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The Kalahari is a place that takes a short cut to your heart – even though it’s so far away! Maybe the red dunes catch your eye first, or the silhouette of a camel thorn at sunset, or the surprising wildlife – from the region’s famous black-maned lio

On Thursday, my older brother Neno called and asked whether we wanted to go see the Kuruman River at Van Zylsrus with him and his family. Neno and I had never seen water in this dry riverbed before, even though we’d grown up in the area. I considered

A shiny sheet of water, with green grass all around. Sacred ibises patrol the shallows while tens of Egyptian geese, a lone red-knobbed coot and a pair of dabchicks patrol the middle of the dam. A watery landscape is the last thing I thought I’d see

On the last Monday morning of May, I meet guide Thys Burger and two other tourists, Gert and Petro Visser, at Nossob rest camp. The Nossob 4x4 Eco Trail can be booked by a maximum of five tourist vehicles and a minimum of two, so I’m grateful for the

Field guide, Mata-Mata I grew up in Twee Rivieren. My grandfather, Abraham Malgas, taught me about the veld – he was of the generation still born in the park. He worked in the park for more than 30 years: in the camps, as a ranger and as a tracker. M

Gear: Canon EOS 7D, Canon 100 – 400 mm lens Camera settings: 1/1 000 second, f7.1, ISO 200 When: 8 March 2011, 4.32 pm This waterhole is a good spot to wait for animals in the late afternoon. It’s near Twee Rivieren, so you can linger until five minu

The trees and shrubs described here have simple, oncecompound or twice-compound leaves. A simple leaf has an undivided blade, although it may be lobed or incised. A oncecompound leaf has leaflets on either side of a common axis, and a twice-compound

The border post at Mata-Mata connects the Kgalagadi to Namibia but it’s currently closed due to Covid restrictions. Twee Rivieren is also a border post and under normal conditions, you’d go through immigration there if you were planning to exit the p

In ancient times, the land between the Auob and Nossob rivers was the hunting ground of the Bushmen. In 1866, Dirk Vilander and his Baster followers moved up from the Cape and settled at waterrich Rietfontein, where Vilander established the Mier Repu

The Northern Cape was abuzz in February 2021. Heavy summer rain fell in parts of the Kalahari – also in the so-called Green Kalahari near Kuruman – and people started to wonder whether the Kuruman River would flow. This part of the Northern Cape is m

Waist-high golden grass rolls away interminably, punctuated by trees and scrub bushes. Wide and empty pans appear, vast and white, meeting a pale blue sky. At night, the stars utterly dominate the land. Welcome to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (C

This settlement next to the Molopo River is about 60 km north of Kakamas. You can stay at the wellknown hot springs in a deep kloof. Self-catering cabin that sleeps four people R950 p.n. The campsite’s ablution facilities include showers and flush to

About 50 km outside Upington and 120 km south of Askham. The guesthouse sleeps six people in three en suite rooms with fans and/or air conditioning, electricity and gas. It’s self-catering but meals are available on request and there are braai facili

Only the main camps have filling stations and shops. All the filling stations have petrol and diesel and accept fuel, credit and debit cards. Carry cash with you because the machines are sometimes offline (only Twee Rivieren has an ATM). The shops ar

“We love the Kgalagadi, especially the Botswanan side where there are fewer visitors – you often have nature all to yourself. It’s pristine and wild and you feel like you’re a part of nature and not just a spectator. “We like the unpredictability: a

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Here he comes. Switch off the car. In the sudden silence, the sun feels hotter on your exposed elbow. Without a sound, he walks through the long, waving grass – the bountiful gift of the summer rains. It is not a lion. It is not a cheetah. Sociable w