Day 4 - Down to Upington

Late yesterday afternoon I decided it might be prudent to check the car’s rear near-side tyre – I was a bit suspicious. Much to my surprise, when I enquired at the camp reception I discovered that they did in fact have a man on duty (remember, this was a Sunday afternoon in the middle of the Kalahari Desert). Not only that, but by the time I had driven the 200m to the workshop the emergency duty man was also arriving there. We had the wheel off in double quick time, and into the usual bath of water. And sure enough, there was the issue of tiny bubbles betraying a slow puncture – thanks to a 30mm Kalahari thorn. 10 minutes later the wheel was back on the car and the roses were blooming again. Even more so when I discovered that the charge for this Sunday afternoon emergency call-out was R15 (around £1 or $2). I’m pleased to be able to report that my English ancestry held sway over my Scottish one, and a decent tip was duly issued.

After a quite evening playing Monopoly with Louise & Tisha (and thrashing them, to boot!), we all got a good night’s sleep and were up around 6:30 or so. Even Tish. I don’t say she was awake, but she was out of bed.

We packed the car – or rather the girls packed the car while I checked to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind. It has been known to happen – even to me. And somewhere along the line I’m pretty certain that Gill might have had a hand in the upheaval – probably did the easy bits like sorting and packing bags or some such.

And then, at around 7:30, we hit the road for Upington. The first 50km of road are reasonable dirt, albeit rather corrugated. Louise was driving, so as I was surveying the scenery (dry, dry, dry sand dunes running alongside the dry Nossop river bed!), I was able to reflect upon the time I visited the park in 1988 with a friend, Dick (Dr Richard) Liversidge.

Dick was (sadly he passed away a few years ago) an ornithologist by training (PhD) and profession, an ex-Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, a veritable fount of knowledge on animal and plant life in general and that of the Northern Cape in particular, and an all-round great guy. He could (and often did when pressed) speak knowledgably and interestingly on an amazing variety of subjects at the drop of a hat. Dick used to visit the Kalahari Gemsbok Park (as it was previously known) frequently to pursue his varied interests and research projects in bird and other animal life.

A couple of times I was privileged to be invited to join him. On one specific occasion in 1988 we also had the company of three Rotary Exchange students – Dick made it his personal mission in Rotary to see that any students visiting us got a goodly dose of the Gemsbok Park during their stay. And 1988 was the year of the Floods! To this day I claim some sort of record as being the first (only?) person to get a 4x4 vehicle stuck with it front wheels in one stream, its rear wheels in another, and the underside balanced on the ground between them – in the middle of a normally drought-stricken desert!

But that is a story in itself. Suffice it to say that when we left the Park we found that we were unable to get more than about 10km before the entire road was flooded and we could go no further. If I had been on my own, I’m sure I would have just returned to the park and stayed there for a few days (with a few bottles of wine) in the hopes that the floods would subside enough for us to get through. But Dick had other ideas. He simply turned right at the first farm track that we came to and headed off towards Namibia (South West Africa as it was then) over the sand dunes. Fortunately Dick’s faithful old 4x4 Toyota was more than up to the task, and after some 10 hours or so we finally arrived in Upington (250km from the park as the crow normally flies, more like 500km as the Toyota flew that day).

But I digress. Louise was driving - which was great. She and I have split the driving since departing Kimberley, leaving Gill and Tish to relax and back-seat drive all the way (at which little task they both excell).

We reached Upington around 10am. Would you believe it - Just in time for breakfast! And then onward to Augrabies Falls – some 150km downstream (west) on the Orange River from Upington – and away from Kimberley. The girls were under the impression that this was just going to be a 1-hour break sort of on our way back to Kimberley. What they didn’t know was that we had actually booked in for the night as well in two separate chalets – one for the kids, and one for the aged parents. Just to round off our brief little holiday.

But more of that tomorrow. We’ve just been for supper at the local restaurant. And after a bottle of Grand Cru I really don’t think it’s a good idea to proceed any further with this blog – which is likely to end up as a clogged blog.

So that’s it – I’m off to bed – photos of the falls will have to wait till tomorrow.

As a matter of interest I’ve been noticing that this Blog software (courtesy of Google) doesn’t seem to work too well with the pix. So – for anybody who thought it was Downs messing them up – WRONG! It’s Google. But nevertheless it’s still pretty good blogware.

Day 3 - an early start

Believe it or not, we were on the road by 5:30. Well, strictly speaking not actually on the road because the man who unlocks the camp gates couldn’t! Eventually, after two trips back to the camp for spare keys he returned with an assistant and a pair of bolt cutters.

We had planned to drive up to Mata Mata – a camp right on the Namibian border and about 120km from Twee Rivieren. With a park speed limit of 50kph, coupled with gravel/sand roads, we reckoned this would take us about 3 hours – allowing for stops to ogle the animals, assuming we were lucky enough to see any! In the event we saw, and stopped for so many that after 4 hours we had covered only some 70 of the 120km. The girls (junior) informed Gill and me (by what they called an “executive decision”) that rather than pressing on just for the sake of it, we should turn around and head for home. Which we duly did.

We saw quite a few animals today – Sprinkbok by the hundred, Blue Wildebeest (Gnus to Flanders and Swan fans) by the dozens, Gemsbok aplenty, several Ostriches, 4 Black Backed Jackals, 4 Giraffes, a solitary Steenbok – but no Partridge in a Pear Tree. On the bird front there were several Eagles and Vultures, a couple of Kori Bustards (at up to 19Kg, the heaviest flying bird in the world), several Crimson-breasted Shrikes and Forktailed Drongos, a Secretary Bird, numerous Sociable Weavers and Doves, and hundreds of what, in the ornithological world, are referred to as LBJs (Little Brown Jobs).

Sadly, no signs of Lion, Leopard or Cheetah – but you can’t win ‘em all. All in all a most enjoyable day. Not to mention relaxing, once we got back to the camp.

The rest of the day has been (and will continue to be) full of frenzied inactivity, intermingled with more Steven King, splashes in the pool, and a couple of splashes in the glass for good measure.

Tomorrow morning we head off home – although the plan at this stage is to call in at Augrabies Falls (spectacular waterfalls on the Orange River just below Upington) for a few hours on the way. It means a 200-odd km detour, but is well worth it. In any event, if I have my way, it will be a leisurely journey – not a mad dash for the finishing line. Tomorrow’s starting time remains to be seen – there has been talk of 5am, 6am and 7am – but we’re on holiday, so who cares!

Day 2 - evening game drive

Louise & I went out for a late afternoon drive around 17:30. I must admit that I wasn’t really expecting to see very much in the way of wildlife – the temperature was still over 40, and any animals with the slightest bit of sense would still be catching 40 zzzzs under a tree somewhere.

Nevertheless, we did see quite a few beasties of different kinds, although all of them were quite some distance away – typically 100-200 m at best. The only animal we saw reasonably close up was a Gemsbok – but it took me by surprise and by the time I got my camera out and ready it had wandered off into the distance!

Nevertheless we did manage to see quite a few species, and some of my pix aren’t too bad (?).

We got back to the camp just before closing time at 19:30 – just in time for a shower and change, and then a bite of supper in the restaurant.

And now a reasonably early night with a view to a 5:30 start in the morning for all of us. The plan is to drive up to Mata Mata for lunch, with hopefully lots of game to be viewed on the way.

So we’ll see what happens when I try to rouse the troops at 05:00 tomorrow morning. If I wake up myself!







































Bloody fool, Downs. It's a Secretary Bird, not an Eagle.

Day 2 - chock full of activity and excitement!

At this time of year the camp gates are closed at night between 19:30 and 05:30. This is done to prevent dumb humans from wandering around the park in the dark and getting themselves eaten by lions, cheetahs and ground squirrels.

So, when we went to bed last night our plan for this morning (well, my plan at least) was to be up and out of the camp as soon as the gates were opened at 05:30. That way there is a chance of getting to see some of the animals before the heat of the day gets into gear. I was the first one to wake – at 08:30! So plan A was abandoned in favour of plan B – which involved a late breakfast (accompanied by one of the ubiquitous ground squirrels), a swim in the camp pool, and a large chunk of a Steven King novel (Desperation).

So far, a totally idle day – but what a pleasure. I can’t remember the last time I was so relaxed. Same for Gill. Theoretically we could be just as relaxed at home, but of course that never works – there are always things to be done in the house, the garden, the pool area, the office or wherever. Of course, so far as Louise and Tisha are concerned it’s been just a pretty normal day!

It still amazes me that I can sit here in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, 300km from any civilisation (no radio or TV reception – fantastic!), but still be able write this on my laptop and publish it on the Internet – thanks to some reasonable cell phone coverage.

It’s now 15:30, and the afternoon temperature is in full swing at 46C – although there is a little bit of a breeze.

I’ve just advised the girls that I intend to drive out into the park around 17:30 for a couple of hours to see what wildlife there is to be seen as the day begins to cool down a bit, and also to see what I can find to photograph. Louise said that sounded like a good idea, and may well join me. Tisha and Gill remained strangely silent!

So, for the next hour or two, back to the pool and Desperation. Then out into darkest Africa. If this proves to be my last posting, then you’ll know that the squirrels got me.

Day 1 - the drive to the park

Well, needless to say our plans to depart at 4am came to nothing. Louise and Tish had sat up all night playing Monopoly with some friends. But they didn't wake me and most unusually I overslept. We eventually departed (for the first time) at 5:30. Then, 30km into the journey, I realised that I had left our booking receipt on my desk! I thought that it probably wouldn't matter - surely in this computerised age the camp would have evidence of my booking? Nevertheless I decided to return home to collect it anyway - just in case.

So, at 6:15 we departed for the second time.

We did the first 400km to Upington and were sitting having breakfast by 9:15. This, like any Downs trip, had to incorporate a Wimpy breakfast, otherwise I sulk for the rest of the journey. We left Upington around 10:30 and eventually arrived at Twee Rivieren (Two Rivers) just on 13:00 - with the temperature hovering around the 40 mark. The road up to the park is much better than it used to be - all but the last 50km is now tarred. And even the untarred stretch is not too bad - 80kph can be maintained without too much effort.

The journey, as always, is fairly long and hot, but not unbearably so. As in the past we saw numerous trees (and telephone poles) full of the enormous nests created by the sociable weaver birds - some of them appear to be the size of a car.

For the last part of the journey the road follows the dry bed of the Nossop river. Once when I was here in 1988 (when we had some pretty bad flooding all around South Africa), the Nossop was actually flowing for the first time in many years - and I witnessed the unusual sight of Springbok standing in a foot of running water and all looking somewhat perplexed. But not this year - no sign of any water anywhere.

When I went to check in at reception I discovered that indeed it wouldn't have mattered if I'd left my receipts behind - they're actually pretty well jacked up. Not only did they have all my details on their system, but they even had indemnity forms printed out ready for me to sign. All in all, a very pleasant surprise to find such efficiency in a government department in our "new" South Africa.

Off to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Louise is home for Christmas. Having acquired her Honours BSc in Genetics last December (from Pretoria University), she has been living and working in the UK since January. The "living" bit is near Newmarket in Suffolk (80 odd miles north east of London), and the "working" bit involves genetics research at the Animal Health Trust.

Tomorrow morning we (Gill, Louise, Tish & I) leave for a few days in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - which used to be known as the Kalahari Gemsbok Park.

It's a 650km drive north-west of Kimberley and is likely to be somewhat warmer as well. And the last couple of days in Kimberley have been around the 38-40 C mark.

We will be staying in one of the chalets at Twee Rivieren - the camp at the southernmost gate. The accent will be on relaxation and watching the grass grow - or rather, watching the sand shift!

We plan to leave around 4am - but we'll see how successfully we achieve that target!