Botswana, February 2012 - Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

We spent 3 nights in the Mabuasehube section of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on our way back to South Africa.

I managed to find an almost unused track (avoiding Hutkunsi) which appeared to be a short cut on the GPS but, in fact, turned out to take longer as it was so sandy!

However by letting the tyres down to 1 1/2 bar we made it with no problems.

I was surprised to discover that campsite 1 at Mpayathutlwa Pan was available for 2 nights as it's one of the most popular sites. There were plenty of springbok around all the time. During the day they tended to be around the edge of the Pan but in the late afternoon they came down to spend the night on the open Pan.

Some of the springbok made use of the waterhole.

The waterhole was very popular throughout the day with birds. Iin the early morning hundred of doves would arrive and then before noon the vultures would start to appear. There were often secretary birds on the Pan.

Secretary bird.

Doves.

Once morning we drove out for a couple of hours and saw very little but then, at Monamodi Pan, we spotted a couple of meerkats standing up on a mound of earth.

We stopped to watch them and soom several more appeared and spent quite a bit of time watching us watching them! Occassionaly some of them would go off looking for food but soon returned to their lookout.

The moon rising in the evening.

Sunrise at Mpayathutlwa Pan with a rain shower in the distance.

One afternoon we saw a cheetah. At first it was lying in the shade but, after a while, sat up and started making a 'chirping' sound. After a while it walked off, still 'chirping' and disappeared into the grass and bushes. It sounded like it was calling to another cheetah but we couldn't see any others.

We had just 1 night at campsite 1 overlooking Lesholoago Pan.There was a waterhole but was much quieter than Mpayathutlwa with just a few gemsbok and 1 springbok on the Pan however we did see some birds, including this bataleur, and a jackal at the waterhole.

The local residents at the Lesholoago site kept us amused all afternoon. There was a family of ground squirrels, a pair of slender mongooses and 3 hornbills about most of the time.

Some of the younger members of the ground squirrel family.

This mongoose wassn't at all bothered by us being close by.

Yellow-billed hornbill family at the campsite.

A full moon rising in the early evening.

1. Khama Rhino Sanctuary.

2. Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

3. Tsodilo Hills & Okavango Panhandle.

4. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Diary. (Word '97 document)

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Steenbok.