TWO DUTCH TOURISTS HAVE A GOOD EVENING

On our drive back to Mata Mata, we see dark clouds gathering in the sunset sky. There are lightning flashes and a real threat of a thunderstorm. Noel and Dave stop to do some landscape photography.

Photo: David Mullin

Rain clouds are a welcome sight, as they hold the promise of life-sustaining rain falling in the desert. I am actually hoping that it will rain much later in the evening. Noel has invited Marilyn and Leonie to join us for supper. They offer to contribute their hot soup. "Soup," the South Africans exclaim, "we do not eat hot soup in Summer." We decline the offer of hot soup, and we all club together and supply meat and things like tinned corn  and bean salad for a  braai.  Noel had made two jellies earlier on. He shares the jelly amongst all of us. adding a good dash of custard. We enjoy our dessert. I have a feeling it is our last braai in the Kalahari, and sadly, it is.

Photo: Noel Hammond

There are eight of us sitting under the blanket of a dark Kalahari night sky. There are no stars this evening, and the wind whips up. A few big drops of rain fall, but in ten minutes it is all over. I enjoy the camaraderie and the company of my fellow-campers. Leonie complains bitterly that the shop would not sell her a bottle of wine, because it is Sunday. She asks for an explanation. It is the second time this trip, that I am unable to explain the laws of my country to Dutch tourists. I supply some white wine, and Geoff readily shares his bottle of red. We raise our glasses, and drink a toast. It is the last night at Mata Mata for all of us, and we will part ways tomorrow morning.

Marilyn and Leonie tell Geoff and Lynette about their bad day.

We all retire and bid each other  a good night. Tomorrow, Marilyn and Leonie will travel to the Augrabies National Park;  Geoff and Lynette will leave for a further trip in Namibia; and the Hammonds and Mullins will take a slow drive to Twee Rivieren. It may have been a bad day for our Dutch friends, but it certainly was a good evening !

TWO DUTCH TOURISTS HAVE A BAD AFTERNOON

It is a very hot afternoon in Mata Mata,, If I was still in Nossob, I would have taken a book to the laundry room in the camp site. Many a surprised camper found me sitting on a work top, with a book in hand. It was much cooler than the tent. Mata Mata does not afford the luxury of a cool laundry room. This afternoon finds me lying in our tent, eyes half-closed and wearing a T-shirt which has soaked right through with sweat, and an open book lying face-down on my chest. Noel suddenly appears, and asks if I do not want to visit Namibia. "Great idea," I say, "is it cooler in Namibia ?"

T

 Namibia is a neighbouring country. How are we going to Namibia ?  We did not bring passports with us. We do not have the necessary vehicle registration papers. Well, it is Africa, so how do we cross the border ? Okay, like many others before us, we just stroll across. "What !?!? "  I hear all of you saying,  "you just walk across ?" Yup, like just like thousands of illegal immigrants cross into South Africa, we are going to visit Namibia. We greet the South African policewoman, policeman, policeperson ...oh, whatever, and the Namibian Immigration Officer, and we walk past all the booms, no man's land or no person's land ( you know what I mean ! ) and we traipse 600 metres along a gravel road to a farm gate. We enter, and walk up to a bright yellow building, with big black lettering saying "Sitzas Farm Stall".  Did Noel and I do this in the heat ? Affirmative. The Mullins were still sweating back at camp, they were absolutely convinced we had lost our minds.

We bought a Springbok fillet, which Noel proclaimed would be a treat for supper. I wished I could have bought a loaf of freshly baked bread, or a packet of homemade rusks. There was no dried wors ( sausage ) or biltong. I stared at rows of jams and pickles, but it did not appeal. There were some handicrafts for sale: quilted patchwork bags and little scented pillows, which I thought were rather quaint for this remote farmstall. I was expecting African curios and beadwork. We rushed back to camp, quickly freshened up, and then it was time to go for an afternoon game drive.

We did not see very much on this game drive, and so we decided to go back to camp early, and start the braai fire for an early supper. The camp gates only close at 7.00 p.m. so we were often dining after 8.00 p.m. most evenings. I was admiring the landscape, a few dark clouds had gathered, and I was wondering if it was going to rain later, when we rounded a bend... A little blue Kia sedan was stuck in the soft sand. Inside the car were the two Dutch ladies looking desperate. Could we help ?
Noel leapt out the Land Rover, grabbed his tow rope, and attached it to the two vehicles. "Will he get our car out ?" asked Leonie. Leonie had climbed into our Land Rover, as she was too nervous to stand outside. "Oh yes, Noel will get your car out of the sand. He has done this many times before in the Kalahari, " I replied. Yes, he did rescues the Dutch ladies, who were most grateful. "We had a bad morning, and now we have had a bad afternoon, " said Marilyn. "Two times in one day, " said Leonie looking extremely forlorn.

The tow rope is attached, but Marilyn and Leonie are looking worried.

TWO DUTCH TOURISTS HAVE A BAD MORNING

Marcel and Jacq Smidt had a good day when they photographed the mating lions, but two of their countrymen, or should I say "countrywomen" or even more politically correct: "countrypersons"; had a very bad day. Marilyn and Leonie had arrived from The Netherlands, and were driving around the Park in a rented Kia. They  arrived at Mata Mata the afternoon before. They had brought two very small one-man tents with them, or should I say, "one-person" tents. They were trying to erect their tents, but with not much success. An Afrikaans chap noticed that they were having some difficulty, and in no time at all, the tents were up, and their kind helper was hammering in the tent pegs.


Early the next morning, we were parked at the Craig Lockhart water-hole. A male lion and a lioness were lying right next to the road. I am sure that this was the same pair that Marcel had photographed. Noel parked under the shade of a tree, and we waited to see if any other animals would come to the water-hole. The cheeky jackals would sneak a quick drink, keeping a watchful eye on the lions, then they would scurry off. A small herd of Springbok were grazing a little distance away, and there were some giraffe in the vicinity as well. With all this animal activity going on, what was Noel photographing ? He was photographing a little bird in a tree. We had seen a Pearlspotted Owl (Glaucidium perlatum ) fledgling, clinging on to the bark of the tree branch next to us. It was a lucky sighting.

Pearlspotted Owl

The Pearlspotted Owl is the smallest owl found in southern Africa. When fully grown, it reaches a length of eighteen centimetres. "Oooh look, " says Noel, "there is another one peering at us from that hole in the branch." 

We had seen the two Dutch women drive to the water-hole. "Why have they got their car headlights on ?" asks Noel. We are so busy admiring the owlets that we do not take much notice of what other people are doing. The lions were sleeping, so it was not good photography . If this was the mating pair, I am sure they were exhausted . The Dutch ladies stopped right next to the lions. Research has shown that lions sleep for twenty out of twenty-four hours. I was sure that the lions were going to sleep there the whole day, but I was later proved wrong about that. The sun was getting too high, and the lions were not even stirring, or taking note of the other animals, so we headed back to camp for brunch.

Later, the Dutch women returned to camp, but not in their car. They had been enjoying the lion sighting so much, they forgot to switch off the car headlights. When they got very hot sitting there, they tried to start their car, and the engine would not turn over. The car battery had gone flat. Feeling the rise of panic, they shouted to the other tourists for help. A car pulled alongside, the back door was opened, and the Dutch women had to climb out of their car and into the other, while they were still in the presence of lions.

The rangers were informed of the situation, and they went to chase the lions away, so that they could push-start the car. I was wrong about the lions sleeping there the whole day, they ambled off when they chased away. I could sense the fear the two women experienced when they recounted how they were rescued. It had been a bad morning for them.

THE STORY OF A SIGMA LENS

The afternoon is still hot, when we set off for a game drive. "I wonder if I am going to be lucky like Marcel," muses Noel. Noel had brought some Sigma demonstration lenses with him. He makes me wrap the lenses in a towel, and then pass them through the car window at sightings. People are then able to try out the lenses with their camera bodies. I tell the Mullins this is how we met Anton de Villiers in the Kalahari. It was about 1994, when Noel, myself, our young son, and Jan Hamman were travelling in the Park. It was then known as the Kalahari Gemsbok Park. It had started to rain, and it was dismal and overcast. We had stopped at a lion sighting, when a bakkie ( light delivery vehicle ) pulled up next to us. "Oh shame," said Jan " " look at this poor guy trying to photograph the lion in the rain, with his short lens. Let's help him." I wrapped Noel's 500 F4 lens in a shirt that was in lying in the car, so that the elements would not get wet in the rain. Jan then passed the lens through the car window to Anton. Anton was very surprised that strangers would lend him a lens. Later, back at camp, we introduced ourselves. Anton and Noel and Jan became firm friends. They travelled together on many photographic trips in the Kalahari, the Drakensberg  and even to Etosha.

Yesterday afternoon, we were exhausted from driving from Nossob, and then having to set up camp in the heat. Noel decided not to go for a game drive, but work instead. He dusted off the Sigma lenses, and put them out on our camping table. He invited fellow-campers to try out the lenses. Marcel had travelled all the way from the Netherlands to visit the Park. His eyes lit up when Noel said that he could use the Sigma 300 -800 mm F5.6 lens.

It was much later that Marcel and his wife pulled up at our campsite. "Noel," he said with a dismal look on his face,"this lens is no good. It is very bad."
                                                                               "Why ?," asked Noel looking alarmed. Noel had taken many photos with that lens, and was extremely happy with the results.
                                                                                                           "Look here, look at these terrible photographs," said Marcel sounding very agitated. Hearing the commotion, we all clustered around Marcel's camera. "Terrible, terrible ! Look the photos are even pornographic," said the wide-eyed Marcel. We all looked, and then we laughed. Marcel had been joking with us. He had once-in-a-lifetime pics of mating lions. Well done, Marcel !

Photos: Marcel Smidt











I scanned the Auob riverbed with its fifty shades of grey sand, but I did not see any "pornography". We were just a touch envious of Marcel's pics, but we do know that he would not have got these shots if he wasn't using a Sigma lens !

Anton came to visit us at Mata Mata, with his wife, Elanie, and cute daughter, Antonelle. He was staying at Twee Rivieren, and was then going to camp at Nossob. "These roads are really awful, I wonder when they were last graded," complained Anton.
                                                    "Ja," agreed Noel, "look at my Land Rover's dashboard. It is going to fall off."
        "Noel, you can't repair your dashboard with insulation tape," said Anton, handing Noel a roll of duct tape. "Here, use this."

The roads were in a dreadful condition. The garage at Mata Mata did not have a puncture repair kit, and Dave had to use Geoff's repair kit to plug his tyre. The ablutions were only serviced once week, so they were often in a sad state. The tyre pressure gauge at Twee Rivieren did not work. The garages did not stock all the grades of engine oil. Standards are definitely slipping, SANParks !

EARLY MORNING ALONG THE AUOB

Today, we are the first to drive out of the gate. I am sleeping a lot better at Mata Mata. There are no sounds of marauding jackals stealing from the campers. No campers swearing and chasing jackals in the middle of the night, but no roaring lions, either. It is a very peaceful campsite. Mata Mata is a border post with Namibia. There have been complaints in the past that the Namibian immigration officials throw raucous  parties, and run their noisy generator all night, but it is has been very quiet.

Spotted Hyena

We are overtaken by a young guy in a small car. The car rattles so much, it sounds like it may fall apart. These roads are also very corrugated. The young guy tells us later, that he is on a quest to photograph a leopard. I am also hoping to see the leopard. We have heard from others that there is a cheetah mom and two cubs that often hunt near the camp. I scan the riverbed. The Auob is wide and flat. It is good territory for a cheetah to gather speed and chase down its prey. New camps have been built along the Auob, and new roads have been built. For a long section from Mata Mata we travel through the  dunes.                                        

 We feel deprived of the riverbed scenery. Now, we are only able to travel to  four water-holes in a morning: Craig Lockhart; Dalkeith; Fourteenth Borehole and Thirteenth Borehole. Guess what, the Thirteenth Borehole is not working, so the animals are not coming to drink there. Noel mutters about being limited to three water-holes. He mutters that the Park has gone to the dogs, but soon cheers up when he gets his first photographic opportunity, and there is just enough early morning light. He photographs the Spotted Hyena running in the riverbed. It is our first sighting of  Spotted Hyena this trip.

 Near Dalkeith, we have a lucky sighting. It is African Wild Cat, and it is out in the open. African Wild Cats   ( Felis lybica ) are largely nocturnal, and will often sleep in a tree during the day. According to research, the African Wild Cat was tamed by the Egyptians some 3 000 years B.C. It features prominently in Ancient Egyptian sculptures, and was considered to be sacred. It has a distinctive sitting position because of its long legs. It is the forebear of the domestic cat. Inter-breeding with the domestic cat is able to take place, and therefore, populations of pure-bred African Wild Cat are rare today. Pure-bred specimens are only found in remote areas of Southern Africa. They feed on rodents, birds, reptiles and large insects.

African Wild Cat

"Teresa will love this photo," says Noel, referring to my friend who lives in Missouri, USA, and who absolutely adores cats. I send her this photo and her comment is "WOW !!!". 

This is not our last sighting of a nocturnal species this morning. They are far away, and lying in the shade, but Noel manages a few photographs, just for the record. We see Bat-eared fox ( Otycyon megalotis ), or as we call them " fat-eared boxes". The Bat-eared fox mates for life, and takes good care of its young. It is often seen at dawn and dusk, listening for underground insects, by ambling along with its big ears close to the ground. If a Bat-eared fox hears the rustle of a burrowing insect, it will use its fore-paws to dig furiously in an effort to find the little creature. Its prey consists mainly of termites, but they will also eat other insects and scorpions, small mice and berries.

The pair of Bat-eared foxes.

"You see," says Noel, when we get back to camp, "why you must get up early, and be first out of the gate." I just groan as I have had to get up just after 4.00 a.m. every morning.

THE RADIO HAMS

We are sharing the best campsite in Mata Mata with a great couple: Geoff and Lynette Tinker. Geoff took one look at the Land Rover with its aerial and radio mast, and asked  Noel, "Are you a Radio Ham ?" What a question to ask Noel, he is obsessed with radio communication, and spends hours making contact with other Radio Hams all over the world.  Geoff, callsign ZS1LM , it was great to meet you and Lynette.

Geoff and Lynette point out a bench opposite their tent, overlooking the river. I go to read the inscription on the bench.

The bench, with our campsite in the background.

 The inscription reads:

                        "  Ter herinnering aan

                              Calie Pistorius

                              1932  -  2005

" The place where I worship is the wide open spaces."

Calie Pistorius was born in Pretoria and grew up in Reivelo,

Wolmaranstad, Pietermaritzburg and George.

He matriculated at Outeniqua High School and qualified as

a C.A. at the University of Pretoria. At the age of 29 he 

became professor and Head of the Department of Accounting,

then Director of the Postgraduate School of Business,

finally Vice-Principal: Management Services at the 

University of Pretoria.

Calie was an enthusiastic amateur rally driver, navigator

and organiser, a yachtsman, a "world" traveller and

radio amateur ( call sign ZS1CWP ).

He made radio contact with amateurs internationally

from Union's End, which gave him enormous pleasure.

He celebrated his 68th birthday at Mata Mata under 

his beloved Southern stars.

When Calie retired he moved to Knysna from where he 

undertook many 4X4 safaris to the remote places of

Southern Africa. "

Geoff ( ZS1LM ) and Noel ( ZR6DX ) could not wait to set up the ZS6BKW HF antenna attached to the  fibreglass mast, which is permanently  mounted  to the side of the Land Rover. When the mast is extended, it reaches a height of eight metres.  Noel had set up this system in Nossob, to chat to his friends at the West Rand Amateur Radio NoelClub. Nick Dreyer, ZS6NCK was a regular contact. I brought Noel and Geoff some refreshment in the form of beers, the two of them sounded like two little excited boys as they made contacts, around the country. They were transmitting on the 40 metre band. Noel even managed to listen to the club bulletin from Pretoria, and his club bulletin on the Sunday.

The mobile station at Mata Mata

'

ROLLERCOASTER RIDE

Day 6 has dawned. I slept well. The noisy lions had left sometime during the night. There was no activity at the water-hole, and no one in the hide. The campers looked disappointed, there was no adrenalin rush and excitement. It was a calm and tranquil morning. We went on a last drive up to Kwang.

Noel was very excited to see the Brown Hyena again. We drove alongside it, following it until it had disappeared. We were sitting at Kwang watching some kudu that were on the far side of the riverbed. We saw them stiffen and they turned to watch behind us. It was Noel that spotted the solitary male lion walking down to the water.

The lion at Kwang

The lion had a drink at the water-hole, and then went to lie down on the side of the road. The Mullins had seen a Honey Badger on their way to Kwang, so they arrived later, but they had time to photograph the lion posing on the side of the road. "How do you get the lions to lie next to the road and pose for us, Noel ?" asked Dave, with a grin on his face. The Mullins certainly had a lot of lion photographs to show their grandchildren.

It was time to break down camp. We savoured a last cup of coffee at Nossob, packed the two vehicles, said goodbye to fellow campers, and set off for Mata Mata.

We took the Kamqua dune road to Mata Mata, a journey of three hours in the gruelling heat of a Kalahari midday. It was a "rollercoaster ride" in the dunes, drive up, crest the dune and down the other side and up the next dune. The road is seldom flat, as it winds its way through the burnt-orange coloured dune-field. Dave said that the dune road was a lot of fun, and made him feel like he was a kid again. The Mullins were stopping to take photos of the gemsbok ( oryx ) and the ostriches dust-bathing in the dunes.

Oryx in the dunes. Photo: D. Mullin

 We had planned a picnic of salad and cold-meat at the Kamqua picnic site. When we arrived there, there was very little shade and the sun had reached its zenith. It was hot, hot, hot ! We cancelled the picnic, and drove to Mata Mata where we checked in, and then we were so grateful to find that the biggest and shadiest tree in the campsite was available, We began to unpack, thankful that we had the shade of the old Camelthorn tree to set up camp.

The Mata Mata campsite