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Self-Drive Kgalagadi & Mabuasehube July/August 2013


cheetah80

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cheetah80

Hello,

 

I have finally finished my Kgalagadi & Mabuasehube trip report - you can find it here: http://www.alisonbuttigieg.com/self-drive-kgalagadi-mabuasehube-julyaugust-2013-south-africa-botswana/

 

It was a self-drive over 2 very cold weeks in July & August 2013 visiting Rooiputs, Kalahari Tented Camp, Nossob, Polentswa, Motopi, Mpaya & Khiding. Read about leopards on termite mounds, cheetahs in trees & lions in the shower!

 

But first have a look at the teaser video, all the trip compressed in 100 1-second clips:

 

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FlyTraveler

Hi @@cheetah80 , very nice video!

 

Now I realized that I have read your great Zambia / Zimbabwe report before and really enjoyed your photography! Will read the current report when I have a bit more time. Thank you for sharing!

Edited by FlyTraveler
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Oh wow! Can't wait for more of this :)

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Atravelynn

Up to the Windhoek Beer. Great meerkat and human closeup shots. I didn't see the fleas. The meerkats must have been trained with food to go on the scale. Fascinating and looking forward to more.

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madaboutcheetah

Oh Wow - Lovely video ....... Will have to read the trip report later this evening.

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These videos are a great way to share your trip. I'll also have to read your TR this afternoon to get the details!

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Towlersonsafari

What a very enjoyable trip report capturing the beauty of the KTP with some lovely photo's.Did you consider flying from Joberg to Upington to have more time at the KTP or were the meerkats a "must see"?

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cheetah80

Thanks everyone for your nice comments!

 

@Towlersonsafari: yes we did consider flying but it wasn't working out for us due to various reasons: the car we could rent at Johannesburg was better equipped, flying would have been more expensive than driving and it would not have really made a huge difference time-wise since driving back from Mabuasehube to Upington takes longer than driving to Johannesburg. Throw the meerkats in the mix and it became a no-brainer.

Edited by cheetah80
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Towlersonsafari

Thanks for that explanation-it does make sense-.We loved the bit in your report about getting the giggles!-when something like that happens-exciting but nerve racking it justs impossible not too!!

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Africalover

Hi Cheetah 80

 

As usual you have created a fantastic tripreport with fantastic pics.

 

Been in KTP and Mabuasehube in 2012, loved it .We also had the pleasure of having lions in camp - khiding pan.

 

I will return in the future on a selfdrive, I might need help in planning. I will email you if that is ok.

 

By the way I am doing a selfdrive more or less to Katavi and Ruaha in Sep, this year :-)

 

Michael.

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Peter Connan

Wonderful photos and great engaging and detailed report thank you @@cheetah80!

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What a fantastic TR, thanks so much.

 

Your photos are wonderful and so many sightings of brown hyena and meerkats. The 4 lion group hug is priceless.

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Atravelynn

We share our favorite animal! Nice you found them again. You may have missed some action shots but you got some nice jackal action! Even your food shots great.

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michael-ibk

Fantastic trip report, thank you so much for sharing.

 

You really saw it all. The lions in the shower experience, which you shared here before, is of course the highlight. You must have had a pretty sleepless night there.

 

Your photos are magnificent, the charging jackal, the drinking brown hyena, the wildebeest in that glowing light and the feasting goshawks are the standouts for me. And great sightings of the Cape Fox, they are just lovely. (No honey badgers for you?)

 

Your termite-leopard is awesome, as are the four cheetahs.

 

Meerkats and Squirrels gave you nice moments as well. I'm used to this "feed me" look from our family dogs, but I admit it must have been very hard to resist.

 

Surprised to learn how cold it was. Freezing water?!? Would never have thought...

 

And i'm hungry now, all your food shots are to blame. :)

 

Well, those were 3328 very cool kms, and a joy to read. Thanks again.

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Finally got a chance to read through your report. Highlights for me were all the foxes, and of course the brown hyenas. And with all that great looking cooking, no wonder the squirrels were all over you!

 

You have a very nice website, too.

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cheetah80

Thank you all for the nice comments, glad you enjoyed it :)

 

@michael-ibk: yep unfortunately no Honey Badgers this time around. And yes it is COLD!!! The first time we went in 2008 we had one night with -12C. It was so cold that somehow a genet sneaked into our bed & slept on my feet. Imagine my surprise when I woke up in the middle of the night when it was repositioning itself around my feet like a cat!

 

@@Africalover please feel free to email me when you need help for planning! And a self-drive in Katavi & Ruaha?! WOW! That should be so awesome! In my bucketlist!

Edited by cheetah80
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  • 2 weeks later...

@@cheetah80

I am really enjoying your trip report (I am up to the brown hyena at the moment - great pictures of a wonderful animal)

I have enjoyed the camping details (the cold!)

Great encounters with the meerkats, beautiful cheetah pictures, and the cape foxes are lovely

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michael-ibk

@@cheetah80

 

And how did you and the genet "separate"? Who of the two of you got more of a scare? ;)B)

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@TonyQ: Thank you glad you are enjoying it!

 

@@michael-ibk well, first in my drowsy state I thought it was my cat :-) Then I realised I hadn't had a cat in 2 years ... and after a little while I realised that there shouldn't be any cats at all where I was. So I just remained totally immobile to make sure - yep indeed a cat sized creature curling around my feet, I could feel the paws. I new it was the genet as it had come to steal some of our fruit before we went to sleep, and I did hear a rumour that this had happened to someone once.

 

Then I decided to nudge my boyfriend to let him know about our little guest. He got a bit startled at my nudge and the genet just shot out of the covers, running over his face! My poor boyfriend was left asking me why on earth I poked his face like that! :D

 

We thought the excitement was over but after about an hour the genet then decided to try to get at the two pigeons roosting on the top of our hut. We don't know what happened but when we checked later we found only one. This kerfuffle then seemed to annoy a leopard which started "coughing" very close - we never saw it though :(

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beautifully presented report Alison. Wonderful photos. You had some great sightings.

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Haha..a 100-second trip report. Great idea and probably just about as much video as I would ever get around to editing.

 

I will now try the slow version.

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@@pault, we edited way more than that ... but it's pretty useless to put online anything longer than a few minutes. We just bore our own families with the longer versions :lol::lol:

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