We woke up with much anticipation. Since the distance to Bitterpan was only about 60km, we did not have to leave early. We had skipped the Marie se Draai loop on the way to Nossob and we decided to go and look if there were any surprises about. People had seen cheetah there the day before and lion frequent the area. But we were probably too late. There were lots of signs of cars stopping and turning, which is a tell tale that they had seen something exciting earlier, but now there were only some gemsbok and springbok grazing in the riverbed. Back at camp, we bought some more water from the shop, since we were warned that Bitterpan had very “bitter” (brak) water! It was lovely to relax a bit after all the early morning starts. We enjoyed morning coffee at the day visitor’s picnic site before leaving for Bitterpan. The gate to the route was locked and we had to get someone to open up for us. It was very exciting to be able to drive on a “twee spoor” track (twin track) through the dunes. As everywhere the veld was green and the “middelmannetjie” (middle of the track) was also a line of tall green grass. We took a lot of pictures and stopped often. Morning coffee was a stop in the shade of a rare tree on the track. We turned off to the Stofpan waterhole, but although it was working there were no animals. Two other vehicles with Knysna number plates arrived and we let them go ahead. We were not going to be alone at Bitterpan. There were no animals to be seen, but it was very hot. We got to the camp by lunch time and the other two vehicles had also just arrived. Willem, the chap in charge, welcomed us warmly and allocated our tents to us. There are only four tents and luckily for us, we got one on the one side and the two couples from Knysna took the other two. One tent would not be occupied as the third car in Knysna people's group had had a suspension failure and had gone back to Upington for repairs. Lucky for us as we did not have neighbours. Willem immediately warned us about the koringkrieke (corn crickets) that were everywhere and these creepy creatures were trying very hard to get into our tents. We had to keep the doors very closed! They really were everywhere and Willem explained that this was a phenomenon that occurred after the rains. The tents are very comfortable and every couple had its own bathroom just across from the tent. The Bitterpan was dry (it had recently had water), but the view across it was lovely. There was a waterhole at the edge of the pan and hundreds of doves were flushed time and again by a very active Lanner Falcon! Bitterpan camp has a very well-equipped kitchen with a fridge for each tent. We took the righthand side of the kitchen and soon had lunch ready. It was great to be there, but it was very hot with the camp facing into the afternoon sun. One had to watch one’s step not to squash a koringkriek. It is a most unpleasant experience, since these creatures have a fat belly and it becomes very messy! To add to this, when one is squashed, another one comes immediately to devour its own kind. Thank heavens we did not squash too many. Even when sitting down, these creatures would start climbing up the chair and one even got as far as a glass of coke! But we were not going to let the crickets spoil our time here. The unusually high rainfall had also brought an abundance of other insects but here they were a minor irritation compared to the koringkrieke! Marianne proceeded to do some washing and we just enjoyed being there. Although it was hot Stephen remounted our spotlights that had been shaken off by the corrugations on the way to Union’s End. The only place where they were really secure was on top of the bull-bar. They will get in the way off photographs, but we will have to live with that for now. We checked along the track near the camp for animal tracks, but lions have obviously not been around. Willem, who had an injured hip, told us that two females had surprised him recently and since he could not “hol vinnig” (run fast) he threw sand at them and they retreated. We would not have minded a visit, but sadly they were nowhere to be seen or heard. We were glad that the sun was going down, because the heat was stifling. We enjoyed a lovely sunset over the pan and watched the repeated attacks by the Lanner Falcon on the doves. Stephen got the fire going and soon we could sit down watching the flames and chatting to our new friends from Knysna. We discovered that Ian and Gabi had known Geoff Roberts, Maryke’s father-in-law who had sadly passed away two years ago. They asked about Donne and indicated that they had known the family really well. Gabi had also known Jopie Pretorius’s (one of Stephen’s ex-students) mother since they were both three years old. The world is really small! Trish and Gush were also an interesting couple and they had lived in many parts of East Africa since Gush was involved in project management and arbitration. To our surprise they all went to bed shortly after supper and we enjoyed a quiet evening alone. Somehow we had managed to keep the crickets out of our tents. The washing was already dry by the time we went to bed. The mattresses were really comfortable and we were both soon asleep. Marianne never woke during the night, but I did and went out to look but there was no sound or sign of movement. Perhaps a pity, because who knows what animals had called into the night.

Geschreven door Leartravels