Coastal Christmas 14- The Great Karoo

January 3, 2014

In case you were wondering how long these "Coastal Christmas" posts could possibly go on for- this is the last one…I promise! I know, it's taken me forever to post about each aspect of our trip, but I really wanted to capture the moments, the scenery, and the overall experience of it all. I hope, somehow along the way, I've managed to convey at least snip-its of what was a fantastic holiday, and our first African Christmas. Thanks for hanging in there!

Our last stop was in the Great Karoo- the Karoo National Park to be precise. Something about this place- the bareness of it all, makes it feel very different from the other national parks we've visited. We spent the night in a little cabin smack in the middle of the park, and went on both a late night and an early morning game drive to explore the area. This was one of our favourite night drives to date (it probably helped that during the day it reached around 40 degrees Celsius in the Karoo, so the open-air 4x4 in the night air was a very welcome break from the heat). I think it was also the fact that the guides were not in a hurry and took their time driving and spotting, so we actually managed to see some very cool wildlife. We saw both an aardvark and a aardwolf (our first sightings of these strange nocturnal creatures)- two very elusive animals that are rarely seen in the wild. While it's extremely tough for me to not take photos, it is nearly impossible to get a decent shot in the pitch dark on a moving safari truck, so other than one very blurry shot of the aardvark (taken with our little Nikon point-and-shoot), I put my camera away and simply enjoyed watching these guys in their natural habitat. 

Aside from a quick stop in the Northern Cape's Kimberley (see below), this marked the end of our 23-day trip. It was an incredible tour, and proved to us that while not a large country, there is so much to see and experience in South Africa (and so much left yet to be explored!). 

The view from our cabin.

Kudus and mountains.

Cape Mountain Zebras. 

Two rhinos grazing at the base of the cliffs (and an ostrich roaming around nearby to keep them company). 

Morning drive- those are three common eland running to the right of the road up ahead. 

Night drive- the blurry mass in the top left photo is an aardvark. You'll have to just take my word for it. 

This area of the Karoo was almost prairie-like.

Kimberley- an old diamond-mining town whose claim to fame is now a Big Hole. Literally. Been there, seen it.