Falls and Felines
Perhaps not the prettiest of waterfalls, but certainly one of the most powerful we have seen, Augrabies Falls was almost at full flow when we visited. Eastern South Africa had experienced very high rainfall (unusually high, locals said) during February and a number of sluice gates on the Orange River had been opened to try to prevent flooding in the low-lying areas near the river. We stayed in the park for two nights, during which time the water level rose even higher as more gates were opened. The result was quite spectacular!
In a classic case of “peaking too soon”, we drove out of Twee Rivieren camp early on the first of our five days in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, to find a number of cars watching four cheetahs (conveniently in the road!) devouring a recent kill. We later discovered this was a mother and three of her almost grown off-spring. However the late rains had turned the Kgalagadi green and the animals had plenty of places to roam in the huge park, which extends into Namibia and Botswana. As we headed further north we were rewarded with some lazy young lions lying about in the parking area. Some took advantage of the shade that Bertha was providing.
We spent one night in an unfenced campsite on the Botswanan side of the park. Blue wildebeest were munching peacefully on the grass when we arrived. Then the munching stopped. They were all facing in the same direction, staring intently at something that we couldn’t quite see from the truck. A little later the alarm “sneezing” started and the herd started walking away, leaving only a few large males to keep an eye on things. Only when the herd had disappeared did we see a cheetah walk nonchalantly past behind Bertha. “Who me? I was just out for a stroll,” he seemed to say. Needless to say, we showered inside that night!
Just before we left the park, we were able to meet up with Steve, the previous owner of Bertha (or “Truckie” as she was then!). He was at the start of his holiday in the park. We had a good catch-up over lunch and Steve had a look around the truck afterwards. We think he approved of most of the modifications we have made!
Marvellous viewing on all three posts seen today. Good to hear back from you.
How was your trip to Tanzania?x
Tanzania was very good. There is a trip report on Safari Talk if interested.
KLM messed us up on the way out but after a long drive after dark to Mikumi we were back on schedule.
Great view of Leopard and Cheetah and Wild Dogs. Lots of birds.
Going to Kenya and TZ again in August.
But first the Hebrides call us.
Take care.
Fred
Sooooo envious of all the animals you are encountering up close and personal. Oh the meerkats are just so sweet! Tell me do you still get that little rush of excitement when you see the big cats?
How wonderful to hear of your experience, I love it💕💕
Always love reading this! I like to add pinpoints for many of the places you two talk about for our big journey.
Twas really lovely that you got to see Steve again after all these years, and in such a remote place, randomly
WOW!!
These photos are awesome…Truly you two have your own National Geographic blog going here.
Thank you so much for sharing! It’s awesome arm chair travelling to places we’ll never get to!
From the Snowy North East of Canada – Stay well
Gabrielle & Bill
The Falls look very dramatic and stark.
Your wildlife photos are amazing! It was incredible to get so close to cheetahs, they are so sinuous and fast. I have only ever seen them on the Busanga Plains.
I look forward to the next instalment.
Amazing water falls, the noise must have been deafening.
The wild life is incredible, I’m not sure about the ‘cats’ being so close to where you are living!
I hope the previous owner of BB is impressed by your washing machine!
I am. Looking forward to the next instalment.