the scene for a couple of hours until some other cars arrived. I took 100's of shots although the light was against me (into the sun).

This was my seventh trip to the Kgalagadi, yet it was the first time that I've seen lions on a kill.

To be contnued...

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement!

We spent two nights at KTC and had a great time, it being my wife's favourite camp. Some gripes though: When we arrived our fridge was off and although they switched it one, it never worked (not even the freezer) for the two days that we were there. We reported it on no less than four occasions, without any response. This was disappointing. Our fan did also not work properly and this was a problem at night becaquse it was extremely hot. The technician came to have a look and reported that the 'new' inverter was not powerful enough to drive the fan. How could they fit an inverter without checking what it was capable of? I am mentioning these things as we experienced a type of lethargy from staff at some of the camps re the basics. They might be there every day and get used to things not working, but tourists come there for a day or two and expect things to work. After all, they advertise the amenities. We nearly lost all our meat - fortunately our friends had a freezer in their car.

Enough about the unimportant matters.

We obviously went back to Dalkeith quite often to keep track of the lions on the giraffe kill, hoping that it would also attrect some hyenas, but the lions kept on eating by themsleves and kept on chasing the poor bbj's away.

Some more shots of the lions:



The young lion was actually playing with the giraffe's tail!



That morning we also saw bloody faced lions at Craig Lockardt and I suspect that they had a kill somewhere close which we could not see.





Thinking back now, we saw lions on every day while we were in the park except the first day when we were with the leopard.

During the two days in the KTC area we also saw the following, although we tried very hard, but unsuccessfully, to find the Mata Mata cheetahs.





A lifer for me was this Montagu's Harrier drinking and then I also managed to get a few in-flight shots.





Later one afternoon I noticed one male lion slightly behind a dune at Dalkeith. He almost looks impaled by the porcupine quill and I thought of a title for the shot: "The revenge of the porcupine"



Fortunately, he was still alive...



...and posed nicely for me.



A while later he started cleaning himself and the quill actually fell out.

We also saw the usual gemsbok, springbok, giraffe etc. but I will refrain from posting too many shots as I still have lot's more to share with you.

To be continued.

Returning to KTC on our last night, we saw this guy on the road about 200 metres from the turn-off to KTC. Probably the same lion that gave Caracal such a good showing at KTC!



After spending two nights at KTC, we headed for Nossob over the first dune road, but before I continue, it might bring back memories to our foreign friends to relive the following scenes from this side of the park.







The dune road was in a very good condition and delivered the usual fare. We saw a number of steenbokkies and they seem to be thriving. I recall seeing only one other car during our crossing and it reminded me again how great it was to be in the Kgalagadi without the usual number of (school holiday) visitors. Compensated for the heat. January could become my favourite time to visit ...

On the way to Nossob not much was moving in the midday heat although we did see two young male lions south of Kaspersdraai, fast asleep in the road in the shade of a tree. Marie se Draai was extremely quiet, but one could see from the state of the road that they had had quite a bit of rain the week before.

Nossob was to be our overnight stop on the way to Grootkolk. That night I had a nice sighting of the Pearl-spotted owlet in the camp.



The hide was quiet during the night and we neither heard or saw any feline visitors. The next morning's game drive started well with a pleasant encounter with this fellow.





At Cubitje Quap I came accross the same two lions (two young males) that we saw at Kaspersdraai the day before, at least I think they were the same two.

They were extremely playful and did mock attacks on each other all the time as they were walking towards Kwang, all along the road, with myself and another CT forumite (can't remember his name, but he drives a red Toyota twincab and he and his wife had been camping in the park for about a month). What a wonderful sighting to see two lions playing like this.



Well, we were now on our way to Grootkolk which was going to be another new experience for my wife and I. More about that later.

As I really enjoyed the two young male lions' antics, I'm posting some more shots of them at play.





The rest of the journey to Grootkolk took place during the heat of the day and nothing extraordinary was seen. At Kannaguass we found this spotted hyena having a bath all by himself. He looked rather embarassed when we arrived. He promptly got out of the bath and, without drying himself (no towels around!), walked away into the bush.



We arrived at Grootkolk and settled into chalet no. 1. What an amazing place! The bird bath (tupperware container) next to the tree was attracting numerous birds and agamas and made for good close-up birdwatching.

We met up with our friends in the kitchen area (tip: the canvas walls of the kitchen unit can roll up and makes it much cooler!) and had a relaxing lunch. The waterhole was quiet at that time of day.

We could see evidence of snake activity in the sand and reminded ourselves to be watchfull as this was wildest Africa after all!

Here's what it looks like from the waterhole side of the chalets. My wife freaked when I went to take the shot, but I made sure that it was safe. Maybe it was not that safe. But more about that later.



That afternoon's game drive's highlight for me was the African Harrier Hawk and juvenile that we saw at Kannaguass waterhole. I had never seen this bird in the Kgalagadi before. It was getting reasonably dark so the shots are noisy.



Juvenile bird showing off:



We enjoyed a chicken potjie that evening, ending a most satisfying day in the Kgalagadi. What an amazing sunset! What an amazing place Grootkolk is!

To be continued ...

Thanks for the comments all.

Steve, the sighting started at Cubitje Quap waterhole. These two were lazing around, at time looking very interested in some springbok that were feeding in the riverbed. They then started walking on the road towards Kwang. We (2 cars) followed at a reasonable distance. They kept on scraping against each other and tried tripping one another.

Every now and again the one lion would go off the road and into the grass next to the road. The grass was quite high and as the road is quite low (recessed) it was difficult seeing this lion at times. Suddenly he would launch a mock attack on the lion on the road, actually 'hunting' him the way lions would hunt a buck. This happened two or three time during a 20 minute period. Once the one lion was actually knocked off his feet and I managed to capture a part of the sequence.

We followed the two for about 30 minutes or so until an idiot in a white VW Golf with a GP plate came up right next to me and squeezed in between my car and the car that was in front of me. To understand what I'm trying to say I need to explain that I was second in line; there was another vehicle (also a forumite) driving on the left of the road in front of me. We stayed a way behind the lions to give them their space. I moved over to the right side of the road and stayed a car's length behind the first car. At that stage the lions were on the right hand side of the road as well.

The guy in the Golf seemed in a great hurry so I allowed him to cut in front of me. He then went right up to the lions, rolled down his window and took out a 'mik and druk' camera taking shots of the lions from about 2 metres. The lions were obviously irritated by this as it carried on for about 5-10 minutes. At one stage one of the lions actually took a step towards him and he quickly wound down his window as the lion was right next to him.

The lions then stepped off the road and walked towards the other side of the riverbed. Sighting over and all that was left was the sight of a white VW Golf speeding away in a cloud of dust.

That night at Grootkolk we saw (with a spotlight) a leopard that came down to drink, but the rest of the night was quiet.

The next morning's game drive had me going towards Kannaguass and my friends turned right towards Union's End. At Kannaguass there was a lone lion at the waterhole and he stayed there the whole day as we saw him again that evening and managed to get a few professionally posed shots.



Portrait of a drooling lion.



Evening shots:





Back at the camp for lunch, my friends informed me that they had seen two cheetahs hunting near Geinab waterhole, just north of Grootkolk. Does'nt that always happen? Decisions, decisions.

Spent the afternoon birding around the camp. That evening two lionesses with two cubs visited the waterhole (too dark for shots). The camp attendant informed us that some 'Botswana' lions (according to him identifiable by their 'blue' chests?) had killed some of the cubs.

The next morning we were awakened early by the sound of a lion and I managed to see the huge male at the waterhole. It was quite dark still. I stood on the balcony of No 1 and watched him through the bino's. The waterhole is probably 80-100 metres from the chalet. It was now getting lighter and you can imagine the shock I had when suddenly I saw a lioness and another huge male get up from behind some grass about 30 metres from me, halfway to the waterhole!

They walked past us, between chalet No 2 and the kitchen unit heading for the road past the camp attendant's chalet. The other male followed them, about 30 metres behind them.

At this stage I was heading for my car and got the relayed message that the camp attendant was in chalet no 3 and needed to get back to his chalet (to get his gun, for these were the man-eating Botswana lions!) and asked me to fetch him with the car.

On my way I took this shot of the last male. Note my frend's wife on the balcony of chalet no 3 taking a shot as well.



Well, I picked him up and drove over to his chalet. At that stage the other two lions were lying in the road some 30 metres away. As he got out of my car and took the 2 or 3 steps to his gate, the lioness jumped up and took two leaps our way! I've never seen a guy (attendant) run that fast and his eyes, man I'll remember that for a long time.

The two lions then moved up to the water tanks some 30-40 metres behind the attendant's chalet and when to lie down. At this stage I was in my car and getting my lenses changed (I had a wide angle on). I had 'forgotten' about the other lion who was now between myself and the attendant's chalet, probably no more than 10 metres from me. Suddenly the male with the female charged and attacked the approaching male. It happened so fast (and I had such a fright!!!) that it was impossible to get a shot. The aggression and noise was extremely savage and will live with me forever. Impossible to describe in words. I got some belated shots but all one sees is dust. Wow! What a start to the morning! Grootkolk lives up to its reputation again.

When I eventually got to Geinab, we found the Cheetah at the waterhole and stayed with him for about 15 minutes as he was drinking and lazing about. He then noticed some approaching springbok and went in stalking mode. He tried to hunt, but was not successful. What a nice sighting.








We went on to Union's End and took the obligatory shots before heading back to Grootkolk to start packing for the trip back to Nossob.

To be continued...

Driving down to Nossob was uneventful as far as sightings were concerned, but I did manage to get this shot of a bataleur (cropped). In all my trips to SA national parks (probably 20 or so), I've never had an opportunity to get a good image of a bataleur. Maybe the next trip will deliver that for me.



Eventually we arrived at Nossob and booked into the guesthouse which was ideal for a group of six people. I would like to mention that the lady (girl) at reception was indeed most efficient, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about what was happening around Nossob. She knew all about the recent sightings etc. and was most helpful when we needed to change a booking. I mention this as, in contrast, some of the staff at the other large camps were most 'uninterested in us or their jobs' to say the least.

The evening drive was quiet and it was raining on and off. Not much seen around Maria se Draai/Gat besides the usual raptors. Also had a massive windstorm before the rain came. During the night there was some lion activity at the waterhole and I ventured down to have a look, but they were lying just out of reach to get a decent view. Eventually the two lions moved away towards the dune.

The next morning I first headed down to Marie again, but once again, she was 'barren' - managed to get some nice Steppe Buzzard shots.





Then headed up north to Kwang, but besides the two lions lying asleep under a tree in the riverbed, not much else. Two bateleurs were sitting in their usual tree near Nossob, but I had no shot as I was facing the sun. I waited at Cubitje Quap for a while, but no bateleurs!!

After a very quiet morning, I headed back to Nossob to pack for the trip down to TR. Fortunately, the road was open and I assured my friends that one always sees lions around Leeuwdril, Rooiputs and Kij Kij.

Sure enough, at Kij Kij there were nine lions (with one smallish cub) lying under some trees. Nothing to photograph though as they were far away and in the shade.

Between Rooiputs and Leeuwdril we found some lions as well, doing the usual sleep thing!

It was getting extremely hot (43 degrees) and the ice-cream, when we arrived at TR, was most welcome.

The clouds were building up for another thunderstorm. The late afternoon drive delivered, for me, the highlight of the trip. we spent some quality time with the leopard cub at Samevloeiing!!!. The mother was nowhere to be seen.









The cub seemed to enjoy drinking straight from the 'tap' - intelligent!





This truly was an amazing experience. To spend an hour with a totally relaxed leopard cub in good light etc. etc. !!! I took 100's of shots and am still sorting them out.

We were worried, however, as the mother was nowhere too be seen. I know she had two cubs and now there was only one. We were considering defrosting some of our fillet stake... Fortunately, that was not necessary.

We made it back to TR in time, most satisfied and had a great dinner, but sad for the next day was going to be our last day in the park.

The last day always dawns filling one with sadness, and this time it was no different.

I decided to drive up to Kij Kij as this normally is a very productive drive. I was specifically looking out for African Wild Cat as I had photographed one in this area on the previous trip. I eventually saw one running across the road ahead of me, but that was it. No photographs of AWC on this trip.

There were some lions around Rooiputs, and I got some shots of the mating pair, although they were quite far (photo cropped thus not sharp).



At Kij Kij the resident bbj was hunting doves again and this makes for fun viewing. He is so patient. Every time the Lanner comes over the doves scatter and he has to wait his turn. Then two secretary birds came and scared the doves away. Never saw him catch anything. Great photgraphic opportunities though.

Driving back I saw this Lanner posing for me.



Back at the weaver tree near Samevloeiing some cars were parked and I knew the leopard or the cub were around. Maybe both?

It was the cub again. I was fortunate to get him/her posing for me for a few minutes and I shot over 100 shots of the 'posing' sequence. A real cutie!





I eventually got back to TR in time for a brunch and some cool aircon. My friends informed me that they had seen the 5 cheetahs that morning at around 6:15 at the waterhole as you leave TR. I was first out the gate at 6:00 and actually stopped at the waterhole for about 5 minutes! There was nothing!!! Timing is so important, but unfortunately, out of one's control.

The afternoon's game drive started off with a quick scan around the leopard tree (saw nothing), Samevloeiing (nothing) and then I decided to head for Rooiputs again. Just past Samevloeiing two Gemsbok started fighting. This was the real thing... blood was flowing and the action was furious! It started so suddenly that I did not have time to set up my camera properly and the shots are not great.



Nothing much seen so I turned over the dune road heading towards Kamferboom where this old guy was lying in the shade. He looks blind in the left eye.



On the way back, we spotted this Giant Eagle Owl chick lying at the bottom of a tree, so well camouflaged! The mother was in the tree and gave us the evil eye.



When we got back to the T junction, there was a real traffic jam near the leopard tree and it was impossible to get a good view, but yes, at last the mother and the cub were re-united!! It was the first time that we saw them together. Very touching to witness their interplay. As the sun was setting fast, it was difficult to photograph (into the sun), but I managed to get a few shots.





A real (and rare) privilege to see a leopard and her cub together. This really made the trip special for us.

Then we headed back to TR, in time for the gate, and a super braai.

And so ended our trip, our first for 2009, but definitely not the last. All in all, it was a great trip and we had super sightings. Cats everywhere as they say. I think our friends thoroughly enjoyed their first taste of the Kgalagadi and are sure to become addicts as well!

Till the next time... cheers.