Yesterday we drove from Nossob to Bitterpan and unfortunately left the others behind at Nossob. As it is a very popular time to be in the Kgalagadi, we couldn’t all get accommodation in Nossob for both nights and so we went to Bitterpan.  The road to Bitterpan is 4×4 access only and as only two of the group had full 4×4 cars, it meant either the Ws or us.  However, Bitterpan is unfenced and no children under 12 are allowed and as the Gs have a 10-year old son it meant they couldn’t go either.

As we had no opportunity to do a drive north except yesterday morning, we headed north just after the gates opened.  What we have figured out is that you generally see things only around the watering holes.  As you head north there is one about 10kms from the camp and other 12kms further north.  At the first one we were told you only saw birds (and the occasional jackal) and we only saw a few birds we had already seen. Then at next watering hole there was a fair amount of game but nothing we hadn’t seen before. We headed back again and at the first watering hole there were a lot more birds.  A large number of birds were drinking and then suddenly a Lanner falcon came out of nowhere and tried to swoop down and grab a bird.  It missed. But then we knew it would keep trying and so watched and sure enough a few minutes later the scenario was repeated and it missed again, and it tried a 3rd time and again it missed.

Back to the camp to pack up and check out and check in for Bitterpan (you have to do that at Nossob). They also have to open the gate for you for the road so that no one can mistakenly get on the road. Everything we read said not to expect much game and they were right.  We did see a kudu about 1km out of Nossob (they are very rare in this park so it was our only sighting so far) but beside that a few gemsbok we didn’t see much.  The bird life was pretty good though and we did add a number of ‘trippers’ to our list.

The road was generally fine except for the occasional up and down when the bonnet rose so high that you could see the road ahead and just had to hope it didn’t take a sudden turn (which it did a few times!). The upslopes were sometimes very sandy and required the full of the Beast to get up but traction control only engaged 3 times. There was some violent shaking about at times as well. We arrived at Bitterpan before 3pm. It consisted of 4 reed and canvas huts with each sleeping 2 people. The bathroom is separate from the rooms but just outside and each room has its own bathroom. There is a central kitchen area for everyone to use. All of the rooms overlook the pan (which is a salt pan). We had 3 out of the 4 rooms so there was only one other couple staying there with us and they were also from Cape Town and in fact lived just around the corner from my parents home in Newlands.

The sunset was incredible over the pan.  Unfortunately my WiFi access is pretty limited and so I can’t upload photos at the moment but will try in a day or two’s time. Mandatory braai for dinner (butterflied legs of lamb) and off to bed relatively early (8:15pm).  At about 9:30pm Michael stuck his head in and said a Spotted Genet was in the camp climbing up the kitchen roof.  It had gone into a lookout tower behind the kitchen but we could still see it through the slats.

It was a cold night with temperatures getting near 0 degrees.  Inside the rooms it felt colder. I slept with 2 blankets, long pjs and a fleece and I regretted not having a beanie with me. Despite that both Helen and I managed to sleep quite well but getting out of bed this morning was a real problem. It was icy cold.  One positive was that on the tree right outside our room was sitting a Red-necked falcon which was a lifer for me (taking me to 431 birds).

We had breakfast at 8am and then hit the road toward Mata Mata.  As we were the only car heading that way on the road, you can see the animal tracks from the previous night (which were numerous). Michael jumped out at one stage (yes I know you’re not meant to get out but there really wasn’t any danger) and identified the tracks as leopard but unfortunately walking in the opposite direction.  The road was pretty similar to that leading to Bitterpan but with more loose sand and for longer stretches.  Besides the bumping up and down and swaying left to right and right to left (all simultaneously at times), the Beast handled the road easily.

We have arrived safely at Mata Mata (we got here about 1pm) and managed to get our accommodation at 2pm. As you can tell they have WiFi hence my ability to post this blog.

Until tomorrow

P, S, O, H & M (H&M misrepresented me numerous times yesterday and found it very funny so they are worthy of their places)

We decided to have breakfast and then leave for Nossob this morning.  The drive to Nossob is 160km and given the quality of the roads that is around a 5-6 hour drive.  We left just after 8am with the intention of stopping at the first picnic spot for a break/tea and then the second picnic spot for lunch.

Before our first stop we managed to see our first lion of the trip – a male lion drinking at a watering hole and then it walked off and eventually sat half way up a dune.  Later on the journey north we came across a jackal looking very anxious – running backwards and forwards.  It had seen a caracal and was desperate to chase it away.  We assume it must have had a den somewhere near. The good thing was that we also got a great sighting of caracal which is very hard to see during the day as they are nocturnal animals. Some of our group had never seen one before (including Michael) so it was really a good sighting.

The quality of the road was very bad at stages and I felt like my hands were going to shake off from the corrugations on the road.  I got Michael to drive after lunch and of course the road turned it smooth sand and it was like sailing after that. On the final stretch of the road into Nossob we saw an African Wild Cat (it crossed the road in front of us) and so we ended up the day seeing 3 different cat sightings.

We arrived at Nossob around 2:30pm and checked in. The Ms and Gs are staying in a river front chalet.  While there is not much of a river (or in fact there isn’t one at all), they do have a great position. The chalet basically forms part of the boundary fence. We had dinner at their place and while we were having dinner we noticed two sets of eyes and sure enough two jackal right up at the fence (no more than 5 meters away).

We also went to the hide after dinner and again saw a jackal at the watering hole (it is floodlit).  Quickly trying to send this before the power goes out (it turns off at 10pm which is 1 minute).

Until tomorrow

P, H, S, M & O

The gates only open at 7:30am as the sun rises only at that time.  It actually felt like a ‘lie-in’ morning for Helen and I as we are used to getting up much earlier when in a game park. We headed out just after 7:30am and went north (you can only go north though from here) toward Mata Mata. It was pretty cold this AM with the temperature reading 0 degrees C when we left the camp. There was not a lot of game to start with but the bird sightings were pretty good.  In particular we saw a lot of raptors including two pygmy falcons very close to the road and tawny eagles in their nest.  Our trip list is just over 30 birds now.

The highlight of the game viewing was seeing black-backed jackal (which we ended up seeing a few times) and suricate (meerkat). We did also see gemsbok (oryx) and springbok but those are the pretty common animals to see here in the Kgalagadi.  We did see two springbok fighting until the one gave up and ran off. Unfortunately none of the major predators.

We stopped at a picnic site and made breakfast on Mr Gs skottle.  Bacon and eggs on the skottle for breakfast was just what was needed at that point.  After breakfast we took the same road back down to the camp again. On the trip back the highlight for us was watching one male ostrich chase another male ostrich.  Both were ready to mate and so we guess that the one was chasing the other one away so that he could get the female.

We got back at around 1pm and the temperature had risen to 23 degrees. Definitely cooler than yesterday when it was around 27 degrees we when arrived. While I type this, some of the group have gone for a 30-minute run (trying to make sure they maintain their Discovery points).

We went out for another game drive at 4pm but three of the wives decided to skip and so only Mrs W came out.  We went out with 3 cars only as Mr G and Mr M decided to drive together. We saw a reasonable amount of game but again no predators unfortunately.  Hopefully tomorrow will yield some predators as we are driving from Twee Rivieren to Nossob and that is a 160km drive.

Our second communal braai for dinner and some more good conversation. Only problem was that the temperature seemed to drop rapidly and eventually it was just too cold to sit outside. I suspect it will be pretty cold tomorrow am when we wake up.

Until tomorrow …

P, H, S, M & O (and she deserves the last spot on the blog tonight (she knows why …!)

PS: If I don’t post over the next 4 days – don’t worry – it is just that there is no cellphone signal at any of the next 4 camps.

We still had around 650km to traverse to get to the Kgalagadi and so we agreed to have breakfast at 7:30am this morning so that we could leave immediately after breakfast and still arrive at a reasonable time at the park to allow ourselves to go for an evening game drive.  Traffic was fortunately pretty sparse and so we made good time in covering the 650kms.  The drive north from Calvinia takes you through semi-arid desert though in places in looked like total desert.  The road was called the Kalahari Red Dune route so I guess that should give you an idea of the type of landscape.

Outside of Brandvlei and before we arrived at Upington we drove through amazing fields of flowers.  There was just a purple blanket (and in places orange) that covered the ground.  It was quite incredible to see.  We found a spot to stop to enable us to take photos and a few people took the opportunity to not only take photos of the flowers but also to take photos in the middle of the road.  Fortunately traffic was pretty limited and so no one got hit by a passing car.

We made a quick stop at Upington to refuel and buy some lunch and then we headed on to Kgalagadi.  Besides crossing the Orange River (before we got to Upington) the scenery doesn’t really alter much and so only remarkable things stand out. This includes Khi Solar One which is a large field (140 hectares) of solar panels which reflect into a solar tower plant which then produce 50MW of power.  What makes it even more remarkable is that it produces power 24 hours a day (don’t ask how that is possible because I don’t know!).

We arrived at Twee Rivieren at 3:10pm and after the tedious checking in procedures, we unpacked our cars quickly and headed out for a quick evening game drive.  We only managed to go about 12kms out of camp but saw gemsbok, springbok and Red Hartebees on the drive out as well as a reasonable smattering of birds including a really good sighting of Secretary Bird and Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk (trip list is 20 birds for me so far).  On the way back into camp we also saw a black backed jackal.

Dinner was braai (as it will be most nights!) with great conversation.  What a great way to spend your birthday with friends in a game park.

Until tomorrow

P, H, S, M & O (still missing you C!)

We left today at 10:45am on route to Kgalagadi National Park.  We have 6 nights booked in the park but as it is roughly 1037.7km from our home to the entrance, we decided to split the journey and stop on route in Calvinia.  We have stopped in Calvinia a few times on these routes and we always stay at the same place – Die Blou Nartjie.  So that was where we headed.

The traffic was relatively heavy getting out of Cape Town but once we were on the road it lightened considerably and we made good progress.  We stopped at Piketburg for lunch at the Spur and then another mandatory stop at our biltong place in Trawal which has the “Best blerrie biltong” in the Cape. Just outside Trawal there were road works which were operating a stop-and-go system with delays of up to 20 minutes.  We waited 12 minutes (timed precisely by Helen) before continuing on our way.

Just after this you ascend the escarpment and move from the Western Cape into the Northern Cape by going up Van Rhyns Pass.  It was a lovely clear afternoon and that gave a spectacular view from the top.  There were no delays after that and we arrived in Calvinia at just before 5pm.  That gave us enough time for our mandatory walk around the town including a visit to the large postbox so that Oli could be educated.  It is claimed to be the largest post box in the world and is the number 1 thing to see in Calvinia (and actually the only thing!).

We are traveling with the same 4 families that we traveled with 2 years ago when we went to Botswana.  The Ws had arrived ahead of us and the Ms and Gs arrived after us but everyone had arrived by 6pm.  Drinks at 6:30pm in the restaurant followed by dinner and in our rooms just after 9pm.  Enough time to enjoy the liberal use of water (no drought here fortunately) and exfoliation with the sandpaper towel to dry off.  Hopefully a relatively early night as we are planning on departing at 8am tomorrow.

The cell signal is very poor in our room so I am not even going to attempt to post any photos even though we did take some spectacular views.  I might try to sneak some in when I have a better signal (though I suspect this might be the best we end up having for the next few days).

Until tomorrow

P, H, S, M & O (you might notice no C … she is unfortunately in the UK with G&G … missing you C!)