Hakskeenpan – March 2018

by Vincent Parker

An alternative lifestyle and a bird survey of the southern Kalahari and parts of the Karoo. Data are shared with the southern African Bird Atlas project (http:\\sabap2.adu.org.za)

Sunday 4 March 2018   S 26° 43.59’ E 20° 05.82’

It was hot. I returned through Philandersbron and went on to reach Rietfontein after a couple of stops. I drove through the town, to have a look, and back out again. There are some smart-looking houses on one side of town, and more humble dwellings on the other. An Agrimark shop (hardware and farm supplies) and a bottle store (both closed on Sunday) were the only signs of commerce.

I parked by the graveyard in order to wander about on the outskirts of town. Heading east from there on the main tar road to Askham, I took a side-road and stopped where it crossed a stream bed. There was some bird activity around the few small puddles in the otherwise dry stream bed. Farther on there is a fair sized dam a little way off the road to the north. I made for the spot where I had camped the last time that I had come this way, a very pleasant spot on top of a ridge overlooking the dam, but found that it is now fenced off, with a locked gate. Backtracking a little, I found that the side road to Loubos winds around to the other side of the dam, and there I was able to stop and make camp near the water’s edge. The dam was full.

There was an old caravan with an awning parked near the wall of the dam. Later, I met the young man who occupies the caravan as he was herding his sheep back to their kraal. I asked him about the origin of the water in the dam, given that there had not been much rain and other dams in the area were dry. In response, he told me his life history, but he talked too fast and I did not get much of it. He owns the flock of sheep, which he inherited from his mother. The dam is fed by a stream that rises far away in Namibia, so that it is not dependent on local rainfall.

People from the settlement of Loubos came by in two pick-ups. I gathered that they may be related to the shepherd. Another pick-up arrived, with its load area crammed full of women, children and dogs. Apparently there is not much else to do on a Sunday afternoon in Loubos than to take a drive by the dam. The shepherd was bringing in another group of sheep, the stragglers that had not come in with the main flock. The dogs ran at the sheep, the sheep scattered across the landscape, children ran after the dogs, adults ran after the children and the pick-up roared off cross country to try and cut off the sheep.

In the evening, I wanted to sit out and watch the sky while the air cooled, but mosquitoes drove me into the tent. The tent was still too hot for comfort, so that I had to get back out and endure the onslaught of mosquitoes for a while longer. I slept well eventually.

Monday 5 March  S 26° 43.15’ E 20° 15.05’

It was hot. I drove back out to the main road, and soon reached Hakskeenpan. The pan is fed by the same stream that filled the dam by Loubos, and it too was now mostly under water. I could see flocks of Avocets and Stilts in the distance, and a Great White Egret, a rare bird for the region and the first one that I have seen here. The road across the pan is on a narrow raised causeway, and I could not stop there for long without impeding other traffic.

Beyond the pan, I stopped for a while at the top of a dune with a view over the pan. I drove on through high dunes, and then the road flattened out as it approached the village of Klein Mier. I had an ice-cream and a fruit juice at the Kalahari Coffee Shop (they do not serve coffee).

On a side road that goes to Simon’s Pan, I found a quiet place to spend the afternoon, and make camp. When I am very tired at the end of a hot day, I greatly resent the restless energy of the flies that then buzz around my head.

Tuesday 6 March  S 26° 56.00’ E 20° 39.83’

It was warm and partly cloudy. Although I had slept well, my limbs felt heavy and reluctant to move.  I travelled on across a dreary sparsely grassed plain with scattered Mesquite thickets. I passed the farm Breekduin of Mossie Willemse, where I had stopped in to camp previously, but I noticed that his name had been painted out on the signboard at the gate, and the other signboard offering accommodation and 4X4 trails had been broken or cut down. I guessed that Mossie must have moved on, and I did not go in.

By afternoon, when it was getting too hot to operate efficiently, I still had one grid-cell to cover on this route, but without a suitable camping spot along the way, I drove on to reach Molopo Lodge (near Askham) to camp for the night.

At the lodge, there was a group representing the Bloodhound Project. The project is building a car in the UK which is to be brought out to Hakskeenpan to make an attempt at the world land speed record on the flat surface of the pan. The event has been postponed several times and is now set to take place later this year. The project representatives were at the lodge to negotiate to take over the lodge and campground for two months (September and October) to accommodate their team and supporters (500 people in all).

There was a heavy rain storm during the night. After that, mosquitoes infiltrated my tent and disturbed my sleep.

Wednesday 7 March  S 28° 22.88’ E 21° 09.35’

It was hot. I drove back on the Rietfontein road across the dry Koopan, to cover the remaining grid-cell which I had skipped yesterday.  That done, I had a meal at the coffee shop in Askham and then stopped again to take in the next grid-cell on the way south to Upington. I drove on to reach Spitskop to set up camp for the next six days, but had to stop halfway, feeling tired, to stretch and pour water over my head. In the evening, the campers on the site next to mine (a family of three in a tent) offered me some of their grilled meat, which I enjoyed.

Thursday 8 March

There was a cold breeze at first, and it was warm later. I drove to town to buy supplies and then began to catch up with data capture and communications.

My neighbours in the campground (a couple with a child of about 10 who is home-schooling) have been on the road from Messina for three months, touring South Africa in a 1984 Toyota 4X4 station wagon (footstepsofmyafrica.simplesites.com). They originally intended to tour Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, but were issued the incorrect travel documents for the child by the Department of Home Affairs. Their lawyer is pursuing the correct documents while they tour this country instead.

Friday 9 March

It was cool in the morning and warm later. I cycled, swam in the pool, caught up with data capture, ate fresh fruit and salad and began to recover from the stresses of constant travelling in the heat.

While downloading from my camera, I noticed that shots across Hakskeenpan showed some interesting waders in the distance, but after zooming they were too fuzzy to identify. I would not have been able to get closer to them without trespassing.

Saturday 10 March

It was cool in the morning and warm later. I intended to spend the day much as I had yesterday, and did so until midday. My laptop is set to not download Windows updates. It reset itself, and consumed the remaining portion of my monthly data allocation by downloading updates. I breathed deeply, remained calm, packed up my rooftent and partially repacked my vehicle to drive into town, purchased a supplementary data package, returned and set up camp again.

On my way south on Wednesday, I had passed a convoy consisting of a drilling rig and three support vehicles with Namibian registration. I wondered where they were going, as they are unlikely to be authorised to operate across the border. I came across the same convoy today, camped by the main intersection outside town, the drivers sharing a small tent while the trucks were being repaired. I guess that those repairs must be the reason for their journey from Namibia.

In Windows 10, the option to NOT download updates is hidden in a remote place, and one has to track through several menus to get there. I had to search for an old notebook for the instructions on how to do it.

By evening there were several other campers present. One couple with a small fluffy dog in a camper van had parked right next to the bathroom, which is annoying, as I do not like the feeling of being watched every time I go there. I guess they stopped there because they do not have the correct adaptor to use the power points at the other sites, and connected their extension cable to the socket in the wash-room. At another site, a young woman was apparently having a first driving lesson, for the car repeatedly revved and stalled before making a slow circuit of the grounds.

Sunday 11 March

It was cool at first and warm later. I had the quiet, restful day that I had intended to have yesterday, and browsed the online bird atlas data.

Writing up this journal, and then typing it into electronic form are tasks that I sit down to with a groan, but which I feel good about when it is done. Being able to communicate what I am doing helps significantly to keep me going.

Monday 12 March

It was warm. I drove into town for provisions and made preparations for the next expedition, starting tomorrow. I will head out east on the main tar road as far as the Kalkpunt turnoff. After exploring the Kalkpunt road, I will double back to the Koupan road, take the turnoff off that road that connects to the Vastrap road, make a short detour on the road that goes on beyond that, then go on to Mosplaas and return to Upington via Pearson’s Hunt. I will be attending to some scattered grid-cells along that route that have not yet reached the minimum level of coverage (four visits).

Tuesday 13 March  S 28° 15.11’ E 21° 39.48’

It was hot, with a light wind. Although I do not as a rule drive at night, I got going before dawn because I had a lot of ground to cover today. I set off eastward on the main Olifantshoek road (N14), and reached the turnoff to Kalkpunt a little after sunrise.

I felt some anxiety about gaining access to the road through Kalkpunt. There is an electronically controlled gate at which one has to phone one of the numbers displayed there to request entry, and I feared being denied after having driven all the way there (when I was admitted the last time, I sensed some reluctance on the part of the farmer who admitted me, but that may have been because my call had woken him up). I was admitted, and spent the day on the road through the three farms. On my arrival, I caught a little flurry of early morning bird activity, but it was slow going birdwise thereafter. Conditions were very dry, and  I encountered only the common birds of the area, and not all of them.

I left Kalkpunt in the late afternoon and drove 10 km back westward along the main road to take the turnoff on the road to Koupan. After 13 km along that road I stopped to camp at a spot where I have often camped, on top of a hill with a grand view. That last stretch of road was very bumpy, and negotiating it had drained all of my remaining energy.