We left early this morning so that we could be at the gates of the Park by 7 am when it opened. Out guides had mapped out a route that would take us to Mata-Mata where we would find giraffes and hopefully see some big cats along the way. Last evening we had checked the board on which animal sightings are posted and based on that our route looked promising.
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is so big that even with this plan we would still only have seen a small fraction of the park. Unlike Krueger there are also just one or two main roads through the park so when you think about it, the probability of seeing one of the rarer animals along a route is actually quite small.
We drove along for a while until we got to a dry river bed where the grass was lush and greener and soon started spotting some animals. The oryx and springbok of course were plentiful. We also saw a pair of tawny eagles, more ostriches and wildebeest, meerkats, and a beautiful crimson-breasted bird. Our first major sighting came at the first watering hole where a lion was drinking and then slowly walked away. There was a path that cut to the right that we followed and we then saw the lion crest the plateau where we were waiting and were able to watch it longer. The Kalahari is famous for its black-maned lions which are different from the tawny or brown manes that we saw in Krueger.
A short while later we saw two lions lying down at the top of the plateau where only their heads were visible. It was difficult to see them really clearly even with a pair of good binoculars so a very observant person in the car in front of us had spotted them. Later we saw the carcass of an oryx and another lion siting next to it. The lion flopped down on his side, sat up again and then flopped over. He had obviously been feeding on his kill and had a full bellly. Our guide told us that lions will stay by their kills until the entire carcass is gone even if it takes a few days. They also only need to eat about once a week.
Then came the piece de resistance. We came upon a line of cars that had stopped in the opposite direction from where we were headed. Something big was out there. As we looked we saw not one, not two, but five cheetahs sitting under a tree. They lay down for a while and then sat up and finally all five got up and started walking purposefully. It turned out that they were getting ready to hunt and bring down an oryx. We were spread out in three vans so everyone didn't get to see this but one lucky group of students saw the cheetahs attack the herd of oryx that was close by. This was a coordinated attack and happened in the blink of an eye with the entire herd scattering. They managed to bring down one oryx and then dragged the carcass over to the trees where all five of them sat around and gorged on their prize. The students who saw the hunt said it was absolutely amazing and all of us were able to see the end result and got lots of great photographs. Our main guide Stephen, who has been in the industry for decades, said it was the best cheetah sighting he had ever seen. Needless to say the vans were buzzing with excitement on the way back.
Since our big cat sightings took up quite some time we didn't make it to Mata-Mata and had to turn around and head back. After lunch back at the lodge, it was then time to leave the Kalahari and return to Upington which is where we are spending the night. We fly down to Cape Town tomorrow for the last leg of our journey and then it's back home in time for Mother's Day!
