To the Kgaligadi

My alarm goes off and I turn on the light; immediately a bat begins to fly in frantic circles around the rondavel – he’s obviously alarmed by the light and I don’t think his presence will be conducive to packing. I turn off the light and the flying stops – now I can hear him exchanging chirps with another bat. Unsure what to do, I leave the top of the stable door open and go to the kitchen for a coffee, leaving the top of the stable door open. By the time I return he has either gone to sleep or left and I pack without interruption.

Before long the kitchen equipment is back in the trailer, along with our luggage, and we’re ready to leave by 8am. At this point I realise there is a wifi signal but it’s too late to do anything other than post a single what’s app message home. My phone hasn’t had 3G since soon after we left Upington and doesn’t seem to think H+ is good enough for sending photos even when the signal appears strong. We swing by the HQ to say goodbye and thanks to the team and set off along the dirt road towards the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. We've been having fun with the pronunciation of our destination - known as the Kalahari outside Africa, the proper pronunciation includes a gutteral sound like the "ll" at the beginning of Welsh words and none of us can quite get the hang of it. 

It’s notable how different the landscape is here compared to East Africa – there are no villages or settlements along the road, just endless ranches and sometimes the only visible sign of those is a grand entrance gate and a cattle pen. We see no humans and little wildlife; we stop to photograph a massive sociable weaver bird nest and Mike has to avoid running over tiny tortoises on the dirt road.

After a couple of hours we spot a sign for a place called Askham. It’s pretty small but it has a fuel station, a trading post and – most exciting of all! – a coffee shop. We stop for coffees and some souvenirs, use the rest rooms and read the small display about the origins of the place, which was apparently named when a Scottish settler replied “ask him” to somebody who inquired about the name of the place. I buy a lipstick and lipsalve that benefits a local social welfare project, and some home-made fudge to eat with our coffees.

We reach the transfrontier park in good time, arriving at a gate which offers entry to the park via either South Africa or Botswana. We’re camping on the South African side, at a campsite called Twee Rivieren (two rivers – although both have been dry for decades!).

We unload the combi, set up our tents and two gazebos which will be our kitchen and dining area, then go to explore. There are excellent toilets and showers, even a hair drying area and washing up room; just up the hill is a shop, a restaurant and a small swimming pool. The shop provides an ice cold beer, very welcome after setting up camp in the heat. It also sells wifi vouchers but unfortunately the service isn’t working currently. Denise, Louise, Ray and I cool off in the pool, while Karen defends our bags from some enormous millipedes.

Just before 6 we go to meet our guide, Hanel, who will be taking us on four game drives. The vehicle is brand new, accommodating 10 passengers in tiered seats with almost entirely open sides and a canvas roof. We’re sharing with a South African couple this evening. We have about an hour before night falls and the light already has a golden tinge. The first thing we see is a group of 3 jackals, including one behaving extremely submissively, then a bright green bird I can’t identify. Oryx and springbok, then somebody spots a lioness silhouetted on the top of a dune and we follow her down where she meets another female and the two of them stroll along the side of the track before crossing the road and disappearing into the bush. Later we see both bat eared and cape foxes, and catch a glimpse of an African Wild Cat.

We have an unexpected human encounter, when Bobby-Jo recognises a fellow wildlife photographer called Carol who is also leading a tour group. It seems she will be at Mata Mata at the same time as us, too. After dark we use torches to highlight the eyes of animals, concentrating on the carnivores, as we head back towards the campsite. We find a cheetah and her cub on the side of the sand dune but they seem to have settled down for the night and are too far away to see clearly. We leave them in peace and continue our journey; we see a spring hare and a scrub hare on the way to the gate.

Back at the campsite, Mike has cooked us a braai.