The Kgalagadi (a.k.a the Kalahari), an Introduction and Overview …

So, where to start?  How do I possibly begin to describe a once-in-a-lifetime kind of an adventure?  A place of such intense and difficult beauty? 

First, let me at least tell you what I’m planning for these Kgalagadi posts.  I’m gonna do an introduction and overview today, and then I’m planning on writing up posts and sharing my favorite pictures of each animal/animal group in the next few weeks.  Among them will be giraffes, cheetahs, birds, lions, hyenas, herbivores, etc.

But before I do ANY of that, I want to thank the Glass family for helping us make this trip possible.   This incredibly generous family loaned us ALL the equipment we used on the trip – the tent, table, coolers, the cooking stuff, mattresses – everything!   We would not have been able to afford doing this trip any other way (or maybe we could only have stayed a couple of days).  So THANK YOU Glasses, for sharing not only your equipment, but your love and passion for this amazing place.

 Also, big thanks to the Larsens, who loaned us books and chairs and gave us great tips and advice.

The Glasses and Larsens on my birthday (which was also the day before we went to the Kgalagadi.)

So, now, the Kgalagadi.  First the name.

“Kalahari,” the spelling that is commonly used outside of South Africa is the English version of “Kgalagadi,” which in the Setswana (Tswana) language means “the great thirst.”  “Kgalagadi” is how it is referred to throughout South Africa so that’s how I’ll refer to it from now on.  Oh, and it’s pronounced HAH-LAH-HAH-DEE. 

The full name of the park is the Kgalagadi Gemsbok Transfrontier Park.  It’s made up of two adjoining national parks: Kgalagadi Gemsbok National Park in South Africa and Gemsbok National Park in Botswana.

The park is enormous, one of the largest conservation areas in the world at 15,000 square miles (38.000 square kilometers).  To put that into context, that’s bigger than Massachusetts, Hawaii or Maryland.  And the park is only a small fraction of the whole Kgalagadi Desert, which covers parts of three countries (South Africa, Botswana and Namibia) and at 350,000 square miles (900.000 square kilometers) is almost 100,000 square miles larger than Texas.

So, yeah.  Big.  Really big.  And a difficult place.  As a semi-desert, the animals and plants that inhabit the area are uniquely adapted to survive long stretches without rain.  And the temperatures are extreme.  On one day, we woke up to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 Celsius) and the afternoon topped out at 110F (43C) – and we were told we didn’t have it too bad!

But for all its arid, demanding nature, this place hosts an amazing variety of life, from plants to insects to predators to birds – there are over 200 species of birds alone.

And there is the human history of the park – from the San who have lived in the Kgalagadi Desert for 20,000 years, to the official setting up of the park (to protect the nearly disappeared gemsbok) in 1931.  Seriously, there is so much to learn about this place … much more than I can write about here, but I’m linking here (the official website) and here and here for some more sources.

But all of those facts and figures don’t really explain WHY we went, do they?

I guess it boils down to fascination.  Aaron and I both grew up watching cheetahs chase and lions laze (oh shut up, I know I’m too fond of alliteration) on PBS (shout out to my tpt peeps!)  How could we not go?  We were curious and excited to see these things for ourselves.

Also, Aaron and I are both concerned about the environment, about the impact of unchecked human activity on this fragile world of ours.  We both felt it was important to experience the Kgalagadi’s precarious environment for ourselves, to see a place of such tenuous beauty – to remind ourselves why conservation is not just important, but absolutely necessary.

In the 7 days we were there, I can tell you I fell in love.  Despite the heat, the waking up at 5am, the cracked lips and stiff neck from driving for 12 hours looking for animals.  I would go back in a heartbeat.  I hope in the next few weeks of posts I can share with you at least a little bit of why….

They say that once you get the red sand of the Kgalagadi between your toes, you'll always want to go back ...

So there you go, that’s just the tiniest sliver of info and feelings and thoughts about the Kgalagadi … but I thought it was as good a place as any to start …

Stay tuned for more very soon …