Overwhelmed with Kgalagadi

[pedro maia]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pedro maia]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pedro maia]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the overload but I couldn´t help it.

[xelas]

Because they are so cute 

[pedro maia]

After the wonderful meerkat sightings there wasn´t much to be seen until Twee Rivieren, with the exception of these two raptors which I don´t dare to try to identify, so I´ll wait for the experts verdict.

 

 

 

 

Then we had a decision to make, we were quite tired but we arrived at TR before 17:00 and although next morning we would still make a (half) morning drive in the park chances are that we won´t return there any time soon so I thought it was worth it to drive a little bit in the Nossob road, so we had a snack and a beer at Twee Rivieren and went back to the road.

 

It was a good decision because not far from the gate there were some cars and that usually means cats, and it was the case, in the other bank there were three lions, one male, which seemed to be still young since his mane wasn´t fully developed, and two females, one of them with a collar, maybe they were the same three lions that broke inside the camp the other night but of course that may be just me speculating.

 

They weren´t as close as we would like but it was still a very nice sighting and with the binoculars we could see them pretty well.

 

 

 

 

The male was clearly in the mood for love so he tried his chance with one of the ladies

 

 

But she wasn´t at the same mood

 

 

Cropped picture

 

 

And she didn´t let him do what he wanted to do

 

 

Another cropped picture

 

 

 

And she moved away

 

 

 

And there they were, the girls to one side and the boy to the other and we had to go away without knowing if there was another round as we couldn´t miss the gate closure.

 

 

That night it was braai night

 

 

With the lamb chops and the borewoers we bought at Sitzas and a nice syrah from the western cape 

 

 

And before going to bed my daughter and I made some experiences taking pictures of the stars, these are the best we could do, we missed a good tripod, we forgot to change to the small lens which would be lighter and there´s much we need to learn as well.

 

 

 

Anyway I must say I never saw such an amazing sky, we were lucky to be in KTP during the new moon so there were only stars to be seen and it was just incredible, the milky way unbelievably lighted.

[offshorebirder]

Catching up with this trip report @pedro maia - good stuff!   

 

I especially liked the sequence of the Secretarybird taking a bath.   And you crushed the Meerkats!

 

Thanks for taking all the time to post the text and photos.

[pedro maia]

3 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

Catching up with this trip report @pedro maia - good stuff!   

 

I especially liked the sequence of the Secretarybird taking a bath.   And you crushed the Meerkats!

 

Thanks for taking all the time to post the text and photos.

 

I´m glad you catched up, even if the trip is entering it´s final strech.

Edited September 25, 2017 by pedro maia

[pedro maia]

The 23rd August in the afternoon we had to take the plane at Upington to start our long way back home, but we still had time for a final drive at the park until around 10:30, it was the coldest morning of all, -2º at 7:00, and there was a bit of a mist in the road and at the Nossob river bed.

 

Probably because of the cold there were no animals anywhere until we saw a couple of cars, there was something at the left hand side of the road and it turned out to be two cheetahs, two male brothers I assume.

 

The first one passed by

 

 

 

 

While the second decided to mark the territory, first scratching the tree with his claws (pity he did it in the wrong side of the tree)

 

 

and then scent marking it with his urine

 

 

Then they climbed the dune, watched around

 

 

 

 

 

And eventually passed to the other side of the dune

 

 

Not a lot of action but a great sighting for a late start of our last morning at KTP

[Alexander33]

I don't think anyone would tire of meerkats. Each one seems to have its own unique personality. 

 

And I agree with you on the skies. I've never seen such brilliant starscapes in my life as out there in the Northern Cape. 

[pedro maia]

9 hours ago, Alexander33 said:

I don't think anyone would tire of meerkats. Each one seems to have its own unique personality. 

 

 

I think you´re going to enjoy our next sighting.

[pedro maia]

After the cheetahs left to the other side of the dune we went a bit further on the road and had another great sighting, a group of meerkats warming themselves, with the morning sunrays making a very nice effect in their fur, looking like some kind of an aura in their side hairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don´t need to tell you how much we enjoyed the time we spent with this family of meerkats.

[pedro maia]

While returning to Twee Rivieren to leave KTP there were still a few nice sightings, such as these young sprinboks practicing to become dominant males.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a video of the moment:

 

 

[pedro maia]

On the way to Twee Rivieren we still had time to see this jackal drinking,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a little bit of action among oryx

 

 

 

 

 

Really a beautiful antilope

 

 

 

The last kori bustard

 

 

 

 

Our best day sighting of a bat-eared fox

 

 

 

 

And the last road block

 

 

Needless to say I became an unconditional fan of KTP, a place where I really want o go back.

 

We had great moments, wonderful sightings, the landscape is also a treat and, best of all, it was a great family vacation, so the las picture is of the four o us

 

Thanks to all of you who followed and commented our trip.

[michael-ibk]

Thank you, a really enjoyable report, and that last picture of your familiy says it all. I especially liked all your Meerkat sightings, you were very lucky with them.

[xelas]

Kgalagadi is a great place for family bonding! Thank you for taking me along on your journey, it was a delightful one!

Edited October 2, 2017 by xelas

[kittykat23uk]

Considering that I am right now staying at Twee Rivieren,  I  can see why you were so taken with the place!

[Alexander33]

Thanks for sharing your report with us.  It was most enjoyable.  I will have to get to Kgalagadi some day, for sure. 

[Ritsgaai]

Thank you for taking the time to post this wonderful trip with lovely photos, Pedro. I especially like the last set of the meetkats with the sun highlighting their fur. KTP is a very special place...one of my personal favourites!