Tag Archives: nature

Camel Thorn

Vachellia (Acacia) erioloba

The Camel Thorn is an iconic tree of many arid Southern African landscapes. These trees grow in deep, dry, sandy soils in South Africa (Northern Cape, North West, Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo), Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and parts of Angola and Zambia.

Camel Thorns can grow to 18 meters high, with a widely spreading crown and a tap root that can grow up to 60m deep in order to reach underground water (young trees grow very slowly above ground until their roots reach a reliable supply of ground water). The thorns are paired, often swollen and up to 6cm long. Flowers (clumps of small, yellow balls) are borne from late winter through summer. Camel Thorns are estimated to live to around 250-300 years old.

The wood of Camel Thorns is highly regarded both for lumber and as firewood but as it is a slow-growing species it has been declared a protected species in South Africa in order to prevent it being exploited to extinction. The seeds can be roasted and make a reasonable substitute for coffee. Various parts of the tree is used in traditional medicine to treat ailments ranging from head, ear- and toothache to tuberculosis and gonorrhea, even rabies in dogs. The English name of this tree derives from its Afrikaans name, Kameeldoring, in reference to the leaves and seedpods being a favoured food source for the giraffe (kameelperd), as it is for many other herbivores, both wild and domesticated. Humans also prepare the pods as a porridge.

Camel Thorn tree with sociable weaver nest

Camel Thorn with pods

Came Thorn thorns

Camel Thorn pods

Camel Thorn tree

Young Camel Thorn tree

Camel Thorn leaves

Camel Thorn tree

Camel Thorn seeds

Camel Thorn pods dropped from the tree

Camel Thorn tree

Camel Thorn

Sociable Weaver

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Philetairus socius

You’d probably expect that the bird that is responsible for building the largest nests on earth must be a massive winged behemoth, but you’d be wrong. Meet the Sociable Weaver. Their enormous communal nests, constructed of thorny sticks and dry grass in large, indigenous trees or artificial structures like windpumps and utility poles, house up to 500 adults birds and their chicks and are used for generations – some nests are over a 100 years old and weigh over a tonne! The nests provide excellent insulation from the outside weather, never getting colder than 15°C in winter nor warmer than 30°C in summer. These nests are often also utilised and shared by other kinds of birds and animals.

This Sociable Weaver nest near Twee Rivieren in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park may well be one of the biggest constructions by birds on the planet!

The Sociable Weaver is a small (30g, 14cm) sparrow-like bird endemic to parts of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa’s Free State, Northern Cape and North West Provinces, where they inhabit arid Kalahari savanna and feed on seeds and small insects.

Sociable Weavers don’t breed until after it has rained, which in their distinctly arid range is very unpredictable. While they may not breed at all during severe droughts, in years of good rainfall the monogamous pairs, assisted by chicks from previous broods, may attempt to raise from 4 to as many as 9 clutches of 2-6 chicks each! The youngsters fledge at about 3 weeks old and remain dependent on their parents and their helpers for another 45 days or so after leaving the nest.

As a common species with a stable population, the IUCN considers the Sociable Weaver to be of least concern.

Sociable Weaver

A flock of sociable weavers at Haak-en-Steek’s waterhole

Sociable Weaver

Mokala road and sociable weaver nest

Camel Thorn tree with sociable weaver nest

Sociable Weaver Nest

Sociable Weaver nest

Sociable Weaver Nest

This Sociable Weaver nest near Twee Rivieren in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park may well be one of the biggest constructions by birds on the planet!

Sociable Weaver Nest

Quiver Tree with Sociable Weaver Nest

Sociable Weaver nest

Tawny Eagle on a Sociable Weaver nest

Sociable Weaver nest

Camel Thorn Tree with Sociable Weaver nest

Sociable Weaver

Sociable Weaver nest looking suspiciously like a head staked on an electricity pole…

Sociable Weaver nest

Carnivorous Ground Squirrels!?

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While exploring with his camera in Mata Mata Rest Camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Joubert came across something really remarkable, if somewhat gruesome: Southern African Ground Squirrels feeding on the carcass of a Cape Turtle Dove. While it is doubtful the squirrels killed the dove and it isn’t clear how the dove succumbed (probably attacked by a raptor), Joubert captured some really fascinating behaviour, as none of the literature we consulted give any indication at all that ground squirrels will eat meat (other than an occasional hapless insect).

These photos were all taken by Joubert (who turns nine soon).

Cute and cuddly? You may rethink that soon!

Ground Squirrel enjoying a dustbath

Vegetable matter, like this overripe fruit, is more the traditional food for Ground Squirrels

Ground Squirrel gnawing on the leg of a dove in Mata Mata

Ground Squirrel eating the carcass of a dove

The aftermath

(Edit 08/08/2018 – The WILD Magazine also did a short piece about Joubert and these photos, have a read here)

(Edit 17/08/2018 – Joubert’s school shared his photos and Wild article on their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Flaerskoolgarsies%2Fposts%2F1830709550376081&width=500 )

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – Wildlife

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For such an arid area – average rainfall measures around 200mm per annum – the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is home to an astonishing variety of wildlife. Apart from a wide variety of desert-adapted plants and invertebrates, the Park’s lists boast 62 kinds of mammals, 274 species of bird (of which 78 are resident throughout the year), 48 sorts of reptiles (including 17 snake species) and seven kinds of frogs.

There’s three kinds of plants that really are characteristic of the Kalahari. The first is the Camel Thorns – huge trees growing in the beds of the Auob and Nossob River and about which we’ll be sharing more soon. Then, there’s the Gemsbok Cucumbers and Tsamma Melons; the fruits of which are made up of around 90%+ of water and both an invaluable source of moisture to all kinds of wildlife (including some carnivores).

Camel Thorn tree

Gemsbok Cucumber

Tsama Melon

Tsama Melon that’s been opened and partially eaten

At the one end of the scale there’s a multitude of invertebrates and small reptiles and mammals taking up their respective positions in the food pyramid. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park allows a glimpse into their natural cycles and behaviours uniquely adapted to their arid environs.

Armoured Ground Cricket

Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko

Brant’s Whistling Rat

Four-Striped Grass Mouse

Camouflaged Tree Locust against a tree trunk

Ground Agama

Ground Squirrels

Karasburg Tree Skink

Meerkat Family (Suricates)

Meerkat

Puff Adder

Slender Mongoose atop a Sociable Weaver nest

Kalahari Tree Skink

Yellow Mongoose

The Kalahari might best be known for the grand variety of raptors that soar its airways, but birdwatchers will not be disappointed by the variety of other, less fearsome but equally fascinating, feathered fauna that find a home here.

African Harrier Hawk

Bateleur

Burchell’s Sandgrouse (male)

Cape Glossy Starling

Cape Turtle Dove

Crimson-breasted Shrike

Familiar Chat

Fork-tailed Drongo

Gabar Goshawk

Greater Kestrel

Groundscraper Thrush

Jackal Buzzard

Kalahari Scrub Robin

Kori Bustard

Lanner Falcon with prey

Lanner Falcon

Namaqua Dove

Namaqua Sandgrouse wetting his feathers to take water back to its chicks at the nest

Northern Black Korhaan

Ostrich male on the run

Ostrich male with his chicks

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Pygmy Falcon

Red-headed Finch pair

Rock Kestrel

Rock Martin

Scaly-feathered Finch

Common Scimitarbill

Secretary Bird

Sociable Weaver

This Sociable Weaver nest near Twee Rivieren in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park may well be one of the biggest constructions by birds on the planet!

Southern Masked Weaver

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Tawny Eagle

White-backed Mousebird

White-browed Sparrow-weaver

Yellow Canary (male)

The Rest Camps of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park are excellent places to look for owls, by day or night!

Pearl-spotted Owlet seen in Nossob

Southern White-faced Owl seen in Mata Mata

Verreaux’s Eagle Owl seen at Twee Rivieren

Predators, both large and small, abound in the Kalahari. Africa’s three species of big cat are often seen (though the leopard eluded us when we visited in June 2018), and is one of the main reasons people undertake the long journey to visit here.

African Wild Cat

Bat-eared Fox

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackal eating from the carcass of a Spotted Hyena

Brown Hyena and Black-backed Jackals on a carcass

Brown Hyena

Cheetah on a distant dune

Lion on a dune in the Kgalagadi

Lion watched by wildebeest

Lioness at Nossob’s fence

Lion close-up

Lioness peaking over a ridge

Lions at sunrise

Kalahari lioness

Kalahari Lioness

Well camouflaged Lion pride

Lion pacing the Nossob

The Gemsbok is so iconic of the Kalahari that both parks that today make up the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Botswana’s Gemsbok National Park and South Africa’s Kalahari Gemsbok National Park) was named after it. These beautiful animals are of the most commonly encountered large mammals in the Park.

Gemsbok

Gemsbok herd

Gemsbok drinking

Gemsbok

And while there may not be as great diversity among the large herbivores in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park as in some of Africa’s other great conservation areas, the antelope, giraffe and warthogs occur in such numbers that it belies the harshness of their environment.

Blue wildebeest

Large concentration of blue wildebeest at Langklaas waterhole

Giraffes

Giraffe

Kudu herd atop a dune

Kudu Bull

Red Hartebeest

Springbok and Red Hartebeest fleeing

Springbok Rams

Springbok Ram

Springbok showing off

Springbok herd

Steenbok

Warthogs near Grootkolk

We’ll dedicate the next few posts on our blog to discover some of the Kalahari’s residents in more detail.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – History and Tourism

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Wedged into a remote corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape, between Namibia and Botswana, lies a very special piece of the Kalahari Desert. Here a wilderness of dunes, pans and dry, sandy river beds is a safe refuge to a rich variety of natural life, and one of the last fully functional ecosystems remaining on earth. The beds of the Auob and Nossob Rivers very rarely boast flowing water – the Auob perhaps once in ten years, the Nossob only once or twice in a century.

Gemsbok in the lower Nossob

Aptly named Gemsbokplein

Springbok herd in the Auob valley

Sunset at Mata Mata

Scenery along the Auob River valley

Gemsbok in the Auob River

Gemsbok herd on the move

Rooikop waterhole near Nossob is a great place to wait for wildlife to come and drink

Red moon rising over Nossob

Springbok at Kannaguass waterhole

Kgalagadi Scenery

When the First World War broke out over a 100 years ago, the British Colonial government of the Union of South Africa and British Bechuanaland considered the beds of the Auob and Nossob Rivers a strategic access into German South West Africa and started sinking boreholes in the rivers to supply advancing troops. After the war, the area was divided into farms by a Scotsman, Roger Jackson, explaining how many of the waterholes today carry very Scottish-sounding names. The newly settled farmers however found it tough going – the fascinating museum at Auchterlonie providing a glimpse into this hard life – and had to turn their rifles on the herds of game moving through the area in order to make a living.

With the game population falling drastically, and shortly after South Africa’s first national park was proclaimed (the Kruger in the then Transvaal) two influential men from the region invited then Minister of Lands, Piet Grobler, on a “hunting trip” in the Kalahari and deliberately took him to an area denuded of wildlife. So disturbed was the minister by the lack of game that he immediately set about the process of proclaiming the area between the Auob and Nossob Rivers South Africa’s second national park – the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park coming into official existence on 31 July 1931. Soon more land to the southwest of the Auob and its confluence with the Nossob were added, bringing the size of the Park to 9,600km². Then, in 1938 the government in neighbouring Bechuanaland (today Botswana) proclaimed an even bigger piece of land on the other side of the Nossob (the unfenced international boundary between the two countries) the Gemsbok National Park. Informally the two conservation areas were managed as a single unit ever since, but it wasn’t until 1999 when the leaders of the two countries signed a treaty to formalise the arrangement. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, covering over 34,500km², was officially opened on 12 May 2000 and is one of the biggest, and most unspoiled, conservation areas on the planet.

Photo time at Union’s End

Auchterlonie waterhole with the museum in the background

Auchterlonie Museum

Windpump working hard

Craig Lockhart Waterhole

Dalkeith Waterhole

On this side of the marker you are in the Republic of Botswana

On this side of the marker you are in the Republic of South Africa

Gemsbok statue at Twee Rivieren’s reception, symbolic of the two “Gemsbok” parks joining together to form the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

On the South African side of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park guests have a choice of three “traditional” rest camps offering basic amenities like accommodation, camping, a shop, fuel station, swimming pools, and guided walks and drives. Twee Rivieren is the main entrance, biggest camp and administrative centre of the Park (it also has a restaurant and border control) and offered the first tourist accommodation in the Park in 1940, while Mata Mata (on the Auob River, opened 1955) and Nossob (on the Nossob River, opened 1966) lie deeper into the Park, about 120m and 160km away from Twee Rivieren respectively. Union’s End marks the point where the borders of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet and is one of 6 rustic picnic sites available on the South African side of the Park. Six smaller Wilderness Camps are also spread throughout the Park – these offer only accommodation to overnight visitors. Between Twee Rivieren and Mata Mata lie the Kalahari Tent Camp, Urikaruus and Kieliekrankie, between Nossob and Mata Mata is located Bitterpan while Gharagab and Grootkolk is located north of Nossob on the way to Union’s End. While there’s around 500km of prepared roads (very sandy and corrugated in places, not recommended for sedans) to explore the Park in relative comfort, there is also a selection of guided and self-guided 4×4 trails available.

Cottage 25 at Twee Rivieren, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018

Chalet 24 at Twee Rivieren, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018

Twee Rivieren’s restaurant

Camping Site at Twee Rivieren

Jackal visiting our braai in Twee Rivieren (camera trap photo)

Cottage 1 at Mata Mata, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018

A luxury riverview unit at Mata Mata

Camping Site at Mata Mata

Welcome to Nossob

Cottage 8 at Nossob, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, June 2018

One of Nossob’s luxury riverview chalets

Premium campsites at Nossob have their own ablutions

Camping site at Nossob

Nossob has an information centre dedicated to the Kalahari’s predators

Walkway into Nossob’s hide

The view from Nossob’s hide

Springbok seen from the hide at Nossob

Black-backed Jackal seen from the hide at Nossob

Lioness at Nossob’s fence

Kieliekrankie Wilderness Camp

View from the units at Kieliekrankie

Kalahari Tented Camp

Urikaruus Wilderness Camp

Grootkolk Wilderness Camp

Picnic Site at Dikbaardskolk

Picnic Site at Kamqua

Picnic Site at Lijersdraai

Picnic Site at Melkvlei

Picnic Site at Union’s End

Relative locations of Twee Rivieren, Mata Mata, Nossob and Union’s End in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park must be one of South Africa’s most out-of-the-way tourist attractions, lying about 1060km from Pretoria and 1040km from Cape Town. The nearest major airport with daily flights is at Upington, about 250km away from Twee Rivieren.

The location of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

In the next installment, we’ll be showing you the marvelous wildlife spectacle the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park has to offer.

Western Rock Skink

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Trachylepis sulcata sulcata

Western Rock Skinks inhabit rocky outcrops in the Karoo and semi-deserts of the Northern Cape and Namibia, where they hunt by day for their principally insect prey. They are usually seen in pairs and hide in cracks and crevices at night or when danger threatens. Females may give birth to 2 broods of between 3 and 5 young in the summer months. Western Rock Skinks grow to 8cm long (excluding their tail, which can be shed to escape predators). These very active lizards are commonly seen along the trails in the Augrabies Falls National Park.

Western Rock Skink male

Western Rock Skink female

Western Rock Skink male

Western Rock Skink

Western Rock Skink (female)

Western Rock Skink

Namaqua Porkbush

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Ceraria namaquensis

The Namaqua Porkbush is a hardy, slow growing, succulent shrub that grows up to 6 feet tall, excellently adapted to the extremely harsh semi-desert environment of rocky hills where it grows on the border of Namibia and South Africa’s Northern Cape. The bark of young shoots of the Namaqua Porkbush can be used to make a kind of elastic rope. The Augrabies Falls National Park is a wonderful place to see these tenacious plants, which seems to be able to grow in even the most meagre of substrate.

Large Namaqua Porkbush

Namaqua Porkbush leaves

Small Namaqua Porkbush

Namaqua Porkbush leaves

Small Namaqua Porkbush on Augrabies’ Moon Rock

Namaqua Porkbush leaves

Pririt Batis

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Batis pririt

Common in dry savanna habitats, especially those dominated by thorn trees, and along wooded drainage lines in more arid areas, the tiny Pririt Batis (10g in weight, 12cm long) follows an entirely insectivorous diet.

It is mostly the female’s responsibility to build the delicate cup-shaped nest using spiderweb and fine plant material inside the foliage of a tree or shrub. Breeding in this species has been recorded almost throughout the year (though there seems to be a spring peak), with clutches of 1-4 eggs incubated by the female for a little over 2 weeks. Both parents look after the chicks once hatched. The chicks leave the nest when they’re two weeks old but may remain with their parents for up to 6 weeks more. These little birds normally move around in pairs or small groups, often together with similarly sized birds of other species.

The Pririt Batis is distributed from southern Angola through Botswana and Namibia to South Africa‘s arid western provinces (Free State, North West, Eastern, Western and Northern Cape). The IUCN lists it as being of least concern.

Pririt Batis

Female Pririt Batis

Augrabies Flat Lizard

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Platysaurus broadleyi

The Augrabies Flat Lizard, or Broadley’s Flat Lizard, is a South African endemic occurring in a tiny piece of the Northern Cape Province, centered on the Augrabies Falls where they are extremely common (one of the highest densities of any lizard anywhere on earth) and a familiar sight to visiting tourists. They grow to a length of around 8cm, excluding the tail, and their exceptionally flat bodies allow them to escape predators by hiding in the narrowest of crevices.

Preferring arid, sparsely vegetated, rocky habitats, Augrabies Flat Lizards follow an omnivorous diet that includes mainly insects (often caught by jumping into the air!), ripe Namaqua figs and pieces of food dropped by tourists. Augrabies Flat Lizards are active throughout the year and do not hibernate in winter, though they are active for shorter periods then. In the hot summer of their arid environs they will hide in the shade during the heat of the day. Their breeding season stretches from spring to early summer, during which the colourful males will display to the drab females and each other, and get involved in serious territorial disputes if need be. Females may produce two clutches of eggs in a season, the first young emerging from late December.

Augrabies Flat Lizards featured in a terrific clip on a BBC Wildlife programme presented by Sir David Attenborough. The IUCN considers the Augrabies Flat Lizard to be of least concern.

Augrabies Flat Lizard male

Augrabies Flat Lizard male and female

Augrabies Flat Lizard female

Augrabies Flat Lizard male

Augrabies Flat Lizard female

Augrabies Flat Lizard male

Augrabies Flat Lizard female

Augrabies Flat Lizard male

Augrabies Flat Lizard female

Orange River White-eye

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Zosterops pallidus

Orange River White-eyes occur only in South Africa’s central and western provinces and into Namibia, where they commonly inhabit thorny riparian vegetation and well-planted gardens, feeding primarily on insects and other invertebrates. Little is known about the breeding habits of these tiny birds (9g in weight, 11cm long), though their nesting season apparently spans spring and summer.

The IUCN considers the Orange River White-eye to be of least concern. Many authorities consider it a subspecies of the closely related and very similar Cape White-eye, with which it sometimes interbreeds. We had our first encounter with the Orange River White-eye during a recent visit to Augrabies Falls National Park.