Your Bucket List by Patrick Cruywagen

Author:Patrick Cruywagen [Author]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781770265615
Publisher: Mapstudio

Experience the call of the Kalahari

When: All year round, though summers can be blazingly hot

Where: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape

Experience: Wildlife and 4x4

There are three reasons why everybody should go to the Kalahari: you need to hear a black-maned lion roar while you try and sleep in your tent, you have to drive a 4x4 over the red sand dunes, and you want to see the cute meerkat in the wild. The best place to do all three is the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which lies a couple of hours north of Upington. This park is massive – to get from the southern entrance at Twee Rivieren to its most northwesterly corner at Union’s End will easily take you a day. And this is just the South African section of the park! If you have a 4x4, it becomes even bigger. The 4x4 routes over the red dunes cater for everyone. They are either guided or self-drive, long or short, have fenced or unfenced accommodation, camping or comfortable wilderness chalets. The only thing is that they have to be booked beforehand. The first 4x4 trail lies only 11km from the southern entrance and the Nossob Road. It’s a short 13km trail known as Leeuwdril. You can only drive this trail from east to west, so don’t expect any oncoming traffic unless someone is coming from the wrong direction.

For those who want a guided multi-day wilderness experience, I strongly recommend the three-night four-day Nossob 4x4 Eco Trail. In even months the trail starts at Twee Rivieren and in uneven months at Nossob. The trail goes on a private sandy road to the west of the main road, so you won’t see any other tourists on the trail. You have to be totally self-sufficient – all they provide are long-drop toilets, bucket showers and a cement fireplace. So bring water for the shower, and wood, a grid and meat for the fire! The world-class guides on this trail will make every effort to ensure that you enjoy lion and meerkat encounters.

Two of the unfenced wilderness camps that currently enjoy pretty high occupancy rates are only reachable by 4x4. They are Gharagab and Bitterpan. Made from natural materials, these off-the-beaten-track camps have all the comforts of a regular chalet, such as a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, fridge and all the utensils. Of the two, the faraway Gharagab is our favourite, not only because of its remote location but also for good animal sightings. While we were having a braai outside our chalet, an adult leopard came down to the watering hole to drink. Not long after sunset the lions moved in, announcing their arrival with a roar.

Just north of Nossob, you can head into the Botswana side of the park and do either the 257km Polentswa Wilderness Trail or the Kaa Game Viewing Trail (191km). Game here is not as plentiful as on the South African side of the park. I prefer to head east on the 4x4 track from Nossob to Bosobogolo Pan, which forms part of Mabuasehube.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.