The Tully Botsnam Adventure 2010/2011

This particular sighting is worth it's own post.

We were all on our way to Sunday Pan for a morning drive, when suddenly Stephen stops at a small puddle on the side of the road. There must have been 100 African Giant Bull Frogs in the puddle. Jon and I stayed there for a good hour taking photos and just awestruck at their beauty. They actually look and act like cartoon characters. For those who don't know much about them I found the following information from a website about them:

Description:
Apparently, there are two different "Pixie" frogs, P. adsperus and P. edulis. One is a "dwarf" and the other is not. There is a lot of conflicting information on the net about these, I don't believe most people actually know there are two pixies and just label what they have with the first latin name that they see attached to pixie. Therefore I'm not sure what characteristics are used to differentiate between the two. However, I'm talking here about the bigger (non dwarf) version of the two (Pyxicephalus adsperus).
The African bullfrog, or Pixie frog as it is often called (because of it's latin name- NOT because it's as cute as a fairy!), is one of the largest frogs in South Africa.
It measures up to 9.5 inches (24 cm) and may weigh over two kilograms. It has a chubby body with a broad head, and has olive-greenish colored bumpy skin. The male usually has a yellow throat while the female's throat is cream. Only its hind toes are webbed. The female is much smaller than the male (12 cm or 4.45 inches), which is pretty weird, 'cause usually its the female frogs that are bigger!
Buyer beware: These guys look really really cute when they are teeny. I almost got one for myself until I did a bit of research and saw what they turn into when they grow up!! Don't be fooled by their apparent small size inmost pet stores: baby frogs still grow up to eat lots and lots ...and lots!
Habitat:
Provide about 6cm of soft substrate to burrow into. Try getting some potting soil with no chemicals in it....They live well in warmer temperatures - up to 83�F.. A (big) regular terrestrial or half and half tank terrarium seems ideal housing, as long as there is something for them to burrow into. This substrate can consist of pre-sterilized chopped oak and maple leaves, sphagnum moss and river sand, or you can go for some regular potting soil as long as it doesnt contain any chemicals..You can put a few large pieces of cork bark or bogwood on top and add a shallow water pan towards one corner.
Read more information on this subject in the Housing Your Pet Frog section.
(see the Frog Doctor for details on illness prevention.)
Diet:
This is where things get a bit hairy for my taste. These guys eat lots and lots of really big bugs, fish (guppies, I am told, are pretty good feeders) and mice. This frog has toothlike projections on its lower jaw to restrain struggling prey. They will eat pretty much anything that will fit in their mouths or that they can overpower, including mice, lizards, and other frogs. Large insects and worms should be left on the rocks, though these guys will eat them from the surface of the water too. Dead mice are best offered either by hand or using forceps (again, get the kind with round balls on the ends so you don't risk injuring the frog when he lunges at the food!) It is generally recommended that you house these frogs alone (except for breeding) in order to avoid cannibalism. Eeek!
Habits:
These guys blow up like balloons when freaked out! They spend much of the year underground, but come to the surface after a heavy rain to breed.
By the way, the males of this species are known to give a hearty bite now and then, so watch those fingers!
Miscelleneous:
These guys come from: Africa! (surprise!) Actually, they generally are found eastward and southward from Nigeria. They also live throughout the eastern savanna regions, from Somalia to Port Elizabeth, and west to Angola. Usually, they hang out in open grassland, and if there are any to be found, they'll sit around in puddles. In the dry season, they will burrow into the ground.
Apparently, the natives find them to be a tasty treat!

Here are some of our photos of them - enjoy!

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I need to add that we went back the following day and they were gone - not a sign that they were ever there!!! One of the hilights of the holiday!

We set off early from Swakop to Cape Cross and we were very excited about seeing our first ever seal colony. On route we passed some tables with the pretiest pink salt crystals, and believe it or not, honesty boxes. For those who don't know what and honesty box is, basically if you take a crystal you put the money in the tin. There were so many tables, it is difficult to determine who deserves the sale with no one there. We did get one, and yes, we put the money in the honesty box.

So back to the seal colony. I can honestly say this was one of the worst experiences of my life. There are what apears to be thousands of seals, mainly cubs, and I need to add many many of them were dead. You can just imagine the smell. It took me a good few days to get the stench out of my nose, and I was almost convinced we had driven over a long dead one and it was stuck under the car. If you can get over the death and the awful noise seals make, I am sure it can be an experience, but this was NOT for me.

From Cape Cross we ventured into Henties to check it out. It was very busy, so not really a place for us. I am sure that if you are an ardent fisherman, it is a wonderful place to visit. Fishing rods as far as the eye can see! Henties seems to be the fishing capital of Namibia.

Our next stop was at Spitzkoppe on route to Windhoek. Our plan was to camp at Spitzkoppe which is a comunity camp. It is really pretty there and well worth the stop. After taking pictures and climing up some of the rocks, we dicided to push on for Windhoek. I am a little sad we did not stay actually, as the campsites are quite pretty, but the toilets are very rustic!!!

We finally arrived in Windhoek late in the afternoon. A decision was made to spend one night at a lodge, which we did. I must add, it was great. We got to charge everything including the car from the hotel room, got to have a well deserved hot shower and slept in a proper bed. The kids even got to watch TV - it had been ages since we had even seen the news.....

In true Tully style, we got up super early and left back to our favourite place on earth - Botswana!

Ah back in Botswana....

Our first night was spent at a very small camp called El Fari. They do advertise that they have the nicest toilets in Botswana and I have to say they are bank on the money there! Big, spacious, lots and lots of hot water. I do recommend it if one is entering the CKGR from the Tsau gate. We are still one day ahead of schedule. The day before we tried to go to parks board offices in Ghanzi, but it was lunch time and in true African style not a sole in site..... So with no booking, and a very ominous notice board at the start of the sand road to the Tsau gate (reads - no booking no entry.....) we decided to go ahead anyway. I was a little worried about the road, but it seemed fine, although a little muddy in places. We saw tons of Kudu on the road in - really big males with massive horns, and goodness they can jump.

After a few good hours negotiation at the gate, phone calls to the main office, and one campsite available for us at Phokoje Pan we entered the Central Kalahari. This site is really not nice and I will definately avoid it in the future. We felt really alone out there as we did not even hear a car, let alone see one. It was incredibly hot and sticky. The kids were ready to kill each other and we were exhausted from a long and stressful drive there. After an early dinner, we retired to the safety of our trailer. I need to also confess that as wonderful as it was to spend all this time with just us, we were so excited to be meeting up with my brother and friends. Some company at last! During the night, a monster storm formed - Jon had to get up and put the fire out as the coals were blowing all over the place. When it is very dark and the wind picks up, the fire looks alot bigger than it actually was. Jon was not happy to be getting out of the tent to put it out, but he put on a very brave face and did what he had to do.

New Years eve dawned, and we made out way to Deception. We passed a few vehicles on the way that looked awfully muddy and our hearts sank - we don't like mud or water much after our last trip (for those who don't know we killed the car in Moremi last year...) The drivers however said that it was not that bad, and they were right. A few moment when the trailer is at 90 deg to the car, and sliding all over the place. Jon is probably one of the best drivers I know and he ever struggled. The kids giggled through the whole experience which actually helped.

We arrived at our camp site (I am not going to mention which one it is as it is the best one in the whole of Deception, and the more people that know the harder it will be for us to book).

The site is really big, and we found the perfect spot under a tree, with good access to the long drop and shower, although it is still a bit of a walk.

Camp set up, we pile into the car and venture out for our first game drive. We also put the radio on for when my brother arrived, and an hour later we could hear them on the radios, so back to camp to meet them with an ice cold beer in hand to greet them. We spent the rest of the day chilled, having some dops and a rather quiet new years eve, but we did hear the lions.

We got up (with no hangover) early on the 1st for an early game drive, and it turned out to be one of our best yet. In one day, we saw leopard (our first ever), cheetah and lion. Our plan was also to start hunting the lions we had heard the night before. We never did find them, but did find their kill that morning surrounded by numerous raptors and a number of vultures. It was quite smelley actually!

For those who have not had the pleasure of going to CKGR, one of the nicest things is that if you do spot a large cat, you tell the next person where it is. Also there is not the "parking lot effect" when one is sighted. In fact the first cheetah we saw, we were the only people there for a good 45 minutes before one other car pulled up. The cheetah was eating it's kill, and eventually threw up as it had eaten too much and slowly walked over to where we were and crossed the road. Wonderful experience. One of the other campers told us that there were lions 20km's up the road, so off we all went and found them lying under a tree in the middle of the pan. It was quite a young group, and we managed to get quite close. One very frightening thing is when a lion sets it's sights on you. The stare almost burns through you and you realise how little you actually are. They are incredible creatures, and the CKGR has some of the largest lions in the world.

So there we have a great day of cats.

The kids were really excited about going to Swakopmund - in their mind this would be where all the real adventure stuff was going to happen. They wanted to go quad biking, go to the movies, go on a boat to see the seals and enjoy being in some sort of civilisation.

The drive to Swakop is pretty and we stopped in at Sollitaire on route, it is full of old rusty cars and bikes, and really worth a stop in. They have a stunning bakery with very fresh treats and rolls. The kids also got a chance to play Lawrence of Arabia and rode on camels.

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After a good few hours on the road, we decided to take an even more scenic route and ended up on a road that one actually needed special permission to go on as it passes some diamond mines on the way. We were completely oblivious to this, and just carried on.

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I finally got to see some wild horses on the way which made my drive if the truth be told.

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Finally after a good day in the car, we arrived in Swakopmund. Did I mention the Namibian dust, well the trailer tent was full of it. The cover was now white and not the usual green, but as it was Christmas eve - it looked a little snow like. Luckily we found a carwash open and they at least managed to spray off a load of dust off it. We also managed to grab some last minute groceries at the Spar before the whole town came to a stand still for Christmas.

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Swakopmund is very busy in December, it is the local Margate for Namibians, and many South African's also make the long journey to be there, so to get a campsite in Swakopmund in December is really difficult. We managed to find a really nice place that was 10Kms out of town called Sofia Dale. It is a very nice camp ground, run by a German couple who have only been here for 2 years. One critism, is that there are not enough hot showers for the amount of people camping, but I am sure they will improve this. They also have a good shop, and sell or hire out dune boards. This was one of our first purchases... One for each of the kids.

Christmas in Namibia was very different from Christmas at Linyanti.... We actually had a roast dinner, and not pasta with packet sauce surounded by hippo's and mozzies ...(for you Jules) The kids did get a chance to do some of the things they wanted to do. We walked on the beach, we did dune boarding and we got to go on quads in the desert, so it was jam packed.

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The next day was a little different in that we went to Sandwhich Harbour. If you have a 4 x 4, this is a must. Try to get behind someone local, as you need to be sure about the tides. You can still drive on the beach in Namibia, and this drive takes you along the edge of the sea and the dunes, so if the tide comes in, you are pretty darn screwed!! We did manage to find a local, and followed them in. The drive there is magnificent, we even saw a whale really close to the beach, so must be a very deep drop off just after the waves. Sandwhich harbour is a wet land right on the edge of the desert. There are lots of different species of birds, and it is a very pretty and peacefull place.

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After this, we went to the famous Dune 7. All I can say it is one giant dustbin. I cannot believe people can be so darn piggy!! Beer bottles and chip packets everywhere!!! Jon still went up!!

Our last full day in Swakopmund was spent looking at Welwitschia trail. This is very interesting, we saw Lichens and even got to put water on them to change their colour. I did expect them to be a bit bigger though - how on earth did anyone find them anyway?? We spent a bit of time looking at the Welwitschia and even went to see the one that is about 3000 years old. It is huge and very impressive.

Our plan for the next day was to leave proper early, head up to Hentjies, then Cape Cross, then off to the Spitzkoppe.

After crossing the border, we were now prepared for good roads all the way to Sossusvlei - travelling at least 100kms an hour. The first few hundred Km's were really not bad at all, good solid sand roads - but you need to be prepared for dust. This is actually one of my real pet hates, and Namibia has a certain type of dust that seems to get into everything.

We stopped for some supplies in Mariental and then pushed on to Sesriem, where we were booked in at Bethesda. The landscape changes quite dramatically, and this is when I saw Namibia as the land of many contrasts. Outside Sesrium the landscape changes to mountains - dark black angry looking mountains, then changes to semi dunes, and then red dunes and then finally the sea!

We arrived at Bethesda and the kids were once again delighted that there was a pool. The weather was not too bad, we were expecting it to be very hot, but actually is was very bearable, and in the evenings it is cold - jersey and tracksuite pants time!!!

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Bethesda is a really nice campsite, we were a little nervous when we arrived as it is a Christian camp, and I was a little worried we would get woken up by "Cumbaya my Lord" in the mornings, we were not!! It is, however, about 40minutes from the entrance to the Sossusvlei, so if you want to be able to take great photos in the desert, you need to leave the campsite at 5am in order to make it there when it opens. Lucky, all the other campers were leaving at the same time, so you will be woken up by the noise.

The park is beautiful. We stopped at Dune 45, the most photographed dune in Namibia, and Jon and Courtney walked up it. I did give it a bash but my silly fear of hights took over and I chose to rather stay at the bottom with Hayden. Hayden had a ball - one giant sand pit!!! It was still a bit nippy and we were all still wearing jerseys.

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From there we went on to end of the park. If you don't have a 4 x 4 then you can park at the parking and one of the parks cars will take you down to the lake. If you do have a 4 x 4 then you can drive down there yourself. This is a must do, it is fantastic. Some smaller dunes and I am pleased to say I did actually walk up one in the end.

The lake was dry, but there are times when you can swim in it after the rains, this must be a great experience.

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The kids were now really keen to try dune boarding - we did not have anything though, but managed to find a piece of cardboard - this did not work very well, but they had fun anyway.

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On our way back, we noticed a whole load of people walking off towards another dune, and decided to follow them. One of the guides showed us a horned adder in a tree. They are cute snakes, and sidewind their way through the desert. They can have a nasty bite mind you so don't let their size understimate this.

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Just off from there, Jon niticed an enormous dune - and decided that he was going to concer it. All he took with him was his hat and a bottle of water - he left his shoes behind. This proved to be a very silly mistake as the sand gets hotter and hotter as the day goes on. We saw him summit and then bounce his way down, then we waited for a good hour for him to show up. The sand was so hot, he tied his hat to one foot and his shirt to another!!! Remember - always have slops or something of that nature with you when you do the dunes - his feet were very sore!

From there we went back to the reception, had a quick lunch then a swim in their pool - now it was really hot. Then off to the Sesrium Canyon. This is a beautiful place, and well worth the visit. But try to go when it is cool - it can be a bit unbearable for the kids in the baking sun!

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Back home now to Bethesda, for an ice cold gin and tonic and a chance to relax!!!

What a great day out!