A little Africa in there - Kgalagadi Desert I

[Aubrey]

My wife and I had the good fortune to spend 10 days in the Kgalagadi desert. An area of 50 000km square of nature and desert at it's wildest African best.

The first 4 days would be spend bush camping with a game ranger so everythying down to the last drop of needed water was taken. I was in the trusted Defender 90 and the rear suspension have been sorted .....I had installed air spings as well, so ride was superb.

Little worried with the 45 gal of water I was carrying ....my wife may be tough but I promised a shower every night. And some of those dunes are loose red sand and after midday ... powder soft sand!!
So here all kitted and packed ....the Defender 90. Cutlery is a Fehrman and the wife was gifted a pink Izula on arrival by me.

As we left for the start of the 4 day 4x4 trail, the first game we saw ..... was a Springbuck or a lot of them .....early spings so most all ewes were pregnant.

And not being from Disney ..... the lion didn't sing or dance or have warthog friends ....he was just napping. About 4 years old and relaxed as can be ...... be fast or be food really hits home now

My wife told me again she is not leaving the tent at night.

As we left the main track onto the loose sand, we saw a herd of Bluewildebeest and a springbuck moving off to graze in the early morning sunshine.

As we were deflating tyres to 14psi, this lone Gemsbuck strut past ...... obviously the lion 2 miles away was not any concern to him right now.

Not dependant on surface water but will drink if water is found. Can raise core temp by 3 degrees and not suffer heat stroke, just to reduce evaporative cooling. One super tough and beautiful animal ..... he was wondering what a bunch of humans were doing to the four wheeled noise boxes .....

More to follow daily .......as I upload and sort them

 

[98roamer]

Very cool pictures and I'm looking forward to the next day. I'm curious what camp will look like, if you don't mind. Are you using a ground tent??

 

[Aubrey]

Tent was an Oz RV4. Wife hates climbing up into rooftop tents

 

[Aubrey]

Here is the man of interest for the buck ....... letting the tyres down!

Ane here is my co-pilot ....my wife Vanessa. Petite lady but tougher than any man I know

A group shot of the guided tour. The guide carried an R1 which is the local version of the FN FAL but he had 10 bullets ..... and a 7.62 is a pea shooter on big cats ...... and we saw many of those teethy fellas.

We stopped to have a look at the Sherperds tree ...what a cool oasis in the heat that was past 80F by 10:00.

A shot from the top of the dune ...... nothing but Kgalagdi as far as you can see .....

A friend I made under the Sherperds tree ... a praying mantis looking like a grass twig. Nature is beautiful

Around 12:30 we stopped for lunch ...... crackers with cheese, cold meats and fruit ...... there is the pink Izula ...... started out luke warm but by the end of the trip was her constant companion .....

Shade was at a premium so any bit helps .....

Me and the Game Ranger ....note no damm gun ...... and me doing a Cody

 

[Lichen]

Very cool. Saw your report over on bushcraftusa too.

 

[Aubrey]

This is the famous shower ...... a canvas bucket that is hoisted full of water to get a 5min shower. My shares were looking good after my wife was cleaned up

First afternoon in camp ..... walking around a little after helping with the shower. Caught the little fella ....desert lizzard in the act of changing feet. Normally alternates at 1 second interval standing on opposing feet but caught him in mid air .....

Another of the small antelopes ..... fully grown only 20lbs. This is a male steenbuck ....look at the distinct patterns in the ears. Normally solitary and independant of surface water but will drink if water is found. Very skittish and ran off after posing for a few seconds.

The sunset was spectaular with all the dust in the air ..... 18:34 about

And with the Defender ....

And over our campsite ....

Around 20:15 the moon came up ...full moon and no need for lights. The pink is the dust in the air and taken without a flash on the Nikon.

 

[SSF556]

Awesome and thanks for sharing.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Very cool, cheers for the photos etc.

 

[Bubblegoose1]

Incredible experience. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Aubrey]

We got up at 06:30 ...... had some rusks and coffe ...wife ate yoghurt and fruit and we broke camp. Left campsite at 08:40 and it was hovering on 80F already ...... as we move north the heat is increasing. The bigger dunes were easy, early in the morning ....they would be crazy in high heat as the sand just gives way and you sink ......

We spent the day driving and looking out for game ...... no predators ....lions and such needs water daily so never wander far from the dry river beds and open water Gemsbuck, red hartebeest and steenbuck are seen in the deep desert with just about a springbuck under each second blade oif grass. They stop feeding around 10:00, seek shade and commence feeding around 15:00 again. If a day is cool and overcast animals will feed the whole day.

Here are some springbuck seeking shade ...

A pair of Red Hartebeest .... on par with the Proghorn and can hit 100km/h for about 3/4 of a mile .....

We saw another Steenbuck early on but he/she did not wait around .....

A lone male ostrich ...breeding season so all flustered and pinks shins ...... they live in the desert and are very dangerous .... but scared of hurting their eyes ...one kick from an ostrich will kill you but get a thorn bush about 3ft long and wave it at their eyes/head ... they won't come near

Here you can see some Bluewildebeest resting in shade ... around midday

We were fortunate to pass a water hole and saw some Cape White Backed vultures hanging around ....

And taking off .....funny to see as they take a short run and hop 3 or 4 times before they get going ....

Close up of the desert clowns ...Blue Wildebeest. When you hunt them and they see you ... hide right away ...... they just cannot stand the suspense and will walk to within about 150m
of where they last saw you and just stare at the area. Great to hunt them like this in open terrian. Makesa a distinct "Gnuuu" sounds ......

Also saw a Secretary Bird ...only long legged raptor in Africa and hunts snakes and lizzards ..... walking and stomping the prey to death. Interesting to watch.

After lunch we stopped at a Silver Cluster tree ..... very scarce in the desert and the Bushmen would bury 3-4 ostrich egs within 4ft of the trunk on the south side, filled with water. They did cache before it was fashionable. No, none were buried under the tree

We pulled into camp and starting setting up aropund 16:10 ...it was 115F in the shade.

The camp all set up ...... look at the water bottles ......

Here is the guide with the R1 and another participant .....

The full moon came out just after 20:00 and this was taken free hand without a flash .,....

The wood I dragged all the way from Johannebsurg was put to good use ...we had a nice braai ....or in the USA that would be a barbeque.

Lights out was just before 20:00 ...and yes, she did wake me at about 01:00 to step outside the tent

 

[Ryanmb21]

This is an incredible report, thanks!

 

[HumphreyBear]

Thanks for sharing, I enjoy reading trip reports with photos from outside the Americas on here. Gotta ask, though: why is your Land Rover black? It must build up an incredible amount of residual heat during the day and be insufferable to drive?

 

[Aubrey]

Thanks for sharing, I enjoy reading trip reports with photos from outside the Americas on here. Gotta ask, though: why is your Land Rover black? It must build up an incredible amount of residual heat during the day and be insufferable to drive?

The Defender is the 60th anniversary model ...Defender SVX 90 .......... came in many colors ....light black, dark black, just black. Yes, I prefer white 4x4's due to heat build up and in the desert ....black sucks .....not so bad in winter ....also, scratches show up badly on black and it is a dust bucket ..... but I use it ...it was not bought to be a mall cruiser

 

[Aubrey]

Some images my wife took .....

Here you can see the braai in full swing ......

A close up of a community spider web ...they are the size of grains of sand and when the area is depleted they cast a silk strand and float away. Highest encountered living organism found at 30 000ft when their launch went wrong

And some beauty even in this harsh terrain. You may note some dunes are white and some are very red ..... the red is iron oxide in high consentrations found in the sand .....

This is the break for lunch ...yes, we also sought our shade ...it was well past 115F by now ...

And no trip is complete without the ablutions taken into account called a long drop ....guess why ??

 

[hks3sgte]

that toilet looks comfy