Hardly had my feet touched the ground & I was off again! In my absence Delana had done a great job packing & getting everything ready for our next trip which was a three month travel around Namibia & Botswana.
We are off!
We set off from Pretoria on 20th February for the long drive to the Red Sands Country Lodge. We had passed this place several times but hadn't stayed here. We had heard nothing but good reviews of the place & we were not disappointed. However the drive was a long 595 kms on not very good roads in the pouring rain! So we arrived at our destination tired, set up camp & retired to the restaurant for drinks & grub.
The 21st February was another long drive of 500 kms to reach our destination. Just after Upington we headed out on the road to the national park. The drive was a pleasant one & the landscape was so very green after all the recent rains. I am quite excited to get there, as I have never seen a green Kalahari before.
We arrived at Twee Rivieran late afternoon to be informed that the road to Nossob (which we take in three days time) had been washed away in one place by flash floods! Lets hope it dries out before we attempt the drive! We enjoyed a nice time in camp.
The camp.
The view from the hide overlooking the waterhole.
Southern African Ground Squirrel
Pale Chanting Goshawk in camp.
Melanistic Ring-necked Dove
What it normally looks like!
Cape Glossy Starling
Shaft-tailed Whydah
The next day we decided to stay in camp as both of us had things to do. After breakfast we did a short walk around camp & I visited the hide which is situated on top of a dune, giving nice views in the valley below. Over 100 Namaqua Sandgrouse came into drink.
The Auob River valley
Blue Wildebeest
Red Hartebeest
Gemsbok
Very common here.
Wattled Starlings feeding next to Gemsbok.
Wattled Starling.
Kudu
Male Common Ostrich
He was looking after these chicks.
Kori Bustard
Tawny Eagle
Adult pale phase.
Lanner
Red-necked Falcon
Quite common here. There
seems to be one at every
waterhole.
Pygmy Falcon
On 23rd February we drove out from camp on the Ausob River Road towards Mata Mata. Plenty of the commoner game was seen. Best of the birds were a pair each of both Red-necked Falcon & Pygmy Falcons.
Young Springbok suckling.
Adult Pale Chanting Goshawk
Immature PCG
Lanner
This individual is a very dark bird.
Any pools of water attract drinking birds
in the middle of the day.
Red-headed Finch
Larklike Bunting.
This species is highly nomadic.
After good local rains is was abundant along this route.
Typical scenery on the drive north.
Delana rescuing a baby Tortoise
from the road.
A well earned break on the
long drive north.
Male Cheetah
There is a healthy population of these cats in this park.
However, they are spread over a huge area
& difficult to find.
The next day it was time to break camp & drive the long drive north to Nossob Camp. We didn't get on the road until mid morning but we enjoyed a quiet but very scenic drive. We arrived at Nossob late afternoon for a five night stay.
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