Kgalagadi

Even though there are better known and also more accessible national parks in South Africa, such as the Kruger National Park in the Republic of South Africa (the RSA), the Etosha National Park in Namibia, or Camp Savuti in Botswana, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the RSA (the smaller part of the park) and in Botswana (the larger part of it) is definitely something special. Covering the southern part of the Kalahari Desert, it mostly extends over dry savannah with an average of only 200 mm of rain per year. In addition, Kgalagadi is also one of the largest African parks, extending over a surface nearly twice the size of Slovenia (38,000 km2). The visual image of the park is characterised by parallel reddish dunes covered in grass and small bushes; truth be told, however, they cannot be found in the entire park. The other landscape type is represented by dry riverbeds, salt flats, and individual trees, particularly various acacia trees resistant to extremely dry conditions. As of recently, the park can also be accessed from Namibia. Even though the park itself does not extend to Namibia, it is definitely easier to enter the park from that side than to try accessing it from Botswana or from a particularly remote north-western part of the Republic of South Africa. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a vast surface, the Botswanian side of which can only be driven through in its entirety with a reliable SUV; compared to the South African side, the infrastructure is also underdeveloped here. The border between both sides of the park runs through the dry riverbed of the intermittently flowing Nossob River and touches the border with Namibia in the north.

 

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A typical landscape of the southern Kalahari which can be observed in Kgalagadi.

 

Unlike the aforementioned parks, you will not be seeing large herds of animals in Kgalagadi: even artificially created water basins don't attract many of them. In addition, the “Big Five” game are also missing two members in Kgalagadi, the elephant and the Cape buffalo, since there simply isn't enough water for them. Animals living in the park have adapted to drought conditions lasting for most of the year. Besides, the rule that you can see the largest number of animals early in the morning or late in the afternoon absolutely doesn’t apply to this park.

 

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A lone oryx (Oryx gazella) in front of a characteristic Kalahari dune.

 

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Three gnus (Connochaetes taurinus), synchronously trotting over the savannah.

 

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The steenbok (Raphicerus campestris) is one of the smallest species of antelopes; it is a pretty timid animal, living a more or less solitary life.

 

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An oryx alpha male examines the surroundings from a hill above the dry riverbed.

 

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A herd of springboks (Antidorcas marsupialis), the most common type of antelopes in dry savannas and deserts; these animals namely live in complete independence of water.

 

However, Kgalagadi is known for its large cats, especially lions. Their black mane is what separates the Kalahari lions from all other lion species. There are supposedly between 400 and 500 of them in the park, which is not much for such a large area; however, we must understand that individual prides or even solitary lions can take over a huge territory, extending over up to 5,000 km2 in certain parts of the park with less food. For comparison: this is a surface nearly ten times larger than the average territory of a pride of lions. Another characteristic of the Kgalagadi is a much smaller number of lionesses than elsewhere in Africa, which is why male lions often live alone or form same-sex couples or trios. Solitary lions are also obliged to chase on their own, which is not actually common in other lion prides throughout Africa, being as lionesses usually deal with most of the hunting. Another reason for the fact that there are more lions than lionesses in Kgalagadi is that more lion cubs are born. Later, alpha males force numerous young males to leave their pride; due to lack of food or the fact that they must chase their own prey themselves, many of them fail to survive. Since Kgalagadi is an open landscape with few trees, it’s much easier to see other big cats such as cheetahs, desert lynx or even leopards.

 

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Desert lynx (Caracal caracal) is an African cat that looks much like our lynxj but is only active during the night, which is why seeing one during the day is a rare treat.

 

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A Kalahari lion with its characteristic dark mane resting in a shadow, tired from night hunting and overeating.

 

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His partner is lying right next to the road and is not particularly interested in posing for pictures.

 

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Black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) fighting for what’s left of a lion’s meal.

 

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A cheetah in a tree, which is a rather unusual spot for this cat to be in.

 

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Marking their territory with urine is a common occurrence with big cats.

 

During the two and a half days we spent roaming around the South African part of the park, my wife and I were relatively lucky since we only failed to spot a leopard; we did, however, get to see the biggest African troublemaker – the honey badger, a rather smug and fearless creature that even kings of beasts respect. Part of this respect is definitely the consequence of the honey badger’s scent gland secreting a stink nobody would like to go up against.

 

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The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a little beast we rarely see during the day; even the lions steer clear of it.

 

Due to its size, Kgalagadi is without a doubt a very special park. You can drive for a couple of hours and only see ostriches, a couple of springboks, oryxes, gnus and a jackal or two. And then, all of a sudden, a desert lynx which is an extremely rare sight anywhere else in Africa crosses your path; or maybe you’ll see a cheetah climbing a tree, which is not a common behaviour of this cat elsewhere in Africa. Another proof of just how special Kgalagadi is: reddish dunes and the special African light just add more charm to it.

 

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An ostrich shyly burying its head in its own feathers instead of in the sand this time.

 

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The fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis) is a characteristic bird of the dry African savannah, with shiny blue and black feathers and red eyes.

 

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The secretary bird (Secretarius serpentarius) is an easily recognisable bird and the only one of its genus. Its name comes from the Latin name of its genus; even though the bird is definitely not very well-versed in secretarial functions, it knows how to catch snakes really well, which is how the species got its name.

 

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The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is the most common, yet majorly endangered, species of vultures in the south of Africa.

 

There is one other advantage that Kgalagadi has over numerous other African parks: since there aren't many people there, you’ll be able to enjoy watching animals and taking photos of them completely alone.

Dr. Tom Turk
Dr. Tom Turk

Dr. Tom Turk je redni profesor za biokemijo na Biotehniški fakulteti, UL.  Po izobrazbi je biolog, je avtor knjig o življenju v Jadranskem in Sredozemskem morju, popotnik in naravoslovni fotograf, ki se sem pa tja še vedno potopi pod morsko gladino in tam posname tudi kakšno podvodno fotografijo. Zanimata ga predvsem varstvo narave in ohranjanje biološke raznolikosti. Je tudi član uredniškega odbora slovenske izdaje revije National Geographic.

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