The road to Mata Mata

As we drove out of the Twee Rivieren camp on Wednesday just after 8am in the morning, Ria and I had switched roles. She was now driving and I was sitting in the passenger seat with my camera. Every hopeful of some exciting sitings. We were a little wary of the amount of time that it potentiall could take us to get to Mata Mata, even though it was "only" 120km away. As I described in my earlier posts we had already spent almost two full days travelling in the car just to get here, and all of us were somewhat travel weary.

The first aminals we saw on our drive that morning was to be one of the icons of the Kalahari, the Gemsbok.

I think if you have not seen one of these, and taken a photo of it, you have not been to the Kgalagadi! They are beautiful and amazing creatures.

The gemsbok or gemsbuck (Oryx gazella) is a large African antelope, of the Oryx genus.
Gemsbok are mainly desert-dwelling and do not depend on drinking to supply their physiological water needs, but many of the northern Gemsbok live in open grasslands where water is readily available. (credit wikipeadia)

Gemsbok are able to increase their body temperature to 45 degrees from 35.7 degrees C in order to delay evaporative cooling. (credit http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Oryx_gazella.html)

They do become, however a very common sight as we experienced on this trip.
 
The next thing we saw was a Kori Bustard:
 

 
The Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori) is a large bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family. It may be the heaviest bird capable of flight, although this title may also belong to the similarly-dimensioned Great Bustard. The male Kori Bustard averages about 110 cm (3.6 ft) in length, stands 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) tall and have a wingspan about 230-275 cm. An average male bird would weigh about 12.4 kg (27 lb), but exceptional birds may weigh over 20 kg (44 lb). The female Kori Bustard averages 5.7 kg (13 lb) and is usually 20% shorter than a male. (credit wikipedia)
 
Then we spotted a black-backed jackal strolling through the veld, with a couple of curious ground squirrels (Xerus inauris) looking on.
 

 
Both these animals were to become regular sightings for us too. Then we spotted these Namaqua Sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua) is a species of bird in the Pteroclididae family. The male has the plain coloured neck. They tend to flock in numbers to the water holes.
 

 
The next animals we saw are also in abundance, and are also, in my opinion icons of the Kalahari. The BlueWildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis). Often seen together, these animals are seen in herds of many hundred animals at a time, however you also see lone males of both quite often.
 

 
And then we spotted some real excitement. Three cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) with a springbok they had recently captured. They were lying under a tree with their meal, some 75m or so away from the road.
 

We sat and watched these cheetahs, who we extremely relaxed and not at all interested in the four or five vehicle loads of humans, pointing various optical devices at them!
 
We then moved on and spotted these swallow-tailed bee-eaters (Merops hirundineus).
 

 
Next on the agenda were giraffe, and lots more springbok, and some wildebeest. The daytime temperatures we starting to hot up some many of the animals we seeking shade. This large herd of springbok, with the giraffe and wildebeest mingling was well over 130 animal strong!
 

I count 132 just in this bottom image alone, and there were many other spread along the base of this little koppie, as can been seen in the image above.
 
And finally, at least for this post another two birds I came to identify as regulars in this region. The Pale Chanting Goshawk, and the Secretary bird. Not my best images of either, but I'll save those for a later post.
 

The Secretary bird, I have subsequently discovered is quite unique:
The Secretarybird or Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savannah of the sub-Sahara. Although a member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards, vultures, and harriers, it is given its own family, Sagittariidae. (credit wikipedia)
 
 
We pulled into the Mata Mata reception at about 2:30pm that afternoon. A good day all-in-all.
 
All the best
Ivan
http://www.andersen.co.za/