February 16-21, 2009
We headed towards Upington and further North to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park for our first official destination. Karel had heard good things about the park and the park certainly didn’t disappoint. On route we noticed the amazing social weaver houses built on top of telephone poles, awesome quiver trees, and massive social spider nests. Arriving at Twee Rivieren we booked our campsite for the night and headed to the water hole. Driving on the dirt and sand roads we couldn’t believe the amount of millipedes and the size of them. I measured one (using the useful measuring tape- thanks Georgia) and it was 21 cms. Apparently they can live for 8-10 years.
Deciding that we wanted to camp in the Botswana side and eventually exit on the Namibian side, we booked our campsites and went through customs. No problems all around. We then set about exploring our surroundings. It was incredible with red earth, mostly dunes with brilliant green plants, and thorny trees. Gemsbok and springbok were in abundance. It was truly beautiful.
Setting off the next day for Botswana we weren’t really sure what to expect. The roads were certainly 4x4 but in pretty good nick. Landscape changed dramatically into tall grasslands, green and yellow with huge pans. Along our way we met some meercat, who were exceptionally cute and continually scouted out the area. We also encountered some massive Eland (could possibly be on steroids). Our national park map however left something to be desired as the road markings weren’t accurate. We ended up driving around looking for our campsite. Once found it was truly magnificent. Built without fencing, in true Botswana style, and essentially in the middle of nowhere, it was stunning. We had thought we were the only people on the Botswana side, but later noticed a group of vehicles. Going over to say hi, we gained an invitation for dinner from a lovely group of people who were just finishing their tour of Botwana, and ate fantastically well. A lasagne cooked on the fire. Amazing.
The next day we woke early and went on a drive. We turned a corner and there were eight lions, one male, three lioness and five cubs. About four metres away, we gently unrolled our windows and watched them for about an hour. It was one of the most amazing experiences. The cubs were busy play fighting with each other and a few brave ones attempted to play with their dad until he threw them off and a lioness was busy giving a cub a bath during which he growled gently the entire time. Fantastic. There is nothing quite like being in the bush.
Back on the South African side our most memorable sightings included seeing two jackals out for dinner, busy trotting along like crazy checking out every bush in hopes of finding a quick snack and getting a bit too close and personal to a puff adder. Yes, that’s right a puff adder one of the most dangerous snakes. Okay, maybe not too close and personal. At a picnic site I headed towards the ladies. Opening the sliding door, I just happened to notice something in the corner. Thankfully I spotted him, and again thankfully he didn’t seem to notice me at all. After calling Karel and daring to go back to the car for the camera for a sneaky pic (I did it all for you readers) I decided it was best to use the gents. We saw more lions, cubs behind a bush, a lone male and a another small pride. We were also lucky enough to see two cheetahs working together hunting a group of springbok. With one on each side of the herd they took turns rounding them up. It was amazing to watch. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to see the final kill as it was fast approaching night fall and we had to return to camp. We had an amazing time, and hope that in reading this you can share it with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment