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One of the scariest sights I have seen in the KTP is a pantechnicon coming up the road from TR to Nossob. Fortunately we had stopped at the picnic spot and it went past but I wonder what would have happened had we been 10 minutes earlier..

As for campsites: remember that in the wet months the water pools under some of the taller trees near the ablution block...

Hey Everybody--------Heading up to for a camping trip to Nossob for a week and a bit in mid May and have been keeping tabs on the recent trip reports and comments in a few threads.Great photos and useful info as usual. And many thanks to all of you for that. Its genuine soul-food! We will be using Nossob as a base for travel in all directions. I know it will be packed but I suppose its just that time of year and like Pam , I didnt really want to be anywhere else for my birthday!! Genuinely cant wait...

I have a few niggles though that I thought I would throw out there and just see what people think but especially those who have been up very recently would be great.I know nothing is set in stone especially there but....

1---------Obviously I will scout it myself but it sounds like theres a good road north of Nossob to look forwards to in terms of surface but not much else because it has been graded very low and the grass sounds like an issue. Is it very serious ITO thickness? In most places? From what I have picked up , it appears as if it could potentially be frustrating for long stretches in terms of viewing the larger stuff and want to know if I should hedge my bets in a generally more southerly direction for our daily excursions or not . Im in a raised body Raider doublecab but it did look very thick in a few of the pics.Does it thin out a bit from Lanklass or does it stay difficult till past Lijersdraai?

2---------In the eventuality that it does turn out to be frustrating for the non birding stuff in the mid and northerly sections due to the long grass , should I rather concentrate on the MataMata via dune rd side or the more southern routes given that I will have a 3 yr old and an 8 yr old on board who arent exactly avid ornithologists !! YET!!!!! Any very recent visitors advice in this regard would be most welcome. It will be frustrating to find out that in hindsight I was wasting opportunities battling away in the north while I could have been spending very valuable time in the south where the grass isnt as dense. I know the animals will be everywhere but its no good if you cant see them hey........especially if youre 8 let alone 3 and a half years old!!Cant believe I am saying this but if its bad enough I might even be prepared to shift half the booking to TR campsites (MMfull)for the kids sakes...Thoughts?

3-------I am taking in all the water wood and charcoal we need and a fair bit of meat too but am uncertain of the Nossob shop re-supply intervals?Is it still a week or so? Its been a while (much too long in fact). If its available , is it still the same at the Nossob shop esp with regard to frozen meat? Bit of nice wors?.....A few choppies..?(tough as old billy-goat ear that one pack was LOL).....I just want to know if I will be stuck on my Super Dodgy Bully Beef and Braai Cabbage Pasta recipe for more than one night LOL .....I can hear a choir of voices blowing back the little hair I have .................... SKAAAAAAAAAAAAAPLAND.............So the million dollar question and bottom line is how much really tasty biltong must I buy in Upington to feed a family of 4's daily RDA protien requirements if the Nossob shop freezer is permanently empty because the camp is so full ? !I cant help but feel this might turn out to be an interesting thread so many thanks in anticipation!!

Ajay

Just a comment in response to your first two questions. We've just got back and the suurgras was very long and thick on the Nossob side, more or less all the way north from Dikbaardskolk (tho we didn't go further north than Kannagaus this time). We saw a fresh gemsbok carcass in the middle of the road just north of Dikbaard and two huge maned lions were lying resting in spitting distance of the road but we could barely see them because of the dratted grass.
The true south is unavailable to you on the Nossob riverbed because the road between TR and Kij Kij is closed for renovation. We saw much better game on the Auob side in late April, but there were still plenty of sightings of cheetah (specially on Marie's Loop) and lion north of Nossob. I just think that unless you're lucky enough to find them in the road, your ability to really SEE them is better on the Mata-Mata side at the moment. But before you think of changing your booking to MM, they're building new chalets there and this does impact on the campsite a bit...
My advice is to enjoy what you can now and make another booking for September or October (we wish!), by which time the suurgras should present less of a viewing problem!
Your question about Nossob shop supplies: they get a delivery every Tuesday so if you're there wed-sat you should be fine, not quite so fine if it's sat-mon. The meat in the shops is really good now, all from Skaapland in Upington! Be prepared to pay more than you would at home, of course, but worth it for a good braai.

Thanks AnnieR.-- Just the type of detail I was hoping for even if some of my fears have been confirmed.Thats quite a bit of grass then!! It was a lot of water!!I doubt we will venture further than Kanngaus either.So it maybe thins out a bit from the Dikbaardskolk to Kij Kij section but then obviously the Kij Kij section thru to TR is shut meaning that hopefully the lower and upper dune rd loops will be a bit more kid friendly!

Im thinking I might try and get up a day earlier and spend a day and night at TR campsite first and just do the TR -MM road before heading to Nossob so I can have something to compare those main Nossob sections with.As for changing part of the the booking to MM,I think its pretty much booked up but there was still a bit of space at TR campsite last time I checked.
I love Nossob though.Going to be a tough call for me. Depends a lot on the kids I think.Really want to try and keep it as interesting as possible.

Thanks for the shop detail too. Will definitely do menus according to that Tuesday re-supply then.

Last year in september there was no game night drive at Nossob, on this forum more people has bookings problems for these night drives.
What is the best we can do....mail,call, fax the Twee Rivieren office ??
Or can we wait till we are at Nossob ?

Are the night drives uberhaupt going these days at Nossob ??

Oh i hope so....

Edwin

Edwin, you can't book a sunset drive in advance -- you have to wait until you get there as they are depenant on there being a vehicle available and someone to take you out Will hold thumbs it all comes together for you.

Hi Edwin we just came back from KTP and were very fortunate to get a Sunset Drive at Nossob . At the moment they are the only camp with drives, but they don't always have a driver or vehicle available.
Hold thumbs for you.

See my Trip Report - Aug 2009

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...Hi everyone
Not to sure if this is the right place to post this Q...

I would like to know if the hide at Nossob has a curfew...lights out ?

I have a night vision camera which I would love to use at the hide
Cheers

Hi Kentishmaid

Nossob's generator goes off at 23h00 therefore the spotlight at the hide as well as all other lights are switched off. That does not mean you cannot go to the hide though. I have sat there many a night in complete darkness with my own spotlight...awesome

You can sit there whenever you like for as long as you like. We do.

Thanks for the replys..10 days to go!!!!

Interesting fact is that you should be a bit safer in the hide now too. Following an incident a month or two ago in which some lions tried to push down the walkway to the hide because the "prey" walking there seemed like a good idea (though I think this happened during the day), there's now an electrified fence to encourage them to stay away. Word is one of the lions received a shock shortly after it was installed so perhaps he put the word out to the other lions. One small problem is that when the batteries go flat for some reason, as when we were there, the fence doesn't work anyway, so you just have to hope the lions have a good memory!

Looking at pictures of the walkway posted on the forums made me wonder Slats a bit thin and "see through" gaps - as alluring as goldfish in a bowl for a cat.

Yeah SC, but what a sighting for the 'goldfish'. If they get through one slat, the rest will hold and maybe scratch a paw or leg.

And a great foto op for the rest of the party. Up close and personal