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Write a User ReviewThe Pans and Endless Savanna of CKGR Offer One of the Best Wilderness Experiences in Africa!
This was my second Kalahari safari. On the first visit I had driven in from the north and concentrated my safari around Deception Pan. This was the area where the wonderful ‘Cry of the Kalahari’ (by Mark and Delia Owens) was written and it was a real privilege to see the Deception Valley pride, and to hear the big male roaring around our campfire at night. On this trip I made the full journey (with my father) from the south of the Kalahari, eventually all the way to the Okavango. The experience was one of the best journeys of any kind that I have ever made and we both agreed that we could happily have turned around at the northern boundaries and retraced our drive back to the south. Highlights were eating breakfast on the roof of our Defender among a herd of hundreds of gemsbok and perhaps a thousand springbok, and camping in remote bush camps (without another person for perhaps 50 miles) while – for 8 nights in a row – we had the Kalahari lions roaring around our camp.
Botswana’s Bountiful Desert
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spent seven years camping out in one of the acacia islands that are such a feature of Deception Valley’s glorious grasslands.A Desert That Surprises With Wildlife
This enormous area is a real treat for fans of arid environments. Even if you're headed into the delta, a night or two down here makes for a great contrast. In the Dry season the searingly hot temperatures see man and beast alike retreat into the shade, restricting activities to the early morning and late afternoon. But perhaps most surprising is the number and variety of wildlife. There are plenty of desert-adapted animals such as springbok and oryx (gemsbok), and also blue wildebeest, southern giraffe with their dark, burnt- looking colouring, greater kudu, steenbok and, of course, the Kalahari lion. These magnificent lions – males with stunning black manes – could often be heard roaring around our camp at night. And it’s a sound that once you’ve heard you will surely never forget. A drive out onto Tau Pan was memorable for the bat-eared foxes and African wildcat lurking in the bushes. The pan makes a great spot for a sundowner as you can see for miles while you enjoy a cold drink with the blood-red sun dipping below the horizon.
Botswana’s Beautiful, Semi-Arid Heartlands
Famous for its dark-maned lions and for being one of the largestprotected areas in Africa, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is little visited compared to Botswana’s smaller northern parks and reserves. Its sweeping landscapes, which are the homelands of Botswana’s San Bushmen, cover an area of over 50,000 square kilometres. I found it a thrilling place to be just after the rains, when the plains are softened by fresh new grass, attracting wildebeest, gemsboks, springboks and their predators – but remarkably few tourists.
As well as the larger carnivores, you have a reasonable chance of spotting honey badgers and bat-eared foxes here. Birdwatchers can scan the grasslands, trees and skies for heavyweights including black korhaans, pallid harriers and the chunkiest of them all, the kori bustard.
The Heart of the Kalahari
Yes, wildlife densities are lower. But the Kalahari’s vegetation-covered sand dunes add a touch of mystery: you never quite know what’s going to emerge from the undergrowth. I’ve always been lucky in the CKGR with lion sightings (there are an estimated 500 in the park), and some of my happiest safari memories are of following black-maned Kalahari males stalking the grasslands in a golden sunrise or sunset while the whole valley – springbok, gemsbok – stops to watch. I’ve also had luck with cheetahs, bat-eared foxes, honey badger and an aardwolf, along
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with larger numbers of ostrich, gemsbok, silver-backed jackal, kori bustard and springbok. Deception Valley – a broad shallow valley of golden grasses and acacia stands, one of which was home to the Owens, who wrote ‘Cry of the Kalahari’ (1984) – is the park’s prettiest corner but also sees the most vehicles. To the north, Passarge Valley’s terrain is similar, but less frequented. The south is pure wilderness, although wildlife is sparse.Endless Space & Seasonal Plenty
For the serious wildlife enthusiast and wilderness-lover, however, any visit is special. The park’s open terrain comprises ancient sand dunes carpeted with undulating grassland and scrub. Obvious topographical features are
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few, save for several fossilised river valleys, with their associated stands of larger trees such as camelthorns, and a scattering of salt pans. For much of the year this is a parched landscape – officially a semi-desert – and large mammals are thin on the ground. Come the December-to-April summer rains, however, the grasslands burst into growth, producing a carpet of flowers and drawing large herds for the fresh grazing, notably of springbok and oryx, plus smaller numbers of blue wildebeest, red hartebeest and eland. The numbers today do not rival the vast aggregations of yesteryear, before veterinary cordon fences disrupted Botswana’s key migration routes. Nonetheless, game viewing can be impressive, especially around the Deception Valley area towards the north. The herbivores draw plentiful large predators, including good numbers of lion and cheetah, plus leopard, spotted hyena, occasional wild dog and elusive brown hyena – the last of these the subject of the celebrated ‘Cry of the Kalahari’, by US scientists Mark and Delia Owens, which did much to put this reserve on the visitor map. Other large mammals include small numbers of giraffe and greater kudu, while wandering zebra and elephant may enter the park from the north.During the Dry season, large mammals are more scattered. But the CKGR has plenty more to offer – from smaller predators, such as black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, yellow mongoose and suricate, to a rich spectrum of birdlife, including sandgrouse, coursers, bustards and other species typical of arid country, plus raptors such as secretary bird and pale chanting goshawk. You will also find impressive biodiversity at ground level, from ground beetles to barking geckos, and mind-boggling stargazing at night. Guests at some lodges may have an opportunity to meet some of the indigenous San people, for whom the Kalahari has long been home. Controversy persists about the enforced resettlement of this community outside the park. Nonetheless, organised interactions offer a fascinating insight into their ancient hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
My single visit to the CKGR was during April, at the end of the rains. Wildlife was prolific, highlights including an entire morning following a pair of hunting cheetah, with no other vehicle in sight, plus excellent encounters with brown hyena, a confiding African wildcat and a lanner falcon hunting finch flocks. The immense views were inspiring – and enhanced by a sense that I was barely scratching the surface.
Wild Arid Heartland
Accommodation options include self-drive and camping, a mobile safari with a guide, and there are two upmarket lodges within the national park and a couple more on the park’s boundaries within private concessions. The lodges offer walking safaris and encounters with Bushmen, as well as game
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drives.The CKGR is best visited during February to May, during and after the rains, however there’s some wildlife year-round.
Cry of the Kalahari
Encompassing the lion’s share of central Botswana, the 52,800km2 Central Kalahari is one of Africa’s largest and most remote game reserves. Set beneath gigantic desert skies, the near-endless expanse of arid wilderness is home to wildlife, wilderness and the last few remaining clans of indigenous San (bushmen) on earth. Although the area was opened to tourism back in the 1990s, its off-the-beaten-track location, unforgiving environment and limited infrastructure have preserved a genuine wilderness
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feel. With the exception of a couple of tourist camps in and around Deception Valley, the park remains truly wild, and chances are the iconic, big black-maned lions are the only other ‘inhabitants’ you’ll encounter during your desert safari.Endless Openness & Very Big Skies
Mostly flat, mostly brown, open, and devoid of trees, this gargantuan semi-desert grassland is silent, serene, and very, very special – particularly if you’re the type of person who likes solitude and the feeling of being a million miles from absolutely anywhere.
Although the reserve is not intensely game-rich, since there are no permanent natural water sources, you can still expect to see a fair amount of wildlife, including some unusual animals such as bat-eared foxes, meerkats, oryx, and honey badgers. The Kalahari lions are famous for their thick black manes. To wake up on a chilly Kalahari evening to the sound of lions roaring around your campsite is both exhilarating and unnerving.
If you’re up for it, a 4x4 self-drive
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safari through the CKGR is the thrill of a lifetime. I have done it several times and loved the fact that you must be 100% self-sufficient, bringing everything with you, kitchen sink included. However, for those who prefer some creature comforts, several upmarket lodges are located within the park, many of which maintain year-round ‘pumped’ waterholes and are therefore more attractive to animals. Deception Valley and Tau Pan are two such locations.For most of the year, the CKGR will be a dry sea of caramel-coloured grasslands, but go there during the unpredictable ‘wet’ season (November to March) and you might just witness plains of emerald green and a profusion of pretty little flowers.
The Great Thirstland
This 52,800 sq km tract of arid Kalahari sands is Africa’s largest protected area, though it exists as much to protect the fragile semi-desert habitat as for the sparsely populated wildlife that concentrates seasonally in Deception Valley, which was incised by four fossil rivers. My only visit to this reserve was comically unrepresentative, as something like half the average annual rainfall fell in the space of three days, transforming the flat sandy plains to grassy swamps where the most common wildlife appeared to be the outsized African bullfrog. More normally, you could expect to see a range of dry mammals including oryx, eland, greater kudu, red hartebeest and possibly lion, brown hyena and cheetah. Dry country birds are also well represented. The area is of cultural interest as one of the last places inhabited by Bushman hunter-gatherers, whose activities are officially restricted within the reserve, but who still practise their ancient lifestyle in several neighbouring private reserves.
An Expansive Desert Waiting To Be Explored by Any Nature-Loving Adventure Seekers
This is probably the wildest place in Southern Africa. This huge desert area is very undeveloped and venturing inside feels like a real adventure. In this arid terrain, desert antelopes like gemsbok and springbok are common. The usual predators like lion, cheetah, wild dog and spotted hyena are present and you might also see some of the more elusive desert specials like bat-eared fox and brown hyena.
Birding is remarkably good with raptors being abundant. Unlike most game reserves, the best time to see wildlife is in the rainy season as animals disperse when the pans dry up. I didn’t see a lot of game on my trip, but the feeling of remoteness and adventure is what it is all about and game viewing might be a little bit hit and miss and very seasonal.