The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP)

[cheetah80]

@Panthera Pardus here is our schedule, our paths might overlap

 

21 & 22 July: Rooiputs

23,24,25 July: Kalahari Tented Camp

26th July: Nossob

27 & 28 July: Polentswa

29th July: Mabuasehube - Matopi 1

30 & 31 July: Mabuasehube - Mpaya

1 & 2 August: Mabuasehube - Khiding

 

Wow porcupine during the day?! Amazing!

[Panthera Pardus]

@@cheetah80, we will miss each other - have a super trip.

 

So we come to the end of this trip. We have not had much luck at Munro, Houmoed and Samevloeiing waterholes although others have had some great sightings there. The KTP has become a firm favourite with us. What is the lure of this place, what makes us keep going back. It is cheap and it is self drive. It is relatively uncrowded and you can spend as much time at a sighting as you want.

 

On reflection

 

It is the beautiful sunrises

 

 

The antelopes and that alluring red sand

 

 

The little things................................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....................................that brings a smile to the face

 

 

 

The raptors and other birds

 

 

 

 

the big cats

 

 

 

and the glorious sunsets

 

 

 

Thank you for all the kind comments and see you shortly in the next Park

 

[Pennyanne]

@@Panthera Pardus An absolutely wonderful report! I enjoyed every word and your photos are superb.

What is the animal between the wildcat and the honey badger?

[Panthera Pardus]

Thank yo @@Pennyanne. It is a yellow mongoose

[africapurohit]

@@Panthera Pardus I have a documentary called "Kalahari Supercat" that focusses on a female leopard named "Montrose". I noticed one of the waterholes in your report named Montrose - is this related to the female leopard?

 

I always assumed this documentary was filmed in Central Kalahari, but lots of the footage resembles the colours and landscapes of PP's photos.

 

Either way, "Kalahari Supercat" is a great showcase for the KTP with some fantastic aerial shots and good footage of many of the animals found there.

[Panthera Pardus]

@@africapurohit, I remember that doccie and as far as I know it was filmed in the Auob Riverbed.

[twaffle]

Excellent, thank you for all the effort put into this report.

[pault]

Looking forward to Part 2

 

Some very, very nice shots at the end there. Mmmmmmmmm.

[michael-ibk]

@@Panthera Pardus

 

Thank you again for this report, just wonderful, and I´m sure I will read through all of it again many times. Beware, though, anybody here planning to go to Kgalagadi in the future, will undoubtedly pester you for advice now. I know I will.

[Panthera Pardus]

@@pault - will be in KTP from 27 July for 2 weeks. Our first time in Winter - will tell you all about it

 

@@michael-ibk - now worries. Will be a pleasure to be able to assist.

[Africalover]

Panthera Pardus

Like a lot of other ST members, you have written a fantastic tripreport. Just wanted to add, that when i visited this magical place last year, i also went to Mabuasehube. Travelling via Matopi. It lies, aprox 100-150 kmt.as far as i remember east, north/east of nossob. In my opinion, it is just as magical as the Nossob- Auop-riverbed. With all the pans, and a lot of wildlife, lion, leopard, cheetah, oryx, eland, springbok, ect. We hardly met other people, and were alone on most sightings.

Thanks for bringing back memories

Michael

[Sangeeta]

Reread the whole thing from scratch and so inspired, PP. You and Sharifa have added immeasurably to ST with both these reports. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and memories with us.

Sangeeta

[BoyMeetsBush]

@@Panthera Pardus - Thanks a lot for starting this thread. We have booked the following camps in KTP for December 2013. We had to cancel a similar (but longer) itinerary a few years ago and had always wanted to visit KTP since then. I hope you won't mind if I get back to you and Sharifa with more specific questions as we start planning this trip. I am sure, between you two and @@ice, I will get the best advise.

 

You are right, I did call to book on the day the bookings opened

 

BTW - I have read yours and Sharifa's reports on SANParks forum with interest and they have been very helpful in planning our KNP trip. We came back just 2 weeks ago. Matt - report coming soon

 

Our plan in KTP is - KK - 2 nights, Nossob - 1 night, Grootkolk - 2 nights, Nossob - 1 night. Not nearly enough but this will have to do for now.

We are also in KTP in dec what time you are there. We are in from dec 20 2013 to jan 4 2014 this is our annual trip to ktp we love KTP

[Atravelynn]

I didn't even have any red sand in my toes and I want to go. Such diversity, even a brown hyena. To get a shot with both a brown hyena and a lion is really rare. Then it shows up with a jackal. Great birds, and those owls! This seems to be an ideal environment, at least around the waterholes, for honey badgers. Wonderful cheetah shots too from the secretary bird to the fast pursuit.

 

I saw that you liked November as a month to visit.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Atravelynn

[A&M]

@@Atravelynn I think these were spotted hyena with the lions.

 

Thanks PP for such a comprehensive report,great place ,time to revisit .

[Atravelynn]

@@Atravelynn I think these were spotted hyena with the lions.

I was so impressed with that sighting that I think I was seeing brown hyena everywhere. Maybe that wasn't a brown hyena in my bathtub either, then.

[Panthera Pardus]

@@Atravelynn - November is wonderful in that it is quiet with respect to number of tourists. It can get very hot though. In excatly a months time we will be doing our first Winter Trip to the KTP.

[Atravelynn]

@@Atravelynn - November is wonderful in that it is quiet with respect to number of tourists. It can get very hot though. In excatly a months time we will be doing our first Winter Trip to the KTP.

I'll stay tuned. Thank you.

[Panthera Pardus]

The Kgalagadi in winter (June, July, August) is bitterly cold. We had most days starting below zero. One day started at -8 °C. Sightings were few and far between compared to the warmer months. Talking to fellow tourists and Park Staff this was the general experience. The animals tend to move from the riverbeds to the dunes at night in winter as the dunes are warmer. We found the herbivores coming down to the riverbeds from about 9.00am onwards. We had to drive around quite a bit to find predators.

 

We still did get some very good sightings and one exceptional one. I will give a day by day account and recommend that if you are planning a trip to the KTP do it between September and May. I also strongly recommend that you include Grootkolk and Urikaruus on your itinerary.

 

Our itinerary was:

27 July – Twee Rivieren

28/29 July - Kieliekranakie

30 July to 01 August – Urikaruus

02/03/04 August – Nossob

05//06/07 August – Grootkolk

08/09 August – Kalahari Tented Camp

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

I will give a day by day account

 

Really looking forward to it.

[Panthera Pardus]

28 July 2013

 

The temperature for the day was -5 to 16 °C. The day only starts at 7.30am in July as compared to 5.30am in December. We made our way from Twee Rivieren to Kij Kij. It was very quiet. We saw some ostrich on the lower dune road

 

 

We were too early to check in at Kieliekrankie so went south on the Auob River and saw some wildebeest and springboks near Kamfersboom waterhole

 

 

 

3km further south we saw a lone lioness (possibly pregnant) walking towards the waterhole

 

 

Her arrival scattered the herds

 

 

But she was only after a drink, not a meal

 

 

 

and disappeared into the dunes after her drink

 

 

 

 

 

[Panthera Pardus]

29 July 2013

 

Another -5 °C start to the day. The highlights for today, all seen between houmoed and gembokplein waterholes were:

 

Spotted hyena

 

 

Rock Kestrel

 

 

Lazy Lion

 

 

Pygmy Falcon

 

 

Pair of Martial Eagles that were building a nest

 

 

 

 

 

[Panthera Pardus]

30 July 2013

 

The temperature for today started at a freezing -5° C but did get up to a pleasant 26 by the afternoon.

 

We found these Meerkats catching the early morning sun

 

 

 

 

A Tawny Eagle

 

 

At 13 borehole we found Seleka - the young leopard. We first saw her in November 2012 when she was about 7-8 months old - below is the link for those photos

 

http://safaritalk.net/topic/10137-show-us-your-babies/page-4#entry96870

 

She is growing up to be a fine young lady and now venturing out on her own

 

 

 

 

 

Back at Urikaruus camp, some kudu visited the waterhole

 

 

 

and a rock kestrel

 

 

and black backe jackal

 

 

 

[Panthera Pardus]

31 July 2013

 

The temperature for today was 0° C and peaking at 25.

 

Highlights were a Red necked Falcon

 

 

A lilac brested roller that caught and ate a scorpion

 

 

 

Yellow Mongoose

 

 

A sleepy Cape Fox

 

 

Giraffe at the Urikaruus Camp Waterhole. In September 1990, 18 giraffe from Etosha National Park were relocated to the KTP and kept in a boma in the Mata Mata area for eight years. The three bulls and five cows were released into the Park in 1998. Since then the population has been supplemented by an addition of two sub-adult bulls from Vaalbos National Park in July 2003. They too were originally from Etosha. They have adapted very well to the Kalahari habitat and feed mainly on the Arcacia species, such as the Black Thorn and Grey Camelthorn. This is a success story as we had 17 vist us at the Urikaruus waterhole and saw a large group also as far south as Rooibrak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pault]

The story continues into 2013. Some fresh Fantastic.... even if there were fewer animals overall. Love every post as always.