There are so many reasons to love the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape that the red dunes, star-filled skies, blood-red sunsets and fabulous sightings of big game like lions, leopards, cheetahs and gemsbok don’t even feature in the top 10. Here’s my pick…
1. Listening at dusk to the clicking sound of the barking geckoes (more voluble in summer than in winter). You haven’t really experienced the Kgalagadi gees (spirit) until you’ve heard it.
2. Looking beyond lions to watch the little creatures – a whistling rat, a pouched mouse, a flock of sociable weavers chirruping in their communal nest that’s so big and heavy it’s almost collapsing a camelthorn tree.
3. Listening to the liquid call of the Namaqua sandgrouse as they land at a waterhole.
3. Listening to the liquid call of the Namaqua sandgrouse as they land at a waterhole.
4. Sitting on the deck of one of the cabins at the unfenced Urikaruus wilderness camp, watching wildebeest clowning in the dust or hot hyenas enjoying a swim in the waterhole just a hop, skip and jump away.
5. Pitching a tent under a tree at Nossob camp and finding yourself in a circle of new friends eager to share experiences of everything from game sightings to their most useful camping gear, advice on fixing vehicle problems to inspirations about their favourite travel destinations across the country.
6. Watching a family of hyperactive meerkat dig for scorpions and beetles, communicate in a series of little squeaks and grunts, or sit up on their haunches to sun themselves – and nearly topple over when they fall asleep!
7. Spending time at the hide at the floodlit waterhole at Nossob camp at night and being rewarded with a sighting of a brown hyena, a leopard or magnificent black-maned Kalahari lion coming for a drink when the rest of the camp is braaing or snoozing.
8. Lying snug in your bed and listening to the sounds of the night – the whooping of spotted hyena, the complaints of black-backed jackals or the resounding roar of lions close at hand.
9. Watching an electric storm from your cabin at Kielie Krankie, perched on the edge of a red dune so your view of the surrounding skies is uninterrupted for miles.
10. Having no cellphone reception in all but the main camp at Twee Rivieren so that you can recharge your batteries in the space, peace and silence of vast stretches of red sand or savanna, wide-open skies and constantly changing cloud patterns.
Have I missed anything you'd put in your top 10 reasons to love the Kgalagadi? Add your comments below.
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8. Lying snug in your bed and listening to the sounds of the night – the whooping of spotted hyena, the complaints of black-backed jackals or the resounding roar of lions close at hand.
9. Watching an electric storm from your cabin at Kielie Krankie, perched on the edge of a red dune so your view of the surrounding skies is uninterrupted for miles.
10. Having no cellphone reception in all but the main camp at Twee Rivieren so that you can recharge your batteries in the space, peace and silence of vast stretches of red sand or savanna, wide-open skies and constantly changing cloud patterns.
Have I missed anything you'd put in your top 10 reasons to love the Kgalagadi? Add your comments below.
Did you enjoy the article? Pin this image!
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