SANParks.org Forums

Two weeks is perfect

Lots of folks will jump in with their ideal 2 week stays

Will give it some thought and get back to you -- so many options to fit into 2 weeks

Hi Bontebok
What fun planning a trip for someone else
IF it was me, these would be the camps and the length of stay on each camp for a 14 day stay:
TR 2
KTC 2
Nossob 3
Grootkolk 3
Urikaruus 3
Kielie Krankie 1
Have a great time planning and do try make your bookings rather urgently, already you may not get all the camps as time is close.
Enjoy enjoy enjoy.... 2 weeks in the park..

You guys are great, thanks a lot. There is one problem which I found out now: the plane arrives quite late, app. 16.30 - which means there won´t be enough time to enter the park the same day. Any guesthouses you would recommend?

Pity that only Airlink flies to Upington, I would have preferered to be on a bigger plane...

I don´t like the idea of staying in many different camps, it´s more relaxing to stay at two camps, three at the most.

Our return flight to Cape Town departs 08.15. Pity that we have to spend the last night in Upington and not at a Kalahari lodge. Where could we sleep in Upington, any recommendations?

You can drive up to ******Lodge near Askham. It's appr. 50 km from Twee Rivieren and you're early in the park the next morning.

It is situated directly at the tar road leading to the park.

HI Bontebok
OK , so if thats what you prefer then I would suggest Urikaruus (a Wilderness Camp)or Kalahari Tented Camp (also a wilderness camp but larger than Urikaruus) and Nossob (traditional camp) and then maybe TR which could be on your way in or at the end of your stay. May need to be at the end depending on your return flight time.

Hi BBK & welcome to the forum.

I think you will get bored with 2 weeks. You will get sick of seeing lions, leopards, cheetahs, brown hyenas, honey badgers, African wild cats, martial & tawny eagles, bateleurs, BBS eagles, greater kestrels, pygmy falcons, crimson breasted shrikes and a few little things like barking geckos, scorpions and the like.
Rather stay at home and watch an hour of it on telly

Hi Bontebok,

If you don't want to stay in too many camps, I would suggest 4 days at TR, 5 days at Nossob and 4 days at KTC.

There are many b&b's around Upington and also a Hotel there.
Maybe a Tourist info booth in a shopping centre (like Canal Walk) would be able to give you some info ?

Dear Forumites,

After visiting SA in 2007 (i.a. Kruger, Golden Gate and Addo) my wife and I were infected by the SA virus, and need to back, which we will do shortly .

We will be visting Kruger and Golden Gate again and then cross the country towards Mokala, Augrabies and Kgalagadi (TR and MM)

My questions are:

Most likely we will be driving a Nissan Xtrail. Is it necessarry to decrease the tire pressure upon entering Kgalagadi at TR, or even before that?

I learn that it is possible to drive from Mata Mata directly over the Nambian border towards Fishriver Canyon.

Is it possible (and necessarry) to pump the tires again at Mata Mata?

Can anyone advise about the borderpost and the roads ahead?

Thanks beforehand for any advise.

Wim

Hi Wim and welcome. I can't answer all your questions, but will do what I can

Decrease the tyre pressure at TR as the road from Upington to TR is now tarred.


Yes, that is correct, but you must do the SA border control part in TR when you arrive, as MataMata will only do the Namibian part.


It is possible as MataMata has a filling station, but, as the roads on the other isde are also gravel, I would wait until you get back onto a tarred road.

Afraid that I can't give you any help on the rest of the roads as we've not been that way -- yet

Because we are very interested in lion, leopard, hyenas etc, Nossop will be a good destination but what about the other camps, as far as predator on four leggs are concerned? How is KTC when it comes to lion? We would like to stay in at least one tented camp.

We wanted to make a reservation at *******Lodge bute they don´t reply

I believe KTC has its fair share of hairy visitors.

What specifically do you want to know Wim?

Thank you BB, what type of car should we rent? I´m thinking of renting something like a Toyota Condor or similar, or would you people rent a 4x4? Is there another company in Upington or only AVIS? My Internet connection is so slow, very difficult to get informations. Thanks to all of you.

My concern it whether it is adviseable to cross the Nambian border at Mata Mata and from there proceed to Fishriver, or rather drive back over TR and then cross the Namibian border at e.g. Rietfontein or even Ariamsvlei. The advise might be based upon the condition of the roads across the border, but as well by a sceneric route towards the SA border. E.g. the road from Bokspits to Rietfontein might be beautifull looking at the card I have, but perhaps that does not give the proper credits to the other route directly from Mata Mata.

Perhaps someone with regional knowledge could give his / her opinion.

There are a lot of rental companies in Upington and are couple of threads on this topic.
If you are not intending to do 4x4 trails, a Condor type vehicle would be in order.
KTC has had a unique experience. Hyenas trapped a wildebeest under unit no 6, and an exciting time was had by the inhabitants of the unit & camp.
Lions walk through, acording to Caracal's trip report. and by all accounts, it can me a bit exciting.