Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier park is situated in the north of South Africa 260km north of Upington. On the western side of the park it borders Namibia and on the eastern side Botswana. The western side of the park is fences but the eastern side is not. The park is joined on the eastern side with the Botswana side of the Kalahari desert. The park comprises fo almost one million ha of red sand dunes with sparse vegetation. In the dry river beds of the Nossob and the Auob rivers camel thorn, vaalkameel, swarthaak, raisin bush and African blackwood predominate. In the park you will find gemsbuck, springbuck, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, eland, lion, leopard, cheetah and smaller varieties of game such as meerkats and African wild cats. About 200 species of birds can be found in the park including many species of birds of prey. The park has three overnight camps (Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata) and six bushcamps (Kalahari tented camp, Bitterpan, Grootkolk, Kieliekrankie, Gharagab and Urikaruus).

Climate

The area of the Kalahari where the park is situated gets an annual rainfall of about 200mm, mainly between January and April. In summer temperatures may exceed 40C. Winter days are sunny with night temperatures often below zero. I was in the Kalahari in the summer of 2000 and 2003 and I can tell you firsthand that it gets very, very hot there. I experienced temperatures up to 43 degrees centigrade in the shade. My last visit to the park was in April 2007 and the temperature was a comfortable 26 to 33 degrees in the daytime and 18 degrees at night. The most optimal time to visit the Kalahari would probably be just before the summer (September, October) or just after the summer (February, March).

Visiting the park

You can drive to and in the park in an ordinary car, a 4x4 is not needed. Still I advise to go in a 4x4, minibus or MPV. All the roads in the park are gravel roads, and to keep them in good condition they are regularly scraped. On my last two trips to the park I've noticed that the corrugation on some of the roads has increased when compared to previous years. The reason for this excessive corrugation is caused by the increased number of visitors to the park. The corrugation can be very uncomfortable in a sedan, and it can even break the suspension of the car. If the roads have recently been scraped then the roads inside the park are fine, but if you're unlucky and visit the park when the roads haven't been scraped for three weeks then prepare yourself for some serious bouncing around. Also bBecause of the scraping of the roads large sections of the roads around Nossob have become 'U' shaped. The effect is that if you travel in an ordinary car your vantage position will sometimes be too low to see anything but grass. When you rent a car make sure that is has a spare wheel. I rented a VW Touran (7-seater model) in April 2007 and found out that a Touran does not have a spare wheel.

Check the hints and tips section for practical information you can (hopefully) use in the planning of your trip.

Selecting a vehicle for your trip to the Kgalagadi

Since 2008 the following warning message is shown on the SANP website in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park section:

"Kindly note that the roads in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park are not sedan friendly, although the roads are maintained on a monthly basis, sedan vehicles find it difficult to cope with the conditions. Should sedan users wish to use their vehicles, they are welcome to do so, as park management endeavors to maintain the roads as effectively as conditions allow, in order to make your stay a memorable one!"

Wildlife in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park 

The park is the home of the famous black maned Kalahari lion as well as cheetah, cape foxes, spring hares, gemsbok, brown hyena and many other species. The wildlife in the park is easy to spot. Most of the wildlife is located in the Nossob and Auob riverbed. These rivers only flow about once in a century, but the rivers flow underground and grass therefore grows in the bedding of these rivers. Because of this grass there are always springbok, gemsbok and wildebeast grazing in the bedding. These grazers attract the large predators such as cheetah, lion and leopard. The roads in the Kalahari have been constructed parallel to these beddings, and that usually makes for good sightings. 

You can find predators like lions, leopards and cheetahs all over in the park. The Twee Rivieren area gives you a slighter better chance of seeing leopard, the Mata Mata area is well known for cheetah sightings and the Nossob area is famous for its lion sightings. I personally like the Mata Mata area the best as the waterholes near Mata Mata are excellent for photography.

Photography in the park

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier park can be a difficult park for wildlife photography. Sightings are usually excellent but the major part of the sightings will be in the riverbeds of either the Nossob or the Auob river so you'll need a long lens to get good shots. Something in the region of 400mm is probably the minimum range that you'll need to have.