Africa part 3

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Zie: http://gerardenpetraopreis.blogspot.com/2017/08/

Monday 23rd of October 2017

Augrabies Falls N.P. to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Wonderful quiet night. At 6.10 a.m. it is light but the sun still has to rise. No baboons yet or yep. First they check the trash cans and next they dive into the caravan of a some South Africans and steal something. Chased off by 4 men the baboons find a new prey. An enclosed dome tent. The baboons jump on top, 2 at the same time. Not much remains of the tent. The thing collapses and the baboons run out with a trofie bag of potato chips!

We take turns taking a shower because one has to keep watch. Lovely warm water. Enjoy. Soon we will not have water for 14 days. The flies here are really annoying. That was why a brisk workout was not an option. The baboons leave us alone. On the one hand, the dome tent or what’s left of it is more interesting. On the other hand, they are shocked by our secret weapon. The whole crowd is running away from the mere sound. Some cute birds visit and we see a weasel.

We start driving at 8 a.m. In Upington we go to the Kalahari Mall for the very last groceries. We also score sun curtains for the rear windows and a cushion for the driver’s seat. Makes one sit just a little higher. We drive the Red Dunes Route. Red sand dunes with occasional fields of dry yellow grass interspersed with salt pans. The scenery is beautiful. Again one can see 3 days ahead.

In Askham we fill up with 75 litres of diesel for 1000 ZAR, about 60 euros. We have only driven 500km, but the three jerry cans on top and the air conditioning ensure that the usage is steep. The sky is clear blue with one single white cloud.

At 2.30 p.m. we arrive at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It starts raining. Big fat drops and everyone is happy. The first rain. Check in at San Park. Stamp from South Africa. Oops problem. I never appear to have been stamped in Cape Town. But my passport was scanned. So the nice customs officer arranges an in and out stamp. Then to Botswana customs. We get a 60 day visa and don’t have to pay anything. Next report to the lady of the accommodations in Botswana. All our Botswana accommodation is pre booked by Botswana Footprint. We are out at 4 p.m. First mission = confiscate campsite.

But it turns out to be a lot less busy than I expected at Twee Rivieren, the largest rest camp situated on the banks of the Dry Nossob Riverbed. We have a place with an electricity point, light, water and a table. Such a luxury. We take out the table but not the seats because it could rain again.

Time for our first game drive. We see beautiful birds of prey. A car stops to say that a lioness has been seen. Within 30 minutes after the start of our game drive we already see the lioness. She walks into the hills and disappears. We drive on and see springbok, oryx, ostriches, jackals and more birds of prey. The park is very beautiful, open, rolling hills. The road is gravel but in perfect condition. They smooth it out with a tractor with car tires.

When the sun has almost set, we return to the campsite. The braai needs to be lit and the tent needs to be put up quickly. We eat a fitness salad with grilled chicken.

Tuesday 24th of October 2017

Twee Rivieren, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

WHAT A GREAT DAY:

7 lions (4 with kill)

1 brown hyena

1 cheetah with kill

3 spotted hyenas

Jackal puppies

The alarm rings at 5.15 a.m. and we’re in the car by 6 a.m. Within half an hour we see the lioness again. Unfortunately there were 10 cars following her and she just got scared and walked into the hills. So we continue too, away from the crowd. At the next water hole we see young jackals and a brown hyena. The hyena is walking on the road. Since we’ve never seen a brown hyena before, we’re going after it. He too runs off, but that could also be because there are a lion and a lioness in the bushes. They are so hidden that we cannot take pictures. We are going for the grand tour. We drive through beautiful countryside but see very few animals. We stop at the picnic area for coffee and tea. There are many birds. They dive on top of the cookie crumbs and the bowl of water. I drive the next 50 km that turn out to be all hills and curves, of course. Despite the fact that there are many filled water holes, there are not many animals. That changes when we drive to Twee Rivieren again. First we encounter a cheetah with a dead springbok. The drag track is clearly visible. The prey is still in the sun and the cheetah is probably in the shade to recover from the hunt. After 20 minutes, the cheetah drags the dead deer into the shade and starts eating. After a while and a lot of pictures we continue. Less than 2 kilometres away are 2 lionesses. The lion lies under another tree in the shade next to a kill. An oryx. When he has finished eating, the ladies can take a bite, until the male changes his mind. He walks back and argues. 1 female gives up, the other does not. But then arrives another male. More roar. Eventually the males continue to eat the prey. We watch the spectacle at least an hour and the temperature in the car rises to 37 degrees. We drive on. Think we’ve seen everything now, but to our surprise find 3 spotted hyenas in a water pool. Oh what a great first day. We return at Twee Rivieren Rest Camp at 4 p.m. and jump into the pool. Then take a shower, I do the laundry and Gerard reorganizes the mess on the roof rack. The tire to the front, jerry cans to the back and adds the firewood. With the firewood on top we have more space in trunk.

Wednesday 25th October 2017

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Twee Rivieren to Mata Mata

Set the alarm 15 minutes earlier so it sounds at 5 a.m. We are not the only ones to get up so early. Half the campsite is already running around ready to game drive. The other half is going home today. Before the sun comes up, the sky turns a beautiful red. There is a little overcast. We pick up the form at the gate (= I pull it out myself because Troela is just leaving). We enter the park at 6.08 a.m. A whole exodus of 4x4s is driving in front of us. So much dust blows up that it looks like fog. Because all cars drive quite slowly, we overtake 8. We are ahead of the crowd. There are hardly any animals to be seen. Now and then oryx and now and then some springbok. All waterholes are deserted, but just before Rooiputs we see young foxes. Then we turn left onto the road through the dunes. Here the number of animals can be counted entirely on 1 hand. But there are no other cars except the one that suddenly drives in front of us, after we’ve been cruising all by ourselves for 45 minutes. It brakes when suddenly a lioness jumps out of the bushes and attacks the car. We also stop and on the left side, next to my open window, is also a lioness. We are quite shocked by the fact that a) there are lionesses here and b) that they react so aggressively to the car in front. This car turns and positions behind us so we’re now the centre of attention of the lionesses. The driver tells us a similar incident happened to him before a few years ago driving the same car. He suspects the car to make a high and annoying sound that trickers lions. In the meantime a male has also appeared on the road. He changes places with a lioness and lies down next to us. Because of the clouds it is not so warm and the lions lie quietly. Only when the sun comes out do they go for a walk. We follow them for a while until they disappear behind the hills. We chat for a while with a Dutch couple in another 4×4 and then continue our way. It’s time for a sanitary stop but I’d rather not sit next to the car at this moment. Yesterday I thought it was very funny when I sat down on the road and peed all over fresh lion paw prints. I said ‘can’t be far’ (line used in Dutch tv commercial). If you don’t expect them, they are there. On to the museum, read authentic house. This includes picnic tables and toilets with running water. They have just been cleaned because the lemon smells fresh. I’m still impressed with the park facilities, and also that all water holes contain enough water. That was really different in Etosha in Namibia and the parks in Botswana last year.

We drive a part of yesterday’s route. The lion kill is nowhere to be seen and the cheetah’s dead deer has also evaporated. However, there are 2 lions sleeping at a waterhole. So, the count for today is 5 lions.

We received a nice map of the park. It also shows the animals that can be seen. We’re in a dent when it turns out there are giraffes. We did not see any during our 10 hour long road trip yesterday and the species is not easily overlooked. Our wish list for today includes giraffe, leopard and brown hyena. And then suddenly there is a lonely giraffe. So they’re really there. A traffic jam ahead because of a leopard in a tree. Check. We still have to drive for hours to Mata Mata Rest Camp. Sometimes we see groups of springbok, wildebeest, oryx and ostriches. And then there is a giraffe next to the road. Next to it there are 3 more and behind that even more. We count 15 in total. Nice. Suddenly there is a lioness with 2 cubs on the road. Pictures time. At 3 p.m. we arrive at Mata Mata and choose a camping spot. We initially thought we were going to do a sunset drive, but we don’t bother.

8 lions

1 leopard

Young Cape Foxes

16 giraffes

At the campsite we have electricity and water again, but no cell phone cover. This is because we are now on the border with Namibia. It takes a while to find a place with shade because it is very busy, mainly South Africans with their folding houses. Yesterday we’ve seen a guy building an entire shower cabin on his off-road caravan. There are also special off-road trailers. These are fully equipped and extremely expensive.

There is a hide at the campsite and we see meerkats with 4 youngsters. Then we splash into the pool. The evening is spent backing up the photos.

In the evening we eat a crackers with an egg. The fridge and freezer have both started freezing, so the boiled eggs were also frozen. In the afternoon we had already eaten tortillas with frozen raw vegetables and the leftover grilled chicken and sausages. The campsite is full of squirrels.

Before we go to bed we visit the Hide. There is an illuminated water hole. First it is quiet and then suddenly there is action. 2 spotted hyenas run after a young gemsbok. After that, a 3rd hyena walks past and drinks and baths at the pool. A very nice bonus and that completes the wish list.

Thursday 26th of October 2017

Mata Mata Rest Camp, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

5 o’clock alarm. Movement everywhere. We are in the car at 5.55 a.m. While driving we see the sun rise in an enormous cloud of dust produced by all those 4x4s driving in front of us. We overtake a few again. There are some jackals walking. 1 has caught the leg of a deer. We see 2 cape foxes. Lots of deer and wildebeest. 2 cars are parked near a tree with 2 African wildcats. Beautiful pictures. Vamos, because we are looking for the big pussycats. And yes. There are 2 beautiful specimens stretched out in the field. The males have very dark manes. That is what the Kalahari lions are known for. So far we have only seen blondies. We park for a while hoping the males will walk to the shade but there is no movement. And we drive on. We see lion paw prints everywhere but no lions. Later we hear that we just missed them. Hmmm. We decide to drive over the dunes to the other riverbed. A visit to Twee Rivieren to refuel. We get an ice cream, our 1st in South Africa. I had hoped to be able to go online for a while, but everything is down. We drive back a bit to take the 4×4 path over the dunes. No animals but very beautiful scenery. We start heading back to Mata Mata which should be 3,5 hours, but it will take us longer. We look for lions in vain. They do not show themselves. At 5.30 p.m. we enter the camp. Refuel again and now also fill the jerry cans. 1 obviously leaks like a watering can. It can therefore no longer be placed on the roof rack. The Dutch couple drops by. They have not seen anything special all day. In the last few days they have already spotted 44 lions including groups of 8 and 9. So there are a lot of lions here. Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow.

We eat a bag of macaroni carbonara from Knorr bought in South Africa. It’s not a big succes. We would have liked to walk to the shop just across the border in Namibia but the gas station attendant said they’re closed for holidays. We make the equipment ready for tomorrows trip. We are going to take a shower because that will not be possible for 5 days. I’m going to have a look at the Hide. 5 oryx come to drink at the illuminated waterhole. There is a jackal and a long-legged bird. Then it is already bedtime.

Friday 27th October 2017

Mata Mata to Motopi, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

I wake up from the cold and the howling jackals. Not much later the alarm clock rings. 5 o’clock. It’s 12 degrees. All gear has to be loaded in the car because today we drive from Mata Mata to Motopi campsite in Botswana. Because the road conditions will be far from good, everything has to be shakeproof. Due to this extra work, we have a slight delay and we do not enter the park until 6.08 a.m. You have to open and close the gate yourself to keep the wild animals out of the campsite. The sun has already risen and there is a thick cloud of dust hanging over the road. You cannot escape dust here. When you blow your nose, it feels like your brain is coming along.

Suddenly 11 cars stop in front of us. Madhouse. I’m told they watch cape foxes. Because the animals have retreated to their safe den, we move on passing 8 cars. A bit further along the road we overtake 2 more and now drive behind the bus of the neighbours and the other Dutchmen. That is a good position. The Dutch are good spotters. They find 2 cute owls. We drive past all the waterholes but no lions. However, an oncoming car has found a tree with 3 owls, is today owl day? And then the Dutch suddenly go into reverse and yes, above the road, on a dune the head of a male sticks out above the grass. Beautiful picture in the sun. But then the lion lies down and you don’t see him anymore. We drive on because we still have a long way to go. At the picnic area we temporarily say goodbye to the Dutch Bianca and Isaac. We will see them again the day after tomorrow in Botswana. I drive through the dunes to the other river. The scenery is beautiful. Few animals. A single oryx, ostriches and dik-dik. Furthermore, some birds. At the last waterhole before the road to Nossob there are suddenly 6 cars. We see 4 nervous oryx who do not dare to drink and a loud howling jackal. A leopard lies by the water. It’s 10 a.m. The leopard goes for a drink. These will be beautiful photos! We drive a bit forward when it disappears behind the water barrel. We see it stretch out. At first I cannot place the light triangle. Really, there are 2 leopards !!! That is rare. The other one disappears into the empty water barrel. Through the sun we see its enlarged shadow. When the other one also goes in, we drive on. We would have preferred to stay here for another 4 days, but it is still 50 km to Nossob and then another 100 km to the campsite. A quick stop to water the birds at the picnic area. To express their endless gratitude, they shit on me. All the birds come to drink and the mice too. We continue to Nossob and because there is also a petrol station there, we fill up the tank again and save the 20L jerry cans. Hurray for San Parks.

Nossob also has a small well-stocked shop, but no ice cream. Which is also quite logical so far from civilization, but we really don’t need anything anymore. We drive in through one gate and out through another (both self service). We come to a trail across the dunes. The sand is loose and first red later white. The landscape is desolate but very beautiful. Lots of long yellow grass, dead trees and occasionally green shrubs with yellow flowers. There are very few animals. We see a suicidal ostrich running in front of the car, 2 oryx, 3 hartebeest and 10 dik-diks on the first 50 km. There is no more water here. Every 25km a tree provides shade on the road and when the sand is not too deep we stop for a while. The temperature in the car is 33.5 degrees. But with the fresh wind and the sun right behind the car, it is fine. Windows open, no air conditioning. We see a sign Motopi 01 and this is the campsite complete with a tree for shade, a concrete plate on the ground for a fire and a shack with a hole-in-the-ground toilet. The birds are already waiting for us. I put down a pan of water but they don’t understand. Furthermore, it is completely quiet here. I don’t think Motopi 02 is taken. It is still 11km further. After that, nothing for the next 100km.

Gerard flies the drone, installs the Ali let light 200W, phones Els on the sat phone and installs the wildcam. Next he’s going to build a fire but it’s a struggle because the wood is wet. A whole bag is needed but in the end the fire burns fantastic. We eat homemade macaroni that we heat on the gas heater. Wind totally dropped. We enjoy a very quiet evening under a starry sky.

Saturday 28th of October 2017

Motopi to Lesholoago, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana

It was a quiet night with no animals and no wind. We’re taking it easy. 13 degrees. It’s cloudy, good weather for driving. We pass a beautiful pan, near the campsite. Here is a gemsbok. Moments later, a honey badger shoots across the road. We stop and are lucky that he also walks back. We see some dik dik. Fly a bit with the drone. Only when we get close to the “inhabited” world do we see some more animals again. 3km before the turn we come across the 1st oncoming vehicle on the two track. He bends to the side so that I can continue driving. For the first time we see a black snake sliding across the road. Before we can take a picture, it disappears into the grass.

We drive past Mpayathutlwa pan and Mabuasehube pan. The landscape is beautiful but there are no animals at the waterholes. Tonight we sleep at Lesholoago 01 with a fantastic view of the eponymous pan. We have a tree, a garbage can, a concrete fire place and a triangular shelter. There we sit for lunch. The house weasel soon appears. We have no water here. They have that across the pan at Lesholoago 02. There they also have a shower. We also see that the whole triangle is closed. The well is also on the other side.

We pay our ‘neighbours’ a visit and are welcomed by Bertus and Elsie. They have been here for 17 days after a 20 days stay at Rooiputs. He has parked his trailer “inside” the triangle and from their bed they can see the shower where the lions come to drink at night. He has already had a lot of lions visiting but accidentally just deleted the recordings from the bushcam. The sky is getting darker and in the distance we see heavy rain and thunderstorms. For the time being we only have very strong winds. It is very pleasant and we chat for a long time.  Bertus invites us to pitch the tent with them so that we have a better chance of seeing the lions. We go to get our chairs and table and park the car with clear view of the shower. The wind is so strong that we have to sit inside. Elsie still has 3 potatoes left and we get fresh fries. Then Bertus hears something and he wants to drive to the waterhole in the dark. But his car won’t start. Fortunately there is Handy Harry (Handige Harry aka Gerard) and he brought a battery booster from the Netherlands. So we go for a drive in the dark to charge the battery. There are only jackals at the waterhole.

Sunday 29th of October 2017

The wind keeps blowing hard all night. The tent rattles and we sleep poorly. In the morning it turns out that we had a visit from a leopard last night. Bertus’ wildlife camera registered him. After coffee and tea we go for a drive. Bertus has been coming to this area for years. He knows where the little bokkies are. Gerard finds 2 owls in a tree. We are taught tracking and how to recognise the prints of hyena, leopards and cheetah. But we don’t see many animals. On the road we encounter a land cruiser and he follows to the camp site. The car turns out to have 6 wheels, so a 6×6. It is for sale for 400.000 euros. In the end we don’t have breakfast until 12. Gerard finds the settings for longer recording time on Bertus’ Bushcam and they build a brick oven together from bricks and left cast iron they find. Then dough has to be made. When the dough goes into the oven at 4 p.m. we will go for a drive. We pass Mabuya 04 where the Dutch Bianca and Isaac are. They had already looked at Mabuya 02, our reserved place, but we are staying another night with Bertus and Elsie. That’s a good thing because at 03 are 4 vehicles with a whole family and 02 and 03 are very close to each other. We drive together to Mapuya where the lions were yesterday. There is a large car with an English couple who have been traveling for a few years. She hangs in our car in no time and asks all silly questions. Vamos. We come across the 6×6 and chat a bit more but then we really have to go back before the sun sets. The bread turned out super well and tastes delicious. We get chakalak and a piece of meat from Bertus and Elsie’s own farm. In the evening we get a lesson in astronomy from Bertus.

Monday 30th of October 2017

Lesholoago, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana

It is 4 o’clock a.m. when Bertus starts calling. He wants to show Gerard the stars and he wants to go with Gerard to find the lion that we hear growling very softly far away. Well Gerard doesn’t feel like chasing a lion on foot! He stays in the rooftop tent. Bertus is somewhat disappointed and offers to make coffee. He also runs the shower for half an hour for fresh drinking water (such a waste of water i.m.h.o). When it gets light we immediately get into the car and the lion appears to have walked past us on the road. So he didn’t fancy all that noise either.

The wildlife cameras show that we have not had visitors. We go for a drive before coffee because Bertus is baja angry with that lion. He even drives into a forbidden road in search of lions, leopards and hyena. Enough tracks, but the animals are hiding. We pack our things and are just about to hit the road when the Dutch turn up. So we get out of the car. Bianca and Isaac have already done a whole game drive and haven’t seen anything. There are far fewer animals here than on the South African side. Bertus is speaking (loud) again for 2 hours and then we say goodbye once more and go have a look at Mpayathutlwa 02. We also stop at Pieter and Annet who are on 01 with their enormous 6×6. This is the camping spot famous for the lions that come to drink from the leaking shower. Two days ago the whole family was there with 4 kids, 2 females and a male while there were guests on the spot who could not leave. On Mpayathutlwa 02 is the tap that the kids recently played with. Those photos can also be found on the internet. 1 had gotten the tap open. The flat grass clearly shows where the family likes to lie. We grab the chairs and sit down and chat for a few hours. With 16 trips to Africa, Bianca and Isaac have plenty to tell.

At the end of the afternoon we want to go for a game drive, but first we stop at the neighbours. Large cars also require large 5 litre cartons of wine. Pieter not only has a huge car but also an enormous lens of half a meter with which he now photographs the small animals and birds at the water bowl. He appears to have just built 2 sports planes himself. He only bought the engine. We hear that Arabs have ordered 10 6×6 which must now be made in a right-hand version. He also designed and built the 6×6 together with his son and some help of Toyota. They are now testing and there is 6000 km on the odometer. The English bitch comes over and she’s furious. She was looking for the place where she had seen the lioness with cubs last year and found Bertus there. It was not going well between the two and we are in a dent. Because we are not charmed by the English troela either, we decide to quickly drive our tour. It will be a race against time to be back before dark and of course we see nothing on the way except a beautiful sunset in the mirror. We share the campsite with Bianca and Isaac tonight. We park the cars in such a way that the lions have plenty of space if they pass by tonight. Gerard hangs up the wildlife camera. We quickly pitch the tents. Make a fire. Eating and chatting until late, 10.30 p.m. When we go to bed, a jackal is already standing by the washing-up bowl by the tap. There is also an owlet flying around. Bring on the lions. 

Tuesday 31st of October 2017

Mpayathutlwa 01, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana

It was very quiet last night. No roaring lions, no panic birds. At 5 o’clock we hear a zebra. That’s Bianca’s alarm clock, because there are no zebras here. The sunrise is beautiful again. Now we hear 2 jackals and 2 gemsbok walk on the pan. No new traces can be seen around the tap and at the leaking water pipe. After a cup of coffee we drive to the neighbours. We’re told the brown hyena was sitting at the table of the next neighbours during the braai all last night. Neither have they seen or heard anything. We say goodbye to Bianca and Isaac because they drive back to Nossob. We drive to Khiding Pan and see tracks on the way but no animals. On the Khiding Pan, where there is no waterhole, there are 2 bokkies and 2 gemsbok. 1 gemsbok crosses in front of the car. We meet the German couple who say they have heard a lion all night and found it at the Mabua waterhole. We blaze towards it and see the lion just crossing the road. 5 seconds later and we had missed him. In the tall grass he is no longer visible after 3 meters.

We drive past Mabuasehube Pan (beautiful colours, a pallet of pink and brown) to Lesholoago. Suddenly we see 3 eland between the bushes. These are the largest deer. They are very nervous and run away. The little deer, that we simply call dik dik for convenience, are also showing themselves. It is busy on the Lesholoago pan. A herd of wildebeest and a large herd of bokkies. 3 research vehicles try to catch a stunned deer. They struggle with it. We stop briefly at Bertus and Elsie who are packing everything and then we drive on to Mpayathutlwa. It is sunny and already 31 degrees in the car before 9 a.m. There are many bokkies at the waterhole and the 3 gemsbok are also walking on the pan. We go to our camping spot. It is huge with a fantastic view of the pan. Very different from the busy Two Rivers and Mata Mata. Time for yogurt.

I’m going to work on the reports because I haven’t had time for that at all. Gerard will search for the crossing lion on the dashcam and watch the images from the wildlife camera. It turns out that the brown hyena came by at 3 a.m. to drink. Gerard does some laundry and around 4 p.m. we drive to the neighbours Pieter and Annet from the 6×6 to take a shower ourselves. Then we will drive around the Mabua pan and the Lesholoago pan. We now both see the weird bird that flies up and then drops like a parachute. We also see a hartebeest again. We are back in time for sunset, start a fire, heat up another bag of macaroni and do some star gazing until 8.45 p.m. I am already in the tent when Gerard, with a toothbrush in his mouth, also climbs the stairs and sits down in the tent. The brown hyena is standing at our water tap, distance from car to tap is no more than 5 meters.

Wednesday 1st of November 2017

Mpayathutlwa 01, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana

This is another day to always remember.

We wake up at our beautiful, large camping spot Mpayathutlwa 01 in the Botswana part of the Kgalagadi Park. It was very quiet night. Didn’t hear any lion(s). Before the sun rises, the sky turns bright red. Gerard leaves the tent to take a piss. But his timing is a bit off so he walks up bare ass to the bowl next to the tap and throws in his underpants. I can already see from the tent that the water level is a lot lower and am curious what the wildlife camera recorded. The wildlife camera is still running. Gerard is now wearing pants again and is going to make coffee. But first I give him all the cameras that I had taken into the tent just to be safe. He puts everything on the table in front of the stairs and starts messing around again. I hang the bedding outside to air. And then I see a huge lion walking up the path, straight towards our tap. I start screaming to Gerard ‘IN THE CAR, NOW!’ ‘IN THE CAR NOW!’ It’s like a mantra and the only words that make it out of my mouth. Gerard only reaction: why, he asks!!! NO, IN THE CAR NOW! But then he also sees the lion that is now standing next to the tap. The lion starts to drink from the bowl with Gerard’s underpants still in it. He actually lies down! What a photo opportunity but my cameras and phone are all on the table between the lion and the stairs. And he is big, and those eyes! The adrenaline rushes through my body. How beautiful this is. Fortunately, Gerard still has a camera in the car and can take pictures. And the wildlife camera is still running. When the lion has had enough to drink, he gets up and walks slowly towards the pan.

With a cup of coffee we first look at the recordings of the wildlife camera. It turns out that the lion was the last in line. First a jackal came to drink, then the brown hyena, the leopard, then Gerard without pants, then with pants and only 4 minutes later the lion arrived. By the way, the underpants survived. Just had some lion slime on them.

Pieter and Annet from the 6×6 come to say hello. They go to Nossob but check our recordings first.

We drive to the camping spot Leifika next to us from where we can see the lion. When the sun gets warmer he gets up and walks  back to our camping spot! We also return. A South African couple comes along. We see the lion among the woods. He lays down in the shade.

We drive to Mpayathutlwa 02 to look for the rest of the lion family. They are not there, but the German couple, who alerted us to the lion at Mabua waterhole yesterday and who also stood at Lesholoago 02 the night after us, just arrives. They have 02 tonight after Pieter and Annet. It turns out they bought the land cruiser they are driving for 28.000 euros, complete with camping equipment, and only 130.000 km on the odometer. That is a great deal. I am also curious how they got their vehicle registration. Anyway enough to talk about but we should have gone to Kang a long time ago. I ask if we can camp at their campsite tonight and they are fine with that. It is now 10 a.m. too late to start driving. I’ll call Kang with sat. An elderly South African couple passes by on their way to Bosolego Pan. I talk to them for an hour about the route we want to drive. Where can we refuel, go shopping, how are the roads in the Central Kalahari and so on. So convenient that map with route on the car door. Then we go to our old place, Mpayathutlwa 01. Some of our stuff is still there. When we arrive there is a German couple under the shelter. I cheerfully approach them to introduce myself and point out to them that there is a lion in the bushes less than 25m away. We start talking. Silke and Frank have been traveling to South Africa every year since 1999 and also go to Kang, Khutse and the Central Kalahari. We are 2 days ahead but will meet them again in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. We sit comfortably and constantly keep an eye on the place where the lion is. But then he is suddenly right in front of us again. He was so fast, we never saw him coming. Slowly we walk to our car. Remember: If you run, you die! However, we don’t even sit in our car anymore. And now I have my camera at hand and can shoot beautiful pictures. It is 2.30 pm. The lion disappears back into the bushes.

We happily continue talking. The 2 South Africans and their 2 friends also drive onto the camping site. There are now 4 4x4s but there is still plenty of space. The friends saw the whole family at this place on Saturday and took 1,500 photos of the 9 lions. He has compared the photos and says this is the male of the group. So we wait for the male to drink or for the family to come. If so, it should be late afternoon when it gets cooler.

We wait and wait but nothing happens. Well, the hornbill birds go nut when they see their reflection in the car window and then start tapping the window. 1 specimen demolishes our windshield wiper.

At 6.30 p.m. we give up. We drive to Sandra and Richard on spot 02 and set up the tent and wildlife camera right in front of the famous shower. It no longer leaks, so I put down another bowl of water. Sandra and Richard are already waiting for us. We chat very pleasantly because their travels also overlap with ours. We exchange tips. Because we all have to drive long distance tomorrow, we go to bed early. 9 p.m.

Thursday 2nd of November 2017

Mpayathutlwa 02, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

(a.k.a. Mabuasehube Game Reserve), Botswana

The lion roared for a while but then stopped. We didn’t hear him last night. We have a perfect view of the famous shower and the basin of water that I have installed, because the moon is almost full. Every time I wake up I just don’t see anything, njete, nada. It is very quiet. We get up at 5.15 a.m. and at 6 a.m. we say goodbye to Sandra and Richard. We drive past the German couple on spot 01. They say that the lion appeared 10 minutes after we left. He didn’t drink but walked straight to the centre of the pan and roared.

We decide to drive around the pan. After less than 750m Gerard stops. On top of the dune ridge he sees 3 lions walking. Mother with 2 Kids. So they came. We climb on top of the car but the lions quickly disappear out of sight. Not a lion-less day after all! We have a chat with the South African Div and Leana from Cape Town, load the car and drive towards the gate. On the way we see 1 springbok, 3 South Africans in fully loaded 4x4s all pulling trailers and 2 cars with workers, 1 of which gets stuck in front of us during the evasive manoeuvre. He needs our shovel to dig himself free.

At the gate we have to pay an extra night, but we get off cheap. 104 pula for entrance, car and camping = 9 euros. The state campsites are much cheaper than the privatized ones. For example Mpayathutlwa would cost 70 dollars.

We drive 100 km on sand. We see our 1st porcupine but when we stop to take pictures it turns out that the poor animal has been hit by a car. Its backside is completely paralyzed. We still want to give it water and apple but the beast is terrified. Ahead a huge vulture is already waiting in the tree. We see a bird of prey that has just caught a snake and 5 ostriches cross. Then we come to asphalt with potholes so big and deep that a goat can hide in them. Goats are now also on the road. Eventually we arrive at the national road, which is of much better quality, although there are still cows, goats, donkeys and a single horse walking on it. Fortunately, it is already bloody hot and most of the animals remain in the shade. It is 41 degrees in the car.

We arrive at a gas station. Thank God for Visa. The litre price for diesel is 7.5 pula, 60 cents. We are also going to get water, 8 bottles of 5 litres, 2 kg of yoghurt, 24 half litres of beer, 2 kg of apples and 2 bananas from the adjacent supermarket and bottle store. It is a large supermarket, probably the largest within a radius of 50km, but the range is limited. Bags of flour, rice and macaroni, lots of canned food and lots of juices and sweet soft drinks. We drive 120km to Kang and here we can also withdraw money with the Visa card. We report to Kang Ultra Stop and despite being a day late we get our site with private bathroom, in here a shower, toilet and design mirror. We are the only guests.

More shopping needs to be done so we head for U-Save again. This one looks like an Aldi with even less choice. Water again, now 6 bottles of 5 litres, 3kg yogurt and potatoes, onion, tomato for the stew. We drive past the butcher and are allowed to go to the back where the steaks are specially packed for us. I pay 8 euros for a kilo of fresh steak and a cucumber. A fellow starts a chat and advises us to visit a large Choppies Supermarket further down the road. And indeed this is a very well stocked store, but our car is completely full. We have at least 24 bottles of 5 litres  drinking water. 5kg yogurt. 2kg apples. And enough canned food and instant meals for 3 orphanages. We just need firewood and they sell it next to the campsite. We take 3 bundles, but that will not go on the roof rack because they are curved pieces. It must be stashed in the trunk. The next 2 hours we are repacking the car and all equipment is in the chargers. Here we also have a power point.

The sun is already setting and we haven’t even had time to jump into the pool, and there were 2! We eat at the restaurant where there is Wi-Fi. I’m going to upload some days to our travelblog. But it doesn’t work. We are eaten by mosquitos who have it in for our feet and hands. We also don’t want to leave the car unattended for so long now that it is dark. We take a quick shower in our private bathroom and jump into the tent before the stabbing animals are ready to strike again. I do some more writing. There is in fact security. The campsite is on the main road. What a noise from cars, trucks and people. I would swear there is even a train honking. I already miss the sounds and tranquillity of the bush.