Table of contents for Go! Kalahari in go!

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 lions to the smaller creatures. Whatever it is, something here will speak to you. In this guide, we celebrate the Northern Cape north of the Orange River; the heartland of the Kalahari farming community around Askham, Rietfontein and Van Zylsrus; and the remote wilderness of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park – the main reason why so many tourists travel to this corner of the country. The park is very popular and it’s not always easy to find accommodation, so we want to encourage you…

JOHAN KLOPPERS, FISH HOEK 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 SAMEVLOEIING 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 minutes before the camp gate closes. The parking area is on a hill: You have a scenic view and the sun is at your back, illuminating the waterhole. I took my photo from this position. Early in the morning, it’s better to park on the other side of the waterhole because the light is better that side. This ostrich and its chicks approached the water. The wildebeest and springbok in the background balance the composition. The natural…

HOW TO CROSS THE BORDER 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 park via Mabua and travel further into Botswana. But Twee Rivieren is also currently closed due to Covid restrictions, which means you’re not allowed to exit the park on the Botswana side if you entered from South Africa. The same goes if you enter the park from Botswana. You can drive around and stay on the South African side, but you can’t exit at Twee Rivieren. You’ll have to return to the Botswana side, exit the park there and then make your way to…

NEXT TO THE R360: UPINGTON-ASKHAM 17 Kalahari Guesthouse, Camping & Farm Stall 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 facilities. R400 p.p. The bush camp has two selfcatering huts next to a dam – the walls are built with the branches of three-thorn bushes. Lights, hot showers and flush toilets. Hut with two beds R750 per night; four beds R950. The campsite next to the dam has a self-catering kitchen with a two-plate stove and lights, braai facilities and ablution facilities. R160 p.p. Firewood for sale: R35 for a bundle; R80 for a big bag. Cool…

It’s 7.30 am when the first rays of sunlight peek over the dune and turn the grass golden. After heavy summer rain, I can’t even see the red sand underneath. The grass is dense and reaches to the knee. I’m on the stoep of riverfront chalet #15 in Mata-Mata rest camp. It’s a sought-after address – right at the bottom end of the row of newer chalets, overlooking the Auob riverbed. Theoretically, if a lion were to saunter up the riverbed, I would be the first to see it. The camp gate has been open since 7 am. I listened from my bed as car doors slammed and other guests set out on their early game drives. Let them go, I said to myself. I’m taking it easy this morning.…

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 his offer for a moment, but I realised that we couldn’t. We had guests on the farm, and I was already behind with work. My wife Petra and I farm with cattle and sheep south of Askham, next to the road to Upington. “No, I’ll wait for the water to reach Askham,” I said. “Then it will be our river.” Our farm is closer to Askham than Van Zylsrus. The people of Van Zylsrus and the farms downstream had already seen the…

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 company of the Vissers. Our guide Thys is dressed in the olive-green uniform of the park, with a bush hat on his head and a relaxed smile nestled in his neat grey beard. He looks completely at home here, and later I’ll find out why… Although he was born in Usakos in Namibia, his forefathers were borehole guards along the Auob River. Thanks to his exposure to this pioneer stock, plus regular childhood visits to the family farm near Askham, the…

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 Republic. Dirk Vilander held this land in an informal communal trust for the benefit of his people. He passed away in 1888, leaving it to his son Dawid. Dawid started informally: subdividing and selling the land to individuals, including white farmers like Christoffel le Riche. In 1891, out of the blue, the British colonial government of Bechuanaland seized control of a large part – or even all – of Vilander’s land and incorporated it into Bechuanaland. Many of Vilander’s people, also known as the Mier Basters, reacted by moving…

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 mostly a place of dry riverbeds, with the exception of the Orange. Grab a map and look. The Auob and Nossob rivers that run through the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park originate deep in Namibia – also a land of mostly dry rivers. At Samevloeiing, just north of Twee Rivieren, the Auob and Nossob come together to form the Nossob, which runs down to Bokspits, where it joins up with the Molopo. Just south of there, at Andriesvale, the Kuruman also appears. The Kuruman rises at the…

MAIN CAMPS 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 are like small supermarkets and sell everything from ice, meat, beer and firewood to toothpaste and soap – and ice cream! The water in the Kalahari is brackish – bring your own water from home if you don’t like the taste, or buy bottled water at the shops. 33 Twee Rivieren This big rest camp is next to the dry Nossob riverbed at the southern entrance to the park. It’s the park HQ and also a border post – if you travel to or from Namibia…

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 in the Kalahari, 50 km north of Upington. Paul and Riana Loots farm on Uitsig, and also run Kalahari Guesthouse, Camping & Farm Stall. My plan was to camp, but Riana told me about their tented units. Their homestead (where the guest rooms and farm stall are situated) is west of the R360, but the campsite and bush camp are both on the eastern side. One moment I was driving through three-thorn shrubs, then I came around a bend and there was the farm…

ANDRIES THYS 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. My father, Floors Thys, also worked in the park – in the technical division. When he had to transport supplies to MataMata or Nossob, I sometimes went along. When I was little, I already had the desire to work in the park one day. I also learnt about the veld from Oom Vetpiet Kruiper – he was a master tracker. And Andrew Kruiper – he lives in Welkom now. The Kruipers were born with knowledge of the veld. Look…

SIMPLE vs ONCE-COMPOUND vs TWICE-COMPOUND 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 leaf has a blade that is divided twice – each leaflet being subdivided into smaller leaflets. Camel thorn Vachellia erioloba Where to find it? The camel thorn grows in deep sandy soil, but especially along dry rivers in alluvial soils. It’s abundant in the northern parts of the park. Distinguishing features? It’s a large, widespreading thorn tree (up to 12 m tall), with rough blackish-brown bark. There are often large sociable weaver nests in the branches. It has distinctive large, grey pods in summer…

Sophia: Welcome to the Kalahari, Richard. How are you adapting to life in the dunes? Richard: The people of the Kalahari Red Dune Route have helped me so much with their encouragement and guidance to get Kalahari Trails back on its feet. (Richard’s reserve is part of this tourist route. – Ed.) The people of Askham have also been amazing. I’d like to say a special thank you to the late Kruger du Toit, the butcher in town and a well-respected figure in the district, who sadly passed away due to Covid-19 in July 2021. He gave me lots advice and help over coffee and rusks. S: I read somewhere that you were an excellent rugby player when you were at school in Wales. Surely that must have helped you to make…

JOUBERT & JACQUELI TULLEKEN, Cape Town “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 wild animal can show up in your campsite at any time of night or day. The A-frame structure in every camp is also the perfect place to hang your hammock.” Follow the Tullekens on Instagram: @jubasjourney and @jackienotinthecity 44 Campsites on the Botswanan side of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Like other parks in Botswana, the campsites are run by different concessions. Most of them are in Mabuasehube – the eastern section of the park. Mabuasehube and Mpayathutlwa (both in Mabua)…