Part 4 - Heading west to Kuruman and the Kgalagadi National Park (May / June 2017)

African Wildlife and Nature Photographs – (7 provinces in a 7 week trip around South Africa)

Part 4 - Heading west to Kuruman and the Kgalagadi National Park (May / June 2017)

We left Johannesburg again on a Sunday morning however, compared to 3 weeks earlier the temperature had dropped quite a dramatically.

As with most of our travel’s we weren’t in any particular rush and we enjoyed the drive south west admiring the beautiful scenery along the way.

As we had driven this route a few times before, we knew where we wanted to stop for our breaks. First stop was the Shell garage outside of Ventersdorp in the North West Province. We stopped there on our first trip 3 years ago for coffee and rusks and we note the area has now become even more popular with travellers having their first break when travelling from Johannesburg towards the Kgalagadi. There are now more picnic tables and a friendly ‘on holiday’ feel in the air.

Next stop was Vryburg in the North West Province for lunch and we found a great lunch place at the Excel Garage, Mams Food located at the T-junction as you turn towards Vryburg. Not sure why we missed this place before but it was a good find and we will definitely note it for future trips.

Not much further to go for our first visit to Red Sands Country Lodge in the Northern Cape, the lodge is located 15km past Kuruman. We’d heard about this place from many people and it was about time we tried it for ourselves.

The camping areas are well demarcated and you get your own campsite with ablutions, washing area and if anyone is keen – a satellite dish with a TV plug!!!!

We set up camp quite quickly as we felt a cool breeze and we were quite shocked at how quickly the temperature was dropping. Glenda managed to get dinner sorted outside but we had to move our table and chair against the west wall of our ablution block in order to have our dinner outside, sheltered from the now strong wind. 

Our couple of days were spend exploring the reserve and taking photographs of the bird species that were present. Our two nights at Redsands Country Lodge were a good introduction to the facilities and we would be keen to return in the spring as we were amazed at how many bird species there were considering it was the end of May.

Pale-winged Starlings taking over

Our only complaint about the Lodge is that on a Saturday night the restaurant has live music, which is great for the locals coming to support the place, but as a holidaymaker coming for a bit of peace and quiet this was a little off-putting as the music went on well into Sunday morning. If they had advised us of this when we booked, we could have made arrangements to arrive on the Sunday.

We left Redsands on the Monday morning as the sun rose, thinking we would have our breakfast at one of the many fantastic picnic stops along the N14. However, it turned out to be a rather cold (1c) and breezy morning and thirty minutes down the road at Kathu we spotted a sign for Mugg & Bean (our favourite South Africa coffee shop franchise). Our earliest stop on record but it was very welcome. Mugg & Bean, Kathu

After stocking up on provisions at the Kalahari Mall in Upington we got to the Kgalagadi National Park mid-afternoon. We didn’t venture out but took our time setting up camp and chatting to our neighbours about what had been seen that day in the area. 

After a good night’s sleep we headed out early the following morning after deflating our tyres (due to the fact we were travelling in soft sand) and headed north on the road towards Nossob rest camp. It was great to be back in the Kgalagadi and we absorbed the stark arid scenery of the desert and kept our eyes peeled.

One highlight was a really good sighting of a juvenile Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk (Melierax canorus). We rate our sightings as good when it is also a good photographic opportunity as often you can see things, which are great to see but to make it good for taking photographs certain other criteria then have to come into play.

Juvenile Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk

On our return to camp at lunch time we had a nice sighting of a possible coalition of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) . They were only a few kilometres from camp and there were 4 of them under a tree, however they were a little far way for any good photographs.

We kept an eye out for them the following day but they had moved off and we guess the roaring from Black-maned Lions (Panthera leo bleyenberghi) during the night had something to do with it.

The following day was our first venture into the park towing the Bhoma caravan in soft sand, its tyres were also deflated and we set off with thankfully no problems. It handled well in both soft sand and over some serious corrugations. The eggs in the fridge hadn’t even moved and nothing had broken!

We arrived at Mata Mata camp in good time after seeing the game you would expect to find in the Kgalagadi National Park viz. Gemsbok (Oryx gazella), Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis), Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) . The camp was a reasonably empty when we got there which gave us the opportunity pick a good site (in our opinion) for our 5 night stay. Looking back, we would say that Mata Mata was one of our favourite campsites of our whole trip. Well spaced out, enough shade or sun for most campers, a pleasant bird hide; well maintained ablutions; a shop with sufficient supplies; petrol/diesel available and pleasant staff.

Only small annoyance is the gate times in winter. They are in keeping with some other arid parks but you would have thought Sanparks could be a bit flexible and allow certain camps in their respective parks to alter their opening times according to the sunrise. In June the camp gates open at 7:30 am by which time it is already light. As most photographers prefer to head for the waterholes and the nearest is nearly an hour’s drive away, this means that by the time you get there the early morning golden light has gone. I think this complaint is ignored as I remember discussing this with another photographer and camp management at the Kalahari Tented camp back in 2014 and nothing has changed since then.

Meerkats of Mata Mata

One of the highlights of camping at Mata Mata was the family of Meerkats (Suricate suricatta) that had their home a few metres from the bird hide. During the day, the family would be out foraging leaving one member as a baby sitter to 3 small pups. They would venture out during the day from their burrow and sun themselves and were really comfortable with the many people coming to photograph them. 

The camp is also home to many Ground Squirrels (Xerus inauris) which unfortunately have become rather tame over the years probably because campers insist on feeding them in order to get cute photographs of them. They lose their fear of humans and are often around your feet, standing on their hind legs begging for food. We made sure we didn’t leave any titbit out and we still managed to get some photographs.

The camp is also a great place for birding and there are resident White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Plocepasser mahali); Cape Glossy Starling (Lamprotornis nitens); Crimson-breasted Shrike (Laniarius atrococcineus); Familiar Chat (Cercomela familiaris) and Brown-throated Martin (Riparia paludicola) to name a few.

Our best bird sightings whilst out and about besides the Southern Pale Chanting Goshawks were many Secretarybirds (Sagittarius serpentarius), Lanner Falcons (Falco biarmicus), plenty of Kori Bustards (Ardeotis kori) and a couple good sightings of the Pygmy Falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus).

Our next blog post (Part 5 - More of Mata Mata, Twee Rivieren; a chilly stay at Augrabies National Park and down to the Karoo National Park)

Read : Part 1 Johannesburg to Phalaborwa

Read : Part 2 Phalaborwa and Punda Maria

Read : Part 3 Letaba, Orpen area, Hoedspruit and Pretoriuskop

Part 3 – Letaba, Orpen area, Hoedspruit and Pretoriuskop (May 2017)

African Wildlife and Nature Photographs – (7 provinces in a 7 week trip around South Africa)

Part 3 – Letaba, Orpen area, Hoedspruit and Pretoriuskop (May 2017)

Our stay in Letaba camp was in one of their permanent tents, as we were just staying for one night. These tents are great, not too expensive and serviced by a few ablutions. No utensils provided but there is power and a fridge/freezer. 

Breaking from the usual evenings cooking we decided to eat at the Letaba camps main restaurant and even though the restaurant is going through management changes (again) we were very pleased with the service and great meal we both had. We would therefore, at the time of writing, recommend the main restaurant at Letaba rest camp if you want a simple coffee, breakfast or a 3 course meal, good food at reasonable prices can be had.

We left Letaba early in the morning and traveled further south as we were due to have our first nights stay at Tamboti tented camp but for various reasons, we ended up staying in a chalet at Orpen Camp, which is just a stones through away from Tamboti. As we had stayed there before we were aware of the ‘resident’ honey badger that does the rounds every night raiding cupboards and dustbins. All cupboard doors and draws have locks on them and when checking-in you are warned not to leave any food out and even to keep your garbage out the bins until the morning.

We had only deposited a plastic wrapper, two teabags and an empty 5L bottle of water in our bin but decided to see what would happen so we placed the bin in an area where we could then set up our camera trap. True to form, the honey badger paid a visit. Firstly, it seemed to take off with a tea bag and then at 4am we both woke to a strange noise. Peeking outside with the torch there was said honey badger wrestling with the empty 5L bottle of water. Just gotta love them for their no-care attitude.

Honey Badger and the water bottle at Orpen camp

We heard via friends later that day that people who stayed at Tamboti tented camp had a honey badger raid their cooler box. We were astounded to hear it got away with yogurt, cheese and wine! Seems honey badgers tastes are improving. Glenda was wondering if it was in-fact the same honey badger who then came to visit us, (the camps are close in honey badger terms) and perhaps it needed the water after the wine…..

Outside Orpen camp there is a very nice water hole in front of the camp and the general public can view the Orpen Webcam via the internet.

When we arrived there were a few African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) drinking and there was a steady stream of plains game Burchell’s Zebra (Equus burchellii), Impala (Aepyceros melampus),and Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) etc coming through to quench their thirst.

Blyde River

We left Orpen in the morning as the following 2 nights / 3 days were spent in Hoedspruit, catching up with old friends and joining our old bird club on their monthly Saturday outing. Great to see many members at the outing and we had a great walk along the Blyde River and being pleasantly surprised by how many species we managed to spot, considering it was mid May. Highlight for a new member was a lifer (first time a bird has been seen by a person) in the form of a male Narina Trogon (Apaloderma narina).

Glenda and I were invited to stay with goods friends on the wildlife estate we used to live in (Raptor's View Wildlife Estate) and made the most of being in the bush and placing our camera trap near their birdbath. Great to see overnight visitors of porcupine, Small-spotted Genet (Genetta genetta), Common Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) and two duelling male Nyala (Tragelaphus angasii).

All to soon it was then time to head back into the Kruger National Park and we managed to finally stay in the permanent tents at Tamboti camp overnight. As with Letaba tents they are very comfortable but a little more secluded, they are located on a dry riverbed and there are only 40 tents in total with a central ablution block and shared kitchen area. You certainly feel like you are alone in the bush when staying at these ‘bush’ camps. 

The bush is quite thick around the camping area and we gather in summer it is great for birding. It will be on the list to return to and perhaps spend more time there as we had to make an early start the following day to get to Pretoriuskop Rest Camp.

Our tent at Tamboti camp

The Kruger Park gets a bit busier when going down to its Southern parts, both with people and animals but we were pleased to finally get to see a pride of 5 Lions (Panthera Leo) on the road between Pretoriuskop and Phabeni gate, especially seeing that we had heard lions roaring most nights. 

It was a good area for us as we then had two good leopard sightings soon after, one with a kill (Impala) which it had managed to drag up a tree reasonably close to the road. 

I managed to practice some macro photograph by finding some butterflies close to the camper, follow the link where you can see the results of my macro photography.

Again …. Time for a little moan about the camping at Pretoriuskop. The camping site is split into two sections and it has always been reasonably comfortable, but now most of the lower camp and a third of the upper camp have been taken over by a tented concession with their permanent tents. Why, I ask !!! It seems the same number of campers can book at the camp but now there is less space. We eventually found a spot near the fence but it was also close to the ablutions, which meant we had people wandering past us at all hours of the night. We were not happy camper ! 

After a pleasant stay in the southern part of the Kruger National Park it was time to head back to Johannesburg to stock up and head off for the next part of our travel. 

Our next blog post (Part 4 Heading west to Kuruman and the Kgalagadi National Park) 

Read : Part 1 - Johannesburg to Phalaborwa

Read : Part 2 - Phalaborwa and Punda Maria

Part 2 – Phalaborwa and Punda Maria (May 2017)

African Wildlife and Nature Photographs – (7 provinces in a 7 week trip around South Africa)

Part 2 – Phalaborwa and Punda Maria (May 2017)

As we mentioned in part 1 prior to staying in the Kruger National Park, we spent 3 nights at the Forever Resort in Phalaborwa, due to the park being full. However, this gave us chance to visit friends in Phalaborwa we hadn’t seen in years and allowing us a day visit into the park to Letaba rest camp, one of our favourite Kruger camps. 

The area around Letaba, and moving up to the Northern part of the park is dominated by Mopani bush, a favourite for the parks elephants and we were surprised at just how many elephants we were actually seeing. The most abundant large mammal species in the park are Impala (Aepyceros melampus), a staple diet of the large predators, however we kept saying we were seeing more elephants than impalas, so you can just imagine how many elephants we were seeing. Not that we were complaining as one can spend hours just watching the interaction between these African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) family members, especially when there is a breeding herd with very young calves.

African Elephants at Punda Maria Waterhole - Kruger National Park

With most of the migrant birds having left South Africa, we were very surprised to find a pair of Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis) in Letaba Camp as these intra African migrants are usually gone at this time of the year (mid May).

South Africa and the Kruger Park have for the past 2 – 3 years suffered from a serious drought but this past year has seen a bit of a recovery in the park which has resulted in an inundation of Red-billed Queleas (Quelea quelea). In all the years we’ve been travelling into the park we have never seen quite so many flocks of Red-billed Queleas swooping through the trees in waves. It has been caused by the apparent late rains late last year and early this year and thus an abundant supply of grass seed.

Burchell's Coucal - one of the many

We were also pleased with the number of Southern Ground-Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) that we saw considering these are regarded as a vulnerable species in Southern Africa, they do however seem to be thriving in the Northern part of the Kruger National Park particularly. Another plentiful sighting were Burchell’s Coucal (Centropus burchellii) and in one day alone we counted 9 which for us was some sort of record. 

Eventually the day dawned for us to move into the Kruger Park and travel from Phalaborwa gate up north to the furthest camp, Punda Maria. Arriving there mid-afternoon after a pleasant drive, counting elephants and Burchell’s Coucals with sightings of the plains game species like, Impalas, Burchell’s Zebra (Equus burchellii) Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) and a few Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros).

This was the first time we’d camped in Punda Maria having previously stayed in the chalets and permanent tents. The camp site is a real treat as the bird hide is located in the camp and it overlooks a beautiful waterhole.

While setting up camp a large herd of elephants came to drink, a great opportunity to take some photographs as they were bathed in soft golden afternoon sun a photographers dream. I stopped what I was doing and rushed to the bird hide to watch them. A fellow traveller advised me they’d been there every day for the last 4 days at the same time. As I was in the middle of setting up camp I thought I might as well catch them the following day. BIG MISTAKE, I was never to see them again in such numbers and in such awesome light in the whole 6 days we were there.. Great opportunity missed. (Lesson: Never leave for tomorrow what can be done today, take your opportunities as they arise). 

One small consolation was the small video footage I took on my mobile phone of the event, which I will share on my website www.africanwildlifeandnaturephotographs.com later. The elephants were constant visitors to the waterhole though and the sounds of elephants communicating in the middle of the night is quite something. Besides the elephants we were lucky to hear and fall asleep to lions roaring every night, but they proved to be elusive when trying to find them during the day.

The advantage of staying in Punda Maria is that it is only an hour’s drive to the Pafuri area, which is one of South Africa’s most prolific birding spots throughout the year , albeit missing the migrant birds in winter. Again, this trip didn’t disappoint with good sightings of African Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus), Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) African Fish-Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer), Meves’s Starling (Lamprotornis mevesii) White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) and White-crowned Lapwing (Vanellus albiceps), to name a few.

Martial Eagle at Pafuri - Kruger National Park

Now for a little moan and word of warning; so please take note…we enjoyed Punda Maria for its great location and the wonderful Mahonie Loop around the camp for late afternoon game drives, however the downside of the stay was that the camping was full, possibly overbooked and the camping area was like a car park in a shopping centre, but not as organised…. 

It’s a free-for-all for campers, hence people camping extremely close together, having access to power when not paid for with no control or checking by Sanparks who run the camp. We also soon realised that we were in a pensioner’s discount period (Sanparks have them a couple time a year) meaning there were far too many people camping in the Kruger Park due to its warm winter climate and no doubt cheaper utility costs. Unfortunately, in our opinion, not that interested in the parks wildlife either as some people just parked up and didn’t bother leaving camp, it would seem. 

Sanparks, Punda Maria camp is one camp that should have restricted camping numbers, frequent checking on who has camped where and paid for what. Sadly also there are too few ablutions based on the numbers allowed to camp with some in a poor state of maintenance and repair.

So it was time to say farewell to Punda Maria and head off further south to stay in Letaba and Orpen camps and visiting our previous ‘home town’ of the past few years; Hoedspruit.

Our next blog post (Part 3: Letaba, Orpen area, Hoedspruit and Pretoriuskop)

Read : Part 1 Johanneburg to Phalaborwa

Read : Park 4 Heading west to Kuruman and the Kgalagadi National Park

Little Egret

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta garzetta)

Yesterday my wife and I found ourselves heading for a great nature reserve  on the outskirts of Pretoria in South Africa. The reserves name is Rietvlei Nature Reserve and we return there when we find ourselves in this part of South Africa. Bird life is quite prolific and in a mornings outing we manage 61 species including Little Egret, Northern Black Korhaan, White-throated Swallow, Yellow-billed Duck, Malachite & Pied Kingfishers, Ostrich, Red-collared Widowbird and many many more.

On approaching Ottterbrug (Otter Bridge) at the reserve, where infact we did actually see an awesome sight of two beautiful African Clawless Otters (Aonyx capensis) swimming and fishing together in the dam, then get out, cross the small road between the dam and its tributary stream, climbed back in to fish then they disappeared together as quickly as we saw them. We parked the car next to the small dam and started to scour the dam with our binoculars, immediately my eyes fell upon a small white Heron known as a ‘Little Egret’ patiently and as still as a ‘statue’ waiting for the slightest of movement in the water.

The Little Egrets are small in comparison to its larger cousin the Great Egret at only 65 cm (2ft 1in) long with a wingspan of just 105 cm (3ft 2in). A snowy white plumage, black legs an distinctive bright ‘yellow’ feet make this Egret easily recognisable.

Little Egrets eat fish, insects, amphibians,and small reptiles and as observed this morning they stalk their prey in shallow water, often running with raised wings or shuffling their feet to disturb small fish but as witnessed they also stand still and wait to ambush prey.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta garzetta) standing rock steady waiting for the slightest movement
Rietvlei Nature Reserve - South Africa

Kori Bustard

Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori)

Its big, in fact its the biggest flying bird in Africa, its the Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori) and one of 4 species in the bustard family. African birds come in all shapes and sizes but the Kori bustard is unmistakable not only for its sheer size but also distinctive plumage which is interestingly coloured, being mostly grey and brown but finely patterned with black and white colouring.

With huge sexual dimorphism the Kori Bustard is Africa’s largest flying bird, the male Kori Bustard being twice the weight of the female, maybe the heaviest animal capable of flight and currently weighing typically between 7 kg – 18 kg (15 lb – 40 lb) which outstrips the Andean Condor where males weigh in at a small 11 kg -15 kg (24 lb to 33 lb). The physical size is just incredible, the male Kori Bustard  stands 71–120 cm (2 ft 4 in–3 ft 11 in) tall and has a wingspan around 230cm – 275 cm (8 ft – 9 ft )

A mainly ground dwelling omnivore (eats plants and or other animals, in this case mainly insects and small vertebrates..) the Kori Bustard can be found throughout Southern Africa where it can be seen slowly strutting through the veld in search of its food in open grassy areas, often characterized by sandy soil, especially like the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa but generally in low rainfall area’s.

During the mating season, these birds are usually solitary but for the breeding pair. Otherwise, they are somewhat gregarious, being found in groups often including 5 to 6 birds and generally silent but when the Kori Bustard is alarmed both the male and female birds let out a loud ‘growling’ type bark.

Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori) - Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - South Africa

Scaly-feathered Finch

Scaly-feathered Finch

On our recent trip to South Africa’s  Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park  we came across in great numbers the small but delightful Scaly-feathered Finch (Sporopipes squamifrons) or as I like to call them which should become apparent to lovers of cricket and in particular Australian cricket the 'Merv Hughes' bird.

We encountered this little bird in great numbers both by the waterholes, where they would ‘fly in’ sip water and fly back out to the nearest bush and in again, as well as perched on the flora and fauna along the sandy roads we drove. Its interesting to know that the Scaly-feathered Finch only drinks water when it is available and can last months without actually drinking, as it can produce what is called ‘metabolic water‘ from its diet of dry seeds and insects. This phenomenon clearly makes the Scaly-feathered Finch well adapted to the harshness of the more semi arid regions of South and Southern Africa like the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Closely related to the sparrow and weaver families, the Scaly-feathered Finch is a small bird of some 10 cm (4 in) and weighs in at around 10 grams (0.35 oz) with a very distinctive small pink bill and broad black malar stripes, hence my ‘nickname’ for the Scaly-feathered Finch of the ‘Merv Hughes’ bird.

Scaly-feathered Finch (Sporopipes squamifrons)
Kgalagadi Transfontier Park - South Africa

Ruff

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) – Boys Bigger Than Girls

The gregarious Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) is a medium sized ‘wading’ bird that is about to grace our shores again here in the North Eastern part of South Africa again shortly. Being a summer visitor to these shores the Ruff is what as known as a Paleartic Migrant a bird which visits from outside the African continent, in this case from Eurasia where it breeds in the marshes and wetlands.

The Ruff over winters here in Southern Africa but does not breed, which is a shame as we in Southern Africa are unable to see that magnificent breeding plumage (or Ruff) of the male bird, that also includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and that large collar of ornamental feathers which no doubt gave way to it its name.  The male Ruff also shows a marked sexual dimorphism (size) over the female which are known as ‘Reeves’ and has three different plumage types which includes the rare mimicking of the female bird. The male carries out these courtship displays at a ‘Lek’ and is thus known as ‘Lekking‘

While breeding it primarily feeds on aquatic insects it forages for in the soft mud of the wetlands it inhabits, however during its winter migration to Southern Africa it has been known to also feed on plant materials like maize.

Female Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)

Male Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) (non breeding) with white head and neck

Hamerkop

Hamerkop (More than one in a million)

The Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) is more than one in a million, its unique in the avian or bird world due to its extraordinary physical characteristics. The direct Afrikaans translation is Hamer (hammer) kop (head) and its not difficult to see why this bird is named as such with its 'hammer' like head, long bill an crest.  Feeding on amphibians like frog's, fish, shrimp and most aquatic insects as you would expect for one that lives its life in the 'wetland' areas.

The Hamerkop is a drab brown medium sized bird about 56 centimetres (22 in) in length and  found in all in Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and South West on the Arabian Peninsula like rivers, dams and streams where it lives a sedentary life.

One of the most interesting and quite frankly outrageous aspects of a Hamerkop's life is its breeding and nest building habits. Quite frankly this birds loves building nests, they build nests even though they are not breeding and what a nest considering the size of these birds. Usually built in the 'fork' of a tree over looking the water these Hamerkop nests are quite spectacular in size with nest easily reaching 1.5 meters (5ft) in size. Made from thousands of sticks and mud the Hamerkop builds its nest with a bottom entry which can be quite long which the parents can pass up into the nest and stay with the young.

Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) with its peculiar shaped 'hammer' head

The huge nest of the 'Hamerkop'

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - (Final Part)

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - (Final Part)

We woke early (5am) with sad hearts as this would be our last full day in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park as this morning we were leaving Nossob Camp and heading the 161 km along the parks sandy

Gates at Nossob Camp, (hide gate in the middle)
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

roads back to Twee Rivieren camp where we would be spending the night. We had decided that we would visit the 'bird hide' which we had tried the previous evening as it is easily accessible from the camp and despite it still being dark at just a little after 5am we would have the benefit of the 'floodlight' as the generator came on at 5am to light up the waterhole.

The temperature had dropped dramatically from the previous days and the wind had picked up quite a bit as we made our way to the hide, again we sat there for just over an hour and nothing to show for it as we shivered in the cold, as others arrived with hot morning coffee. We decided to head back to our chalet and get the car packed and have breakfast before setting off. We left through the 'south gate' just after 7-30 am and as the sun was rising we noticed a lot of cloud cover in the sky, the cooler weather we were expecting a few days earlier had arrived.

Our first stop on the way out of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and back to Twee Rivieren would be 'Dikbaardskolk picnic spot', the picnic spot we had stopped a few days previously on our way from Kalahari Tented Camp to Nossob. This time no sociable weavers (Philetairus socius) nor people, and our coffee and rusks had to be had sat in the car as it was so cold and windy.

We pushed on towards Twee Rivieren still managing to see several Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest

Kori Bustard with 'neck feathers'
partially extended

and Black-backed jackal along the way. The cloud cover gave our photographs a soft diffused light instead of the golden yellows and oranges we had experience previously. Something worth noting though is that virtually around every corner so far that morning we had caught sight of the worlds 'heaviest flying bird' the Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori), around 10 in total.  I don't think we'd seen this number in total in a year in the Kruger National Park. Apparently its due to the secretion of 'gum' from the prevalent 'Blackthorn Bushes' in the area. We were fortunate to see a male in a semi mating display (neck feathers extended).

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park although famous for its 'lion' and 'birds of prey' has of course many other much smaller mammals that inhabit this stunning arid landscape and we were lucky to see one of theses little inhabitants going about its daily business; a rodent called a Brants's whistling rat (Parotomys brantsii).  Just after our second picnic stop at 'Melkvlei' (still to cold and windy to get out and have coffees and a sandwich) we came across another quite famous inhabitant of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, a family of Meerkats or Suricate (Suricata suricatta). This family entertained us for quite a while, whilst we sat in the car watching and photographing their antics.

A  Brants's whistling rat, a resident rodent
 in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Having passed the (famous for its big cats) 'Kij Kij' waterhole (again very quiet) we arrived at the Twee Rivieren camp by mid afternoon our stop for the night and the gateway to the Southern Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park . We checked into our chalet and unpacked the car, as the power doesn't go off in Twee Rivieren unlike the rest of the park and as it was quite chilly in our chalet it was time to bring out our little 'fan heater' we had brought all those kilometers with us from home. We decided not to go out again that day except to the shop to pick up some water (we had used all the water we had brought with us) and catch up on any emails as we now had a 'signal' after several days without contact with the outside world. We had planned to go back to the nearest waterhole at first light in the morning before leaving the park and heading home.

We rose early the following morning so we could make a dash at first light for the 'Samevloeiing' waterhole just a few kilometers inside the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park gates after entering at Twee Rivieren. What is said about 'best laid plans' etc.... We were met with minus 3 degree temperatures and our 4x4 which had carried us over 2000 km  to date would not start. It took another hour and a half and a 'thick' set of jump leads from our neighbours to eventually get us going. What shall we do? pack and leave or head for the 'waterhole'?

We pulled up at 'Samevloeiing' waterhole all was quiet, then along trotted a Black-backed Jackal for its

Meerkat or Suricate
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

morning drink and in came the Namaqua Sandgrouse, followed by the Burchell's Sandgrouse weary as ever. The time was moving on and we had to check out at Twee Rivieren by 10am, but the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park gave us one last surprise before we left, 2 lifer's (birds never before seen). A juvenile Black Harrier (Circus maurus) and a Red-necked Falcon (Falco chicquera) were doing aerial battle just above us, the Harrier we believed was some distance out of its range for that time of the year.

We reluctantly made our way back to our chalet in time to complete the packing and head to the garage to 'pump up' our tyre's back to normal road pressures (when you drive on soft sand tyres need to be reduced in pressure). Final check out at Twee Rivieren gate and we were on our way back home, some 1500km. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park had given us a week of outstanding wildlife experiences and photo opportunities, with over 25 'lifers' for us, we hope you have enjoyed travelling along with us and we hope we have given you all just a little taste of what you can experience in this wildlife wilderness and area of outstanding natural beauty. One last tip, if you are wishing to go to the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park and experience it for yourselves, then BOOK EARLY, nearly 11 months in advance to ensure you are not disappointed.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – Part 7

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – (Part 7) May/June 2014

We had arrived at Nossob Rest Camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park late in the afternoon the previous day and checked in at the reception with our ‘permit’ still intact and generally checked out our immediate location. There are a few things at the Nossob camp that would be of interest for the first time travellers/photographers to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Firstly the camp has ‘electrical power’ via its generator daily from 5-30am to 10pm, Secondly it has a shop and petrol, both of these are far and few between in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Lastly, Nossob has a great ‘hide’ with a made made ‘water hole’.  This hide is located beside the main ‘North’ and ‘South’ gates (more about this later) to the camp and thus is in easy walking distance from the camp. This hide also boasts a webcam which since returning home and checking it out seems to be up and running all the times I have visited. You can find this webcam and other SanParks webcams at the Nossob Webcam.

Yellow Canary
drinking at 'Cubitje Quap' waterhole

We had done our research and visited the previous afternoon a waterhole about 10km north of the camp called ‘Cubitje Quap’ known for its large flocks of Sandgrouse and Cape Turtle Doves, large Raptors and Black-backed Jackal all coming to drink there as well as some specials like Brown Hyena and Leopard. This waterhole is better for photography first thing in the morning due to the ‘light’ on the waterhole itself and has limited space around the waterhole to take photographs, so we were up early as normal and first at the gate going ‘North’ to get a good location for the mornings visit of the various wildlife species.  Nossob Rest Camp is ‘fenced’ unlike the Khalahari Tented Camp we had previously stayed at and one of only a few camps that are actually fenced in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Nossob is also a little different to all other camps I have stayed at before, as here you have to actually drive ‘into’ the camp. shut the gate and then open the other gate to continue. So coming from the south you would need to open the South gate, close it and open the North gate to continue your journey or vice versa.

We arrived first at the waterhole just after sunrise and we positioned ourselves the best we could with a good view of the waterhole some 30 meters away, It wasn’t long before a whole host of birds started to arrive, Yellow Canaries (Serinus flaviventris),  Red-headed Finches (Amadina erythrocephala) were amongst the first to appear in their droves, quickly flying in and ‘sipping’ the cool early morning waters and then out again to rest on a nearby bush, hardly resting for a moment before starting over again for a further drink. We soon found out why this curious back and forth of birds continued; it’s due to one of the famous predators of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park the ‘Lanner Falcon’ (Falco biarmicus). It swooped in narrowly ‘missing’ a couple of these small birds before returning to its look-out some 100 meters away in an old tree with a good vantage point to see the waterhole.

Next came the birds that have to drink daily in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the Sandgrouse,

Burchells Sandgrouse taking off after taking a drink
at Cubitje Quap Waterhole

circling a few times like ‘bomber command’, flocks of Namaqua  Sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua) and Burchell’s Sandgrouse (Pterocles burchelli)  came in one after the other to drink and then take off in the opposite direction in which they landed. Again the Lanner Falcon swooped in, this time ‘clipping’ a Namaqua  Sandgrouse but not sufficiently enough to knock it down. This is a deadly scene that is played out daily in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park for these birds, a balance based on a need for ‘water’ and a need for ‘food’.

Next up to drink and our only large mammal that morning was the ‘renowned’ scavenger of the Kgalagadi the Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas), This predator was also very nervous as it drank there for a good few minutes, always raising it’s head and looking around every few seconds. We guessed this was to be on the look out for the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Parks apex predators the lions. Unfortunately for us and fortunately for the Jackal none appeared while we were there. We spent most of the morning at Cubitje Quap watching and photographing the comings and goings of the birds and various Jackals.

Later that morning we moved further North to ‘Kwang’ waterhole where it is said to have a large ‘sweet’ waterhole preferred by many animals. Sure enough the hour we sat there, large herds of Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus caama)  as well as the occasional Jackal and the now common flocks of birds came to drink.

Black-backed Jackal taking a much needed drink
at Kwang Waterhole

We made our way back to Nossob for lunch and then took ourselves South this time for an afternoon drive to ‘Rooikop’ and ‘Marie se draai’ waterholes. Not a lot happening unfortunately at the waterholes so we made our way back to camp and the hide, again not much happening there either so we decided to comeback later that evening for a second sitting as it was our last night at Nossob Rest Camp as our winter trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park was nearing an end. The night session was also quite quiet but the highlights were a Verreaux Eagle Owl (Bubo lacteus) which landed some distance from the hide just out past the waterhole and five Bat-eared Foxes (Otocyon megalotis) who also just ran through the area and didn’t stop to drink. We decided to make for our chalet and ensure a nice hot shower and cup of tea and jump into bed before the power went off. Tomorrow we were heading back down to Twee Rivieren Rest Camp and we’d also heard that the weather was going to take a turn and temperature were due to drop.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – Part 6

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Part 6) – May/June 2014

As always we rise early when on a ‘safari’ type vacation or photography shoot and more so on these last few mornings as we were on our first trip to the stunning Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa’s, Northern Cape.  The lions and the Black-backed Jackals were, as they had been on previous nights, very ‘vocal’. Would we see them this morning?  My wife and I discuss the possibilities as spotting Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park lion is a highlight of anybodies trip to the park and we excitedly agreed the roars we heard in the night and very early that morning came from the general direction in which we were to travel today.

This morning we were leaving behind the ‘Kalahari Tented Camp’ and surrounding area, where we had spent the last 3 wonderful days and nights, for today we were heading to the ‘Nossob’ rest camp a bit further North into the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. A quick breakfast and with the car packed we went through our normal routine of getting our ‘permit’ at the Kalahari Tented Camps reception desk and set off for Nossob.

The sun was just beginning to creep over the sandy dunes of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and we had only been travelling a few minutes down the sandy tracks when my wife spotted him, a magnificent specimen of a male Kgalagadi Lion (Panthera leo) almost blending into the grass as the early morning sunlight bathed both him and the dune grass in a light orange glow. He was almost certainly the male lion we’d heard the previous night and earlier that morning just before daybreak. We tried to manoeuvre to get a better picture of this ‘king’ of the Kgalagadi Transfontier Park but unfortunately we were unable to do so as we had car ‘traffic’ build up behind us and we had a long way to go over the dune roads to Nossob Camp.

Kgalagadi Lion (Panthera leo) bathed in early morning sunshine.

Due to the distance we had to travel and the condition of the roads (sandy river beds) in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we didn’t want to waste any time so we pressed on down the sandy river bed road of the Auob river heading for our first stop which was the ‘Dikbaardskolk Picnic Area’ which we later found out would be a welcome break. To get there we had to travel south for about 50 km to the ‘Upper’ dune road turning.  Then a further 50km on the upper dune road which traverses across the dunes between the Auob and the Nossob dry river beds.

Northern-black-Korhaan (Afrotis afraoides) – Female on the ‘Upper Dune’ road

As we hit the ‘Upper dune’ road the soft rutted sand of the Auob turned to deep hard ‘rutted’ course sand which when travelling at a modest 30km an hour was enough to ‘rattle’ the fillings in your teeth loose. About 3km along this road we sighted, strolling in front of us, a male and female Northern Black Korhaan’s, (Afrotis afraoides) the more colourful male unfortunately disappeared into the dune grass but the female gave us some great photographic opportunities. Continuing along the ‘road from hell’ it wasn’t only the ‘fillings’ that were being affected ‘bladders’ were also telling us to hurry along to the ‘Dikbaardskolk Picnic Area’. Ant-eating-Chat (Myrmecocichla formicivora) were common place along the road as well as Fawn-coloured Larks (Mirafra africanoides) and of course the ever present Pale Chanting Goshawks (Melierax canorus). The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park never had such a welcome sight as the turn into the ‘Dikbaardskolk Picnic Area’ and an end to the ‘Road from Hell’ or the Upper Dune Road.  The time was already approaching midday and we had travelled just the 100km since leaving the Khalahari Tented Camp at 7:30am that morning.

Dikbaardskolk Picnic Area -Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – South Africa

‘Dikbaardskolk Picnic Area’ was in a spotless condition and the toilets were well stocked with hand soap and toilet paper, a credit to Sanparks as basically we were at least 50 km from the nearest main camp Nossob (our destination for the next few days). In the Kruger

National Park at picnic areas Chacma Baboons (Papio ursinus) and Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) tend to be a problem as people often feed these wild animals, who in turn become aggressive and a nuisance around food. DO NOT FEED WILD ANIMALS ..ok rant over, here at ‘Dikbaardskolk Picnic Area’ the problem wasn’t a primate but a bird, the ‘Sociable Weaver’ (Philetairus socius). These birds were everywhere, perching on your head as you sat to try and have a bite of a bun or sandwich. They even tried to take the bun from my wife’s hand as she ate. Amazing little birds though as they were followed around by their ever hungry chicks.

After our short break we pressed on towards Nossob rest camp, now on the dry sandy river bed of the ‘ephemeral’ Nossob River (they only flow for a short period and then only in really good rainy seasons). The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park really is diverse and good sightings of Black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris) who were busily feeding on one of the many rodents that inhabit the park. Herds of Sprinkbok (Elanus axillaris) and Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) were in great number all the way to Nossob Camp. We arrived at the camp after travelling the last 50 km at about 3pm in the afternoon and checked in to our chalet, unpacked the car which started our next leg of our trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Nossob Camp.