I had such a lovely time at Nossob, and I was understandably a little sad to leave. But I was also very excited to see what the Mata Mata had instore for me.
The road up to Dikbaard’s Kolk Picnic site was a little quiet, but I did see some wonderful animals. I loved this Pale-chanting Goshawk above e Social Weaver’s nest.
My new favourite thing was any animal on a dune, and these Tsessbes made for a wonderful scene.
There were lots of Gemsbok along the way.
I saw many Kori Bustards. I often see them individually, and it was nice to see two together.
Then I saw a third one not far away.
This Familiar Chat looked really beautiful in the early morning light.
At Dikbaard’s Kolk Picnic site I turned onto the Long Dune Road. It was the first time I would drive it and I was rather excited. The scenery was exactly what I needed.
One of the first sightings was a trio of Steenbokkies. It was the first time I had seen three together.
At the Eland Waterhole there were two Pale-chanting Goshawks under a tree. A Gemsbok was looking on curiously.
At Moravet Waterhole there were more Gemsbok. Up to that point the road had been in fairly decent condition. But gradually it became more and more corrugated. There were parts where I could not drive faster than 10km/hr,
Despite the horrible road conditions, I still enjoyed the scenery and the animals. There was a nice herd of Red Hartebeest and a beautiful Greater Kestrel.
And then there was this.
How do you not fall completely in love with a place this beautiful? My vocabulary is completely inadequate to describe how I felt as I sat looking at this view.
There were red dunes and stunning landscapes as far as the eye could see.
A few more birds included another Fawn-coloured Lark and a Northern Black Korhaan, a new bird for the trip list.
After more incredible corrugation between Moravet and Vaalpan, and even more from Vaalpan to the Aob road, I finally reached the Aob Road T-junction. All of the sudden the road was soft and sandy. The relief I felt (and I am sure my car felt the same) was immense.
I came across a herd of Springbok. One decided to give a little pronking display. It was gorgeous to watch!
The rest of the herd did not pay too much attention to his antics.
Between 13th and 14th Boreholes I spotted a shape in a tree. A beautiful Spotted Eagle Owl was having a snooze.
There were Springbok and Blue Wildebeest at both 13th and 14th Boreholes. I saw a large group of Ostriches – mom dad and a bunch of youngsters.
A Pale-Chanting Goshawk was eating some small things on the ground.
As I approached Dalkieth Waterhole I noticed some vultures in the air. I soon found out why.
A pride of 6 lions had made a giraffe kill. One huge male and 4 lionesses were lying in the shade and the younger male and another lioness was lying in the shade of another tree on the other side of the kill.
The big male lion was impressive.
I counted 14 Black Backed Jackals at the carcass.
The lionesses were watching them with great interest.
The young male on the other side of the kill jumped up out of the blue and scattered the jackals. He was a good-looking boy.
But it was just too much effort and he strolled back to the shade where he plopped down.
As he walked off the jackals started coming back.
One of the lionesses then followed the young male’s example and chased the jackals.
She was a little half-hearted and turned back to the shade. Then she changed her mind, chased the returning jackals once more before starting to feed.
The rest of the lions preferred to take a nap.
With the one lioness feeding, things settled down a bit. The Jackals made themselves comfortable and waited. I decided to continue on to Mata Mata.
A Gemsbok on a red dune made me happy.
There were more jackals at Craig Lockhart.
I saw my first live Giraffe at the Kalahari Tented Camp turn off.
And then I was at the Mata Mata Gate. I could not wait to see what this camp on the Namibian Border was all about