Xade and Piper pan - Kalahari part 4
After our exciting night in Xaxa, it was time to move on to the next camp - Xade. In Xade there is a ranger post and it was possible to refill water for showers and washing. There would also be hot showers that I really looked forward to! It had been very hot yesterday and we had just done a quick wash in a bucket.
Tess had had a well-deserved rest after yesterday's long drive to Xaxa but the roads were deep with sand and it was heavy driving but in the end, we arrived. While driving we listened to Jon Henrik Fjällgren, who is a Swedish-Sami singer and yoiker. It felt so powerful driving through the Kalahari with the Swedish yoik in the speakers, one origin meets the other.
When we arrived in Xaxe, Christian and I had the luxury of visiting the showers first and Brian and Owen would set up camp. But guess how disappointed we were when we realised the showers were broken! Well, well, worse things have happened, instead, we set up the tents and it was a close call, we could see dark clouds beginning to tower in the sky. Shortly afterward, the sky opened up completely and the rain just poured down! We got an idea - when life gives you lemons .. you take a shower in the rain! :)
This was one of the highlights when we think back, outdoor shower got a whole different meaning!
After showers, we headed out to explore Xade. The plains were quite empty, I guess the animals decided to take cover from the rain. But not this magnificent guy! We spotted him from a distance and figured he was heading to the waterhole and placed the cars on the opposite side of the waterhole and waited.
This was a massive bull and he was in musk so we kept our distance. He slowly drank and worked his way around the waterhole closer and closer to our car. Brian radioed us and said that he was probably going to do a mock charge and we should just stay still and quiet. And right Brian was, the bull flapped his ears, lifted his head up and down and made a short and to be honest not very convincing mock charge :) when he was satisfied with his performance he continued drinking.
The plan was to stay in Xade just one night but before we left we had a lovely dinner with the only other people in the area. Manfred and Carina from Germany, they were such a cool older couple that use to self-drive in Africa for 4-6 month every year- goals! They had a special-designed car that was their own. When they are back at home they have it stored in Zimbabwe, but always ready whenever they want to head down to Africa.
The next stop, Piper Pan!
We arrived at Piper Pan in the evening and had the most stunning sunset!
Piper Pan was lovely but we now noticed that we were getting closer to the more “popular” and accessible areas of the Kalahari and we had some company, not many just two other cars, both photographers. One of the photographers was patiently sitting and waiting for a cheetah that stayed in the area. I was keeping my fingers crossed for a brown hyena, but my hope sank when we found a giraffe carcass, the stench was overwhelming so hyenas must have loved it! But just vultures insight...
But the most fantastic sighting was the bat-eared foxes that we got very close to this time. We spotted them in the plains and we decided to slowly walk a bit closer. They stayed completely still, watching us from a safe distance. I just love, love these little creatures! They are so cute and cozy when they curl up together in a little bundle. This was for me huge highlight so far on safari :)
We also had some great Oryx sightings, these horse-like antelopes are really tricky to photograph… They always ran away we approached, but this time we got close enough and they stayed :) Aren’t they just so beautiful and majestic?
Piper Pan blessed us with another dramatic sunset before we headed back to camp!
Good night, tomorrow we set off to Deception Valley!