Saturday 21st May

We are now making our way out of the Kgalagadi Park after spending the last four days at Rooiputs, our final camp in Botswana. The drive from the South African side back to Botswana took most of the day and again due to lack of water holes on the route we saw very little wildlife. This time the landscape was made up entirely of endless waves of red sand dunes covered with small shrubs. Rooiputs itself is once again unfenced and on the rustic side but this time we do have water to wash and shower. It was nice to be just the four of us again.

As we drove into the camp we were greeted by a couple who were staying in a neighbouring camp who we had met in Mata Mata. They were very excited (and shattered!) because a pride of eight lions had surrounded their tent the previous night and warned us that we might be in for a noisy time. We went to bed full of anticipation (and the pot and wooden spoon!) and were once again glad that we had opted for a roof top tent. As it turned out we had one of the quietest nights so far and couldn’t even hear their distant roaring, which we now hear most nights.

Driving out the next morning and within 3 km from our camp we saw why: the pride, consisting of two adult males, seven females and two juveniles, had killed a gemsbok during the night and were fast asleep in the shade of a camel-thorn tree. They had gorged themselves to the point where you could visibly see their distended bellies. We watched them for ages but there was very little activity and they looked like they weren’t going anywhere in a hurry. 

The next morning there was almost nothing left of the carcass and a lone jackel was picking the last of the scrabs of the bones.

Yesterday evening we drove into our camp for our last night in the Kgalagadi with the sun setting behind us and the full moon rising in front, a very special view. Our last campfire and having run out of ‘…first ever…’ topics our thoughts turned to ‘where next?’

And then this morning on our way out one last treat: the lions were hungry again and were crouching on a hill and lining themselves up for an ambush on a herd of gemsbok right in front of us. It was quite an incredible scene being played out, there were long periods of what looked like a stand-off with both parties just watching each other, then without any obvious reason, the gemsbok retreated, together with a large herd of springbuk just behind, stopped and then slowly and cautiously, came forward again. 

This happened several times. It appeared that one of the lionesses was trying to encircle the gemsbok from behind while the rest of the pride was waiting for the chase on the other side. And then one of the young lions caused a disturbance and the gemsbok retreated much further back. Unfortunately we had to leave them to it since we had a very long drive ahead of us so we don’t know how it ended but it was totally spell bounding to watch.

So now we are on our two day journey back to Ingogo, already reminiscing about our experiences. We did have high expectations of the Khgalagadi and it is everything it promised to be and more. The animal sightings here are probably similar to many other game parks but the solitude of the Botswana camps in particular means that quite often you experience life in the bush all on your own. The fact that the animals are less afraid of you and will tolerate you being relatively close to them makes the experience so much more special and can only be a result of there being effective poaching controls and the absence of legal hunting.

The Kgalagadi is also hailed as a model of what could be achieved for conservation in the future since it is the only game park in Africa which has been formally established by neighbouring countries. 

In terms of highlights, the lions walking into our camp and spending over an hour in our vicinity with no-one else around is a highlight which I don’t think can ever be surpassed in terms of wildlife experiences. For Don it was the leopard appearing out of no-where and crossing right the truck right in front of us. 

As for the 'where next question...' there are some old favourites which keep popping up in our conversations: The Danikil Depression is Ethiopia, The Van Zyl pass in Namibia.....

....to be continued (hopefully!)

Wednesday 5th May 2016

Our trip this year is to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park which lies within the Kalahari and spans an area between the borders of northern South Africa and Botswana and extends to the eastern border of Namibia. The idea to undertake the trip was conceived last year whilst we were sitting by the fire under a starlit sky during our trip to Namibia when we were trying to think of places similarly remote to the Kaokovelt, the most north western part of Namibia, which we were exploring at the time.

The Kgalagadi is one of the largest and considered to be one of the most unspoiled conservation areas in the world and forms a continuum for unhindered animal migration across the three countries. The sheer size of the Kgalagadi (38,000 sq km) is what persuaded us to spend at least two weeks within the park.

Kgalagadi means ‘great thirstland’ as the landscape is very dry. Although there are two main river beds that run the length of the Park, the rivers (Nossub and Auob) flow only once or twice a century. What sustains the animals within the park are 80 boreholes fitted with solar or windmill driven pumps dotted throughout Park that serve as waterholes. 

Within the Botswana side of the Park are several unfenced camps with facilities ranging from little more than a long drop toilet to others more ‘sophisticated’ that are fitted also with a basic cold water shower and wash basin. On the South African side, the camps are fenced in and less rustic.

Our intention is to travel from one camp to another starting with the basic camps on the Botswana side. One of the great attractions of the Botswana camps is the fact that numbers to each camp are limited to two vehicles, so you have it pretty much to yourself.  

As usual we started our trip off at Ingogo, going through our by now well rehearsed routine of getting ready; tightening nuts and bolts on the truck, airing the rooftop tents, buying supplies, cooking and freezing meals etc. 

And now we are on the road to the most southern entrance gate of the Park on the Botswana side. The four of us are once again marveling at how lucky we are to be able to undertake a trip like this and are excited about what lies ahead….

Saturday 8^th May,

We crossed into Botswana yesterday at McCarthy’s Rest border post and entered the Park via the Mabuashube Gate before making our way to our first camp (Lesholoago). Even though it is autumn here temperatures reached 30 degrees Centigrade by mid-afternoon. Our camp is on a slightly elevated area overlooking a huge salt pan so the wildlife is to be seen pretty much right here in front of us. Because there is no legal hunting and no poaching the animals are relatively accustomed to people and certain species will quite often not even move out of your way as you approach them.

The Kgalagdi Park is known for its relatively high population of lions and since there is no fencing around the Botswana camps we moved around cautiously for the first hour or so but once we had made our camp fire we relaxed. Whilst thawing our meat for the braai we were visited by a rather persistent jackel which did eventually disappear back into the bush.

The night was uneventful but I decided to take a pot and a wooden spoon to bed just in case…

Tuesday 10^th May

We have now been in the Kgalagadi for 4 days and have come to realise that it is what you could describe as an ‘all or nothing’ game park. Due to the huge size of it and the shortage of water, animals are scarce but then suddenly a leopard walks out of the bush right across your path, which is what happened a couple of days ago. 

What we are really hoping to see are the Kgalagadi’s famous black maned desert lions. We can hear their awesome roaring in the distance at night and there is evidence of their spoor all around us, but given that there are known to be forty or so prides in an area the size of Holland, we were not necessarily that confident of our chances of encountering them.

And then, guess what…..? Yesterday morning they came looking for us!

Don and Ian were sitting by the burned out fire having their early morning coffee when three lionesses walked right into our camp, about 30 meters from where they were sitting, made brief eye contact and then spent the good part of an hour and a half lazing not far from us. They looked totally relaxed and unfazed by us and at one point one even went to sleep although another one, hidden behind a bush, was on a constant look out. We were very cautious at first but once they had made themselves at home we relaxed a little more ourselves and went about our getting ready to leave routine as usual (but looking over our shoulders nevertheless!).

It appeared that they had come looking for water but there was none in our camp so eventually they headed off into the bush. It was incredibly exciting to be so close to them and we could hardly believe our luck that they had actually walked into our camp. Even more unusual was the fact that it happened in broad daylight so we had an opportunity to observe them at close range and to take plenty of pictures.

Exciting as this was, the boys still have not seen their sought after black maned male lion….

Wednesday 11^th May,

….and then this morning before leaving for our last camp on the Botswana side we found these lions relaxing by a watering hole, the male lion in full view. We were able to get within a couple of meters without the females even coming close to waking up.

Thursday 12^th May

For the past two days we have been on the Mabuasehube Wilderness trail which is a 155 km 4X4 track connecting the Botswana side of the park to the South African side. It is a narrow sandy track running from east to west and to preserve the landscape only two cars a day are allowed to traverse along it.

There are fewer animals to be seen along the route, presumably since there are less watering holes in this area, but the landscape with its unique semi-desert vegetation is nevertheless stunning. There is very little rain fall here but just a few drops can transform the reddish Kalahari desert sand with delicate flowers appearing here and there. 

Dotted along the trail are several salt pans where we found large herds of Gemsbok, a number of them using their hoofs to dig for water.

We spent last night at a halfway point along the trail, at a designated site with no facilities whatsoever, near a salt pan and parked under a large camel-thorn tree. The night sky was incredible and bush camping miles from anywhere was exhilarating. We ended the evening telling each other our ‘first ever’ jokes we could remember and there was lots of laughter around the campfire since most of the jokes were over fifty years old!

Having the entire stretch of this ancient untamed landscape to ourselves felt very special.

Tuesday 17^th May,

For the past five days we have been staying at Mata Mata camp on the South African side of the Park, which also serves as a border post between South Africa and Namibia. Unlike the situation in the Botswana sector of the Park, this is a gated (fenced-in) camp which we share with other campers. Even though the camp is small it did feel to us like we were arriving in the middle of Jo’burg as we drove in. As a trade-off there are hot showers, flushable toilets and a small shop with basic supplies.

The days are still hot but the nights have gotten much colder with temperatures just above freezing so we are wearing just about all our winter clothes to bed.

The mornings are again frosty and Don and Ian appear to be having an unspoken competition as to who can hold out the longest before putting on long trousers…

From our Mata Mata camp base, the daily game drive is along or across the dry Ayub River bed which is framed on each side by sand dunes. Depending on the time of the day and the position of the sun the landscape is spectacular and forever changing  

Ayub river bed

We are spending most of each day on game drives, stopping at water holes here and there and have had some great animal sightings. Due to the fact that most of the animals move within the dry river bed you never drive for more than a couple of minutes before spotting herds of wildebeest, giraffe, ostridge, gemsbok, springbok etc and less frequently the odd more solitary animals such as hyenas, cheetah and (on one occasion) lion.

The most exciting encounter for me personally was coming within close range of a Cape cobra in full fighting mode ready to strike, luckily from the safety of our truck. 

The Mata Mata region is the only part of the Khalagadi where you find giraffe, which had been hunted to extinction in the Kalahari many years ago. Then in 1990, eight giraffe from Etosha where reportedly introduced into the area and there are now more than forty in the park.

When we arrive back at camp each evening it is usually starting to get dark and within one hour the temperature drops dramatically. The conversation around the fire has now moved onto ‘first ever songs (‘My Boy Lollipop x2’, ‘Yellow Polkadot Bikini, ‘Ganz in Weiss mit einem Blumenstrauss’ and also on to first ever movies (‘Bambi’ x2, ‘Mary Poppins’, ‘Heidi’)……….

Sunset at Mata Mata

Tomorrow we will be heading back into the wilder Botswana sector of the Park once again so today is spent with catching up with laundry, doing small repairs etc.

 Still no internet, so this will be a very long blog once I am able to post it…..

Hey, guess what...