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Thank you !!!! We tried in November - at about 2.30 in the afternoon so the sand was hot and loose and our tyres were WAY too high we now realise - about 1.4 I think - got to about 2 metres from the top on our best try where it does a slight bend to left so holding thumbs for you .... only 3 cars in our convoy of 9 got over and Landies ( especially our beloved Defenders) have a bit of a reputation for getting stuck and not having enough momentum for the final push to the top ...

Enjoy the trip and especially the trail - it is so gorgeous - remote and just a thrill to drive so far away from the normal roads - it will still be nice and green in May so that should be great and the weather better than end November when it got up to mid 40's with rain and thunderstorms evry night ... Did you see the photos KG put up on the camera trap thread yesterday of all the lions and hyenas at Witgat ?? Enjoy

Pull away in 2'nd gear LR and then speed up to 3'rd an even 4'th LR - otherwise you won't have enough speed Tyres at 0.8 bar, and not the 0.8 bar you measured when you started the trail early in the morning, because of the heat caused by friction, the warm sand and sun etc, your tyre pressures can go up by 0.4 bar. Measure before you climb Big Bertha.

You can take Switchback's advice Defendef TAZ - he's one of the 3 that got over - first time nogal

April 2 – 5

This week we switched back to running the trail north again, heading out from Twee Riveren towards Witgat on our first day. We had great luck en route to the trail, finding the tiniest baby leopard tortoise I’d ever seen! It was quite clearly less then a year old, and the children I had with this group were all delighted to pet the tiny shell while the tortoise peered at them from between his feet.

This first day was one for the birds! We saw all the usual antelope, but also managed to spot a Bateleur flying overhead, several PCGs (both adults and juveniles), and ostrich. A rarer sight, however, was an African hoopoe which flew along side our convoy for a while, before disappearing up into the dunes.

We were also quite excited to find a fresh set of leopard tracks, not 5 km out from camp, which lead right up to the Witgat waterhole, before vanishing into the bush. It looked like t had wandered through the night before. The first leopard tracks I’ve found on the trail!!

Our first night at Witgat was quiet, right up until the sun rose, when one of my early-rising guests spotted a hyena wandering past the camp site en route to the waterhole while he was watching the sunrise from the safety (and warmth!) of his sleeping bag.

We checked the waterhole, but aside from tracks from the waterhole’s complement of doves, didn’t find any tracks from the night before – even the brown hyena seemed to have bypassed it. So, we set off from camp, enjoying the cool morning air.

Our second day was special for the two black-backed jackals that we spotted, right near the road, that were quite cooperative, standing and peering at us while we peered right back at them. We also saw the usual complement of steenbok, gemsbok, and PCGs, as well as an orchestra of ostrich and a massive herd of hartebeest to round out the day.

That night in Rosynjiebos, we were serenaded over night by a small group of hyenas, which called from a few kilometres away for a good hour or so. Apparently their raucous laughter woke some lions, who then took up the challenge, setting up a nice duet between the two groups, and keeping us awake well into the night – and the next morning! The lions continued calling up until around 8am, but despite crawling onto the roves of our vehicles, we were unable to spot them in the distance. They were not far off – only about 2 or 3kms by our reckoning, but they remained elusive and away from our bustle of setting up camp.

What we did find in camp, however, was no less exciting: caracal prints! The best example, unfortunately, got stepped on before I could snap a photo of this extremely rare find, but t looked like it had wandered into camp in the hopes of avoiding whatever chaos the hyena and lions were up to in the night.

Our third day was excellent for birds, but rather slow on the ground-dwelling sightings. We managed to spot Swallow-tailed bee-eaters, shaft-tailed whydah, a tawny eagle being mobbed by two PCGs, and the usual complement of kori bustards. As for the antelope, we spent lunch with the gemsbok and hartebeest that are the permanent residents of Eileen’s pan, and spotted a few other hers of each with a few steenbok in the mix to keep things lively.

As we got near to camp, we spotted a fresh set of lion prints, and found where they had spent the night. They appeared to have been running about and playing under some trees, as the tracks crisscrossed the sand and our track, before disappearing over the dunes. We continued to camp and set up for another wonderful night under the Kalahari stars, eating dinner while the jackals called nearby.

On our final day, my guests elected to take the bitterpan shortcut off the trail, as they were spending the night in TW, and wanted a slightly shorter drive for the day. We did still manage to find some spectacled mousebirds along the route before I dropped them off in Nossob and ended another wonderful trail!

April 9 – 12

Our first day dawned cold and windy - only 6oC, which felt very brisk after weeks of 30+ temperatures during the day! Despite the chilly breeze, we set off for the trail in high spirits, hoping that the cooler temperature would keep the predators active well into the day.

Indeed, our hope was not misplaced! Not far north of Leeuwdril, we came across a small group of lions near the road! A big male and two females were lying in the grass, focused intently on a small herd of gemsbok that were grazing nearby. We sat with the group for about an hour as the lionesses took turns lying down into the grass, and then sitting up to stare at the gemsbok. However, it was a stalemate: the lions didn’t make any move to stalk the gemsbok, and the gemsbok seemed content to tease both us and the lions by staying put and refusing to move towards or away from the tempted lions. Eventually, we gave up hope of seeing any action, and moved on to start of the trail.

We were greeted at the start of the trail by a large herd of wildebeest and gemsbok, grazing along the riverbed which watched us from a safe distance as I went through my pre-trail briefing and general introduction to dune driving. From there, we continued on seeing several large herds of gemsbok, several groups of ostrich, and some PCGs standing their usual sentinel along the route.

Once we arrived at Witgat (a little later then usual, thanks to the lion-hunt-that-wasn’t), we were delighted to find lion tracks all throughout the campsite. There had been some wind all day, so it was difficult to determine just how fresh they were, but the sheltered ones looked like the lions had spent the night in camp, and had moved out earlier that morning. We set up camp and built up a large fire in the hopes that they would come by and investigate in the night.

Sadly though, the night was quiet, and we couldn’t find any fresh tracks through camp or at the waterhole in the morning. It was probably due to the rather sharp drop in temperature overnight. We woke to a chilly 4oC! Definitely hard to get used to, when I’m so acclimatized to the high 30’s!

We set out from camp and had a rather quiet day, seeing only a few steenbok, ostrich, gemsbok, and the usual PCGs, but we were lucky to spot a bateleur and tawney eagle flying overhead. Our best sighting, by far, was a small group of eland, which actually stood and stared at us for a bit from a distance – very unlike their usual behaviour of disappearing over the dunes before I can even get my hand on my radio! This was the first eland I’d seen in almost a month, so it was great to finally spot them again.

One of my guests were also very lucky to spot a meercat, which dartedout of the long grass and ran along the road in front of them before vanishing into a waiting burrow. They sat and listened to it alarm for a few minutes, before it disappeared for good. We sat and waited in the hopes it would re-emerge, but the little guy remained snug down his hidey hole.

We pulled into camp and set up while the sun slowly set through the trees in Rosyntjiebos, hoping the chill from the night before wouldn’t return… which turned out to be exactly what happened! We spent another chilly evening huddled around the fire while the jackals called in the distance. It seems like winter is finally on the way.

Early the next morning, while we were still breaking down camp, we heard some lions roaring well off in the distance – right in the direction we were heading! We kept our eyes peeled, but unfortunately the lions proved elusive. We did manage to find plenty of gemsbok and hartebeest along the trail – including my usual friends on Eileen’s Pan – and enjoyed the viewpoints from atop some of the highest dunes along the trail.

We pulled into camp and set up while listening to the barking geckos barking and the jackals howling, and enjoyed a much warmer evening after the last two nights of single digit temperatures. We sat around the fire well into the night, enjoying the stars overhead, until we heard a rustling in the grass just on the other side of the vehicles. I went to investigate, and spotted a brown hyena peering at us from the safety of the shadows! I’ve found prints wandering through Swartbas every single time I’ve been there – either when we arrived, or passing through overnight, so it was fantastic to finally see him!

The following morning dawned beautifully clear, and the photographers of the group had great fun chasing swallow-tailed bee-eaters, crimson-breasted shrikes, and a massive praying mantis around the campsite (the mantis was actually quite sedate, actually. Technically they were chasing the 12 year old carrying it around!).

We took to the trail the last day, enjoying views of the usual ‘boks, ostriches, and PCGs, before I dropped every one off at the end of the trail.

April 16 – 19

This trail was extra special for me, as two f my guests were my parents! I was quite excited to lead them out into the bush and show them how I was spending my year in South Africa.

On our way to the trail, we were quite lucky to see several jackals, a tawny eagle, and several bateleurs – including a juvenile flying overhead. However, once we arrived on the trail we immediately got rained on – of course! We were surrounded by massive thunderclouds the entire day, and drove through small patches of rain that ranged from light spitting to sudden downpour.

Despite the dampness, we had quite an active first day, seeing plenty of the usual ‘boks: gemsbok, steenbok, hartebeest, and wildebeest. We also saw several PCGs, kori bustards, and secretary birds. But the most interesting sighting was a nightjar, which had been sleeping in the road until we rudely awoke it. We had excellent timing, driving into camp just as it finished raining itself out, and enjoyed a nice dry evening in camp. It did rain on us overnight, but by that point we were snug in our beds, listening to the patter of raindrops on canvas as well as jackals and lions calling in the distance.

To start off our second day, we wandered down to Witgat’s waterhole, and found some beautifully fresh brown hyena prints that came down to the waterhole shortly after the rain stopped. The prints were extremely crisp, and perfectly showed the clawtips, toes, and pads, as well as the thick fur that intersperse the toes in this species.

Once on the road, we had an excellent bird day, spotting a wide range of really fantastic bird life: spotted dikkops in the shade of a bush, a juvenile bateleur flying overhead, several kori bustards, a lilac-breasted roller, ant-eating chats, two African hoopoes, and a pair of spotted eagle owls sitting in a tree right beside the road.

As for non-bird life on our second day, we saw the usual gemsbok, steenbok and hartebeest – including one gemsbok with a horn that had quite clearly snapped in two! However, the most exciting find of the day was a freshly-dug aardvark hole – right in the middle of our road! It was a good thing I had glanced at the road ahead when I did, otherwise I would have sunk my Hilux straight down to the chassis!

We all got out to investigate, and it looked like the burrow had been dug overnight, as there was no sign of rain disturbing the sand that had been dug out of the hole. As we continued along the trail, we could see his perfectly formed footprints wandering along the road for several kilometres, digging little exploratory holes as it searched for ants and termites, before his tracks disappeared off into the bush. An extremely exciting find!!

We pulled into camp our second night and set up under a beautiful blue sky, with beautiful big puffy clouds covering the horizon in every direction. Our second night was, thankfully, dry, allowing us to dry out our things nicely after the rain of the day before. We had an excellent evening around the fire, and settled in listening to jackals calling in the distance and enjoying a perfectly clear sky above.

Our third day dawned bright and clear, with hardly a cloud in the sky. We set off and used the large dunes of the morning leading out of camp for several of my guests to test out the differential lock system of their vehicles. There was quite some debate between myself and my guests on whether the diff system would make the dune climbing easier or impossible. The debate only ended after each car failed to make it more then half way up the dune with the diff locks engaged!

The trick to dune driving is a combination of momentum and power: having too much of one and not enough of the other is a sure fire way to sink yourself down into the sand. While diff locks will give you plenty of power evenly distributed to all four wheels, your lack of momentum will use that power to quite quickly toss sand into the air as you try to make your way up the steep slopes of a sand dune. I tried to hide my smugness at the results (badly, I’ll admit =D), and after shovelling out the ruts we had created we continued on towards Swartbas.

As we continued along the trail this third day, we had a few wonderful sightings of red hartebeest with some youngsters, steenbok, and gemsbok, as well as some spectacled mousebirds, plenty of pale chanting goshawks, as well as a crimson breasted shrike flying along beside our vehicles, as well as our usual lunch-time companions of gemsbok and hartebeest wandering along Eileen’s pan.

We pulled into camp and set our chairs up in the ample shade of the sweet thorn trees at Swartbas, and enjoyed a fire while the sun set over the dunes. That night, we got to listen to the jackals calling in the distance, and woke the next morning to the sound of lions in the distance.

Our last day was an exciting one. It started off with some beautifully fresh brown hyena prints that wandered through our camp. I was glad to see that I’d not spooked him away when I spotted him last week!

Once on the trail, we did manage to see a porcupine scurrying away from our convoy and up over a dune! I figure it was likely sleeping under one of the many blackthorns in the area, and our passing woke it and scared it off. We didn’t get a great look at it before it vanished, but we got an excellent look at the freshly-made prints as well as the drag marks left behind by the quills. We also saw a heard of hartebeest with some youngsters, black-backed jackals, PCGs, and plenty of both red-crested and black korhaans.

A fantastic end to another amazing trail!

Miros, I'm so glad the trip with your parents went so well!!

We met them at Kieliekrankie and it was so nice to find out how small the world is. Having met you and then chatting to the two people only to find out they are your parents...........

lion queen - silly me - I should have made the connection to this forum when we met at Kieliekrankie. Drat! I would have thanked you personally for the 4x4 rental recommendation. You may have noticed our vehicle in the parking lot at Kieliekrankie - we did take you up on the suggestion you gave us and it worked out very well. The tent was comfy and kept us dry, and the 4x4 helped us over all of the trickier dunes. My apologies for the oversight and thank you again for the recommendation.

We had a great time on the 4x4 trail with Graham - I will post a report and photos here shortly - my DH is just working on the photos.

It was lovely to meet you! Robin

It was a pleasure Robin!!!

and I made fresh can't wait to see those

me too, I'm ready

April 23 – 26

Our first day dawned bright and clear as we set off for the trail. I had 5 cars with me – another full group! The turnout over the last month has been very high – for our trails and for the morning/night drives, all of which has kept me busy and out in the bush – exactly where I want to be!

We set out for the trail and managed to get several excellent sightings en route to the trail. At Leeudril we spotted a couple of black-backed jackals wandering around and investigating our ‘wandering termite mound’ (aka camera trap). They were quite agreeable and posed for us for a few minutes before we continued on. More exciting was our sighting just on the other side of Kij Kij, where we found a small pride of lions basking in the sun looking extremely fat. Only one even bothered to look up as we sat and took pictures of the bunch, the others completely blessed out and in various feline poses of laziness.

Once on the trail, we had the usual accompaniment of game: ostrich, plenty of gemsbok, PCGs flying overhead, steenbok cowering in the bushes, and two black-backed jackals fleeing from our convoy and over the dunes. The most exciting sighting we had was spotted by one of my eagle-eyed guests: a cape cobra investigating a sociable weaver’s nest! We hopped out and watched as the snake wound its way around the tree, keeping way back in case it fell. Amusingly, of all the guests I had, the only two who didn’t want to stand under a tree holding a relatively dangerous snake were the two South African men who looked like semi-pro rugby players! (They claimed they were “allergic to snake bites”!) =D

The one downside of having a very busy month of trails: the dunes are getting rougher! The main reason why we change directions every month (TW to Nossob, and then Nossob to TW) is to help smooth out the bumps and ruts we create by bouncing up and over the dunes. The trail, as it stands now, is certainly getting more and more challenging – we’re getting tossed about and putting our shocks to the test!

We arrived at camp and found a beautiful set of hyena tracks wandering through the camp site, and down to the Witgat waterhole. We also discovered that our shower station had suffered greatly from the last thunderstorm, snapping the thick tree trunk that would normally hoist the shower bag! Thankfully, it was nothing a little manpower, rope, and wire couldn’t fix, and we had everything functional before the sun set.

We rose with the sun on our second day and found a fresh set of lion tracks wandering around the outskirts of our camp. It looked like the lioness came to check out our braii pit before continuing down towards the waterhole and off into the dunes.

After filling our waterbottles from the pump for Witgat’s waterhole (The water is amazing! Freshest in the park!), we spotted a pair of namaqua sand grouse and the black-headed heron flying nearby. They were clearly waiting for us to leave the waterhole, so we started up and headed off into the dunes.

Our second day was quite good for sightings, with frequent groups of gemsbok, steenbok, and PCGs. Added to the mix was a herd of hartebeest which were extremely cooperative, standing in the sun for us while we took pictures and the youngsters peered at us. We also spotted a black-chested snake eagle and a red-necked falcon, who both flew over our convoy while we peered at them from below.

We pulled into camp on the second day and set up camp while the sun slowly sank towards the horizon. We found a set of hyena tracks walking through the camp, looking as though it had wandered through the night before, and we hoped that they might still be in the area so that we might be able to hear them calling in the distance.

Unfortunately, mother nature had other things in mind, and we watched as a large thunderstorm made our way towards us while we ate dinner. We managed to time it perfectly: I quite literally closed the zips on my tent just seconds before the rain started to come down in earnest.

The rain and lightning continued until the early hours of the morning, and it was only then that we heard the jackals calling their dismay at the soaking they had received. The third day dawned cool and – thankfully – dry, and we were quite pleased to see that the sky had cleared. We had a look around camp for any prints, and were able to find fresh tracks of an African wild cat nearby, but nothing larger that had come through the camp in the night.

We set off on the trail and almost instantly had an excellent cheetah sighting! Only 5km out of camp, we saw a lone cheetah sitting sentinel on top of the dune. She was quite cooperative, and sat peering at our convoy from the safety of her perch for a good half hour while we admired her, before she lay down in the shade of a nearby tree.

We continued on and had several other excellent sightings along the trail, including the permanent herds of gemsbok and hartebeest in Eileen’s pan, a spotted eagle owl flying from tree to tree, a bateleur flying overhead, several pale chanting goshawks, and an ostrich that fled quickly over the dunes.

We arrived at Swartbos and I had only just hopped out of the truck to walk my animal check walk when one of my guests radioed to say that a cape cobra had scurried across the trail just in front of them! Two snakes on a single trail! I also managed to find tracks of both a lioness and the resident brown hyena wandering across the camp, but both sets of tracks had been made before the rains came, and I didn’t find any tracks that were extremely fresh.

We set up camp in slightly breezy conditions, but after the rains from the night before, the sand was still quite damp, and none of us were minding the wind, as it kept the humidity and heat in check.

Our last night was nice a quiet, with some jackals calling in the distance, but otherwise uneventful. We rose and set off on our final day, finding several steenbok, hartebeest, PCGs and gemsbok lining our route to the end of the trail.

Howdy all!

I didn't have a trail run this week, so I had some time to edit some of the pictures I've had sitting in my queue! Enjoy!

Robert analyzing some tracks with our guests:

TIMG_6974 - Identifying Tracks by Miros Photography, on Flickr

Robert talking about the Silver Cluster Leaves:

TIMG_7032 - Admiring the View by Miros Photography, on Flickr

From my most recent trail, the female cheetah overlooking the trail:

TIMG_7461 - Cheetah on the Ridge by Miros Photography, on Flickr


TIMG_7447 - Secretary Bird on Nest by Miros Photography, on Flickr

Why do I get to be in the lead all the time? Well... this is one reason:

TIMG_7413 - Aardvark's Hole in our Road by Miros Photography, on Flickr

A Familiar Chat who has taken up residence at Swartbos:

TIMG_7398 - Safety by Miros Photography, on Flickr

Jackal prints wandering through Swartbos:

TIMG_7379 - Black-backed Jackal Print by Miros Photography, on Flickr

A praying mantis that entertained some of the guests' children one morning:

TIMG_7371 - Mantis by Miros Photography, on Flickr

A sunset shot at Swartbos:

TIMG_7361 - Silhouettes by Miros Photography, on Flickr

Lions spotted en route to the trail one week:

TIMG_7344 - Lion in the Grass by Miros Photography, on Flickr

Caracal prints!

TIMG_7300 - Caracal print by Miros Photography, on Flickr

A Jackal beside the trail:

TIMG_7297 - Black-backed Jackal by Miros Photography, on Flickr

A sunrise in Witgat:

TIMG_7228 - Blanket of Cloud at Sunrise by Miros Photography, on Flickr

Witgat camp! Taken the same week as the lion visit we had to the camp (below)

TIMG_7208_PAN - Witgat by Miros Photography, on Flickr

Three shots of the lions that were sitting in Witgat when Rob and I arrived. There were 10 in total - three females and 7 youngish cubs:

TIMG_7185 - The Pride of Witgat 1 by Miros Photography, on Flickr


TIMG_7197 - The Pride of Witgat 2 by Miros Photography, on Flickr


TIMG_7176 - Lurking by Miros Photography, on Flickr (That's our shower station in the background!)

A sunrise in Rosyntjiebos:

TIMG_7125_HDR-PNTRLY - Sunrise over the Kalahari by Miros Photography, on Flickr

And a sunset at the same camp:

TIMG_7116 - In the Weeds by Miros Photography, on Flickr

And, finally, a really (really) large panorama of the view from atop Bertha (for those of who who didn't make it up )

TIMG_7068_PAN - The view from atop Bertha by Miros Photography, on Flickr (click through for a larger version)

Awesome!!!!!

Hi Miros Well, we are back home again and I just wanted to say how great it was to meet you last week - thanks for the lekker night drive last Friday night and for sharing our lunch on Saturday Found any interesting footprints in your garden lately ???

Your photos are absolutely stunning - especially love those sunrise/sunset ones - they are incredible ... and thanks for showing us Robert hard at work too They do help to pass the time till the next visit ( only 6 weeks to go )

Keep well and hope to see you again soon !

So they are hiding at Witgat. Looked all over the place for them.
Miros Nice

Where on a map is Witgat?