The Kgaligadi.

After all the discussion last night , we decided to take the route through Botswana to Kgaligadi. The great thing about this is that I also got a Botswana stamp on my passport! We crossed the border at Mc Carthy’s rest and were off to the only town of any description we encounter, Tsabong. Not much of a town, but some essential shops and fuel is available. The drive from there to Bokspits ,where you can get back onto a tar road into SA and to Kgaligadi is about 210 km from Tsabong. It is a beautiful new road and it is called the Trans Molopo Highway and was only opened in September 2010.

The scenery is Kalahari, so much like it would be on the SA side, however it felt different as we were in another country. Getting back into SA was a bit of a mission. We got to the border where there was only a SA border control. They directed us back into town and down a none descript road to a Police station where we were given the approval to leave Botswana. Back to the SA control where we get checked and looked over and have to open everything and off we were again to Twee Rivieren along a tar road. This used to be a BAD gravel road but now it is a quick drive into the park.

The campsite is close to the entrance and we did not worry too much about where we were as it was only for the one night. It had been a hot day through Botswana and the evening was lovely and we sat under the stars and enjoyed the evening and the fact that we were in the Kgaligadi. It is such a good place to be.  The Kgaligadi has a feel and a look all of its own. It is nothing like Kruger or any other National Park. It has a different  sort of beauty all of its own and not to forget that it is a semi arid area and that every hill, is in fact a permanent sand dune , so all along there are these red sand dunes covered in this pale green grass and then the white sand roads. It is nearly like Table Mountain, every time you see it you want to take a photo.

The next morning we were off to Nossob just after 8 as it is a long way to travel and the roads are pretty rough. Nossob is a bush like camp and the camp sites are close to the fence and it is sand all over. 4X4 shoes needed to get around. There is also a waterhole and a hide, so there is lots to do and see, providing the animals appear, which they were really reluctant to do. We travelled North and South and up and down and covered many a kilometer, but with little more to see than the Springbok and Wildebeest and Gemsbok. We did though see lots of birds and particularly lots of birds of prey, like Bateleurs, Goshawks, Martial Eagles and many smaller falcons and kestrels. We spent 2 nights at Nossob and the weather changed dramatically. The second morning we got up in freezing cold with frost all over. Ever the sand was frosted. Little did we know that this was just the beginning of real cold mornings!

We were off to Urikaruus Wilderness camp after breakfast. It is a stunning camp with 4 chalets all built on stilts, with a bedroom + bathroom on the one level and then a kitchen and “living” area on  the lower level. The link between the two is on the outside. We arrived in fair temperatures but soon felt that there is something else in the air as there was an extremely thin wind blowing intermittently. We braaiied on the veranda, but were inside very quickly. Red wine and hot food all assisted to fight the cold. Our sleep cabin was like a fridge, but we jumped into a hot shower and into bed in 2 ticks. Boy, but was it COLD the next morning, that cold that freezes your nose and hands and leaves your toes behind. All the pipes were frozen solid and there was no water, locically! We had a few frozen giggles, though. Dick had washed hid undies the night before and put it over the side of the basin, well in the morning it was frozen at that angle. Luckily he was not intending to wear it, else we would have required some serious contortionist moves!. Dick’s best moment was when I put my fingers in a glass of water left in the zink the night before, it instantly froze! I was the “Ice woman” for the rest of the day!! Did not probe that one too deeply! Anyway we defrosted and the next evening was lovely, but again the next morning we awoke to the same, but luckily we were better prepared. We had kept water in the kettle, etc, so we were not caught off guard again.

The animal life mainly consists of Springbok, Blue Wildebeest, Gemsbok and Hartebeest. Then there are also Ostriches and Jackals and many Bat eared foxes, Hyenas and Cheetah and Lions. Well our “game viewing” has been largely of the Springbok, Wildebeest, Gemsbok and Hartebeest  variety, but the night before we were privileged to see a hyena den, with a mother and 2 cubs, as well as a “teenager”. We were the only people there at the time and she was having “quality time” with her cubs. It was to me the moment of the Kgaligadi. She was totally unphased about us and one of the cubs wandered across the road right in front of the car and she guided it back. I have new respect for Hyenas now. We past her den another 3 times and always she was there with her cubs. On our last night at Urikaruus we were also treated by 4 Hyenas coming to the waterhole to drink. The day that we arrived we also saw 2 Pearls Spotted Owlets in the tree right outside our chalets basking in the thin winter sun. We did not see them the next day, but clearly they live around the area.  These are the special moments to treasure. 

Tonight we are in Mata-Mata, right on the Namibia border. It is also a very bush like camp and full of people from the Cape and many children, as it is school holidays. We are right on the fence and hoping for some action tonight. I mean a lion hunting down a Wildebeest and killing it right in front of our site is the minimum requirement!The temperature is dropping, but the prediction for tomorrow morning is only -1degrees, which is a whole lot higher than the last 2 mornings when it was -7*!!!!! Still bloody FREEZING.

On our way to Mata-Mata we were sort of the last in the row to see a Cheetah and her 4 cubs wandering off the road and into the tall grass, but at least we did see her and got a distant photo of her. This morning when we got up there was great excitement in the ladies ablution block as a little Barn Owl had moved in and was sitting on the bathroom wall. It became a very frequently photographed owl very quickly. AND then, at last, on our way out and back to Twee Rivieren this morning we saw 3 lionesses. They had obviously killed a Gemsbok earlier and looked rather well fed, however the one was still dragging the remains to safety under a tree and then all 3 collapsed and went to sleep.

We are spending our last night in the Kgaligadi in Twee Rivieren tonight and tomorrow we are off to Augrabies. No braai tonight either, we are eating in the Restaurant.

I am going to sort some pictures out and will put them on separately Much less hassle, especially with a intermittent signal.