We were reluctant to leave this morning. We had a last look at the hide and the crimson breasted shrike was showing off in a tree. A huge flock of Karoo thrush arrived and then it was time to leave. We checked later in our bird guides and they are not listed as occurring in the Kgalagadi. Perhaps the abundant rains have lured them here. It was still cool and there were huge herds of springbok, wildebeest and gemsbok enjoyed their morning breakfast in the lush riverbed. There were many birds about and we finally managed to get a picture of a lilac breasted roller. We found a very sick looking female lion sleeping in the road. It was really a sad sight seeing this emaciated looking animal and one felt so helpless. Near Urikaruus several cars were standing and one driver pointed out a leopard lying in a tree. It was rather far away, but this must have been Ithumeleng, who we had so hoped to see. This was her territory. The cubs were nowhere to be seen. We did at least get a picture of her even if she was a very away! Morning coffee was at Kamqua and now the milktart was no more! The crows were gurgling again and the glossy starlings and social weaver were as cheeky as ever. We had had some lovely stops here. A black-backed jackal gave us a good opportunity to photograph him. The giraffe were still feeding in the riverbed near Auchterlonie. We sadly passed this favorite picnic stop as it really was time to move on. At Houmoed waterhole, where we had seen the leopard previously, a huge herd of gemsbok were now drinking. There was no activity at Samevloeiing and soon we had arrived at Twee Rivieren. We enjoyed lunch at the visitors picnic site where a ground scraper thrush was keeping us company. And now it was time to leave this very special park. Strangely there were no fluffy clouds in the sky. On every day we had spent in the park the clouds had helped to make our photographs so much more interesting. We filled up at the KLK filling station in Ashkam. This is also a farmer’s setup, but they were a few cents cheaper than the Agrimark. Marianne bought meat and even a pawpaw at the local trading store that was well stocked. We were not sure just how far we would get, but our iOverlander app showed two good options just before Upington. Neither of us felt like going back to Upington yet. There were many yellow flowers (mostly Devil’s Thorn – Tribulus zeyheri) next to the road and once again it almost felt like a flower tour! There were quite a few trucks transporting salt on the road. We stopped a few times to enjoy the landscape and especially Goerapan, which was shimmering in the afternoon light (a few days later the pan would be filled with water again - we missed this!) As we approached the Kalahari Farmstall, we both decided that their bush camp as described in our app sounded more appealing than the campsite a bit further which was described as very organized and too perfect! So we turned into the Farmstall and booked in. The bush camp was across the road behind a hill. A group from the Eastern Cape had also arrived, but to our relief they were going to make use of the cottages. We drove across and discovered that it was a very attractive area with a huge expanse of water teeming with water birds. We had a choice of a several sites, but on the recommendation of the friendly Malawian who was working on the farm, we chose Meerkat. There was a faint solar light and gas for hot water in the very neat ablutions, but no power. This suited us. We soon had a fire going and discovered that a koringkriek (corn cricket) was about to get to our meat!! So we had not left them behind completely yet. The kettle we had so struggled to get hold of in Upington, now came to good use and soon the shiny new look was replaced by a black sooty look. This is what a proper camping kettle should look like! The crowd across the water was a bit loud initially, but later all was quiet except the intermittent sound of the salt trucks on the road. We were amazed how loud these trucks sounded even though we were behind a hill and quite far away. We did not hear them as we went to sleep and presumably the trucks also stopped. It was good to be away from civilization for another night.

Geschreven door Leartravels