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Thank you Wwalker

Great pix of great sightings. We stayed there for 2 days in October and it is an awesome place.

I have booked to stay at Gharagab on the first evening of 2013! What a way to start the new year!

I have read many reports re the camp and re sightings at the waterhole, on the way to the camp and on leaving the camp.

I sleep at Nossob the previous night, so distance is not a problem. The next evening I need to be in Mata Mata!

I plan to leave Nossob as early as possible, so can easily be at Unions End at around 11am.

My question is:

WIill you stay at Union's End until around 4pm, for any possible sightings on the public road?
Or rather try to be at Gharagab ASAP?

I plan to leave Gharagab around 9am the next morning. Or will you suggest leaving earlier? Not for the distance, but for early morning sightings in the dune area, or between Lijersdraai and Nossob maybe?

Hi ctv4, as the sun sets late that time of the year, you can drive slow and enjoy the scenery.
From Nossop you can drive up to Unions end and then drive to Gharagab.(remember only 4x4)
If you get it lucky maybe you will see lions and/or maybe a leopard.
Remember to take braai wood with.
Enjoy.

Hi ctv4.
Depending on your sightings along the way I would get to Gharagab around 3.30/4pm.
Take your trip from Nossob to UE real slow.There are a number of great waterholes along the way and UE picnic site has a good view and is a lovely place to stop.

You will be travelling through the dunes during the hottest time of the day,when sightings are normally sparse.

After checking in and if there is no action at the camp ask the attendant for permission to drive to Dankbaar waterhole,which is about 4kms from camp on the exit road.
This is a busy waterhole and seeing as you have a long trip the next day,you will not have much time to spend at this waterhole on your way to Mata Mata.
On your return to camp settle in with a cold one,enjoy the sunset and hopefully lots of action at the waterhole.

About Gharagab
Wanted to see a variety of camps as this will be our first and very possibly our only trip to KTP
We are renting a 4X4 so most of the roads in the KTP will probably be OK in Feb with that vehicle
We are suburban folks;used to driving on forest service roads(unimproved roads) in our national forests but not sand
did some of that in Namibia a few years back and it was challenging for my husband

so how bad is the road going in and out? It's a small camp and if we get stuck we might have to wait quite awhile

Staying at Gharagab is a very special experience and I don't think you need to worry or have second thoughts about going there, Judik.

We have not been there in summer, so let's see what more seasoned KTP 'mites advise.

judik, the roads are really terrible, and you need another 4x4, and I can cook as well.

Enjoy, you will be fine.

Ask us just before you leave. We will be using a sedan there, but won't be in Gharagab.
And I am not worried at all.

Hi Judik

We stayed at Gharagab in Nov last year - it has an atmosphere all of its own, and the view of the waterhole was great! Although we didn't see much on the way in/out or while we were there,we enjoyed real "kalahariness" of the place!
The road in was fine, bit corrugated in areas,but no problems. The road out was fine until we had to crest the last dune before joining the loop that joined in to the Union's End-Nossob road - it was quite sandy and someone had got stuck and created some big holes. So we got stuck too. We then did some road works ie filled in the holes,flattened things out and then made it over with no problem.....and we had no sand 4x4 experience! The rest of the roads in the park are fine, if it rains it can get a bit muddy,but it sounds like you guys have more experience with those conditions then us! Feb can be hot, very hot, so drink lots of water and make use of the swimming pools at the camps that have them! Enjoy!!!

Gharagab is well worth visiting - lovely view from camp - waterhole etc. We had great lion sightings at the waterhole, plus brown hyena. Great birds in and around camp.

The roads in and out are not too bad at all. We put our 4x4 into high ratio 4-wheel drive and had no problems at all. The road out has more dunes to cross than the road in - if you are worried, just go into low ratio as you approach them and keep driving steadily.

Don't miss out on a wonderful camp!

Thanks all!
After I posted this question I did a different search on this forum and actually found a thread where someone had linked to a you tube video which showed the road coming out of Gharagab
It took them 3 times but they finally crested that hill!
And actually seeing the road allayed both my husbands and my fears as the road doesn't look anywhere near as bad as the one we were on in Namibia going into Dead Vlei
Looking forward to the solitude and glad I was able to get a bungalow there

That bit of swimming in sand is a little extreme indeed. But there you can not really talk about a road, more a "route that most people take".

Gharagab is a great wilderness camp, we have been there a few times. If your 4x4 have low range you will be good.

We went to Gharaghab in May this year, in our HondaCRV, had no problems at all. The problem with that last dune is that people don't keep momentum going up, you need to approach it a bit faster than normal, keep the revs up and don't stop! Another problem with that last dune is when we crested the dune, and I could let go of my delicate bits..... , immediately on top of the dune, we had a very close encounter with 2 male lions basking in the early morning sun The one male was lying almost in the road, and for a moment we eyeballed each other - my window was open - before the lion jumped up and I shrieked... Had we got stuck and tried to dig ourselves out, we may have become breakfast.
It's a question of momentum, you may hop around inside your vehicle, so keep your seatbelt on, but going off road makes things worse.

What a nice encounter.