Day 2

Had a lovely, lazy day today.  Only rose at 8am then shuffled around like the old fogies we are. Very hot and dry  (4% humidity - not much chance of rain)  (Static shocks every touch!). Temp went up to 38deg today in the Rad (with all windows open).  Outside wasn't much cooler.  (This is using our "good" gauge not the new iffy one).  Strong wind blowing in from the North bringing all of Africa's hot dry dust to our area.  Plenty of Ground squirrels and Yellow Mongeese (/goose/gooses?) and Cristed Bristeds. (For those not in the know this is an affectionate name for the Crimson Breasted Bush Shrike compliments of the late and much loved Mr McKenzie).  Looking forward to Kgalagadi tomorrow.  It's just starting to cool down now (around 5ish) and we (Luis!) is thinking of getting sloshed again.  I might join him - nothing like a good day's game viewing with a hang over. Had lunch at the lodge restaurant today - gonna have to get back to watching cholesterol intake but it was worth it! 

First day en route to Nam

No pics today.
Due to a prior commitment that did not materialise (Granddaughter's birthday party hosted by Luis' ex-wife. Apparently it was decided not to invite us!!!!!), we decided to leave today.  Intention was to break the journey by stopping off just outside Kuruman.  Khai Appel was a dive so we edged on to Molopo Kalahari Lodge, about 30km's outside Kgalagadi.  What a lovely place.  Very neat and own ablution.  Arrived in the dark so will explore more tomorrow.  Sightings en route (1 083km's): Kites, Kestrels, Goshawks and Buzzards.  Impala just outside Ventersdorp!!  Duiker, Bat Eeared Fox (alive!!), Steenbok, Camel & Ostrich.  Just before this trip we installed an external temp gauge on The Rad.  Left home at 6 this morning with temperature climbing from 12 to 26 in space of 10 minutes.  Decided it was a waste of money but what the heck!  1 hour later we realised it was set on internal (cab) temperature - toggled the switch to external and ..... dropped to 12. Not such a bad buy!  Had best hamburger ever at Bi-Lo (Take away at Engen garage just outside Upington). In fairness, we haven't had a hamburger in 6 months and were ravenously hungry - it was good!

Some random photos from previous trips

Tawny

Black Breasted Snake Eagle

Young male at Kgalagadi

Jackal Kgalagadi

Spotted Eagle Owl Kgalagadi

Tree hugging Cheetah at KNP

Serval at KNP

Majestic Kgalagadi Lion

Juvenile Pale Chanting Goshawk at Kgalagadi

INTENT

Our passion is game viewing and game photography.  We are both retired and are fortunate in that we are able to indulge in this passion reasonably frequently.  I will post some of our pictures from past trips but main intention is to document our forthcoming trips kicking off with Kgalagadi and Namibia at the end of this month.

A bit about Shawu

Shawu was one of the Magnificent Seven of the Kruger National Park.  His tusks are the longest on record in the Kruger National Park and one of the 6th longest to ever come out of Africa.
Shawu was a fairly approachable animal and showed no particular fear or distrust of vehicles. He was a large bull having a shoulder height of 340cm.  In 1981 it was decided to fit Shawu with a collar as poaching was a constant threat from Mozambique, this was successful and he was monitored on a regular basis. Shawu died of old age in the Kostini area east of Shingwedzi, near the northern watershed of the Shawu Valley (Vlei) in October 1982. He had been ill for some time and his condition and movements were monitored daily towards the end of his life by means of a radio transmitter which had been fitted in a collar around his neck. He was close to 60 years old when he died. 

Tusk Data	Left	Right
Length (cm)	317cm	305cm (305.5cm)
Mass (kg)	52.6kg (52.7kg)	50.8kg
Circumference at Lip (cm)	45cm	45cm

We "chose" his name as our Avatar because a mixture of the first 2 syllables of our names (using a pet name a dear friend derived for one of us) produced this . Given our love for wildlife and all things connected, it seemed fitting.