Sunday 30 December 2012

Kgalagadi: September 2009 (Part 9)

It's time to finish up this trip report as I've got many more to share!

We awoke to our last full day in the Kgalagadi for this trip. There were some wonderfully streaky cirrus clouds in the sky, and I was hoping to make use of that to capture some interesting landscapes and animals-in-habitat photos. We made sure to pack up everything early and took a leisurely drive south towards our last overnight stop in the Park - Urikaruus Wilderness Camp. More info on all the accomodation on the South African side of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park can be found HERE.

Here are some images from that morning:














At the 14th Borehole waterhole we found some Kudu. They do occur here but are rarely seen and mostly in the northern Nossob river towards Botswana. The Kalahari Kudus are also quite on the brown side, as opposed to the distinctly grey variant found in the Kruger/Lowveld area of South Africa.









This herd consisted mostly of females, but 2 of them were engaged in what appeared to be mock-fighting a-la-male antelopes...weird...





The road in general was quiet in terms of wildlife on this day, and I so wanted to capture an animal on one of the dunes or calcrete ridges with this backdrop of stunning clouds. Close to Urikaruus, around midday, I got my chance. A lone wildebeest stepped onto the calcrete ridge on the Namibian side...and posed nicely for us.




This next photo has become an icon in my portfolio. It was awarded a "Highly Commended" in the 2010 BBC Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, and has done very well in various local competitions and photographic salons. I knew this would be a monochrome conversion the moment I took the photo. For the photographically inclined - this photo was taken with an entry level DSLR and an 18-55mm kit lens. The photos you capture are more about your vision than the gear you use!



It also looks nice in vivid colour...



Urikaruus is a lovely camp. It consists of 4 wooden lofted minimalist-style chalets overlooking a waterhole in the Auob river. We spent a very cold night here, and cruised towards Twee Rivieren the next day, and headed on home. Our last 2 drives didn't yield much, but here are a few photos from our last drives to close out this trip report. Thanks for following along, and I hope you tune in for all the trip reports I am lagging behind on...some interesting experiences to come!

Morkel Erasmus










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