31 May /1 June

SO – significant other (Doug in other words)
PM – Private message
Bins - binoculars
BB –a forum member
31 May

We hit the road as planned at 5h30 in the morning. It was pretty cold but I was so excited anyway that it didn’t bother me. We were spending the night in Keimoes because we didn’t want to push Monty all the way through. I think I was pretty nervous in the beginning but once I got used to all the rattles and noises I relaxed into the trip. I think if I had asked SO once more “What is that noise ? or “What can I smell burning? “ I think I may have been kicked out. For those of you that do not know, Monty is a 1981 G- Wagon and we have never taken it to the Kgalagadi before. We had done all our previous trips in our Kombi. Anyway Doug had spent many weekends getting Monty ready for the trip, had packed loads of spares and was quite confidant that we would get there and back in one piece. Our average speed was probably in the vicinity of 112km/hr and we had to stop at just about every town to fill up. All these enforced petrol/toilet stops made for a very relaxing trip and I really enjoyed watching the countryside go by. We arrived in Keimoes at 15h30. If you would like to know more about where we stayed just send me a pm.

1 June

We left Keimoes at 8h10 and stopped off in Upington to pick up the last of our supplies. By now I was thoroughly into the swing of things and was itching to get on with our journey. It had been 18 months since our last visit to KTP…..far too long. Eventually we were ready to tackle last 60kms and I am going to say it once and once only…the untarred section of the road was horrendous. Needless to say we eventually used the donkey track, much against our better judgement though because we felt that the more cars that use this track the more it is being messed up for the poor donkey cart users. It was already quite badly corrugated in places. The moment arrived …I saw the Kgalagadi signboard and I just thought of the wonderful 8 days that we had ahead of us and I wondered what was in store for us on this trip. The time was 13h45…plenty of time to unpack and go out on a drive !!!

http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=4mjsi2d

We left on our first game drive at 15h00. We headed out along the Nossob road. We were hoping to get to Melkvlei and back. I was desperate to find the leopard with her cub but she was playing hide and go seek. We saw a pair of African Shelducks at Samevloiing and before long we had crossed off tawny eagle, white backed vulture , fork tailed drongo, crowned lapwings, lanner falcons, springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest ( very close to TR…which I thought was unusual ) blue wildebeest and jackal. There were literally animals everywhere but not a sign of any cats. It was just so great to be driving along the Nossob river bed again. This stretch of road to Melkvlei is one of my most favourite and we have had plenty of action along this road in the past. But today we had not even seen a lion track ! Our action was to come in other ways. We rounded a bend and saw hordes and hordes of springbok running at full speed . My first reaction was…. What has spooked them…LION…CHEETAH ????? But no, we soon realized that they were just having happy hour. So yes ,it was an awesome sight and action of a different nature. http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=6ai2o0z

We carried on and between Kij Kij and Melkvlei we saw many Kori bustards and Ludwig’s bustard. The Ludwig’s seemed to be mostly in pairs and the Koris on their own….unfortunately nothing to prove this BB…you will just have to take my word for it. We arrived at Melkvlei, did the necessary and turned around to head back to camp. It was only then that we noticed the skies......

http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=536nb0w

Everytime I arrive at TR there is a thunderstorm…this is now getting beyond a joke. Before I could stress too much about braaing in a thunderstorm I saw the warthog lying at the waterhole. This waterhole is situated just south of Melkvlei Picnic spot and it is new to me. Anyway there he was lying there without a care in the world. We had seen warthog north of Leiersdraai before but very far in the distance. So this yet again was action of a different nature.

We could not spend too much time marveling at this warthog or the Ludwig’s that were still teasing me in the distance because we had to get back to camp. We got as far as Rooiputs and could not believe what had happened. The road had suddenly turned into a river. This thunderstorm which we could still see in the distance had passed over and the rain must have been torrential.

http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=4kdawly

This made us realise yet again that Kgalagadi is so unpredictable…..one just never knows what is about to happen next. Oh, it was so good to be back. We finished off our evening with a braai…no rain but it was very windy. The lightening in the distance behind Two Rivers made for a spectacular back drop for our braai. I think SO was well satisfied with the way Monty was performing and I think I was well satisfied with the way the Kgalagadi was performing , even though I had not seen a lion yet!