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