It was another very cold start but it was the last hurrah of the passing cold front that had been with us for 2 days; the temperature steadily climbed as we wended our way back to Upington for our 1720 flight to Johannesburg.
To make sure we made it we had to leave Nossob at 7.30 as the gates opened and agreed only to stop for the famous male black maned Kalahari lions or meerkats. Not long after leaving we picked up lion tracks and with luck behind us we found a big male drinking at a waterhole - his stomach was full and he was clearly drinking, as they always do, after eating a large meal and before finding a bush to sleep under for the day. We spent an excellent 5-10 minutes with him until he sauntered off back down the road and over the bank to who knows where.
We were not as lucky with the meerkats we found more colony sites but they were out... nevertheless one out of two from the days wish list wasn't bad. To make up for it we saw another honey badger - this time it crossed the road right in front of us and spent some time foraging in the bushes nearby so I got some good shots - no jackal or goshawk though.
We got back to Twee Rivieren at 12.15 fuelled up and Hein changed the tyre pressures for the road surface - they had been reduced, as recommended, for the sand roads of the park.
We left the park munching our pre-made sandwiches as we commenced the 270kms back to Upington airport. We had two further new species sightings - a solifuge or sun spider - which Hein found when he checked to make sure the sudden decrease in fuel was a gauge problem and not a hole in the tank! The solifuge was a very different arachnid with 8 legs but its two antenane made it look as if there were 10 - although it looked spider ish its pale colour made it look more like a baby crab; the second species was an African wildcat - it was a pure wildcat as it had orange behind its ears - it was by the side of the road and then walked off into the grasses.
We arrived at the airport just after three much to Johns relief as he was keen not to miss the plane and had been thinking about the tight schedule for a couple of days!! We said our goodbyes to Hein for making it an excellent trip and made our way inside the terminal.
As they weren't checking in we had a lovely latte and after we'd checked in we had another - our first for a week - its amazing what you miss.
The flight was full and there was no hanging around once the incoming flight landed we were off to Johannesburg ahead of schedule.....we stayed in the Intercontinental airport hotel so we were ready for our 9.15 am flight to Congo. There was much repacking as we had to leave a bag of unnecessary kit behind to ensure we made the lighter weight limit on the small plane to the camps - success - with kilos to spare!
Conclusion:
The Arid areas and the Kalahari in particular have to be seen for their beauty to be understood - the dunes vary in colour from the famous red to more light golden sand and the vegetation and grasses bring greens and greys into the mix; finally the sun plays its part and means the colours change throughout the day. The land undulates and the two dry river beds (Auob and Nossob) mean the scenery is forever changing and can support a variety of desert adapted wildlife. The trees thrive thanks to the water under the surface - and the bore holes are testament to the fact there is plenty of sub terrainean water. To get a different perspective on life and strategies for survival, both human and wildlife, this is a brilliant trip to take - for us the memories of the warm to hot days and the cool to freezing nights will be etched into our memories as part of our own survival strategy - at times we were colder than when we were in the Arctic - but as is said 'there is never the wrong weather just the wrong clothes'!