The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP)

[Panthera Pardus]

I have posted photos of Urikaruus Camp. Like Grootkolk, this is a special camp. You can have a lazy persons safari at both these camps just waiting for the animals to come to the waterhole. Urikaruus is on stilts and from the deck adjoining the kitchen you look down upon the waterhole. The bedroom which is at a higher level than the kitchen and has a balcony looking down on the waterhole. Thus you can see a procession of animals and raptors coming to the waterhole all day and night. Lions, leopards and cheetah are in the area. Spotted hyena den in the area. Brown hyena, caracals and African wildcats all visit the waterhole as do the antelope. It would be sheer bad luck if you do not see at least one predator a day at the waterhole.

 

Eland at the waterhole

 

A cape fox, who has been named Charlie, has a den right next to unit 4. She comes to say hello in the evenings. You can see the lion paw print in the photo. Lions and leopards sometimes do walk between the units on the way to the waterhole

 

 

Cape foxes have cubs in summer and Charlie might give you a treat

 

 

Lioness drinking with giraffe lookin on. Lion kills have been made close to camp

 

Spotted Hyena

 

 

Brown Hyena

 

Lion

 

Black backed Jackal and Caracal

 

Lionesses

 

Lion

 

 

 

One evening we had a lion come to the waterhole. So0n after that 5 spotted hyena pitched up, harassing him. This went on for about 20 minutes before they drove him away.

 

 

 

[Panthera Pardus]

they were extinct in the KTP. In 1990 eight Giraffe from Ethosa (3 bulls, 5 cows) were relocated and kept in a boma near Mata Mata for adaptation. They were released into the park after that and I would guestimate there are about 40 now in the Park. They are between Kamqua and Mata Mata.

[africapurohit]

@@Panthera Pardus the cape fox is a fantastic sighting - are sightings in KTP generally rare?

[Panthera Pardus]

@@africapurohit - not so rare but we did not see any on two of our trips. Very good chance of seeing them early morning drive from Twee Rivieren to Rooiputs on the Nossob side and between Auchterlonie and Urikaruus on the Auob side.

 

During Oct-Jan, very good chance of finding playful cubs.

[Panthera Pardus]

The Lions of the KTP.

 

A morning drive on the Auob Riverbed should give you a lion sighting. There are very few days we have not seen lions. Walking in the riverbed, feeding, lazing around. We have seen a stalk and on another occasion missed an Eland kill be minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://tinypic.com/m/6z3r7b/1

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://tinypic.com/m/70gvo5/1

 

 

 

http://tinypic.com/m/6z3rci/1

 

 

 

[johnkok]

Wow -it was really only just minutes; she hasn't even started on the eland yet

[ice]

last summer, there was a huge migration of elands from the Botswana to the ZA side; according to the head field guide of KTP, one small pride alone killed four different eland in merely one night ; three of these elands were not touched at all (killed simply out of instict), in March you could still see their mumified carcasses next to the waterhole (the smaller predators did not touch them, either; there was just so much meat around the area for a few months)

 

by the way, the massive eland herds had a big negative impact on the ecosystem because they drank so much water from the boreholes, there was hardly any water left for the "regular" visitors - and when the basins were were empty, some of the eland bulls destroyed or damaged them, looking for more water

 

 

[Panthera Pardus]

@@ice - correct and first time we saw Eland in the KTP. Every waterhole had a dead Eland or three and they did damge some of the waterholes. They also seemed to be easy prey for the lions.

[Panthera Pardus]

Before we move on to Kieliekrankie Camp something about the Raptors of the KTP. These birds love to bathe, and cool off or just have a drink and they start moving to the waterholes from mid morning.

 

Cape Vulture

 

Lappet Faced Vulture

 

Cubitje Quap and Kij Kij are especially good to see vultures but they could turn up at any of the waterholes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Tawny Eagle joins the party

 

Bateleur Eagles

 

 

Martial Eagle

 

Lanner Falcon

 

Tawny Eagle

 

Secretary Birds and Vultures

 

 

Not Raptors but still feeling the heat

 

 

 

 

[Panthera Pardus]

Kieliekrankie Camp

 

This camp is set on one of the highest dunes in the Kalahari and has majestic views and like all the Wilderness Camps overlooks a waterhole.

 

 

On the left is the Attendants Resident and then the cabins. The sun sets towards the right and the last unit on the right is great for sunsets. The structure in front is the Parking Area

 

 

 

 

The waterhole is further from the units than at Urikaruus and Grootkolk but Brown Hyenas are regular visitors and lions, leopards and raptors are also seen

 

The advantage of Kieliekrankie is you can get to either the Auob or Nossob Riverbed and the drive to the Nossob Riverbed can be rewarding at Kij Kammies, Tierkop and Kij Kij waterholes. The drive to the Auob side is shorter and on the dune road and at Auchterlonie Waterhole you could be rewarded as you will get there before people from the other camps. The drive north also is great with Gemsbokplein, Batulama and Montrose waterholes all being very good.

 

The area also presents great landscape photos especially if a storm is building.

 

 

 

 

Entrance to the unit and the kitchen and deck area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Safaridude]

Great landscape shots!

[Panthera Pardus]

Thanks Safaridude

[Panthera Pardus]

Auchterlonie waterhole is always worth a visit early in the morning when staying at Kieliekrankie. All the big cats frequent the waterhole. We found this male cheetah there last December and he must have just killed the steenbok

 

The sun had not appeared from behind the dunes

 

 

 

 

When the sun rose above the dune we had the golden light and watched as the cheetah finish off the steenbok

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before getting up and disappearing over the dunes

 

 

 

 

 

 

[africapurohit]

That last cheetah photo is just perfect!

[johnkok]

Looks like he had the steenbok all to himself and you had him all to yourself :-)

[pault]

Ever more comprehensive and every page is a winner. This is turning into something very, very special. I really hope you are enjoying sharing this as I'd like you to continue until every navigable spot is covered and every creature and landscape photographed from at least three angles...... keep posting those landscapes by the way; I like them as much as the animals.

[Panthera Pardus]

@@africapurohit, everything just fell into place - the landscape, the pose and the light.

 

@@johnkok - there were two Black Backed Jackals but good thing they did not drive the cheetah away

 

@@pault - the bad news: thi is coming to an end. The good news: We will be in the KTP for 15 days from 27 July.

[Panthera Pardus]

Alongside the Auchterlonie Picnic Side is a Museum an old fieldstone farmhouse with displays on the park's history.

 

 

 

Driving South, Kamfersboom is another waterhole worth stopping at. Spotted Hyena den in the area and there is a pride of lions too. We have seen interaction between the two on a few occasions.

 

Pictures from last year

 

 

 

And these from two years ago

 

The hyena were near the waterhole and a lioness needed a drink and they thought about harassing her

 

 

http://s1136.photobucket.com/user/sjinnah/media/Lioness_SpottedHyena.mp4.html

 

But he was not far behind, and it just needed a flick of the tail to keep the spotties at bay

 

 

http://s1136.photobucket.com/user/sjinnah/media/Lion_SpottedHyena.mp4.html

 

She got her drink

 

 

 

 

Hmmm, problem, don't want to get my feet wet

 

 

No problem

 

 

 

 

And off they go

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[madaboutcheetah]

Just caught up with the last couple of installments ......... awesome report continued!!!!!

[cheetah80]

Wow what a fantastic report of such a special place, your photos are really wonderful. Been there in 2008 & will be there again in 2 months also visiting the Botswana side including Mabuasehube. Seeing all these wonderful pictures made me very, very impatient to go & brought back so many wonderful memories, especially of Urikaruus. I will never forget Urikaruus - one night it was very cold & a genet decided to sleep at our feet in the bed!!! Unfortunately it got spooked when it noticed that I had noticed its presence & disappeared like a ghost, but not before running over my boyfriend's face :-)

 

Thank you for taking the time to share this!

[johnkok]

Wow - what a prime spot for those photos of the lions, and then you got those envy-inducing leaping lioness shots. Simply wonderful.

[johnkok]

I will never forget Urikaruus - one night it was very cold & a genet decided to sleep at our feet in the bed!!! Unfortunately it got spooked when it noticed that I had noticed its presence & disappeared like a ghost, but not before running over my boyfriend's face :-)

 

Thank you for taking the time to share this!

Amazing. How on earth did it get inside? Good thing it was not a cold leopard :-)

[penolva]

Wow what a fantastic report of such a special place, your photos are really wonderful. Been there in 2008 & will be there again in 2 months also visiting the Botswana side including Mabuasehube. Seeing all these wonderful pictures made me very, very impatient to go & brought back so many wonderful memories, especially of Urikaruus. I will never forget Urikaruus - one night it was very cold & a genet decided to sleep at our feet in the bed!!! Unfortunately it got spooked when it noticed that I had noticed its presence & disappeared like a ghost, but not before running over my boyfriend's face :-)

What month was that?

 

Thank you for taking the time to share this!

[cheetah80]

penolva : it was mid July.

 

Johnkok : I wish I knew! But I clearly remember my boyfriend carefully sealing everywhere in case of snakes while I was giggling at the futility of it - it was his first visit to Africa. the genet had stolen some fruits from us maybe 30 mins before, I guess it took a liking to us.

[Panthera Pardus]

@@cheetah80 - when are you in the KTP. We are there from 27 July - 09 August. We may just meet up.

 

When you travelling south from Auchterlonie, the riverbed is to the left and the calcrete cliffs on the right. There is life on the cliffs so don't ignore them. Our only sighting of a porcupine during daylight (saw some on a night drive in Kruger)

 

 

 

Research (by University of Pretorai) has shown that the Kalahari lion makes a lot more kills than lions in the Kruger although a lot of the kills are smaller animals like sring hares, bat eared foxes and porcupines. Porcupines make up about a quarter of their prey and it is not unsusual to see something like this

 

 

 

You may just see a caracal on the ridge

 

 

And spotted Eagles Owls nest in the caves

 

 

Friends of ours saw a leopard raid a nest and eat a chick

 

Look also in the trees

 

 

 

 

Sprinboks favour the ridge side to give birth