A cold and very dry road tour to Kgalagadi *

[pooky]

the Owl... is not a White-faced
to me is an African Scops-Owl

SO and I had long discussions about that too
but in the end the WF owl was the opinion -
big ears, too much white on the front for Scops owl
- agree with Dewi -O

[pooky]

Day 5 14th June Nossob to Mata Mata

We left Nossob at about 8am. Still cold but not as bad as it was - or were we getting used to it
The road was alot better after the graders had been at work on our way up.

Before we left camp this groundscrapper thrush was very busy running around





We took Marie se draai loop again - maybe the cheetah would be around, instead a cape fox was
curled up in the river bed.



These two gemsbok were having a scuffle in the road while their mates were dislodging the
tsamma melons on the right of the road.





A big kudu bull disapperaing over the dunes.



A first sighting for us of a black morph gabar goshawk. Not very good pics - trying to avoid the sun





When we turned onto the road across the dunes to the Auob river we came across this very skittish cheetah.
It ran off as soon as we stopped.



Approaching the Auob river bed.



and looking down on a waterhole in the river.



Two lazy lions - the last we would see this trip.



We set up camp and later in the day went for a short drive towards Craig Lockhart waterhole.

Near Mata Mata camp was this young eland. Apparently it was orphened and had joined
up with a small herd of gemsbok





Cuteness itself. A baby giraffe





On my wish list - a brown hyaena - trotting down the middle of the river - on a mission.





Back in camp a ground squirrel



We didn't have any of the spectacular sunsets that I have seen pics of, but this was the next best thing
from Mata Mata

[Lisbeth]

Cape fox, cheetah, eland, cheetah, lion.....the sightings might not have been the end of the world, but still you have seen some of the "not too easy to see" animals in KTP, not to mention the gabar goshawk It is great to see giraffes too, they seem so out of place IMO -O

Oops, I forgot the squirrel

[pooky]

Day 6 15th June Mata Mata

We were up and out early.

First up was a beautful juv. pale chanting goshawk catching some early morning sun



Gemsbok bookends (almost) at a waterhole. and the second one licking minerals from the ground
They had mad several holes in the area from which they obtained the minerals.




We got to the 13th waterhole where 2 Juv. pale chanting goshawks were dive bombing some
doves. We slowly cruised up in anticipation of getting some super photographs, but before
we had even stopped 4 cheetah came from behind the pump enclosure. The goshawks disappeared.
We noticed one dove was injured and couldn't fly, but he walked towards the cars. Two of
the big cheetah cubs saw him and followed. They were half under the car in front then our car trying
to get at the dove, which they did in the end. This is a sequence of (many ) pics showing
the interaction between the cheetah. Mum mostly stood by and watched while the 3 cubs got
involved





























to be continued

[pooky]

Who ever she was, she was obviously a good mum
bringing those cubs to this stage where they must be
close to getting their independence

I've tried to compare spots, but either I focused on the wrong
cheetah or it is not Lisette. -O But I know that there is another
female with 3 cubs of that size around in that area. Might be her.

Agreed on the getting close to independence.

Wow Mel. Maybe this the other female - something for you to look
out for when you go next to KTP. By then she may be on her own

[pooky]

To continue just a few more random pics of the cheetah with the dove kill









We then continued on to Kamqua picnic site for some coffee. The wind was blowing a gale
and it was cold and dusty so we didn't stay too long at all.

On the way back these wildebeest were running around kicking up some dust.





We found the cheetah again. They had moved quite a way and were nearer the top road. Mum
was watching the river where there were a lot of springbok. We went and sat on the loop road
when she started to move down hoping for some action. We sat for quite a long while but nothing happened
so we continued on back to camp. We did hear later that they had caught a springbok.





This vereaux's eagle owl was sitting very close to the ground in amongst a lot of twigs.





Next up were a family of bateared fox's
What big ears you have...



all the better to hear you :D




A close up of a wildebeest.



Back in camp a yellow mongoose





and a view of Mata Mata looking towards the hide.



A very cropped grainy pic of an african wild cat (proof pic )

[Flutterby]

Great sighting of the Wild Cat!! And lovely pics of all the the other stuff!

[pooky]

Day 6 & 7 16th & 17th June 2012

We packed up and left Mata Mata at about 8am. Some general game on the way out then a bit
of a traffic jam. With the trailers in tow and the narrow sandy roads it was quite difficult to get
through. Some of the people watching were not going to move for a long time.

A cheetah had a very fresh spriongbok kill not too far from the road but right into the sun.
We took a few photos as we slowly made our way through.





In close attendance some jackal waiting for a gap to get some scraps



This I think is a juv. gabar goshawk



Then half way up the ridge a leopard walking in the opposite direction to the way we were going.
A couple stopped next to us and said they had been following the leopard for about 2K's.



We went through to Augrabies and this is what greeted us the next morning.



In the park there was very little game just a few giraffe and some springbok



A panorama of some scenery in Augrabies park.



Looking into the gorge from one of the view points.




There were plenty of these lizsards - I think they are flat lizzards.






Walking up moon rock



Slabs of rock pushed up by the force of nature.



The main Augrabies falls



Plenty of frothy white water





A tree climbing dassie



And finally a palewinged starling - a lifer





Well this was certainly a wonderful trip with a lot of first time sightings for us.
The camp I liked the most was Nossob - because of the activity from the jackal and ground squirrels
and a very nice hide. Our sightings around Mata Mata were better and that river bed has a lot to
offer. But like any game park it all amounts to right place right time. So another time I might think
differently The roads were very corrugated but as I said earlier the sand has a lot to do with that.

We will be back - but not in winter ever again.

[pooky]

and a view of Mata Mata looking towards the hide.

Wow thats the way Mata Mata campsite must look like. When we stayed there, there were about 9 tents/trailers along the fence. Our first spot was No 1 and then No10 (about from where you took the pic). In total around 27 cars only in the campsite. Lots of campers took the advantage of 6 max per site and more than 2 cars per site plus the kids that stretch the total to > 6 per site.

I will also plan my next trip before school holidays. It looks like you also missed out on the corrugated roads.

Great pics of the Bat eared foxes and AWC. We had the luck of spotting the two together and thought the AWC wanted to attack the BEF but the just walked passed eack other.

Love you leopard shot as well.

Yes, I think it does really make a difference being there out
of school holiday time. We were in sites 18 and 17 and
although there were quite a few campers certainly not the
numbers on each site. This view was between bookings because
the camp was actually full each night - we wanted an extra night
but couldn't get one.

The roads were corrugated and I guess that is how they are most
of the time because even when they graded the Nossob road
it was almost as bad again the next day