28th July – Polentswa
Back to the routine of the roof top tent – it is very comfortable and we love it. But we especially love our warm sleeping bags – we even used them at the Sanparks accommodations as they are much warmer (and lighter) than the bedding provided. We drive north towards Lijersdraii and just before we arrive we are treated to a surprise. We see what we assumed was a cheetah, scouting it’s surroundings from the top of a termite mound. A quick check with the binoculars reveals this is no cheetah but a leopard! Unfortunately it was very far away but still a great sighting as now we have seen all the big cats. The Kalahari is finally relenting and showing us its precious inhabitants. And what a sighting, a leopard pretending to be a cheetah! The leopard moves from one termite mound to another until it totally disappears in the long grass, not to be seen again. After we got back from the trip we found out (courtesy of the Kgalagadi Leopard Identification Project) that this leopard’s name was Safran and she has a cub.
We head back to camp where we make some hotdogs. At some point the wildebeest become very agitated and I grab my binoculars to check them out. It seems a Brown Hyena has spooked them, in broad daylight. They run towards the Polentswa waterhole and so does the hyena. We jump into the car and make a quick dash to the waterhole too. We see the Wildebeest but no sign of the Brown Hyena.
In the afternoon we go for a game drive but ensure to spend the sunset at the Polentswa waterhole – it is a good decision. We see our first Lanner falcon of the trip and just as the sun is about to set we see a puff of fur with 4 legs approaching the waterhole. A Brown Hyena! It spends quite some time at the waterhole and we are able to observe it in detail and photograph it. What a gorgeous creature, its fur is really beautiful – but it must be one of the weirdest animals I have ever seen. A cloud of fluff with the front legs much longer than the back legs and the face of a dog. Its front legs are so long the only way to drink comfortably is to kneel. Being so far from any other camps we are one of only two cars at this special sighting.
In the evening we have drinks, cook and and enjoy the ambiance. We hear the whoops of spotted hyenas, and we think we can see their haunting glowing eyes in the torch light but we aren’t 100% sure. A very bold jackal comes very close to us looking for scraps. We also spot the springhare again. Quite funny as most of the time all you can see is a small pair of green eyes just bouncing in the grass.