Katydownunder & Francolin-KTP Adventures Nov 2010

[katydownunder]

Well indeed we are back to cold, grey and, at the moment, rainy Germany.....
Only two weeks have passed since our return and we are already feeling "homesick" again and would loved to be back to KTP.
It was once again an awesome, sometimes even mind-blowing time we spend there.

I have already posted one of our absolute once in a lifetime sightings of this trip in Arid Parks.
So here is the link for all those who might have missed it so far

Now I have to work my way through hundreds (and more) pics and hours of video footage, but hopefully soon a proper trip report is going to start.....

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[katydownunder]

Well here we go

01.11.

We were relieved when finally the recption and entrance gate came into sight.
Loads of familiar faces greated us with a smile and as always the words " Welcome back" made us very happy.
Indeed it was good to be back again!
Checking in was done in no time and we move into our bungalow.
Unpacking the car....Geez! We nearly had forgotten how hot it can be in the Kalahari

So we enjoyed an ice cold coke and the company of the Twee Rivieren Mongooses and some birds, that came to visit our newly bought bird bath ( a plastic plate that did serve us well on our trip).

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Although it was quite late we decided to go on a drive towards Leeuwdril. We haven't been able to drive that road for such a long and simply could not wait to do it again....

It was a hot and very quiet afternoon. But then we spotted this beautiful Tortoise.

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Isn't it amazing how fast they can be, making it quite hard to take a decent pic ?!

The road was very pleasnt to drive and so we arrived at Leeuwdril very relaxed.
We stopped and waited for things to come.

A Jackal came for a drink and we were happy with that sighting as we love the Jackals of the Kalahari.

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Then on the way back we spotted our first Owl on this trip...
A Spotted Eagle Owl eyed us from her place in a tree.

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A lovely start of our trip. In the evening we went to the restaurant.
We just felt like being back "home"....

[katydownunder]

Oops forgot to post a video we took at Samevloeiing on our first evening....

[katydownunder]

02.11.10

Well that day already started unbelievably hot.
Not only hot, but very windy as well.
We slowly made our way towards Samevloeiing.
Here we met our friends the Oryx again, and already here you can see how windy it was.

Then we once again commenced our way though the dunes towards the Aoub riverbed.
Along the way two Ostriches stopped us as they wanted to cross the road (of course) right in front of our car
Then they walked off into the dunes again.

We already knew that this was going to be a quiet day.
It was far too hot and too windy.
Yet still we enjoyed driving through this wonderful landscape. We were back "home"...

At one of the waterholes north of Houmoed we met even more Oryx and an Ostrich in the heavy wind.

There was a lot of dust in the air all along the riverbed.

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We stopped at Auchterlonie, had a little breakfast garnished with sand and decided to return back to Twee Rivieren.

On the way back we spotted our first Cape Cobra on this years trip.

I know some people don't like them, but we always love snake sightings. Especially when we are in a car

Back at camp the heat was nearly unbearable.
With this wind it felt as if someone was using a gigantic hair dryer....

As we sat outside our bungalow a couple of White-backed Mousebirds kept us entertained.

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Of course we could not resist to go for another drive in the afternoon.
And we were rewarded with two different Scrub Hare sightings.

The first one was a little bit shy...

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And the second one a little bit sleepy

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That evening we had a lovely thunderstorm which really cleared the air.
Hopefully the next day was not going to be that hot again.....

[katydownunder]

03.11.10

Well today it was time to leave Twee Rivieren.
Our new home for the next couple of nights, Kalahari Tented Camp.

So we packed once again all our stuff into the car and left TR in the hope of new adventures...

We slowly made our way over the dunes and soon the Aoub Riverbed came into sight.
Our first sighting of the morning was a Heron at Houmoed waterhole.

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Last year we had been blessed with many wonderful Meerkat sightings here.
This year it was more quiet.
But shortly after we talked about that we discovered a movement not far from the road.
And indeed here they were again, our beloved Meerkats...

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Although the day was not as hot as the day before, dozens of Springboks were searching for some shade under one of the Camelthorn Trees.

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We had our usual stop at Auchterlonie before carrying on our way north.
After we had passed Gemsbokplein I detected a strange movement on top of the ridge....
Having a closer look I discovered that it was a Procupine

We followed the Porcupine for quite a while. Wow was it fast

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Along the way I could not resist to take yet another photo of one of those Beautiful Bee-eaters...

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And at one of the waterholes we discovered some Ostriches with (unfortunately only...) 2 chicks...

Then we finally arrived at Kalahari Tented Camp.
How wonderful to be back again. We got a nice tent with view to the waterhole and unpacked our car.
Of course we went for another afternoon drive later on...

A Hoopoe sat still long enough for a decent pic

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And on the way back to the camp we spotted one of "our" Owls again.
A Spotted Eagle Owl.

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And a little later one of those beautiful looking Sandgrouses.

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Back at the camp we had a braai, listened to the Barking Geckos and watched the glorious Kalahari night sky......
Now we were back to paradise.......

[katydownunder]

04.11.10

We heard Hyenas during the night, but only very far away.
That morning we had a a kind did not start too early. Instead we enjoyed the view from our tent and the beautiful landscape.

Our first sighting of the morning was a Giraffe.

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And later this little yellow fellow at Dalkeith.

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We were slowly making our way to the 14th Borehole when we suddenly detected a movement in the riverbed.
At first we thought Oryx, but then we realised that this was the typical walk of a cat.
In fact 5 cats, 5 beautiful Lions were making their way to the waterhole.
So we drove past them and waited for their arrival.

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We were not the only ones at the waterhole waiting for the Lions, there were some Oryx too. And they did not like what they saw...

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Then the Lions arrived one by one...
They must have had a great meal, look at their bellies....

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Isn't she beautiful...

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They were really very thirsty..

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Then they left, again one by one, to have a nap under a tree close-by.

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Sorry for so many Lion pics, but it was such a nice sighting and for a change the Lions were not sleeping in a far distance

So after the action was over, we decided to leave.
At the 13th Borehole we met some more Giraffes.

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Back at the 14th we sighted a Striped Kingfisher in the tree close to the waterhole (the Lions were still under their tree...)

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Now it was time to drive to Mata Mata.
We had an appointment there.
p@m and SO were staying in one of the new bungalows. And they invited us over for a cool drink.
It was so nice to meet the two of you and to chat about all yours and our sightings.
Hopefully we will see you the next time around as well

It was another hot day and the clouds were getting bigger and bigger.
The afternoon was quiet. But we were able to spot the Giant Eagle Owl at Craig Lockhardt.

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We drove past the waterhole, but everything was indeed very quiet.
At Craig Lockhardt I took a pic of the amazing light. The sky look as if it was going to rain later on, but there was not a single drop...

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What another brilliant day in the Kalahari

[katydownunder]

05.11.10

Well that morning we made our way once again very slowly towards the direction of the boreholes.
We passed Sitzas, but found nothing.
Then a car stopped and told us, that a little further down the road there were Lions quite close by the road.
So we carried on with pleasant anticipation.

And indeed here they were and they even had two cubs....
They rested under a measly tree
Well at least that tree provided a bit of shade.

We watched them for a long while. Only one other car was there with us and as measured by the big smiles on their faces they had fun too....

So here are more Lion pics

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Watch out I am a big dangerous Lion (to be) ...

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One of the two males.

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And the second.

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I could not get enough of the cute cubs....

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Come play with me...

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Now I am tired Mummy...

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Then they got up and walked way into the direction of the riverbed...

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After that they lied down for a little rest under a tree, but later they were gone....
What a way to start a day with a sighting like this

Oops, forgot the video, now added....

[katydownunder]

After the Lions had left, it was time for us as well to leave again fort he southern direction.
At Craig Lockhardt we saw dozens of Sandgrouses.
I just love the sound, this is one of the sounds of the Kalahari, like the Jackals, the Barking Geckos, the Lions etc.

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At the 13th Borehole a couple of Ostriches quenched their thirst.

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Later we sighted one of the beautiful and so delicate Pygmy Falcons.

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And a few kilometres up the road a Sandsnake. Thank god although right in the middle of the road and lying there like a pillar of salt, still alive….
We stopped as long as the little Snake needed to cross the road.

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We met p@m and so again on the road and they told us that they had spotted a Scops Owl in one of the trees close to Craig Lockhardt.
So again we had something to look forward to.
But first a couple of kilometres before reaching Craig Lockhardt we sighted something from the corner of our eyes that looked like a fur cap..

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And we instantly knew, Wildcat…

I stopped and due to our driving to get a better view, the Cat woke up and eyed us suspiciously…

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We backed up even further and there she was and so beautiful…

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She got more and more nervous and so we left her alone…
We then came closer and closer to Craig Lockhardt, but instead of spotting p@m Scops Owl, we spotted something quite unusual.

A Jacobin Cuckoo.

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And in another tree we spotted an African Cuckoo.

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And at Craig Lockhardt a Drongo, who looked at us in a very strange way…

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Shortly before we reached KTC again, a Mongoose crossed the road right in front of us.
And soon disappeared in some dry bushes.

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Now it was time for our usual siesta.
Later that afternoon, we drove up to Mata Mata for some shopping. Just before we entered the main camp gate, we discovered a group of Meerkats. We stopped and they were gone in seconds.

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Of course we wanted to drive to the boreholes again.
Just as we reached the turnoff to the 14th Borehole we discovered Cheetahs on top of one of the dunes.
Unfortunately they were quite far away and as it seems not in the mood to come down into the riverbed.

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It was getting later and later and so it was time to leave.
We were rewarded with a lovely sunset and some Giraffes before we reached our home.

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And yet again, what a day…….

[katydownunder]

06.11.10

So this was already our last full day in KTC before moving south to another of our favourite camps, Urikaruus.

But once again we were slowly moving southwards to the direction of the boreholes.
The day started like the last day ended with a Giraffe sighting.
This time two cute little ones together with the whole family.
It seems that the Giraffes like the Kalahari very much and the hers are getting bigger and bigger.
On one occasion we counted around 17 Giraffes (or more) in one spot....

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The way along the boreholes was very quiet.
On the way back we stopped at "our" Owl tree and indeed she/he was at home...

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It was a quiet day, but then are there really quiet days in KTP ?!
I don't think so....

Well it was certainly not quiet in the camp
A large flock of Crows (about 14) had moved in and made a hell of a row. They preferred the tree that was standing right in front of our bedroom window
So no siesta today...

In the afternoon we left for yet another drive.
Just as we had driven down the second hill after leaving KTC we observed the greeting of two Jackals.
I love to observe this kind of interaction and so we stopped for a while.

At Craig Lockhardt one of those fast mowing Crimson Breasted Shrikes was hunting in the trees close to the waterhole.

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It was yet another very hot afternoon and so there was not much movement along our way...

Then at the 14th borehole we were surprised to see our group of 5 Lions again.
Two of the youngsters were fairly awake, while the others were still in some sort of coma under a tree

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Then one of them got up and came over to the waterhole for a little sip..

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The brothers..

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Then it was time for the second one to have a drink.

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See, they want to be big bad Lions and are still interested in the Doves like Kittens

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A little more playing with the brother and then the whole action was over.

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But it was time as well to drive back to the camp.

Just as we had passed Dalkeith and were back on the main road we had yet another great sighting.
We could not believe our eyes.
Honey Badger, very high on our wish-list.
And moreover two of them
I can tell you they were really fast and even more as a Jackal followed them in close distance, which upsets one of the HB's...
I think you can see the excitement of the HB in the last photo, just look at his tail...

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Then they were gone.
We were simply over the moon

Back at camp we were sad that that our time in Kalahari Tented Camp was over, but on the other hand very happy that we would be back to Urikaruus the following day.

And you see, there are never quiet days in KTP

[katydownunder]

07.11.10

So today we were moving from Kalahari Tented Camp to Urikaruus.
And although we really love KTC we were looking forward to be back to that special camp again.

As we had to pack all our stuff back into the car,we were not the first one leaving the camp.

We stopped at Craig Lockhardt.
Here the waterhole was really busy with Oryx, Springboks, one Hartebeest and a little later a herd of Wildebeest.
I have to say, we never saw so many Oryx like we did this year.
Sometimes 10-15 in one spot

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Later we saw Oryx again at the 13th borehole.
Such beautiful animals...

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And along the way to Urikaruus, some Crowned Plower with Chicks.
So, so cute...

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Of course we stopped at the Hyena den, but no activity

We arrived at Urikaruus early afternoon.
Marius came down with a little smile ." Hi guys welcome back!"
He showed us our new home for the next nights, hut #4.

So we unpacked the car, made a coffee and enjoyed the fantastic view to the waterhole.

Later that afternoon we went for an afternoon drive.
We wanted to see if the Hyenas were busy now. But nothing...
Instead we discovered two Bat-eared Foxes about 2 kilometres north of the den.

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Slowly we reached the boreholes.
13th nothing, 14th nothing....

In the morning we had seen an AWC north of the 14th borehole. Unfortunately the only spot where you were able to take a decent pic from, was blocked by one car.... So we decided to better drive on....
By the way, we were pretty sure that we saw that Wildcat the year before as well near the 14th borehole, and so we called her "Missy of the 14th"

We made a joke: "Just let us have a look if the cat is still in her tree!"

And we were surprised that she was indeed still there. Just moved a bit out of the sun.

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Now it was time to return back to the camp.

We stopped at the Hyena den again.
It was already getting darker. This time we saw one of the bigger Hyenas, but not the young one.
But hey we will be here for a couple of nights, so we will give it another chance the next day...

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It was already 7.20 pm when we handed Marius our permit.
We were busy preparing our dinner, when I heard the call of a Jackal close by.
Wait there must be something at the waterhole.
I grabbed the torch and there she was, the Urikaruus leopard at the waterhole.
By then the Jackal sounded as he was nearly getting an heat attack.

Unbelievable, it was only 7.34 pm and we had a Leopard at the waterhole
These are the surprises of the Kalahari.

[katydownunder]

08.11.10

Well today we had to travel to TR as the petrol station at Mata Mata ran out of Diesel, while we stayed there, so we thought it's a great opportunity to travel back south, have a look what's in the shop, buy some diesel and travel back to Urikaruus all in combination with a game drive......

Of course we checked the Hyena den and this time we were lucky.
All the Hyenas were outside, including the little one, but far away on the hill.
It was so cute to observe the little one who was the most active of the whole group.
On one point the little one strolled too far away and was called back by the grown ups..

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Well I told you not to go too far away....

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Further down south we sighted a couple of Lions with some cub resting under a tree.

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Oh my, I am so embarrassed...

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South of Montrose we found him on the nest.

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We had breakfast at Auchterlonie, with a special guest...

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Shortly after we had left Auchterlonie we spotted this Double-banded Courser.

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At Twee Rivieren, we got our Diesel, bought at pie in the shop and met Jannie and SO, p@m and SO.
What a nice surprise

Soon we were on our way again back to the camp.

Sighting of the afternoon, a Pearl Spotted Owl.

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And some Ostriches at one of the southern waterholes...

As it was already quite late when we returned, we decided to stay in the camp and wait what might visit the waterhole.
Especially after Marius told us, that only an hour after we had left three Cheetahs had been to the waterhole for a drink
Don't you just hate it when that happen ?!

The only visitor, a Kori Bustard.

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In the evening we started to prepare our Dinner and again we had a visitor.
A Cape Fox..

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The end of another wonderful day.....

[katydownunder]

09.11.10

Well despite being so very hot during the day, the nights at Urikaruus were freezing cold.
And it was no fun sitting outside in the morning, having a coffee and waiting for things to come.
I was already wearing a couple layers of clothes, all the warm clothing I had taken with me in fact (making a mental note, pack the windbreaker the next time...).
It was the heavy wind that made it really uncomfortable.
So I was sitting there with a coffee, blue fingers and jittering (ok, call me a sissy ) with my camera and the camcorder ready for action.
Then I suddenly heard two crows making a hullabaloo.
Sailing in the wind like a kite.
So I took my camera to try and capture them.

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But then I detected a movement in the bushes to the right of our hut.
Maybe there was some kind of animal, maybe a predator that drove the Crows crazy.
And indeed I discovered something brown, oh well I thought : Possibly a Jackal that disturbed the Crows...."
But then I nearly got a heart attack, very slowly walking through the bushes, came....

..... a CARACAL.....

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Now my hands were shaking, not only because of the cold, but from the excitement as well.
The Caracal was slowly walking over to the waterhole, she had noticed me for sure, but was completely ignoring me.

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Then at the waterhole she scanned the area and started to have a drink.

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After she had a drink, she laid down for a short while as if the wanted to warm up in the sun.

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Then she got up and walked straight towards our cabin.

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She passed beneath our cabin...

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....and lied down underneath our car, unfortunately by then 4 of our neighbours, were standing right at our little entrance gate and scared her so much that she got up and left. So no photo of her underneath our car....

The video is a bit shaky, due to the cold and the heavy wind .......

[katydownunder]

We were still over the moon the time we left Urikaruus for our morning drive.
What a start of the day....

We did choose the northern direction yet again, we just love the drive along the boreholes so much.
At first we discovered a well hidden Pearl Spotted Owl.

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We passed the 13th borehole and the 14th borehole without any sighting.
But just as we had passed the 14th we joked again about "Missy of the 14th" and her favourite tree.
And simply could not believe our eyes, she was back again. Indeed her favourite tree

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At Dalkeith, a small herd of Kudus was licking the salt off the stones around the waterhole. The waterhole itself was dry.
I can not remember that we ever saw Kudus in the Aoub riverbed, so far all our KTP Kudu sightings have been on the Nossob side.

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On the way back to the 14th, Missy was awake.

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Coming closer to the 13th borehole we spotted another Pearl Spotted Owl.
I never saw one of those tiny Owls out in the open, usually they are always within the green of the trees.
This one was constantly moving between his/her lookout and a some trees close by, not amused that we stopped to take photos she rant and rave at us

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Isn't she just too beautiful?!

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Back on the mainroad we observed a couple of Bee-Eaters catching Butterflies.
What an acrobatic performance

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At the camp we had our usual noon siesta, it was really so very hot. And so there was not visitor to the waterhole....

In the afternoon we could not resist to go for yet another drive.
We still hoped for the little pup being closer down to the road......
But this time the little one, as well as the other Hyenas were not there.

Later we spotted another Spotted Eagle Owl.

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It was a hot and very windy day and every now and then, while we crossed the riverbed, there was a lot of dust in the air.

A very curious Yellow-billed Hornbill.

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And we had one of our rare Raptor sightings....

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So far this had been a very successful day and we were not even back to the camp yet

[katydownunder]

We were slowly driving closer to the camp. We nearly reached the spot where the road crosses the riverbed, when Francolin said: " There....Lions"
I said: " Where?"
And she said: "There, right in front of us...."
Indeed not even 5 metres from the road 3 Lions were lying there watching us.

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A little bit of stretching...

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And yawning...

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Then they got up and slowly walked away, we turned around and followd them for quite a while. Until they crossed the road and walked up the hill and finally were gone.

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What a handsome boy....

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Now it was really time to return back to the camp.
And again, what a day.
We prepared dinner, opened a nice bottle of wine and enjoyed the last evening at Urikaruus, when we suddenly discovered that there were visitors at the waterhole.
The Lions were there to have a drink.

We went to bed, very tired but very happy as well.....

[katydownunder]

10.11.10

Well today it was time to move again.
This time Nossob was our next destination.
Quite a few kilometres to drive so I got up early (before 5am) to start packing and to still have time left to enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast with the fantastic view of the waterhole...

Before I went to the shower I stepped outside onto our bedroom balcony to check the waterhole.
Indeed there was something there, so I grabbed the binoculars to have a closer look (it was still pretty dark...).
I checked, jumped into the bedroom: "Come on get up, down into the kitchen, the Leopard is back at the waterhole..."

So we were lucky again.
The beautiful Leopard was back
She had a sip and then went off into the dunes again...

Later we sat outside and enjoyed the great view for one last time. Well we will be back (already during this trip...)
A Springbok came to waterhole to have a drink, but was very cautious. I think he could still smell the Leopard.

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While we sat on the kitchen deck, I heard the sound of some Yelow-billed Hornbill.
I searched the tree, without success, than I saw where the sound came from.
Two Yellow-billed Hornbills sat on the windscreen of our car, enjoying their reflection and "talking" to each other....

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So goodbye Urikaruus ( we will be back in about a week )
View from cabin # 4.

We drove the upper dunes road.
Usually we are not very successful with our sightings there.
Moreover I am always a little bit afraid to stop for sightings, as often some reckless drivers makes this quite dangerous.

This time we were more lucky.
The drivers behaved and so we stopped for a Greater Kestrel.

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And a little later for a second one....

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The next stop was for a Kori Bustard.

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Then we spotted a Bat Eared Fox.

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Well in fact three Bat Eared Foxes

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Soon they hopped out of their holes and ran off as fast as they could.

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Stopping every now and then to check if we were still there.

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We stopped at Cheleka and were amazed how many Oryx were there at the waterhole.

The little ones are just too cute...

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We arrived at Nossob around noon and moved into our new home....
Later that afternoon we went for yet another drive, but again it was quiet.
We stopped at Cubitje on the way back to camp. Observed the Doves and decided that it was time again to drive back to the camp.
It has been a long day.

A couple of kilometres before we finally reached the camp we spotted another Bat Eared Fox.

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We enjoyed a nice dinner and were nearly on our way to bed when we heard Jackals calling.
So we went to the hide instead.
We could not see anything at the waterhole, but we heard Lions and Jackals calling in the distance.