Deserts and daisies day 2

[ali-s]

Deserts and daisies day 2

Our first night in the desert. Even though we are on the park boundary with settlements nearby it was so quiet and so many stars. I'm up at 7am and sitting , shivering outside with a cup of tea, then breakfast . I'm already missing my fleece. I've washed out underwear and socks and draped them over the chairs, at least they dry quickly in the arid air. Two cheeky little birds perch at my elbow, hoping for handouts. By 8am it has begun to warm up and I'm no longer shivering.

I let David have a lie in and we check out at 10am to begin our drive to the Kalahari Tented camp where we will stay 2 nights. The drive is supposed to take 3.5 hours, the roads are either sand or gravel and there is a 50kmph speed limit, so you don't get anywhere fast. And we were stopping for anything that moved.
We saw our first ( and only ) hartebeest , gemsbok,and ostrich

and at a waterhole we stopped to watch ground squirrels, but they all ran off as we approached, a honey badger was coming to drink. We had glimpsed one in Kruger, but from a distance, so I was hoping we would see another in the Kgalagadi, and here it was, right infront of us on our first drive.

A little further on we saw a solitary meerkat, where the rest of his clan were I don't know, but he posed nicely for us.

More gemsbok followed, we soon realised that gemsbok are as prolific in the kalahari as impala are in Kruger. We'd now been driving 2 hours and were only 1/4 of the way there. We sped up a little and were more selective in what we stopped for.

We had lunch at the Kamqua picnic site. You can get out of your car at the picnic sites, once you've checked it's safe to do so, there are toilets, picnic tables and braais ( bbqs) . And lots of birds. I'd made a packed lunch and when we sat down to eat it a flock descended on us. They perched on the table and hopped around our feet . We didn't feed them ( not allowed in the park) but I'm sure they find enough crumbs around the tables .

Shortly after leaving Kamqua the road deteriorated. The sand hadn't been graded ( scraped level) and there were corrugations and deep patches which made driving tedious. I couldn't watch for wildlife as I had to concentrate on avoiding the worst ruts. I'd been warned of this but hadn't realised how bone shakingly tiring it would be. By the time we arrived at Mata Mata camp, where we were to check in for the Kalahari Tented camp , I'd decided I was having a day off, I wasn't driving anywhere the next day ( there is just the one road in and out of camp) . I booked a night drive for that night and a sunset drive for the next day, let someone else do the driving .
The Kalahari Tented camp is about 3kms back along the road from Mata mata. The tents have sandbags reinforcing/ insulating the walls and the roofs are covered, each tent has a separate stand alone kitchen and a decking area where you can sit and watch the waterhole.

It was soooo quiet and still. I loved it. We had mongoose for neighbours, they appeared as soon as I lit the braai.

My first braai attempt was a little ambitious. I tried to cook too much at once and ended up resorting to using the frying pan. Just as 4 giraffes approached the waterhole they were obscured by clouds of smoke from our braai

We're picked up at 8.30 for our night drive. There are 4 others in the vehicle . We head south , catching lots of eyes in the spot lights. Our driver says' that's a small spotted genet' or ' that would be a wild cat' but as all we can see are eyes in the dark 50 metres away we have to take his word for it. We do see a couple of spring hares bouncing around ( they look nothing like hares, more like mini kangaroos) and a wild cat. Apart from that it is just dark, and cold, very cold. We have blankets but I really miss my fleece. Back at camp I have warm milk with Amarula ( I packed hot chocolate , but it's in the suitcase) and then to bed. I'm woken a short while later by hyenas 'laughing' close by.

[CrispyA]

Wow, amazing pictures!

[anji]

Wow! I'm just loving your report. I would LOVE to do a safari or a trip like you are doing one day. The photos are amazing