There is a debate over the best technique for driving over a heavily corrugated road: “either go slowly or fly over them [corrugations].” This section of road (R360) from the Professor’s lodge to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and the Twee Rivieren Gate is being tarred so it alternately is a rough detour, old corrugated passages, and sections leveled for paving. (When we exit the Park several days later the paving is nearly complete from the gate to the existing tarred stretch to Upington.)

After 90 minutes or so we complete the 40 km to the gate (we drove very slowly over the corrugations) and stop to pay the Conservation fees (we bought a Wild Card) having previously reserved and paid for a chalet at Nossob Camp.

(The gemsbok - or oryx if you prefer - is an emblem of the Park: one of the odder sights of the Kalahari is a gemsbok shaking out a dried corpse in order to eat the calcium-rich bones)

A quick stop at the store and then, not 2 km from the gate we begin to see animals large and small, singly and in groups: springbok; gemsbok; tsessebe; hartebeest; blue wildebeest; blackbacked jackals; bat-eared foxes; and a small cat – possibly a caracal.

(The road north from the gate at Twee Rivieren to Nossob Camp follows the dry riverbed of the Nossob River, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

I list these because we are completely overwhelmed immediately by the abundance of game and stop to look and experiment with the cameras frequently.

(Springbok ram grazing, Nossob road, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

(A kori bustard: the world's heaviest bird capable of flight, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

(A male ostrich refuses to take flight: Nossob road, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

(Enormous wingspan: a kori bustard takes flight on the Nossob road)

I drive too fast through a deep mud puddle on the road and splatter the engine compartment and the truck exterior. After stopping for lunch we realize we are running late and have underestimated the distances involved in light of the 50 km speed limit.

(An acacia rat observes us during lunch, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

(Another friendly observer under the acacia tree - a ground squirrel at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

(A Lanner falcon(?) -- Nossob road, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

It grows late and we wonder if we will be locked out of the camp site. Having picked up the tempo and not stopped despite many more game sightings; we are nevertheless 35 minutes late to the Nossob Camp Gate. The rangers are waiting and we get a mild scolding. We explain (honestly being overwhelmed by what we saw) and make a promise (kept) not to be late again. (If they have to go out and look for you there is a fee per kilometer and a fine for being late.)

Prof had warned us about “the sneaky little jackals at the Camp” and she is immediately proven correct. While unloading the truck a jackal neatly picked up a plastic shopping bag (by the handles no less) and ran off with a load of books and CD’s. A comic chase ensued in which the jackal lost its grip and ended up by strewing its booty over a short distance from the door of our chalet. Jay-Z made it all the way to Africa only to end up in the sands of the Kalahari. Having retrieved him and the other musicians and authors I was greatly surprised to see the jackal return to stand just outside the chalet’s door as I was describing the chase to Will. Putting its ears back it was clearly calculating its odds if it made a mad dash inside. I clapped my hands and moved towards it but it was barely fazed by this and trotted off only with the greatest reluctance.

(A blackbacked jackal on the road to Nossob Camp, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)

Labels: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Nossob Camp

¶ 11:55 AM