Kgalagadi Summer: Self-Drive and Self-Catering (!) in South Africa, January 2015

[Peter Connan]

What a lovely wildcat sighting, particularly the phot where the dove takes flight!

 

And the owls earlier on are wonderful. I wonder if there is a better place for owl sightings than the KTP?

[Tdgraves]

What a lovely wildcat sighting, particularly the phot where the dove takes flight!

 

And the owls earlier on are wonderful. I wonder if there is a better place for owl sightings than the KTP?

Thanks @@Peter Connan we also heard a scops owl, but were unable to photograph it

[xelas]

@@Tdgraves

 

That wild cat certainly looks familiar. And the young male lion.The photo where the cat stalking on the dove ... precious!

As for the tourons on wheels, we were lucky not to encounter them. If not always parking the cars on the right (wildlife) side of the road, they all left enough place for others to pass by.

[Tdgraves]

@@Tdgraves

 

That wild cat certainly looks familiar. And the young male lion.The photo where the cat stalking on the dove ... precious!

As for the tourons on wheels, we were lucky not to encounter them. If not always parking the cars on the right (wildlife) side of the road, they all left enough place for others to pass by.

Luckily it was the only time it happened and as you say, most people were very courteous. At least in the Kruger they would be an option to illegally drive on the grass to pass. In the ktp, the roads are often a lot lower than the surrounding area and soft sand, so no chance....

[Marks]

The profile shots of the wildcat really show off its long-legged build.

You are right, the monochromatic wildebeest photos worked especially well!

[Tdgraves]

The profile shots of the wildcat really show off its long-legged build.

You are right, the monochromatic wildebeest photos worked especially well!

@@Marks I am not sure why the domestic cat evolved shorted legs, but the difference is very apparent

[Tdgraves]

Day 10 Morning Drive from Mata Mata

 

It was a fairly uneventful drive, mostly birding, which was ok by me, especially as we had a really good pygmy falcon sighting.

 

 

 

 

 

Swallow-tailed bee-eaters are a KTP specialty and we also had a good sighting of these

 

 

 

 

 

And past the nesting vultures

 

 

A tawny eagle which refused to fly off

 

 

We managed to catch some pronking springbok in the morning light. Well, I say we, but it was the OH, as he was on the correct side of the car

 

 

 

 

He was also on the right side of the car for this LBR, who performed, twice!

 

 

 

Hartebeest were digging for minerals

 

 

 

And back for breakfast

[Peter Connan]

Stunning photos @@Tdgraves!

 

I think your Tawny may actually be an immature Bataleur?

[Tdgraves]

Stunning photos @@Tdgraves!

 

I think your Tawny may actually be an immature Bataleur?

 

thanks @@Peter Connan I think this shot is clearer

 

[xelas]

BIF and PS - excellent stuff!

[Peter Connan]

 

Stunning photos @@Tdgraves!

 

I think your Tawny may actually be an immature Bataleur?

 

thanks @@Peter Connan I think this shot is clearer

 

 

 

In that case, I think you are correct @@Tdgraves!

 

My apologies.

[Tdgraves]

Day 10 Evening Drive from Mata Mata

 

Today was the full moon, although it had been too light to do any star photography on previous nights. It may have been a coincidence, but the animals were largely absent.

 

 

There were some beautiful pink flowers. which this photo does not do justice to

 

 

And here are a couple from the morning which I seem to have missed - our first kudu or the trip

 

 

[Tdgraves]

Game in camp Mata Mata

 

There was a large pile of thatch on the stoep and whilst making dinner on our first night, the culprits showed themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

For the next two nights, in the middle of the night, you could hear them coming and going as their "nest" was above the main bedroom. But on the last night, with the full moon, nothing....

 

There were fewer mongeese than in Nossob

 

 

These squirrels were living opposite the braai area. They would dig the top hot surface of the sand away to lay on the cooler, lower layers.

 

 

We did not see or hear any spotted hyaena in the entire trip, but when I was reviewing the motion sensitive camera images the other day, I found this...

 

 

The first time we have caught a predator on the camera!

 

We couldn't do any milky way photos, but we did manage to get jupiter and its' moons with a 500mm zoom lens

 

[Marks]

The first shot in post #188 is a thing of beauty!

 

Great use of the trap cam.

[Tdgraves]

The first shot in post #188 is a thing of beauty!

 

Great use of the trap cam.

Thanks @@Marks we discovered that our torch did not focus the light fully, but we managed....

Most of the rest of the camera trap images are of landscape, where something had gone past to trigger it, but was not captured

[Tdgraves]

Day 11 Morning drive from Mata Mata

 

This was our last day

 

So we did a slightly shorter drive, so that we could have breakfast and pack up to check out by 10am

 

 

These young hartebeest were having great fun chasing each other. they are so fast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had not seen this lion carcass previously, until alerted to it by the jackal, but it was clearly old

 

 

 

So, as expected, a fairly quiet drive, but still lovely

[Tdgraves]

Day 11 Drive from Mata Mata to Twee Rivieren

 

It was time to leave

As with all safaris, it had both felt like a long time, but the 10 days had also flown past.

It was again really hot, but we still had more sightings than I anticipated and so the journey took longer than planned.

 

 

 

 

We came across a few vehicles, which could only mean one thing - cats. There were cheetah, but on the far side of the river bed. Most of the cars got bored and soon left. We waited a bit and they cam tantalisingly nearer, so we repositioned to a bend in the road, where it looked like they would walk towards, but of course, they just flopped down in the shade, so we left them to it.

 

 

As it was getting to the middle of the day, the water holes were quite busy

 

 

 

 

 

Not long after we left camp, we spotted a martial eagle on the far side of the river bed. Our first in ten days. By the end of the drive, we saw a further 3. Was this the beginning of the summer migration??

 

 

 

We also saw several outside the park en route to Upington, which we had not on the way in...

 

A spot more birding before leaving, including the best shot we got of a red-necked falcon, another first on this trip.

 

 

 

 

And yest another new species, black-cheeked waxbills

 

 

And an agama to round things off

 

 

Check out was just as smooth as check in. We returned a pair of tongs that we had inadvertently packed in the bag charcoal and set off towards Upington.

[Marks]

Some lovely parting shots of kudu there. Thanks for a great trip report!

[michael-ibk]

Are you finished already? A pity, I greatly enjoyed this. Many spectacular photos in this one. Looking Forward to your next trip, Tswalu, right? Go get us some Aardvarks.

[Tdgraves]

Are you finished already? A pity, I greatly enjoyed this. Many spectacular photos in this one. Looking Forward to your next trip, Tswalu, right? Go get us some Aardvarks.

Like all good things, it must come to an end...

 

Yes, we are off at the end of August to tswalu, mashatu and welgevonden. Hoping for aardvarks etc. in daylight - fingers, toes and everything else crossed!

[xelas]

This one I will need to re-read again, as a part of pre-trip preparations, specially the self-catering parts! Great info, lovely photos, and of course also me I am looking forward to read your next one.

[Red Squirrel]

Thanks for a fantastic report with wonderful photos, we will just have to return for longer as it is such a photogenic place.

[Tdgraves]

Thanks for a fantastic report with wonderful photos, we will just have to return for longer as it is such a photogenic place.

 

It's hard to go for longer though, given the logistics - I squeezed as much in as I could manage in two weeks off of work

[Tdgraves]

Summary

 

So what was our first self-catering, self-drive trip like? Fabulous. The cooking did not seem a chore, it was just all part of the experience. I can't believe we have put it off for so long, but I suppose we needed a couple of self-drive trips to the Kruger to see how different it was to being guided, before we went more remote. The main thing that is required for KTP is planning. You could easily self-cater in the Kruger by buying food in the park, although it would cost more. And, to be fair, if you turned up in the KTP without any food or your coolbox went missing @@penolva - you wouldn't starve. In fact you could feed yourself better than @@xelas fed his wife from purchases in the park shops. OK there isn't much fresh food, but they were much better stocked than I expected. There was frozen meat, a whole range of dried and canned goods along with the liquids required (even if they were double Joburg prices). So menu planning for shopping lists and making the right food on the right days was the order of the day. We ate properly for the duration, but given the time spent at the braai by other guests, I imagine that they cooked very basic items and retired to bed.

 

In all, we drove about 4000km, which is about 1000km more than a trip to the Kruger. This cost ZAR4710 in petrol, about £250 at the exchange rate in Jan. The entire trip cost us about £300 pp more than last years trip to the Kruger. This was mainly in B+B fees, as we usually stay for more days with our friends and therefore get free bed and board!

 

The drive to get there wasn't as boring as I thought either, as it is mainly single carriageway roads, rather than motorway type roads. Although it was nicer on the way out with sunny skies, instead of the grey clouds on the way in. However, there are no radio stations from not very far north of Upington, until you pick up a rural Botswana station just outside the park (which plays the same song every 15 minutes), so next time I'd take a CD or an iPod adapter for the car

 

So, would we do it all again - in a heartbeat! In fact, we are already talking about ditching our usual "posh" September trip next year for a repeat visit. It has also made me look at the wilderness camps in the Kruger and think about doing some self-catering the next time we go there.

 

Top tips:

 

1) Don't go when there is a full moon (we had no choice with the flights pre-booked)
2) Don't worry if the wilderness camps are all full - it is still really wild

3) Take your time. Don't move camps every day. The distances are far and the roads can be very slow. It is tiring to travel all the time, especially if it is hot. Much better to have some rest - it is a holiday after all.

4) Do not arrive in the Northern Cape on a Sunday as you will not be able to buy alcohol to take into the park with you. The parks shops do have a very limited supply....

 

Things to buy before travel:

 

1) An in-car inverter to charge batteries

2) A battery operated fan (for summer visits when the electric is switched off)

3) Thermal cups (could be purchased there I suppose)

4) Water bottles to decant from 5l bottles into (could just buy a small water bottle and refil that)

 

Things to buy in South Africa:

 

1) A sharp knife

2) A non-stick frying pan

3) A braai rack (not sure what they are called - but easy to spot in the supermarkets)

4) Kebab sticks

5) Cool boxes and blocks (the larger blocks are much better than the standard sized ones as they stay frozen longer)

 

Although the rooms are well equipped, have you ever tried frying an egg in a metal pan??

 

Highly recommended - but don't all go at once, I want to be able to book a room next time

[Tdgraves]

For anyone who wanted to look at our photobook, please follow the link:

 

http://www.albelli.co.uk/view-online-photo-book/9118052a-e567-4b43-8878-c438a812d98b

 

Don't worry about the pricing I'm not trying to sell them, it's just the way it is set up

 

There are probably some photos that I haven't posted as about half of them are from the OH.....