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News from Penny is that they developed vehicle problems before they got to Bloemfontein, managed to get to the dealer there who would only have the vehicle ready at about 5p.m - repairs resulted in a bit of a dent in their wallets. They are now overnighting in Bloem instead of Upington - they managed to get into a very nice B & B and will make an early start tomorrow for Twee Rivieren.

Hot off the Press from Penny

“Having the most awesome trip with 30 different lion, beautiful cheetah and met Gus Mills . Jackal coming out of our ears & moving stuff when jackal tried to hunt cape fox cubs. 5 deg C this morning & doing night drive tonight."

Report in from Penny this afternoon, great that they are back in communication again, I think,

"Got our Leopard this morning, first of them in 2 weeks. This afternoon off to find more Cheetah and Lions and whatever else comes our way.
Tomorrow we sadly leave for Kimberley en route back home."

Looking forward to an awesome trip report soon.

We saw 30 different lion on our trip and if we had to count the times we saw them more than once our sighting would have come to over a 100!

I promise that I will put my mind to this report and Pics this weekend - or make a start anyway!

KGALAGADI TRANS FRONTIER PARK
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006 TRIP REPORT

PART 1

Ok don't fall off your chairs I have finally got my brain (a small portion of it anyway) round putting photographs in a report so am going to attempt it. Jumbo has painstakingly put it down in an e mail - word for word and step by step BUT don't expect wondrous things because it could all just fall apart at the seams but here goes anyway!!!!!!

This trip has been 2 years in the planning and was a total breakaway from the norm for us. We are Kruger Park addicts and those of you who know our family well will also know that our addiction has spilled over to our children as our son is a Game Ranger (currently finding himself in the USA) and our daughter and her husband came on the KTP trip with us - such is their interest in all things wildlife orientated.

Given the distance we had to travel 1 560 kms for us Durbanites (one way) we knew we had to spend at least 2 weeks in the Park. The least we say about the disastrous trip up the better but suffice to say that the car breaking down in Bloemfontein and having to have a new clutch plate, pressure plate and some other cylinder replaced left a serious dent in our wallets and we had to try and lift ourselves over this to get in the mood for KTP.

We arrived at the gate at approximately 3 p.m. on the first day and formalities complete found our accommodation and swiftly unpacked the cold stuff and were off for a drive. The first day's afternoon drive produced a little lion head at the top of a dune but it disappeared so fast we did not have time for a photograph. We did however catch our first sighting of the ubiquitious Gemsbok and Springbok together with a couple of jackal. Back at camp we were fascinated by the squirrels eating the flowers that carpeted the bank in front of our lodge and the yellow mongoose who made himself quite at home at our feet! That night we had drinks with Herman and Petro who are delightful people that we met again several times in the actual Park.

We only had one night at Twee Rivieren and the next day were up bright and early for the long drive to Kalhari Tented Camp.

UP TO KTC

We left TR bright and early and were rewarded with a Giant Eagle Owl in the trees near Auchterlone. We were fascinated by this reconstruction together with some of the original features of the cattle pens and boreholes used by the cattle ranchers who maintained the boreholes.
Later on in the drive our attention was drawn to a stalking AFW who promptly pounced on a whistling rat and killed it - all much too fast to even contemplate reaching for the camera we just enjoyed the moment. It was somewhat unsure of itself thereafter and did not quite know whether to stick around or not.
Lovely herds of Wildebeest now started to appear fairly regularly in the Auob river bed. It beats me how anything that looks so stupid can be on the KwaZulu Natal emblem!!!! Gemsbok of course abounded as did Springbok!!!!





Auchterlone



Wildebeest





Springbok herd



Our arrival at KTC was somewhat hot and bothered as the air con in the bus had packed up as we left TR - the poor old bus methinks is on its last legs. It was blazing hot and I contemplated a dip in the pool until I felt the water - it was freezing! As a swimming teacher I am kind of naffy as our pool is permanently heated to 32 degrees so decided to pass on the swim.
We found that KTC had been subjected to heavy winds and one of the "tents" had no top roof due to these winds. This meant that our party of 6 would have to be separated and in in an unfenced camp when one tent is responsible for all the catering this proved to be somewhat awkward. The food was spread between 3 fridges - 2 of which proceeded to go on the blink on the first night. The other tent was also without some top portions rendering it impossibly hot in the night and very noisy.
We discovered that a good tip when not in camp is to leave the kitchen area zipped up as the wind kept blowing out the pilot light on the gas fridge.
We were enthralled with the situation of KTC but were bitterly disappointed to discover no water in the waterhole and hence very few animals in the riverbed. Note the hyaena in the picture but I did want to show the roof cover all blown off!

The afternoon drive saw us going back down South to the Craig Lockhat waterhole where our patience was rewarded with the visitation of 2 young male lions and a female.
Jackal also seemed to favour this waterhole but it was hellishly amusing watching the poor things braving the ever present swarm of bees that frequent virtually every waterhole in KTP. At one stage one of them got stung on the nose and was clearly unimpressed by the experience. That afternoon drive also brought another two AFW cats and our first sighting of a Cape cobra.















It did not take long that evening for the genet to come calling - unfortunately too dark for a pic!

I am ashamed to say that our bravery at sleeping in an unfenced camp with zipped flaps for doors was shortlived and that night I made my hubby pull the wooden kist across the doorway when we retired for the night.
I also wonder at the economic ramifications of having chosen canvas above the sandbags as although KTC is relatively new it is clear that moving parts like zips etc are taking huge strain. None of the velcro on our window openings worked and although it was fine the first night our next two nights turned bitterly cold and the wind fairly whistled through our bedroom. My teeth chattered so loudly on getting out the shower one evening I nearly contemplated filling my hot water bottle but fear of going to the kitchen at night by myself across the open patio area precluded that!!
These camps cost a fair whack more than the accommodation at both Nossob and Mata Mata and clearly major maintenance problems are going to loom!

DAY 2 AT KTC

Shewwwwww this little waterhole with the kind of out of place Scottish name of Craig Lockhat was sure good to us - our morning drive found us back there again and low and behold this time we had 7 lion all drinking, greeting each other and coming right between the cars.
One of the females was obviously very pregnant and it was clear that the young males were from one of her previous litters. There were quite a lot of cars present and we gathered that not much had been seen until this pride pitched up so considered ourselves somewhat fortunate.
It was here that we met Dreamer's family !















Back to camp for breakfast and then a drive up to Mata Mata in the quest for ice for our evening drinks as by now the fridge story was becoming a bit of a disaster.
On the way up a car passed us and then reversed on seeing our yellow ribbon - at last I get to meet Dreamer and family who we then also bumped into several times again.

We were very lucky to find a White faced owl in camp (note how he elongates his body to appear larger) and the most gorgeous barn owls roosting in a disused water tower behind the shop. If you look at the floor on which they are sitting you will see that it was completely covered in their pellets.
As we drove out of Mata Mata we had a distant sighting of our Meerkats.
This was something I could not quite get my head around - I had kind of thought that brown hyaena and meerkats would abound in KTC but they DONT!
Anyway at least we saw them and this was to be one of only two sightings in the whole trip.

White Faced Owl





Barn Owls





Meerkats



Our afternoon drive produced very little as was to become the norm.
It did however produce the first really bad behaviour from a tourist who not only went up the no entry road alongside the Craig Lockhat waterhole but then proceeded to dune bash on either side looking for the lion from the morning who had decamped to the other side of the dune.
His number was duly noted down and reported by at least 4 vehicles.
We learned later that he had been given a warning - in our view he should have been asked to leave the Park immediately!

Day 3 at KTC

This was to be one of the most exciting days as it produced our first cheetah sighting as well as the most magnificent lion sighting.

But first we came across giraffe at the top of the dunes - it sort of seems out of place to see these elegant animals in this terrain but we did consider ourselves lucky to have seen them. Ostrich were also around in fairly large numbers.
In Kruger these are not seen that frequently whereas in KTP they abound!
We also had both Secretary bird and jackal cross the road in front of us!

Giraffe



Ostrich



Jackal



Secretary bird



Cheetah



Our first cheetah sighting was not as spectacular as the second but still worth a mention.

Then came our best sighting of the trip thus far - two magnificent male lions who we tracked and followed - occasionally losing them in the river bed and trying to outthink what their next move might be.
One of them had a fair number of porcupine quills stuck in his chest and we were reminded what the lady camp manager at Mata Mata told us that porcupines make up 30% of lion's kills in KTP - she said they have become adept at giving them a smack with their huge paws on the nose rather than face the nasty quills at the other end.

Male Lions









Our afternoon drive took us down towards the three loops that ran off the main road (South).
At Dalkeith waterhole we saw a Kori Bustard suddenly take off and wondered what at frightened him. We then noticed a large lion lying very flat.
We were later to learn that the two males we had seen previously during the day had beaten this other male up and that he had a broken jaw. I believe he was seen far closer to the waterhole a few days later but surely did not have long to live in that condition. Hopefully his passing would not have been too long in the offing.
We met up with Dreamer and family again! We did not linger but drove home finding a hyaena on the dune just outside camp.
We drove into camp and discovered a whole clan surrounding our tent. They were extremely interested in all the smells and only deigned to move off when we banged on the side of the vehicle and revved the engine.
We certainly were relieved to see them in the riverbed shortly thereafter but made sure that the door to the bedroom was thoroughly sealed after this visitation.
Note silhouette against the sandbag wall!



A big thank you to Bush Baptist who came especially to KTC in his fire engine to look us up - sorry you caught me in the shower and even sorrier that we could not have had a longer chin wag!

This was our last night at KTC and the next morning we were off to Kielie Krankie.

Penny
Thoroughly enjoying reading your report. It makes such a difference reading when you have actually met up with someone. BTW, LMHO, we met up with you a day earlier than you mentioned You did say you were hot, also tired, had enjoyed the previous evening, , with Herman and Co so we'll excuse you!!
Glad you found the barn owls above the water tank, weren't they tooo cute!!

DAY 1 AT KIELIE KRANKIE

It was with a great sense of anticipation that we set off for Kielie Krankie as so many forumites had been effusive in their praise of this little camp and its unique setting.

We left KTC having been informed that there were lion on a kill just South of Montrose. Sure enough there they were 3 females under a tree with a Gemsbok kill. They clearly were not going anywhere in a hurry and there was still a fair bit of meat on the carcass so we left them and headed on to Kielie Krankie.

Kill under tree



We were fascinated by the huge sociable weaver nests and wondered how long it would take before this particular one would send the branches it was attached to crashing to the ground.



We had already decided to get to Kielie Krankie and then as some folk in our party needed to put out fires at work places a trip into Twee Rivieren on the first day was compulsory. It also afforded us the chance of buying drinkable ice and bread!

On the way into TR we came across this Bat Eared Fox who did not look 100%. It seemed strange that he/she was about at midday in such hot temperatures.

Bat Eared Fox



Kielie Krankie is the most awesome camp.
We were absolutely taken aback by the sheer magnitude of the view from the decks as well as being amidst the red dunes. Unloading was a pain as the back of the camp from which you access the walkways is set on a steep slope and the pathway leading to our units was treacherous in its slant. We were very ginger when it came to walking backwards and forwards to the car!

Lots of people have posted pics of this camp but I will include just a few to give folk the idea of what it looks like. The noise from the barking geckoes here was the loudest we experienced anyway in KTP and clearly the situation of the units on the side of what is almost like a crater must magnify the sound of these little reptiles.
They were not beyond visiting the passageways leading to each unit to feast off the flying insects attracted by the lights.

Side view Kielie Krankie



Waterhole with Secretary bird



Geckoes





Deck


Bedroom



Sunset

Day 2 at Kielie Krankie

The next morning we headed up to see how the lions were doing on the kill and found only 1 female in attendance with jackal hiding behind every bush waiting for their chance.

Lioness


We were fascinated at how few vultures we saw in KTP and clearly the hyaena and jackal do an excellent job clearing up after kills!

We headed up towards KTC and then turned and came back down South - suddenly we noticed a vehicle parked to the one side of the road - we stopped about 50 metres before them and suddenly she was there - a beautiful cheetah against the shale dune.
She was extremely alert and the reason for this was a herd of about 60 Springbok in the riverbed slightly further down the road.
To our astonishment she went down in a full crouch and it became clear that she was in "hunt" mode. Then inch by inch she lifted each foot with her shoulders raised and it staggered us when we realised that she was actually using our vehicle to shield herself from view of the Springbuck.
Then she burst across the road in a flurry and the herd of Springbuck took off up the river bed creating a huge cloud of dust.
Having missed out on her objective she was then joined by what appeared to be an older cheetah. Upon drawing alongside the other vehicle we discovered that it was non other than Dr. Gus Mills - we renewed our acquaintance (we had met him in KNP many years previously) and he told us that is was a mother cheetah with her daughter.
She was clearly showing a bit of inexperience at hunting and Dr. Mills did not think it would be long before the mother got involved in the hunt as he said that they had not eaten for several days. What an exhilarating, awesome experience!

Cheetah stalking







Cheetah in road



Mother and daughter back in the shade



We headed back to camp very satisfied with the morning and its viewing.

By the afternoon drive the lion were no longer at the kill but we did find 26 jackal in attendance and this sociable weaver's nest made for a good picture.

Nest on Tree



That evening when we got back to camp we followed an AFW cat at the waterhole for some time with our torches and a little later when we went to fetch something from our trailer the Camp Attendant drew our attention to the fact that she had now moved up to the camp parking area with her kittens. One peeped at us through the garbage at the rear of his tent whilst the others hid under a bush.

AFW cat amidst the garbage



Under a bush



Another kitten



And another



Another glorious sunset to end the evening

Sunset


Be prepared to be bowled over by this magnificent little camp but sadly the Camp attendant could do a lot more to oblige. Our tent was not cleaned once whilst we were there nor was our garbage emptied or the bathroom seen to.
A little willingness would be richly rewarded by folk who are on holiday!

Our next day saw us depart for the looooonnnnnngggggg drive up to Nossob which we were looking forward to. It would mean that for the first time we could unpack and take stock properly of catering etc as we were to be at Nossob for 5 days.

BTW - do not be fooled or misled by the distances and travel times in the book bought at reception as they are totally wrong!!!!! It took us 6 hours to get to Nossob and we had a very dry run so did not dilly dally on the way but kept to our speed limit!

NOSSOB AND BEYOND

As previously stated it did not take us long to establish that the trip up to Nossob was going to be a long tiring one.
Game viewing is really not much of an option when one is towing a trailer. The general consensus was to leave bright and early (as soon as we were allowed to) and have time to settle in at Nossob and perhaps do an afternoon drive.
The plan was to have jaffels at the picnic site at Dikbaardskolk.
The bottom dune road towards the Nossob River Bed brought 2 bat eared foxes and then just after Melkvlei we found 5 spotted eagle owls in a tree.

Bat Eared Fox



The rest of the trip up to Dikbaardskolk produced very little in game viewing with the ubiquitous ostrich, gemsbok and jackal making up for most of the sightings.
One of the jackal we filmed seemed to be asleep on his feet.



On arrival at Dikbaardskolk there was a general exodus from the bus of toilet desperate travellers. Just as we were about to walk over to the toilets a gentleman in another vehicle warned us that we should make a quick stop if really necessary but should not attempt to eat there as the picnic site was overrun by a swarm of bees. He said one of his children had already been stung.
Indeed this was the case so we beat a hasty retreat after using the ablutions (mighty fast I might add) and drove up the road for 1 km where we found a laybye that was shaded where we could eat our jaffels in the vehicle.
Before Nossob we came across another Bat Eared Fox in the distance and an African Wild Cat.

AFWC



We had met some folk on the road who had warned us that they had not had any water at Nossob for 2 days so we were a little worried.
Hot and weary we all needed a shower to revive ourselves. Alas this was not to be and indeed Nossob camp was without water - later the rest of the camp's water supply was restored but we had to wait till the evening to shower!
We were in No. 10 A just behind the gates and the closed in passage to the hide.

Family cottage - No. 10 A



Nossob gate



Right outside our bedroom window was a cement trough where we were able to view the beautiful violet eared waxbill as well as the crimson breasted shrike. It is almost immoral that such a beautiful bird occurs in such an arid region. Its colours are more synonymous with a tropical rain forest.

Violet Eared Waxbill



Shrike



That evening we could not wait to go down to the hide to see what would possibly come to drink. What a revelation on our first little jaunt down we saw Bat Eared Fox using the light to hunt insects, 5 jackal, a Brown Hyaena and a spotted dikkop (now known as a thick knee).

We had been warned that when the jackal (in camp) started to yowl then we would know the lion were coming and that is exactly what happened. Back to the hide we skedaddled just in time to see a lovely mating pair come through to drink. The lion also started to call and this in turn got the jackal going even louder - really quite eerie!

The next morning we were out bright and early for our second day at Nossob and clearly we were heading in one direction - Marie se Draai.
We had already been warned that there was a Cape Fox den 500 metres from the gat on the Twee Rivieren so we set off to find it. And find it we did.
Both parents were in attendance and the 3 cubs were playing close to the den. It was quite cute the way they would disappear down one hole only to appear seconds later from a different one.
Clearly there is a labyrinth of tunnels below ground which they need to hide in when danger lurks.

Cape Fox and cubs











We spent a pleasurable hour with the family and then back to camp for breakfast.
Just outside Nossob we found our mating pair from the previous night flat out in the grass alongside the road. One of the things that intrigued us in KTP that when encountering mating pairs of lion we never actually saw them mating. In Kruger they mate every 12 mins or so - maybe it is just too hot to make the effort in KTP.

Flat lion



There was never a dull moment in camp and the squirrels provided us with endless entertainment as did the yellow mongoose who spent a lot of time with his back legs spread out to get as much of his tummy on our front verandah for coolness!
It did not take the squirrels long to find the rice that I dropped all over the kitchen floor and then had to end up sweeping out the door. It fascinated us the way they used their tails as umbrellas to shield them from the hot sun.

Mongoose





Squirrel





That evening produced more special viewing at the hide with another mating pair this time the dark maned male made an appearance. We have been told that these two majestic males are the offspring of Ousus.
2 African Wild cats put in an appearance as did the Bat eared foxes. Unfortunately only video filming was possible with the light.
Each night we had the barn owls screeching and swooping down to the edge of the waterhole and then flying off again - at one stage we had 5 of them flying around!