The Kalahari

Its the 8th of January 2024, its the first visit to this part of the world to me.

We are greeted with intense heat as we set up camp attempting to pitch our camp under a tree that we thought will give us nice shade, boy were we wrong!

Our first afternoon drive we managed to come across a small pride of Lions strolling down the road looking to quench their thirst at a nearby waterhole. The next afternoon we found a female Lion with small cub approximately 4 weeks old lying under a bush escaping from the blistering sun. This was a great sighting to view but photographically very challenging. On the horizon we spot a few Ostriches with very young ones heading not only our way but also towards the Lioness. We sat with hope and anticipation as they edged closer. Finally! The Lioness spots them. She immediately goes after the young, this chase then continues into the hot and soft dunes of the Kalahari. The male Ostrich attempts to distract her by lying down and acting injured, but this also fails as she has her eyes set on the prize, the young ones. In a cloud of dust she grabs one of them with the rest running for their lives. On our way back to camp a massive rain storm darkened on the horizon. This is what we came to see this time of the year, making these hostile temperatures all worth it.

Over the next couple of days we came across many Kalahari animals, including Cheetah, Lion and elusive Leopards. Not just a Leopard but on one occasion we were lucky to find three Leopards together consisting of an adult female Leopard and her two cubs. The next few days were spent looking for these Leopards without luck. But luck was definitely on our side as we see a car stopped one early morning up ahead in the road. This was not the Leopard we were looking for but something much much more rare.....An Aardvark!!! This was a first for me. We only saw it as it scurried over the dune in the morning sun.

The following morning we couldn't believe our eyes, is this true...? I was in disbelief as we see the Aardvark once again! This time closer and a much better sighting. Grabbing for our cameras in what must have been a chaotic and funny seen if seen by anyone from the outside, myself and Armand, friend and fellow wildlife photographer start firing away with sounds of camera shutters going crazy. Then in this moment we decide to risk it all buy lowering our shutter speed and capturing this very rarely seen animal in motion. This is a risk it all as the photo can come out to be something absolutely incredible or a complete fail, there no in between. Its all or Nothing. Im glad to say that it was the all option as we both left the scene with smiles, high fives and disbelief as we both managed to get the shot!

What a feeling!

The days continued with the afternoons being very quiet with sightings as ourselves and the animals suffer in the heat. On one such afternoon we decided to rather just sit and wait at a waterhole near camp. After about 5 minutes Armand calls out, what is that... "Its a snake eating another snake" he says. To our surprise this was in fact a Cape Cobra killing and eating a Puffadder.

Its 17 January and mine time has come to an end. Not only has it been an incredible first trip to the Kalahari but also a memorable one with a good friend.