Well, the last thing we expected was rain in the Karoo, in December! But rain it did – plenty! The Tankwa Karoo NP is somewhere in the middle of the Karoo, and there’s not much there – but there is a lot of it! Wide open spaces, mountains and solitude. There is some game, but it is really timid; the animals turn tail and run at the sound of the vehicle, and the sound of the vehicle was great because the roads are very corrugated, so everything is rattling and a rollin’ as we rumble along.
Having said that, we did spot Gemsbok, Springbok, Eland, Kudu, Red Hartebeest, Klipspringer and Duiker, plus two strange beasts – a white ostrich and a black springbok! The place also has an incredible bird list, and we spotted many species right in our campsite, from the comfort of our camp chairs.
The campsite is good – each site has its own ablution block and kitchen area. We had the campsite to ourselves, but did have to share with the Francolins that arrived as soon as the vehicle did. When crumbs didn’t appear quickly enough, they liked to nibble on Nige’s toes! He was not impressed with this practice, so the Francolins got our rusk crumbs.
