KALAHARI TRAVEL: The call of the Kalahari

NATURE

Words: Dale Barrow | Photos: Lauren Barrow

Kalahari The call of the

It was only a four night visit en route to Windhoek, but our stay at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park will forever be entrenched in our memories for all the right reasons. The decision to deviate from the highway was not made lightly, what with the December desert heat, the extra time and distance, and not to mention the infamous corrugated roads. However, sanity prevailed as we entered the Transfrontier Park at Twee Rivieren.

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A crimson breasted shrike brightens a dead bush next to the Nossob waterhole.

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As we entered, we were confronted with the hardship that accompanies life in this dry landscape - tens of eland carcasses lay scattered around the water holes and dry river bed. This was our welcoming committee to the Kalahari.

The dry years of 2011 and 2012 forced thousands of eland to migrate south from the northern Botswana region of the park, but insufficient water, unsuitable grazing, and expectant predators were their demise.

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A thirsty Eland approaches the waterhole at Kaspersdraai waterhole, about 15 minutes before the leopard appeared.

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With the return of the summer rains, the eland returned home to the north. But not all the eland returned and it was one of these expatriates that alerted us to the most special sighting of our visit.

At the Kaspersdraai waterhole, between the Twee Rivieren and Nossob camps, my wife and I were taking pleasure in the smaller, less-noticed residents of the park: a pair of squabbling Cape sparrows, a couple of jackal, and a lone and thirsty eland. With our hungry stomachs competing with the thunder overhead, we were discussing our skottel breakfast back at camp - and then it happened. I recall hearing the eland bark and seeing the jackal look up. Following their eyes, we saw a sight that is engraved in my memory forever, a beautiful, sleek, spotted shadow cautiously and stealthily moving down to the waterhole. We watched in awe as the leopard drank its fill; it was just us, the leopard and the great expanse (the jackal and eland had beat a hasty retreat). As effortlessly as it had arrived, the shadow melted into the grassland - and it appeared as if nothing had changed. But in a very special way something had - and that day my wife and I could talk of little else.

This, one of the 150 leopards in the South African section of the park, along with 130 Kalahari lions and 200 cheetahs make the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park one of the best places to view the big cats of Africa. This is confirmed by the ‘Game Spotted’ notice board at each camp, where multiple sightings are recorded on a daily basis - and is a useful guide when planning your afternoon game drive.

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One moment it was there, the next it was gone!

This leopard was spotted at Kaspersdraai waterhole at about 07h30.

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FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: 1. While the Kalahari welcomes the summer rain, the same cannot be said for this mother cheetah and her two cubs at the Marie se Draai waterhole.

2. A lion lying on the road. 3. This immature tawny eagle in the evening light was a special sighting, which we did not have enough time to savour.

4. The white-faced owl is a must see when visiting the Kgalagadi National Park, but look carefully as they are well camouflaged. This specimen was taking a nap in the Mata Mata Campsite, on the Namibian border.

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This black-maned Kalahari lion was suffering from the combination of intense heat and having heavily overindulged on a wildebeest (in the background to the right of the picture).

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The park’s expanse is vast at over 3.6-million hectares and game spotting requires persistence, patience, and petrol, of which the latter is available at all three traditional camps (Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata). During your game viewing endeavours, beware of only pursuing the grand game, as there is much joy to be had in the many animal species that call the park home, none more so than in the prevalent white-faced owls that are common to the campsites.

No single aspect of the park can accurately define it. It is not the ghostly leopard, the mother cheetah and her cubs huddled against the precious but unfamiliar rain, nor the black mane Kalahari lion gorging on his wildebeest that singularly captures and define the magic of this place .

It is these things and so much more; it is the colour of the red dunes against the ominous thunder clouds, the cool shade of the camel thorn tree, and the clean and dry air. It is the proud tawny eagle with his feathered legs silhouetted against the red setting sun (along with the other 92 resident bird species within the park), and it is the peacefulness of the waterhole as gemsbok and springbok silently come to drink their fill.

Yes, the roads aren’t always the smoothest, short-notice thundershowers are always a possibility during the summer months, and your campsite is always vulnerable to a marauding gang of ground squirrels, mongooses, and jackal, so be sure to not leave any food out unattended. This is after all the desert, the Kalahari, and if you honest with yourself, would you want it any other way? •

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