Rooiputs Lodge: luxury accommodation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Rooiputs ep2)

One night of #luxury for us before the camping begins. We lower the tyre pressure, prepare the filming door and rig the Red V-Raptor before heading into the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. At the lodge we take a look at our room with a view of the waterhole, then head out for an afternoon drive and find a pair of male lions and a #lion carcass on the dune near Kij Kij as well as a honey badger on the move.
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In this wildlife filmmaking behind-the-scenes series, Rob and Andy travel to Rooiputs in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Rooiputs is the name of the waterhole, campsite, and lodge 25km up the Nossob river from Twee Rivieren/Two Rivers. On this safari our primary objective is to find and film caracal, but we are also looking for general Kalahari wildlife: lion, cheetah, leopard, raptors, gemsbok, cape cobra, and all the smaller species that make this part of the world so special. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a massive game reserve and national park in the Kalahari. It occupies an area of 38 000 square kilometres. The reserve spans both South Africa and Botswana and borders Namibia. Rooiputs campsite and lodge are across from Rooiputs waterhole, on the Botswana side of the dry Nossob riverbed that marks the border between South Africa and Botswana. The harsh Kalahari environment, vast red dunes, and ancient riverbeds support a fascinating variety of desert-adapted species, making this conservation area a very popular destination for wildlife photography and cinematography. Unlike most of our adventures, in this series we are only visiting one location and thoroughly exploring a small section of the park in search of the elusive caracal. Follow along as we set up camp in the unfenced wilderness campsite and attempt to capture footage of the park's diverse and majestic wildlife.
The playlist for this series can be found here: • Rooiputs Kgalagadi Tra...
Filmed and edited by Robert Hofmeyr and Andrew Caldwell.
Behind-the-scenes shot on a GoPro Hero 11. Timelapses filmed on a GoPro Hero 10. For the telephoto wildlife shots we used a Canon 200-400mm f4 lens on a Red V-Raptor camera. Aerials filmed using a Mavic 3 Pro.
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:36 Preparing the vehicle
01:00 Rigging the camera
04:06 Entering the Kgalagadi
05:06 Arriving at Rooiputs Lodge
07:39 Lunch
08:12 First game drive
Music for this series was licensed from soundstripe.com
#kalahari #safari

[@smetlenn6480]

The sunset at the end was so beautiful. The filming door is absolutely amazing ! 😁

[@MovingPicturesAfrica]

Thanks Smet. Yeah, we had some fantastic sunsets on this trip.

[@smurgy99]

I'm not sure my car hire company would like me to fit a door mount like that! Excellent footage. I too use a 200-400 which I love, sadly not on that camera though. Great footage. I shall enjoy the series.

[@MovingPicturesAfrica]

Thanks. Yeah the 200-400 is a great lens 👍

[@doug729]

Looks amazing.

[@J.Dibble]

Another great episode. Have you ever eaten ostrich? An Ostrich Festval is held early March in Arizona, USA (while the desert spring weather is still pleasant during the day), with ostrich races, food, petting zoo, food, music, vendors. Did I mention food? You can buy ostrich burgers. Actually tasty. 😊

[@MovingPicturesAfrica]

Thanks. Yes, I love a nice ostrich steak.

[@J.Dibble]

@@MovingPicturesAfrica 😋😋😋

[@J.Dibble]

@@MovingPicturesAfrica This is the first episode where I’ve seen an ostrich. Truly momentous. 😉

[@MovingPicturesAfrica]

@@J.Dibble 🙂 quite a few more coming in this series. Some cute ostrich chicks as well. They are common in the Kgalagadi

[@J.Dibble]

@@MovingPicturesAfrica oooOOOOOooo!!! Another cliffhanger!! 😁

[@Mr09260]

I just hand hold at a High Speed Shutter Speed through the Passenger Window or a 10 kg bean bag on my side ..so much quiker than a contraption ..High Shutter Speed = Noise yes BUT with Photoshps denoise AI its a breeze to remove

[@MovingPicturesAfrica]

Sure, but that won't work for video, only for stills.

[@joanhuggett5164]

Loved seeing you set the rig up on the filming door (we've seen many fantastic sights from your great invention, Robert). Still have my fingers crossed for a Caracal.
I think we're in for an exciting series. It's looking so good already. One question: What were the big clumps in the tree you passed?

[@MovingPicturesAfrica]

Thanks Joan. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the trip. Those are sociable weaver nests. Tiny birds but they build massive communal nests. Sometimes so large they break the branch they are on. Always interesting because they are busy little birds and you often see other animals around the nest - barn owls will share with them and cape cobras try to eat the chicks.

[@joanhuggett5164]

I find all this so fascinating. Thanks for taking the time, Robert.

[@Mr09260]

I rather stay in the Campsites next door as I am doing yet again next April/May

[@MovingPicturesAfrica]

Yeah, we move to the campsite after 1 night at the lodge.