We woke up to a lovely morning and Marianne went out to check for tracks, but there had been no predators prowling during the night. We had plenty of time, so we decided that an omelette with bacon was a good idea! It was so easy to prepare with all the great facilities available in the kitchen. It was such a privilege to be able to sit on the deck at Bitterpan watching the bird activity at the waterhole while enjoying one’s breakfast. Our fellow campers from Knysna left at 8h30. We only got away by 10h00, but we had vacated the tent earlier, so that Willem could prepare for the next guests. We had hardly left, when we spotted the resident Lanner Falcon in a tree and we managed to take a reasonable photograph of this lovely bird. A bit further on, Marianne suddenly remembered that she had hung a pair of my underpants on a hook at the back of the car and now the underpants were missing! We had a picture of guests finding a pair of underpants on the track and wondering if someone had been devoured by a predator! We had not gone very far yet and we decide to turn back. Willem was surprised to see us again. He had not seen a pair of underpants lying in the parking area. Stephen decided to look behind the spare wheels and there were the missing underpants! The “recovery operation” had been a success!! At the defunct Strathmore waterhole, we startled a little steenbokkie that had found some water to drink from a leak and also a beautiful juvenile pale chanting goshawk. Soon we were encountering steeper dunes than on the previous day. Sadly the next waterhole was also not in use. We had been warned that there would be some serious dunes ahead and when we suddenly saw several tracks up a steep dune, we know that they had arrived. We attempted the dune on the track that looked the easiest, but Troopy faded just before the top and we had to reverse back. We made another attempt on a different track, but once again we only just did not make it. Now we had no choice. We simply had to drop the tyre pressure. We had been loathed to do this after our tube failure previously. It is amazing what letting out a bit of air can do. Troopy now had absolutely no trouble getting over the steep dune. Judging from the many tracks made many people had struggled to cross this dune. We encountered a few more steep dunes, but had no trouble summiting them. It took a while to find a tree that cast some shade over the track for a coffee stop. One really feels the solitude when one is enjoying a cup of coffee on a track deep in the Kalahari! We saw a lovely herd of gemsbok and some ostriches in the track ahead, but it was hot and not many animals would be hanging around in the dunes. We noticed that the terrain was changing and more trees appeared. The track also changed direction. Soon we were dropping down into the Auob River Valley and the Craig Lockhart waterhole. It was strange to arrive here from such a different route! It was quiet at the waterholes in the midday heat and soon we checked in at Mata-Mata. The campsite did not appear to be as full as when we had lunch in the camp four days earlier. We managed to find a lovely site and soon had some lunch going. A cheeky ground squirrel came to visit and she was really adorable. The pool looked very appealing and we had a lovely swim in the small, but very attractive pool. By 16h00, we headed out for a late afternoon game drive. Now the riverbed was alive with animals and some wildebeest “made sure” that we would take some close up pictures of them. At Craig Lockhart Marianne spotted a Pigmy Falcon that was very well hidden behind some dense branches. We would never have seen it, had the little bird not dived down and to catch something that it was now devouring. This was the first time we had seen one close by and we were both surprised just how small this bird was. It had been worthwhile to drive back all the way to Craig Lockhart. Back in the camp, we came across a delightful “show”. A jackal had entered the camp and the meerkats and the squirrels were all alert and scrambling around. The jackal was long gone, but the show continued for quite a while and provided us with delightful and also very comical scenes. We made use of our little gas grill and soon had supper going. There were thankfully less insects around than at our previous camps. Our neighbour happened to be the lady who we had spoken to at the leopard site near Kamqua previously (Tun-o-Fun lady in a FJ Cruiser). She had been for a lovely sunset game drive offered by the park and had seen lots of lion and other nocturnal life. Later that evening we heard lion roaring, but it stayed quiet at the waterhole. We were sad that this would be our last night in the Kgalagadi.

Geschreven door Leartravels