Kalahari Desert
Utterly unique and mesmerising in its raw beauty, the Kalahari Desert is an area for the adventurer, the explorer and those looking for an experience on the road less travelled.
What to expect…
Rocky mountains and rolling red-sand dunes covered in yellow grasses that thicken up after summer rains and rustle as black-maned lions stride purposefully through it.
Meerkats scurry about in family groups in search of small insects and scorpions to feast on before disappearing down their burrows at night as the rarest-of-rare pangolins and aardvarks emerge under a blanket of stars the likes of which few people have seen in such quantities as the bustle of the day settles into a pristine quiet stillness at night.
Dawn finds cheetahs on top of the dunes scanning for springboks and wild dogs awake in chittering delight at the expectation of the hunt. Desert-adapted black rhinos chase off unwanted visitors in grumpy self-indulgence and sable and roan antelope move through the wilderness in nearly unparalleled numbers.
Interesting destination:
Tswalu Reserve in the Kalahari is a fascinating destination. It was once the stage for the largest private translocation of animals in Africa in a bid to set up a reserve that featured some of the rarer finds in Southern Africa, and gave them space to breed and thrive. And that it has. It’s a massive area, full of vast open pans, grassy plains, rocky mountains and sand dunes and is home to a surprising number of rarities. From roan and sable antelope - really difficult to find elsewhere, to good numbers of cheetah, aardvark and even pangolin. The Green Kalahari sustains so much life - smaller creatures like the zorilla, the sociable weaver and Pygmy falcon, to oryx adorning every red dune, desert adapted black rhino - one of the more difficult-to-see creatures, are prolific here and wild dogs who den almost every year, providing very reliable and intimate viewing.
A visit in winter can be very cold, but the rewards in the form of rarities outweigh any chill in the air. Tswalu is in part a research reserve, with research into termites, other insects, cheetah and pangolin ongoing. There are a number of pangolin who can be tracked via telemetry, allowing natural viewing of wild pangolin to be a reasonable expectation for a visit. There are also a surprisingly high number of untracked pangolin spotted frequently, as the kalahari environment provides a perfect habitat for them, and the cold of winter means they’re much more likely to be seen in daylight hours, not just after dark. The same is true of aardvark, which are very difficult to find elsewhere but which a visit in winter can definitely target.
Tswalu isn’t a place to visit just for the cats, but for the desert adapted creatures and rarities on offer, and each drive is tailored to searching for a specific often rare subject. There are colonies of meerkat who are relaxed and allow close up viewing ws they go about their day. There is even horse riding available through the beautiful dunes, passing through herds of roan, sable and springbok. You are very likely to pick up a number of ‘new’ species in your list, and a visit to world famous ‘Klein Jan’ restaurant is included for guests staying at Tswalu. Come for something completely different, and immersion in the desert, millions of stars, and rare creatures.
When to Visit
As a photographer, you want to maximise the time and opportunity to photograph your desired subjects and nowhere is this more relevant than in the Kalahari Desert. During the dry, winter, months of May through August it gets cold early in the evening (down to below freezing in the mid-winter) and warm during the late morning and midday. This means that the wildlife is happy to be active during the day rather than in the summer months of November through March when the rains come and the daytime temperatures soar ensuring that activity really only takes place at night. During winter, even the nocturnal animals such as pangolin and aardvark come out earlier in the evening before it gets too cold so you can hope (fingers crossed) to get these subjects in good light. Of course, following the rains, the Kalahari has one of the most incredible transformations seen anywhere on Earth as the yellow dry grass turns green and the flowers bloom briefly in a stunning display of natural wonder.
APR
Good
MAY
Very Good
JUN
Excellent
JUL
Excellent
AUG
Excellent
SEP
Very Good
OCT
Very Good
NOV
Mixed
DEC
Mixed
FEB
Mixed
JAN
Mixed
MAR
Mixed
