Wednesday, May 7th, 2014 Augrabies Falls National Park –
Northern Cape, SA – 328 km
Today is Election Day in South
Africa. We were seeing polling stations, some of which were just tents at the
side of the road, along the way. Virtually no traffic at the start of our drive
through more barren, arid country.
As we got further inland we
started to see lusher plant growth including a beautiful display of very
fragrant purple flowers. You could see the purple hue for several kms along the
hill sides. There were also some spectacular social weaver bird nests as well.
They build these multifamily dwellings on the telephone poles and trees,
covering the entire top on some and extending downwards, with many openings for
easy access by whichever family.
Again today we say the roadside
grass trimming crew. We think this might be a make work project as there were,
and have been when we have seen it before, half a dozen or more men walking
along with big gas weed eaters cutting grass at the edge of the road. The
closer we got to the Orange River the more signs of orchards and vast expanses
of grape growing area. We also saw the raisin factory, which didn’t seem to be
very active today. Our guess is the grapes are all in now. There were also
cemented areas with drying racks above them where grapes were sorted and sun
dried.
As we entered the park we almost
ran over a leopard turtle slowly crossing the road. Whew!
Upon settling in the caravan park
and enjoying the bird activity around the motorhome while we ate lunch, we
decided to go for a walk to see the falls (Augrabies = the Place of Great
Noise). We had to do the “Australian wave” all the way as the non-biting flies
are thick and very annoying. We now know why there are so many birds. It was a warm walk (34 C). We decided we will
return to the shop later for ice cream! There hasn’t been much rain the past
while so the falls aren’t as full as they can be. There is a picture display of
2011 where the viewing towers were destroyed, so we could only imagine how full
the river must have been. At night the falls are lit up for a few hours so we took
our torches (flashlights) and make our way there again at 8:00 for a night view.
There is also a baboon family
here who were “yelling” at each other and running around doing the baboon
things, picking each other, scratching, digging, etc. There are many cute
yellow mongoose and dassies to entertain us. The lizards here are also very
neat to look at. They are multi coloured, red, green, etc.
We had sort of an entertaining
afternoon. The garbage cans in the campground are all supposed to be animal
proof with lids on a pole that you need to almost use two hands to open. They
may be “animal proof” but not “primate proof” as along came a big male baboon making
his rounds of all the cans, easily opening them and checking them out. Doug chased
him away as he got to ours. Next he went INTO a trailer through an open door. Soon
there was a lady, broom in hand, yelling and chasing a heavily laden baboon out
of the trailer where he ran three footed until he had to drop his booty. That
didn’t deter him much as he spotted a shade tent with a storage bin and other
stuff under it, broke into the bin and came away dragging a bag of sugar that
he proceeded to rip open and try to eat. Later he came back and got into our
garbage (fortunately only a tuna can from lunch that we did not want in the
motorhome). So even we got to clean up a bit. They do warn you not to feed them
and even have a graphic picture of a dead and bleeding baboon at the reception
as once they start to be camp pests they must to be destroyed. Seems to us they
should develop a baboon proof garbage system first then worry about the
campers.
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| Thief |
Answer to last post’s quiz: the
arrows indicate that the passing permitted dotted line is ending soon and you
should pull back into your proper lane (keep in mind we drive on the left
here).
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| Rock Dassie |
Thursday, May 8th, 2014 Kgalagadi National Park – Northern Cape, SA – 380 km
As we followed the Kalahari Red
Sand Dune Route the red sands of the Kalahari Desert, the great expanse of
nothingness, the Bushmen eating insects, it’s all here. Well except the Bushmen
are selling souvenirs on the side of the road, but they are probably eating
flies like the rest of us. We saw evidence of their bush huts along the road.
Really cute little kids too, and families in their donkey drawn carts. We plan
to stop and see what they are selling on our way back from the park. We still
have two Canadian hacky sacks to give away so this might be the best
opportunity.
Initially whenever the road got
near the Orange River, there were vineyards for as far as you could see. More
barren uninhabited areas followed but a very good road considering the last 55
km were on the road that had been paved on the dried bed of the Nossob River. This
road sits right on the border of SA and Botswana. One thing we have noticed is
how all the highways have a km sign posted every 10 km so you always are aware
of how much farther you have to go. Sometimes that 10 km can seem like a long
way. Again we were sighting numerous social weaver bird’s nests, some so huge
they had actually killed the tree they were on or pulled down the telephone
pole!
We keep seeing interesting things
that don’t register until we are past them so Doug has gotten really good at
putting the motorhome into reverse and speeding backwards up the highway. Today
we saw 4 camels grazing by the side of the road. This was another first for us,
and another reverse required as it was such a surprise it took both of us a few
seconds to register what we had seen.
Each time you leave a SA National
Park you need to have an exit permit that you hand in. Today, at this park it
is even more technical than that. You hand in a permit that they keep, then if
you go on a game drive or leave the park at any time you must report in to them
so they mark it on your permit and “go looking for you” if you don’t
return. We wonder if it is purely a
safety measure as they say or a way to control cross border travel as the
park’s name indicates, it is Transfrontier – South Africa, Botswana and
Namibia.
Doug has been wearing his Blue
Jay’s baseball cap and getting lots of looks and comments including one fellow
telling us about his visit to Toronto and attending a game. Today was the
ultimate though when the gas station attending thought Doug should give it to
him “so I can remember you!” He didn’t seem impressed when Doug gave him a
Canada sticker instead.
We stopped at one of the road
side sites for lunch. While we were there we decided to cook up the last of the
Mozambique shrimp to have them in a salad for dinner. This way we could get rid
of the heads, etc. in the garbage there. As we were finishing, the roadside cleanup
crew came by, emptied the garbage and sat for lunch. Doug gave them the bag of
heads, telling them it was waste, thinking they would just add it to the
garbage but instead they opened the bag and became all excited, then carefully
put them in the cab of the truck. Our guess is they are going to use them for
fish sauce or stew.
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| The Water Hole - Nobody home! |
As we were heading north to the
park we knew there were more SA opportunists vying their trade to the tourists
as they were selling the usual firewood for the braai but also this time stacks
and stacks of different size tires as we understand the roads in this area can
be pretty hard on them. In fact the reception desk told us we needed to go to
the petro station before heading out on the roads to have the tire pressure
deflated and then back there upon our return for reinflation. We went for a
walk and stopped to ask the station attendant about this and he says you do
this to help protect the roads, softer tires = less damage. Our motorhome
insurance doesn’t cover much area in this park so we will be doing a game drive
in the morning and take it from there. That will give us a chance to see what
the roads are really like and hopefully see a lion as that is the one thing we
have missed so far.
Last November when we were making
decisions around where we were going on this trip we saw this particular park/camp
area was totally reserved. We waited until last week to book hoping we would
see some cancellations, and we did. We are staying in a chalet for the next two
nights as our motorhome sits outside resting. The chalet is a two room,
thatched roof duplex with our own bathroom, and kitchen area with fridge,
microwave and two burner hotplate. Pretty basic but at least we are here and
able to see the sites. We have since learned you need to book a year in advance
as there is precious little accommodation for the popularity and size of the
park. A day drive in and out is pretty much out of the question as the nearest
town of any note is 250 km away.
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| Chalet |
Friday, May 9th, 2014 Kgalagadi National Park – Northern Cape, SA – 0 km
We sat outside last evening and
watches a wonderful lightening display over the desert. We had been seeing the
dark clouds and rain in the distance as we were driving here. Today it is a
beautiful sunny, cloudless day so we are hoping that is the end of the rain.
Our day started earlier than
usual as we had booked a morning game drive at 6:30. We piled into a rather wet
Landrover safari vehicle and set off into the sunrise. We were the only
participants. Although we did not see a lion on this trip we did see springbok
and gemsbok (lion prey) and a variety of birds including secretary birds, kori
bustards, weaver birds and African hoopee, all strange and wonderful creatures
not paralleled by anything we are used to. Our driver, Robert, worked here as a
student and now is employed full time by the park. He knew our request for a
lion viewing and did his best but not a predator to be seen. We stopped by a
usually popular water hole, but as there has been so much rain the past few
days there is water everywhere. He did take us off road into a restricted area
where the guides are allowed to go, followed the old river bed, but again saw
only springbok, gemsbok and birds. We also saw a millipede crossing the road.
It was about 10 inches long (see truck tire track for reference). Apparently
the Bushmen use them for stitches if they are self-treating a laceration
(somehow they break the segments apart and use them like staples to close a
wound).
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| Large Millipede |
We spent a leisurely afternoon in
the rest camp, went for walk – limited area to walk within the fenced area, and
sat outside all afternoon watching the bird life. The local mongoose kept
coming up to the door looking for food, we guess. He did run off with something
from the neighbours only to be back again in short order looking for more. We
have been sure to keep the door closed, even though we are sitting beside it.
The starlings do not like them and attack them – they probably steal the
starlings eggs.
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| Gemsbok |
At 5 pm we joined another game
drive, the sunset one, with the same driver but more people. New sightings for
us were jackals, a spotted eagle owl and some bat eared foxes (that were not
road kill). Unfortunately no lions out tonight. Our route did cross the border
into Botswana, so we can now say we have been to that country. It always amazes
us how quickly it gets cool here, but then we are in the desert. We went armed
with fleece and jackets and had them on as soon as the sun went down. It is a
clear sky so lots of stars visible as well. Again tonight we witnessed a
beautiful South African sunset.
Tomorrow we head south to begin
our trek back to Johannesburg. We have lots of time to do it so no rush. We may
stop over at another game park on the way to get our final fill of giraffe and
zebra but think we are going to be going home lion-less.
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| Secretary Birds |
