KGALAGADI MUSINGS
by Andrew Cairncross
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is, I believe, one of the finest wildlife photographic destinations available to South Africans, albeit a bit far for those of us from the sleepy hollow. It is expensive to get there, and booking has to be done on the morning bookings open, almost 11 months in advance, or a month before you leave, hoping to snap up cancellations.
My itinerary for this trip was 9 nights in the remote Botswana camps of Rooiputs (3 nights) Polentswa (3 nights) and 3 nights at Mpayathutlwa before spending 2 nights in Nossob camp and the last 2 nights in a bit of comfort in Urikaruus wilderness camp.
I have been to the park in November on 3 occasions, and for me personally it is my favourite time to visit. It is dry and generally wide open, so opportunities to isolate animals against a plain background present themselves. Having said that, it is pretty much brown and bland from a landscape perspective. In the late summer months it can turn into a lush green mass adorned with many wildflowers and dramatic skies.
Rooiputs:
This is an unfenced camp with no kitchen facilities and merely a cold shower, where water is not always available. Within a minutes drive from your tent is the Rooiputs water hole. That is not for you to shower in, it is an animal drinking hole. The borehole water holes are a key element to the Kgalagadi and animals move freely towards them for most of the day. Predators and nocturnal animals can often be seen early in the morning and late afternoon.
Highlights over the three nights there were numerous Cape Fox dens. You can leave camp in November at 05:30 and although it is a bit late into the Cape Fox denning season, you will see the pups active sometimes up until 07:00 depending on temperature and light, but most of the time they are gone before 06:30. Brown Hyeana and cubs were seen as well and that was a huge highlight of the trip as a whole. Cape Cobra and numerous Owls were also seen. Lion around camp on the second night kept me on my toes and was just a warm up for later on in the trip. The morning I departed Rooiputs, I drove towards the water and saw a large dust cloud. As I turned onto the main road I saw 3 Cheetah and a herd of Gemsbok running in all directions. By the time I positioned my vehicle, the chaos was over and the 3 Cheetah proceeded to drink for some time before walking over a dune and disappearing.
Polentswa:
Another remote camp, where some sites have water and others not, so a solar shower bag is needed. Again, Polentswa water hole is very close to camp. The first day the pump was not working and after stumbling across the carcass of a Cow, which had been killed by Lion, I went to Nossob to report both. We helped a field ranger fix the pump the next day and it was as if the animals had been in cages and were suddenly free. Kousant water hole is also not far from Polentswa at all and both provided superb game viewing and photographic opportunities. Highlights here were Caracal, numerous Brown Hyena. Lions with tiny cubs and Ludwigs Bustard which showed itself each day. Spotted Hyena were seen daily and killed something behind our camp on the last morning at around 05:00. Cheetah were also seen in the distance. Birds of prey also seemed a lot more abundant in this area, and the cute little 3 striped field mice adorned small bushes in incredible numbers. These make superb little subjects for photos due to their cuteness factor.
Mpayathutlwa:
Another remote camp, but has shower facilities at some sites, not all. Getting there? Well, that is a bit of a nightmare due to people crossing the dunes from Nossob with either a lack of 4×4 experience and or wrong tyre pressures. Some dunes now have multiple passes over them as the original route has been chewed up enough to make it impassable. It is a single 2 track route but bi-directional, so one must take care when cresting the dunes as some use it as a race track and head on accidents have happened here.
We had a lot of great sightings in this area. Although I camped in a ground tent, I would not recommend this to anyone. Ever. I have spent a lot of time with predators, and a lot of that time under the guidance of trained professionals in the field guiding industry. The behavior of the Lion in this area is something very far from what is deemed natural in my opinion. They have no fear of humans and their reactions to vehicles are more on the side of the fight zone in terms of the fight or flee boundary and instincts.
On this side of the park we saw Brown Hyena, Lion aplenty, Honey Badger (came very close to getting a Honey Badger and Brownie in the same shot) a massive herd of Kudu and a few new birds we never saw on the SA side. My startling sight was a Diederick Cuckoo. Also saw lots of the small animals like Scrub Hare, Meerkats and Squirrels galore. Three days there was simply not enough, but after 2 nights of Lion moving around my tent and roaring within 10 meters of me, I was exhausted. The last night, a Brown Hyena came up to me while I was sitting on my chair outside my tent. It’s approach seemed strange and it lay down a few meters from me, before rolling in the sand and moving on. With the lack of rubbish bins in the area, I suspect that animal has been enjoying bones left over from braais which have not been discarded in a raised bin, or sealed in a container and placed safely in the back of a vehicle. A truly magical encounter, but in some way also rather sad.
I departed the Botswana side of the park and embarked on the rugged road back to Nossob on the SA side where a warm shower awaited.
Nossob:
Nossob is one of three main camps on the South African side of the park. It has a fuel station and decently stocked shop for necessities and fresh bread as well as rooster koek can be ordered there. Ice, cold drinks, alcohol and non perishables are pretty well stocked, along with a few rudimentary maintenance items. The shops at Twee Rivieren and Mata Mata, the other 2 main camps on the SA side are much the same. After 9 days of seeing hardly anyone except for the members of our travelling group, it was actually quite nice to meet new travellers and also enjoy the pool for respite from the incredible heat.
Nossob has recently rebuilt the hide in camp, which overlooks a small water hole and is floodlit at night. Make no mistake, in this area you are in the heart of Lion territory. There are a number of water holes relatively close to camp and singling one out would be wreckless, but if you have ever seen photos of Black Backed Jackal catching Doves and Sandgrouse, then chances are very good that those images were taken at a water hole named Cubitje Quap. This is a very productive place to stop should one head North from camp.
The two days in this area produced exceptional game viewing. It has to be my favourite area in the park.
Urikaruus:
Known as a wilderness camp, Urikaruus is one of a few unfenced camps, but with comfortable chalet accommodation. These camps are also unfenced, and all of them have a water hole at them. Due to them being unfenced, kids younger than 12 are not allowed. These camps consist of four 2 bed chalets, so you will only have 6 other people, normally 3 cars, heading out in the morning with you. This particular camp is in close proximity to two very productive areas, and those being around the dertiended and veertiende boorgatte. I had a fantastic time there over the 2 nights and although booking these wilderness camps is not easy at all, I would recommend trying to book at least one for a few nights should one head to the Kgalagadi.
All in all it was another amazing trip to what is one of the most spectacular wildlife destinations in South Africa. It is a desert, so no animals that rely heavily on water, but there is simply so much to see and at night the desert comes to life in a big way. It is a destination that I think each wildlife loving South African needs to experience at least once.
