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BluTuna goes West

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Junior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:45 am
Posts: 335
Location: Back home in the ratrace.
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Fri May 31, 2013 2:14 pm Unread post
Since I was at primary school I've been told to "Go West young man". They think they are being funny but it got old really quickly. I usually treat the instruction with the contempt it deserves but as July marks the 10th anniversary of our first and only KTP trip I thought that it was time to GO WEST again.

I have mixed recollections about the first trip, the most enduring was the state of the roads.

The last 60Kms of the R360 before Twee Rivieren still ranks as the worst piece of public highway that I've ever driven on, the washboard effect was so bad that it took 90 minutes to cover the distance.

The roads inside the Park were not much better and the excuse was that the KTP's grader was broken so we had bad 'vibes' for the whole holiday. My poor old Toyota Venture never recovered from the trip.

I swore that I would not return until the R360 was fixed and last year I learned that it has been tarred, so, KTP here we come.

I also remember the good vibes - the eye-popping scenery, the exquisite morning and afternoon light, the magnificent vista of the Milky-Way at night, the exotic animals and birds that we don't see in the KNP and how numbingly cold it was in the early morning :)

We are setting off early on Saturday 1 June from Johannesburg and are overnighting at Kahalhari Guest House which is 50kms north of Upington on the R360. An early start from there should get us into the park and up to Mata Mata for our first night with plenty of time to spare.

You will have to wait until we get back to civilisation before you get to hear about our adventures unless I get the itch to do something when we are staying at Twee Rivieren.

Meanwhile, here are some of the pictures I took way back in July 2003.

Spingboks
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A slightly blurry Bat-Eared Fox - the best pic I managed of this animal
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Yellow Mongoose
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Ground squirrel
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Oryxes
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A Camelthorn tree with Sociable Weaver nests
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A BBJ
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And some that my son took on the same trip :-

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Re: BluTuna goes West

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Legendary Virtual Ranger
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 8:47 pm
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Location: meandering between senility and menopause
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Fri May 31, 2013 2:22 pm Unread post
I am looking forward to more. 8)

Love the little meercat. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

:popcorn:


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Virtual Ranger
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:57 pm
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Location: 2012 km..... to Paradise
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Fri May 31, 2013 2:22 pm Unread post
BluTuna

Have a safe trip tomorrow. :pray: ...Wishing you great sightings and have a wonderful time. :thumbs_up:

Ready and waiting this side to read all about it. :dance:


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Junior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:44 pm
Posts: 542
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Fri May 31, 2013 5:02 pm Unread post
Thanks for the appetizer from a previous trip. :cool:

Travel safely and best wishes for a most enjoyable time and even more awesome sightings, BluTuna!


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Junior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:46 pm
Posts: 140
Location: Calitzdorp, Little Karoo
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Fri May 31, 2013 6:46 pm Unread post
BT
Travel safe -- i am on board for the trip report


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Legendary Virtual Ranger
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Location: Lausanne (Switzerland)
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Fri May 31, 2013 9:39 pm Unread post
:dance: one more to Kgalagadi

have a safe travel, magnificent sightings :thumbs_up:
and try to have some pictures of Gertie and the 3 little ones :pray:


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Junior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:45 am
Posts: 335
Location: Back home in the ratrace.
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Fri May 31, 2013 9:54 pm Unread post
Thanks for the good wishes everybody. Time to get some shut-eye, it's going to be a loooooong day tomorrow.


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Junior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:45 am
Posts: 335
Location: Back home in the ratrace.
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Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:43 am Unread post
We're back in the Jo'burg ratrace after our KTP odyssey. Over the course of our trip we've had up, downs, barely averted disaster and had threats of law suits against us :big_eyes:

Coming up, the long journey to Upington and beyond....


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Junior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:45 am
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Location: Back home in the ratrace.
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Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:46 am Unread post
Day minus 1, Saturday June 1, Johannesburg -> Kalahari Guest House.

Amazingly, we were on the road at 07:30 for the 850Km trek to our overnight stop just north of Upington but about 10 minutes later the SO realised that she hadn't put her medications in the car. We were lucky we had only been going for 10 minutes!

Amazingly, we were on the road at 08:00 for the 850Km trek to our overnight stop just north of Upington - with the medications. It was a long journey but the BluTuna never missed a beat, eating up the kilometres with ease on single carriageway but well maintained roads. We were loaded to the gunnels, I had to sit on the trailer lid to get it closed and the tent was strapped to the top it. The back of the car was full up with a valley down the middle so we could see the trailer in the rear-view mirror.

We stopped at Ventersdorp for some brunch which took about an hour and there were some road works outside Delareyville and more on the approach to Kuruman which cost another hour or so. Between Olifantshoek and Upington was a 160Km stretch of open road where we upped the speed a bit and flew along but I had to stop and get the camera out for these scenic views.

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We arrived at the Kalahari Guest House at about 19:30 to find the place seemingly deserted and we stumbled around the place for a while before we found someone. I had been trying to phone them but kept getting errors and I later found that they only have MTN service and not Vodacom that we both use.

The guest house was very comfortable and we got settled in and scoffed down some home made soup we'd brought along before I went outside to try some night photography.

This was the first time I'd tried this with a digital camera and I didn't quite get the settings right. This was the best I managed, the exposure time is too long (2 mins) which makes the stars into lines and not points. I tried some more of this later in the trip with much better results.

Image


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Junior Virtual Ranger
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:51 pm
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Location: Mpumalanga; SA
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Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:51 am Unread post
Great scenery BluTuna 8)

and a great start to your trip :dance: :dance:

Looking forward to more!

:popcorn:


Re: BluTuna goes West

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Forum Assistant
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:39 am
Posts: 5755
Location: Pretoria SA
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Wed Jun 19, 2013 12:43 pm Unread post
Aaahhh! Another BluTuna trip report! :clap: :clap:

I love your pictures from 2003! Looking forward to read all about this trip! :dance: :dance:
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