Road trip 2015: The Hunt For Red Dune

[xelas]

Hahaha, yeah right she looks very starved indeed ROFL .... and she could operate the kitchen .... but she prefers rice@can instead !

Next time, I promise, you will see some me&braai photos .

 

@@Galana

Thanks for your comments; more will come, for sure.

[TonyQ]

Apr 26th - Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park / Nossob Camp

 

 

Today we were moving from KTC to Nossob Camp. So we packed all our food back in the fridge on the car, and off we go, very early.

So the packing didn't take very long then...

 

That is a really good sequence of the lions (even without your subtiltles/comments).

[penolva]

Hahaha, yeah right she looks very starved indeed ROFL .... and she could operate the kitchen .... but she prefers rice@can instead !

Next time, I promise, you will see some me&braai photos .

 

@@Galana

Thanks for your comments; more will come, for sure.

Now you have promised braai photographs, I will be looking out for them in future. Mind you there is usually some food on the braai!!

[xelas]

That was all about cats for this morning. We followed the road and detoured to each waterhole along it. These are the best photos from that drive.

Pygmy Falcons

Southern Pied Babbler

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

Gemsbok

Blue Wildebeest

[xelas]

And as it looks like the "Secretary Bird at the Waterhole" is a common theme in Kgalagadi .... and on this forum's trip reports, here is also our take.

 

[Peter Connan]

@@xelas, what a great sighting!

 

Your drinking secretary bird series is excellent. Always find it amazing how badly they are adapted to drinking.

 

And some birds I have never seen!

Edited June 18, 2015 by Peter Connan

[xelas]

To reach Nossob camp we decided to drive the "Upper Dune Road", the road that connects Auob and Nossob riverbeds and two picnic sites, Kamqua at Auob and Gikbaardskoolk at Nossob. We made an obligatory pit stop at Kamqua, for a sandwich and a drink, before starting the 55 km of scenic drive through rolling dunes before reaching the Nossob riverbed. Below is something to contemplate; not only Toyota Hilux Double Cab is a type of car that can drive in Kgalagadi (but I did question the comfort of the passengers inside that "toy car").

 

[xelas]

@@Peter Connan

 

"And some birds I have never seen!" - yeah, right, like there are any bird in South Africa you have not seen, or photograph !

As for the drinking approach by Secretary bird, to me it looked as awkward as the giraffe.

[Peter Connan]

Alex, I have never seen either Pygmy Falcon or Pied Babbler, honest!

[xelas]

@@Peter Connan

If so, you should definitively put Kgalagadi on your "to go" list. We have seen Pygmy Falcon several times. Why not next February? As you have already realised, my wife is in a dire need of a proper braai master!!

[Peter Connan]

@@xelas, I would love to go again, but February is probably out of the question.

[Atravelynn]

Absolutely beautiful - what a view from your room!

And so much of Namibia looks wonderful. You should work for their tourist department

 

Just what I was thinking.

 

Nice going with the Hartmann's Mountain Zebra!

 

I was getting worried about you with no water, thinking of my Aus hike of 2 hours turned into 4 hours. Please learn for NEXT time. Even lacking hydration those photos are superb.

[Atravelynn]

@Atravelynn: there was a big hairy pig roaming around the grounds, but no Anatolian Shepherd dog; any special story connected to one?

The dog had just retired from sheep herding 2 days before and watched with a heavy heart as his flock get loaded onto a truck. He seemed kind of lost roaming the premises and even got in a tussle with the pig that gave him a bloody lip. I ended up with his drool and blood on my jacket when I played with him to console him about the sheep. Thorsten said maybe they would sell him to another herding farm so he could resume his previous life's work.

 

Your birds, trees, and tree bark are outstanding, along with the stunning scenery.

 

I have caught up with you now. The wild cat and snake is a show stopper! The springbok look to be in a trance, all facing the same way. Kgalagadi was as successful as the rest of your trip, though a bit more costly. Always good to bring along the treasurer!

 

Fantastic report!

Edited June 19, 2015 by Atravelynn

[xelas]

Thanks, @@Atravelynn !

 

As for the costs, well, I have compensated some of it ... on food ! And the Wild Card, it will be reused once more !

[xelas]

There was almost no sightings along the Upper Dune Road, just miles and miles of rolling dunes. Once we reached Nossob the road become soft almost white sand, and on the riverbed side of the road there is quite high embankment that probably prevents good observation to those driving in lower type of vehicles.

 

About the only meaningful sight was a snake. I have not expecting one to lie down on a middle of the road on a hot sand, so I have almost driven over her. When reversed to take a few shots Zvezda (the snake was on her side of the car) noticed strange behaviour of this snake. First he lies motionless

 

and next she turns on her back her mouth wide opened

 

Another case for @@Peter Connan brother, to identify the snake and to explain this behaviour.

 

After settling and moving the food into the fridge of our cabin in Nossob (yes, @@TonyQ , a quick job ) we drove out to explore the waterholes south of Nossob. Rooikop no luck, Marie se draai nice but almost void of animals. Gracious kudu female a bit farther (this one is special for @@Tom Kellie - I am missing his comments ).

Greater Kudu female

As we arrived at Kaspersdraai we struck gold. Just as we parked the car a huge dark shade flew over to the waterhole. A Bateleur Eagle! He took his time to walk around the waterhole but what PITA is to get a good shot of a dark bird on a light background! Zvezda again did a great job!

 

On our way back to the camp we spotted this jackal; we liked the surrounding colours so he made his way into this trip report.

Black-backed jackal

And this juvenile raptor does look like a ... raptor meaning business.

Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk, juv.

 

It was already late so two quick after-sunset shots and back to the camp.

 

 

A few words about Nossob Camp. It was a bit of a let down, after our two nights at Kalahari Tented Camp. The yard was dusty and bleak. The cabin clean but soulless. But it is located in a strategic location, in the middle of Kgalagadi park. It has a small shop and a gas station. And it had a hide. Apparently this one is giving way to new cabins.

 

 

[Bush dog]

Wonderful pictures. I like the bateleur and the goshawk.

 

The snake is, I think, a puff adder, extremely dangerous!

[xyz99]

What an amazing trip! Love the Bateleur and the last sunset. I only like snakes from a distance (big distance), but the open mouth one is very funny. Would not mind to see one, but remember...big distance

[Atravelynn]

It is as if the Bateleur and snake are performing on cue for you. You've trained the sunsets too.

[KathBC]

Alex your and Zvezda's night shots are incredible as are the others but those sunsets really get to me!

[Peter Connan]

@@xelas, the snake is indeed another Puff Adder. This time a nice big one. As to it's behaviour, I have no idea but I wonder if it was not perhaps already injured by another passing vehicle. It is quite common for them to cross or even lie in the roads, especially in the early mornings, as it is warmer there, and so a lot of them do get hurt.

 

For interest, they are probably the snake in our area that has the most human victims, as they tend to lie still when approached, and due to their good camouflage they are often not seen, resulting in a bite. They are lazy and quite slow (no faster than a human walking fast), but they strike incredibly quickly. They have lots of fairly serious venom and inflict a very painful bite. The venom is of the type that attacks the flesh, thus amputations are often the result, but the poison also acts quite slowly.

 

I love the jackal among the bushes, and the last sunset is really stunning!

 

Are they really removing the hide to make room for more cabins? This is very bad, as there is lots of room in other directions that will not affect the animals drinking...

[xelas]

An injured snake, that was also my (uneducated) guess. The sand is deep and soft so the snake might not be heavily injured, maybe just in shock.

 

The sunset shots ... they are such great subject to photograph. You knew where they will be, they are moving very slowly, they are bright enough and if the clouds cooperate, it is just to find something in the foreground for making a nice composition.

 

From SANParks website:

 

• Construction work will commence at Nossob during January 2015 with the development of new riverfront chalets and luxury camping sites as well as the replacement of the camping site ablution facility. According to planning the construction work will take place over a period of 14 months.

Personally I have seen that the fenced corridor tot he hide was still there in April 2015; unfortunately I have not had time to go to the hide and to check it out for myself. Maybe @@penolva or @@Tdgraves knew more details ?? Also there were no construction noticeable at the time of my (only 1) night at Nossob.

[Tdgraves]

@@Peter Connan and @@xelas from the sanparks fora it seems as the hide will stay. The new cabins are to the north of it. It looks like they will move the boundary fence further towards the river bed to enclose them. We stayed in the riverside cabins in mata mata and they were very good, with air conditioning. More towards what you would get in a luxury lodge or a building on a game farm. They were very popular and I have no reason to believe that the ones in nossob will be any different. They haven't said when construction will end, do I guess they'll be taken by last minute bookings.

 

@@xelas I understand what you are saying about nossob when compared to a wilderness camp, but when you compare it to a Kruger rest camp.....still quite small and quiet. No comparison really. The rooms are very dated though.

[penolva]

Regarding the hide I saw a photograph on the Kgalagadi Sightings page on Facebook of it being demolished! Rotten wood apparently. Nothing there about a rebuild but as the hide is so popular they must be planning to?

[Peter Connan]

Thank you @@Tdgraves and @@penolva. I do hope they rebuild it!

[xelas]

To all of you being concerned about my wife's health during next year trip to Kgalagadi, I am hereby acknowledging that I have taken your words very seriously, and have started with braai training.

 

This Saturday out in the garden:

 

Meat is on the braai

 

Braai master-to-be is controlling the process

 

Final result

 

 

I am glad to let you know all of it was also eaten ... by us!

Edited June 20, 2015 by xelas