Kgalagadi 2016: A Lion A Day Keeps A Doctor Awake

[xelas]

(continued)

 

 

Once every man-made waterhole in Kgalagadi was powered by wind. Nowadays only a couple of those are still standing; it is logical as repairing one costs the same as replacing three with solar powered generators. Yet as one by one they are dismantled also those classic sights are taken away. Thus I have taken this opportunity to photograph one (I think it's at Langklaas).

 

Wind-powered water pump

 

Also this morning it was cloudy; every so often the sun shines through the clouds and everything burst into colours; then again the grey clouds took those colours away. Photographing into grey sky is not an easy task; Zvezda did a great job by nailing the exposure on this LBR

 

One scruffy looking Lilac-breasted Roller

 

Driving north we have encountered a herd of Blue Wildebeests drinking at Polentswa waterhole.

 

 

There was quite many youngsters among them. They feel very secure among their older relatives.

 

Quite logical as adult wildebeest is a formidable animal, and very protective to its young, as we have seen during the cheetah hunt.

 

 

Secretary bird is also an imposing animal. Its black&white colours accentuated by bright yellow patch on its head, and its size, makes it easy to be spotted, and it draws every photographers attention. Taking a "different" photo is not that easy. These two are different, IMO.

 

Secretary bird on target

Secretary bird drinking

 

There were not many smaller birds visible on previous two days in the park. This one was not so small.

 

African Pipit (*)

(*) as already asked once, please do correct me when I am wrong with bird's ID; also add ID whenever one is missing. Thanks!!

 

At midday most of mammals have disappeared and only birds of prey remained perched high on trees. Sometimes in company of cousins ...

 

Lappet-faced and White-backed Vultures

... and sometimes in larger groups

 

Birds of prey (**)

(**) see comment above

 

And last photo of this drive to Grootkolk Camp, a funny looking face of a Short-tailed Eagle

 

(to be continued)

 

 

[bettel]

Your beautiful photos of birds are converting me into a birder

[xelas]

@@bettel

 

It is easy to photograph birds; the real challenge is to ID them ! Luckily there are many experts on this forum .

[Game Warden]

@@xelas Love the framing of the bateleur.

[deano]

@@xelas - just catching up. Amazing images - the eyes on the lions drinking and those three wildebeest - just fantastic. Really like the landscape pics also especially the gemsbok. So vivid and clear against the background. I almost wish I'd left this a couple more hours to enjoy even more with a "J" (never mind; I will come back later).

 

I really like the sound of KTP self drive and might have to work on Mrs deano to see if I can persuade her that it is a good idea.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

[dlo]

@@xelas

 

Great secretary bird shots and I'm not just saying that because it is Chris's favourite bird! We totally missed them on our trip.

[anthracosaur]

@@xelas Love the secretary bird pictures. They have been my favorite bird since my ornithology professor in graduate school showed us video footage of one hunting snakes. Fast forward a decade later and I got to see one on my first game drive in South Africa.

[Peter Connan]

@@xelas, great secretary bird photos. I always find it amazing how difficult they find it to drink!

 

I think the unidentified raptors may be Yellow-billed Kites. They are rare in this area, but are the only raptors I know of with swallow tails?

[Kitsafari]

i'm catching up = at page 4 and a huge lovely surprise of a Brown Hyena! how super cool that must have been. it's gorgeous. who says hyenas are ugly? the spotted ones are cute, and the brown ones are shaggy beauties. maybe a striped one in the next few days?

 

oh and those awesome sunsets.

[Kitsafari]

fabulous sequence of the lions. i agree with Zvezda - you should have more text because your words provided the perfect frame for the accompanying beautiful photos. that is a powerful pix of the two pride males walking in sync at either ends of the photo. so is the pix of the second male drinking with two sidekicks and their reflections on the water.

[xelas]

@@Game Warden

Thanks! It was intentional

 

@@deano

Everything is better with J's! As for self-driving, as I have already replied to @@xyz99 , Kgalagadi is excellent place to try it.

 

@@dlo & @@anthracosaur

There were not so many Secretary birds around this time of the year. The first shot was pure luck. The second shot was pure skill !

 

@@Peter Connan

Thanks for the ID! Re. Secretary bird drinking, we must be lucky then as we have seen one also on our previous visit.

 

@@Kitsafari

I am a bit hesitant to add my less than average text to Zvezda's excellent photos ... but I will do my best also in the upcoming posts !

Edited March 9, 2016 by xelas

[cheetah80]

What a lion fest!!!! Fabulous sightings and photos! I also love the very last Bateleur photo - such beautiful birds, and pictured perfectly here looking so alert too. Still amazed at all the green

[xelas]

(continue)

 

 

We needed six hours to reach Grootkolk camp. This camp is positioned at the far north side of Kgalagadi park, close to where the three countries touches its borders. But more about this later. It is positioned in a side valley (probably also a riverbed of a smaller tributary to Nossob, once upon a time). There were dense green bushes everywhere and many trees. On arrival a lovely steenbok lady gave us a "but look".

 

Female steenbok

 

Different than other wilderness camps, cabins are not built on stilts. That gives guests a specific perspective in comparison to other wilderness camps.

 

Cabins at Grootkolk

Inside the layout is typical for Kgalagadi (and probably also to other cabins in Sanparks owned and managed camps): front room with two separate beds, a toilet and shower behind, and an open space with braai in front.

 

 

Waterhole is in the same level as the cabin so you cannot watch the wildlife drinking. Good news is that it has been relocated from behind the big tree and is now in front of it. The waterhole is also closer to the cabins, I think about 50 meters away, and all cabins have the similar unobstructed view.

 

View over the waterhole and the valley

The distance to the waterhole helps those of us that do not own really long lenses. Like us.

 

The Photographer's Selfie (*)

(*) Disclaimer: no selfie stick was used in the making of this photo!

 

Inside the cabin they have placed a trained gecko who was in charge of removing the annoying insects.

 

​Bibron's Gecko (Pachydactylus Bibronii)

 

Wildlife did visited the waterhole, despite all the rain and all the greens around. The Red Hartebeest were very photogenic with their silky smooth and shining skin.

 

Red Hartebeest

The "but look" redux

Attractive animal

It was time for our first braai. Thanks to the lesson taken back in Jo'burg, I was able to start the fire quickly. Zvezda prepared 4 delicious veal rump steaks (no, we didn't ate them all that night) and they were oh so delicious! The best grilled steaks I have ever had. So soft, they have just melted in my mouth! As the charcoal was still hot we put on the braai some bread buns and corn.

 

Our first braai

With a glass of gin&tonic we have seated outside, enjoying the sunset and it seemed that evening starting to develop into a very romantic evening ...

 

Sunset at Grootkolk

... when we noticed a commotion at the nearby cabin. That one was occupied by a sweet older lady from Switzerland, in fact, from Suisse, as she came from the French speaking part. We have crossed our paths several times in past two days; she has rented the car from the same company as us, Kalahari 4x4, and that alone was a good excuse to stop and engage her in a discussion. She is about 75 years old, 50 kg with hiking boots, and I was wondering how she could fix the flat tyre as the tyre itself was heavier than herself ?! A brave lady, going to Kgalagadi all by herself, and a lucky lady as she stayed there for full 6 weeks, searching for cheetah.

 

So, the sun sets down, the G&T did what it suppose to do, it was a romantic evening ... when the Suisse lady started to operate her high-power hand torch, swiping it all over the front yard. And after a while, she called, in mid voice, the camp manager: "Franco, come, the coffee is ready!".

No surprises here, yet it looked like Franco didn't care for her coffee. A few minute later, again the lady, this time a little louder: "Franco, come, Foo Fighter!!".

 

What a unique music taste the lady has, I thought. But one does not discuss the other people music tastes, yes?! This time Franco arrives ... with a snake grabber stick! Wow, now the things started to become interesting. Some more swiping with that torch, and there is Franco holding a good sized ("It's huuuuge" Zvezda exclaimed) puff adder!! Too far and too dark to take a photo, and Franco was not waiting for me to prepare the flash. He walked out into the bush ("Why so close?" Zvezda commented again - "Because no sane man wants to walk in de bush after the sunset!!" was my expert reply) to release the snake.

 

The piece and tranquility and romance has returned to the valley, was me thinking. Not exactly. While the Suisse lady was out trying to assure herself there are no more Foo Fighters (or it was Puff Adder in strong French accented English?!), Zvezda decided that it is already late now and time to withdraw ourselves to the room ... but only after I have been "asked" to search beneath the beds and in the closet and behind the toilet and .... I do not like snakes either but I am a loyal husband !! Unfortunately, not much of the romantic vibe has been there anymore .

 

As for that "Foo Fighter" call, maybe was not the Suisse lady pronunciation; maybe it is a code call as it probably is not very polite to yell at full force: "Snake, snake, there is a snaaaake in my cabin!!!" . Because other guests might be trying to enjoy their romantic evening ?? I have forgotten to ask Franco about this. I hope another Safaritalk member visiting Grootkolk might do that for me??

 

At the end, it was not completely unexpected event. Franco told us (and I have read in the ebook from Mario Fazekas) that we should keep the front door closed at all times. Snakes, specially puff adders, loves to enter the cabin in search of a warm place to spent the night. My advice?! Do not to walk outside in flip flops!!

Edited March 9, 2016 by xelas

[michael-ibk]

Love the steaks, the Gecko and the Hartebeest. But .. UGH! ... can certainly do without Puff Adders in my cabin.

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@xelas

 

I really like the gecko image!

 

The red hartebeests are gorgeous!

Until seeing these images I was unaware that such hartebeests existed.

Their coat colors are so vivid, standing out from the background.

Puff adders were seeking warm nooks?

Thank you for warning any future would-be visitors there.

Tom K.

[bettel]

Corn cooked on a braai and steak... I am drooling . You should not be allowed to post pictures like this or to describe food lol

[xelas]

@@michael-ibk

Just keep the door closed !

 

@@Tom Kellie

The silky velvet coats of Red Hartebeests must be due to all the water and the excellent grazing they have had in past two weeks

 

@@bettel

I have thought so, and thus there are no photos of delicious sizzling steaks on the braai ! However to give you an idea, here are those steaks in their RAW format

[Towlersonsafari]

Grootkolk is so lovely @@xelas and a very funny story! When we got to Grootkolk a few years ago we were unpacking trying to be as quiet as possible as the next cabin was occupied Jane went to use the facilities when a large male leopard appeared! My efforts at trying to quietly knock to tell Jane but to not spiol the sighting for the other couple were frankly pathetic! Luckilyour new neighbours shouted out the sighting to us. Really enjoying your report

[xyz99]

Red Hartebeests - wow, beautiful animals, I've never seen one before, not even in pictures.

 

Loved the gecko and the snake story, and hope everything snake related will always be just that, a story. I don't want a close encounter, ever.

 

About the steaks, now those look fantastic! But I expected pictures of the cooked ones, my friend. How can we evaluate your abilities otherwise? Does the camp supply the coals? Or is that something else you carried in that humongous car?

[dlo]

Well @@xelas I'm going to pull some steaks out of the freezer for the bbq now! I love to bbq but have only ever used propane so I may need some help figuring out how to light up a braai if I ever get to Kgalagadi. By the way if the Foo Fighters are ever in Kgalagadi let me know and I'm there!

[Terry]

Love the snake story! That was funny. People will be talking about Foo Fighters for years to come.

 

Agreed the Red Hartebeest is a spectacularly beautiful animal. Great pictures of them also.

[xelas]

@@Towlersonsafari

Believe me, Zvezda would prefer to have your sightings than her!! Which is a good thing as it will give me a chance to return ... soon!!

 

@@xyz99

Well, you will have to believe my words! No, there is no wood or coal at the wilderness camp's cabins. You can get wood at Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata shops. We bought it already in Upington (at 1/2 price).

 

@@dlo

Very easy job. We have had both coal and wood. We ended using only wood. Use one or two paraffine lighter cubes, and 4-5 pcs of wood. Position wood over paraffine, light the it, and wait. As the burning time of that wood is long,

prepare cold beer or wine or anything similar to keep you entertained. Once the wood become black, knock on it and it will fall apart into charcoal. The charcoal will held the temperature for 3 hours minimum!!

Practise makes masters!

 

@@Terry

You think so?! But yes, this one event I have told already many times so far !

[TonyQ]

@@xelas

Those Hartebeest are beautiful -I have never seen them (even in photos) before. The trained Gecko is superb.

I love the snake story - it shows how much you under-sell your writing abilities!

[xelas]

@@TonyQ

 

You did! Just the photo was not so good !

[offshorebirder]

Just catching up on this excellent trip report.

 

I love the photos of the Lions drinking. The Jackal drinking is superb! The camera was obviously right on the level with the Jackal.

 

I too enjoyed the Puff Adder story.

 

KTP is now on my bucket list!