Kgalagadi 2016: A Lion A Day Keeps A Doctor Awake

[ice]

@@ice

As I am a total greenhorn regarding Africa, safaris, etc, I have very limited personal experiences to depend on, thus I have added "according to his words".

Anyway, what I have learned is that there are fast days and there are slow days with Mother Nature. This time around we have had many "fast days" .

In respect of Kgalagadi, it is a great place where self-driving and self-guided visitors have good chances to experience the wildlife up-close and personal.

 

I thought so and I noticed you were only repeating another man's words. My comment was perhaps meant to steer you into another direction, if observing cheetah hunts is what you are interested

[Ladouce]

@@BieneMaja , @@mapumbo , @@Ladouce I am happy you have found our trip report. I hope you are enjoying it!

Really very much enjoying the report. We are currently working with Discover Namibia on a trip to Kgalagadi in November 2017. So I keep following this report not only for my own interest but also for the great pictures!

[xelas]

@@ice

Yes, no misunderstandings there. And I really appreciate your info. I am already looking to other safari countries as well; my main "problem" is that:

1. I cannot justify to myself the high (in my eyes) costs related to staying at private reserve

2. I am not (yet) experienced enough to undertake a self-driving trip outside of Namibia or South Africa (but reading and learning and training more, one day I might be )

[xelas]

@@Ladouce

You will have a great trip. Gemma is an efficient and reliable agent. Staying at wilderness camps is a bonus but not obligatory. Visiting Kgalagadi IS obligatory.

Edited March 25, 2016 by xelas

[BieneMaja]

@@BieneMaja , @@mapumbo , @@Ladouce I am happy you have found our trip report. I hope you are enjoying it!

Thank you very much for this amazing trip report, @@xelas ! I like the photos a lot and the text is very . Your descriptions also help me in deciding about the itinerary for my upcoming visit at KTP in June (thread in trip planning forum). I'm looking forward to the next installments!

[bettel]

Well, I partially agree with photographer's words. At least based on your photos, it is either short grass or sand, so everything is open and nice for the photography. In Mara ecosystem it can be challenging because of long grass. You might see more hunts but would you have better photos?

 

Cheetah hunt sequence is beautiful!

[xelas]

(continued)

 

After so much action we have had to make a short stop at the Kamqua picnic spot. This one is always full of people having their lunch or just taking a quick pit stop. My plan to get another selfie went awkward when camera decided that the acacia thorns are more photogenic than the two of us

 

Closer to Urikaruus waterhole, again on the cliff side of the road, and in deep shade there was another lifer, in fact there were two: Spotted Hyenas! These two looks bigger than their brown cousin; later on we have seen that they indeed are much bigger, as these two were surely not adults.

 

 

For whoever still uses JPEG format: switch to RAW as per today! As you can see from the last photo, the scene was a proper photographer's nightmare: high noon, fierce sun, deep shade, scorched background. There would be no photo at all if shooting in JPEG, while RAW gave us enough latitude to correct the exposure and the shadows to process what is at least is a presentable photo for web posting.

 

Continuing towards KTC we have encounter the first giraffe. They have really adapted well to this part of the park, their number is growing each year. It is short to spectacular how many off-springs the first 3 bulls and 5 cows have made after being re-introduced in 1998. We will see them, and photograph them each day later on.

 

Angolan Giraffe

 

 

And at the Urikaruus waterhole another lifer, this time from the bird world

 

Black-chested Snake Eagle, juv.

 

Now it was already very hot and trying to reach the camp and the shade (and the shower) of our cabin I have stayed on the main road thus passing by both the 13th and the 14th waterhole. However there was no way that I would not stop for these pronking springboks

 

Not all were in this joyful mood; some were just enjoying the nice sunny day out in the park

 

(to be continued)

Edited March 25, 2016 by xelas

[deano]

@@xelas - KTP keeps on giving and you keep on getting some great captures. I always seem to like landscapes with roads/tracks in them and the opening pic in #310 is glorious - something about the endless possibilities of a journey down that track toward who knows what. I really like the red and blue in the landscapes and how they show each other off. That cheetah walking down the dune and then the cheetah hunt sequence is amazing. Must have been thrilling to see it for real.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

[Treepol]

@@xelas great action shots of the pronking springbok. The dust at the hooves and the curved backs show the movement involved in this behaviour.

[xelas]

@@deano

Thanks! I am a sucker for landscape shots and those narrow roads that are leading into the unknown ... always curious to find what is hidden behind the next bend ...

 

 

@@Treepol

Great. Now you get me a good excuse to post a couple more of the pronking springboks

[pomkiwi]

@@xelas More lovely photos. I am partticularly impressed by the first of the snake eagle shots - beautifully captured but also focus was maintained on the subject and could have transferred to the bird behind. I have recently moved to shooting exclusively in Raw and am occasionally amazed at what hidden detail can be in an unpromising shot. Having said that however I have found that Lightroom has done a good job on some challenging JPEGs taken with a camera without Raw capability.

[xelas]

@@hannahcat , I appreciate your "Like"

 

@@pomkiwi

Indeed the latest generation or two of sensors are doing great even with JPEG, specially with Shadows. Yet when Exposure has to be manipulated ...

[xelas]

(continued)

 

 

Already when at Kielikrankie the daily temperatures started to hover around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and it only gets hotter in the following days. It was not so much about the heat as it was about the hot wind that started to blow each day around 1 pm. As if someone would switched on an enormous blow-drier in Mata Mata. If we were OK to stay in the car almost all day while in the Nossob riverbed, we have had to return to the camp and the cabin shade each day around 1 pm while in Auob riverbed, and we usually sleep or snooze till 4 pm when the hot wind subsidised and allow us to have our afternoon drive.

 

Each day the itinerary was the same; morning drive we went as far as to Auchterlonie, passing by each waterhole on the way there, and having a picnic breakfast on the way (about 6 hours total) and in the afternoon we did the 3 hours drive till 13th waterhole and back.

 

The giraffe were always visible somewhere along the far bank of the Auob river.

 

And while birds of prey were not so numerous as on the Nossob side, we have seen some other interesting birds each day

 

​Namaqua Dove, fem.

The blue wildebeests were represented in good numbers, moving from one waterhole to another

 

And, while there were plenty of lions around, folks (and us) gets always very excited when a small cat is spotted. This one you might recognise; Zvezda is firmly positive that it is the same one that has been captured last year when trying to catch the Puff Adder! This time the cat was much more peaceful; maybe it was the yoga that calmed her (?) down?

 

African Wild Cat

Yoga class - pose 1

Yoga class - pose 2

It has to be her

We have been to KTC already the previous year, and when the opportunity arose to stay for 3 nights, we did not hesitate. It is a wilderness camp yet with 15 cabins; as they are stretched along the bank of the riverbed, one does not have the feeling of being in the crowded camp. It is positioned very close to Mata Mata (shop, gas station, pool) and it even has a phone reception, from Namibian side. This is how the cabin looks

 

Room is big and airy

Shower (left) and toilet (right)

Kitchen is in a separate "tent"

Kitchen "tent"

Braai area in front of the kitchen

After Kielikrankie, Kalahari Tented Camp is my second favourite of Kgalagadi camps. It is not about its views, or waterhole, or special energy, it is because of being very "homely"; a welcome oasis in between game drives.

Edited March 26, 2016 by xelas

[Galana]

That is one lovely young African Wildcat. Whether it is the same one as last visit or not will be hard to confirm. You could try two similar facial shots and count the whisker/spots around the muzzle as each cat has its own unique pattern. Whatever it is a lovely creature.

[Peter Connan]

More stunning photographs!

 

I really need to get back to the Kgalagadi...

[michael-ibk]

Love the Wildcat, and good to hear you liked KTC that much.

[xelas]

@@michael-ibk

Sleeples in Innsbruck, eh?! Same same also here; luckily we have Safaritalk. One of this days I will go and cancel my TV subscription .

[xelas]

@@FlyTraveler

I have missed you also, my Balkan neighbour! Glad to have you on board. And looking forward to Your upcoming trip report.

[FlyTraveler]

@@FlyTraveler

I have missed you also, my Balkan neighbour! Glad to have you on board. And looking forward to Your upcoming trip report.

 

Hi @@xelas, I am at the very beginning of your excellent trip report and I was thinking of not commenting until I catch up, but since you noticed me - amazing photos!!! Both you and Zvezda are improving your photography skills and every trip your images are getting better and better. Just finished the post about the cheetah hunt, amazing. Excellent photos of various birds of prey and Lions before that. Lots to read in the coming days...

 

P. S. I just opened a thread in the Photography part of the forum. Would you take a look and comment when you have time, please!

Edited March 26, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[xelas]

@@FlyTraveler

Thank you very much for your encouraging words. And yes, i have seen your post and have already added my quite long dissertation ! I hope @@Peter Connan will add his thoughts with D750 and difference between 300 and 500 mm on a full frame body.

[xelas]

By following expert @@Galana advice, I am answering my own question: it is not the same cat!

[xyz99]

That is one lovely young African Wildcat. Whether it is the same one as last visit or not will be hard to confirm. You could try two similar facial shots and count the whisker/spots around the muzzle as each cat has its own unique pattern. Whatever it is a lovely creature.

 

You learn something new every day....thanks

 

xelas, it's amazing how similar this wild cat is to a domestic one. How do they compare size-wise?

[xelas]

@@xyz99

They are also about the same size; at a quick glance at the neighbour's cat domestic one is maybe even slightly bigger (no surprise a she is being fed also by us )

[Galana]

<it's amazing how similar this wild cat is to a domestic one.>

The African Wildcat is the ancestor of all domestic breeds hence the similarity. They started to be 'tamed' around 10,000 years ago in North Africa (hence sub species Felis silvestris lybica) and readily interbreed with Domestic cats.

The very rare and endangered European Wild Cat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is a bigger fiercer and more robust animal only now receiving much needed conservation protection.

(Fewer than 40 pure bred specimens now exist in its former British stronghold in the Scottish Highlands.)

[Safaridude]

@@xelas

 

Incredible cheetah sequence and incredible photo of a jackal buzzard!