Deserts and daisies day 4

[ali-s]

Deserts and daisies Day 4

We leave Kalahari Tented camp today, we will be spending the next 3 nights at Nossob camp . There are only 4 main roads in the park . The 2 longest follow the dry Auob and Nossob river beds, the river beds form a sort of V shape and have 2 shorter roads connecting them.Twee rivieren camp is at the point of the V ,Kalahari tented camp is towards the top of the left hand riverbed and Nossob is on the opposite side of the V on the Nossob river road.
So , by 8.30am we are packed up and ready to go , one advantage of having no suitcase is less to pack we collect our permit from reception at Mata Mata, whenever we are in camp the permit is held at reception, whenever we leave camp reception note where we are going and the permit goes with us. This supposedly alerts staff if anyone isn't where they're supposed to be when gates close. Top up the fuel at the petrol station ( the 3 main camps have petrol and shops ) and then drive South, back along the boneshaker road .
There is very little to see , even when I can take my eyes off the road. The usual weaver bird nests and a few ground squirrels looking cute and that's about it.

Kamqua picnic site is at the junction with the road to Nossob river, so we stop for a drink and snack . Along upper dunes road we see a heron perched on a water tank, I doubt he's going to find anything to catch in there, and what is a heron doing in a desert anyway ?

There are large paw prints in the sand at the side of the road , I stop and use the binoculars but their owner is nowhere to be seen. Infact there is nothing to see until we are at the waterhole near the junction with the Nossob river road. Here we see gemsbok, springbok and wildebeest, but they don't really improve a long, boring drive.

Dikbaardskolk is the name of the picnic site we stop at for lunch. As well as the usual welcoming committee of birds, we have a jackal lying in the shade , surveying the picnickers like a family dog at a bbq.

We continue north , we see no animals and only 1 other car. I begin to think everyone must be at a great sighting somewhere and we didn't get the invite Nossob camp is smack bang in the middle of the road. You have to drive through the camp to continue North.

We check in at reception, hand our permit in and collect keys to our riverfront chalet. This is a new , quite luxurious chalet as far as camp accommodation goes, it even has a TV! Again , we have a fantastic view of the waterhole. The bird hide is close by and open 24/7 for nocturnal waterhole viewing, but I think the view from our chalet is just as good.

We visit the shop for ice, pop , bread and I want a fridge magnet, I saw some at Mata mata but didn't buy, but Nossob doesn't have any. I must remember to get one from Twee rivieren.
After dinner I'm ready for bed, the combination of boring drive and sun almost sent me to sleep at times today, I do a quick check of the waterhole before retiring , a jackal is just leaving . I can hear clicking/ clucking noises, like a cross between a chicken and a duck, coming from all around. I wonder if these are the barking geckos I've read about. My room faces the floodlit waterhole and with curtains drawn back from the glass doors I can lie in bed and watch for animals , but it's not long before I'm asleep.

[sotagals]

Very interesting and different. I can't believe you did it without your suitcase.