Kagladi Transfrontier Park > Animals and Desert in harmony (National Parks in South Africa)

Member Name: chris-afrika

Product:	National Parks in South Africa
Date:	22/04/03 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Landscape , perfect sunrises and sunsets, the famous kalahari lions etc.

Disadvantages: Horrible road to the park, Necessary reservations in high season

First of all this review is a again a translation of my review on the german dooyoo site. Due to the fact that I'm german there are propably a lot errors. Please send me an Email if you find one and I will corect it. But now read and enjoy.

The former Kalahari Gemsbok Park is not very easy to reach but everybody how makes this detour in to north-western part of south Africa while be highly rewarded.
Very important at least in the main reason is to book the accommodation in one of the state owned camps ahead.
It is a bit easier if you are travelling with a tent. At least when we have been there it would have be no problem at all. But I was told that in the south African holiday season even therefore you will need a reservation.
There are three camps inside of the park. There is directly behind the entrance gates Camp Twee Rivieren so called because it is at the confluence of the two Rivers Nossob and Auob. Both normally haven’t got water above the surface. Then there is camp Mata Mata on the border to Namibia which can’t be crossed there and there is camp Nossob on the river Nossob which is further north then the other camps.
The speed limit in the park is 50 km/h but everybody how speeds with 50 km/h through the park while neither see it’s beauty nor see a lot of animals.
Despite that this also takes away the chance for the following cars for a successful sighting
Like the other nationalparks in the southern part of Africa, the gate will be opened around sunrise and closed around sunset. If you plan to drive from one camp to another you should allow enough time for it. A drive from Twee Rivieren (or Entrance Gate) to Nossob takes at least 4 hours, between Twee Rivieren and Mata Mata at least 3 hours and between Mata Mata and Nossob at least 5 hours.
If you stop on the way more often to watch the animals, what is normally the reason for visiting the park, you should plan the whole day for the trip. If you ar
e faster you still have the opportunity to look at the park around the new camp.
Basically there are two main routes. One from Twee Rivieren always along the River Nossob via Camp Nossob up to the northern Namibian Border at Unions End. As the name im
plies that is really the end, there is no way to cross the border. The other route runs along the other river the River Auob from Twee Rivieren to Camp Mata Mata.
Both main routes which are the best chances to spot animals are connected at two points, that gives the opportunity for two different laps from Twee Rivieren one short and one long lap always coming back to Twee Rivieren.
One the connecting roads there is even less traffic, which is nowhere to bad. But the chance to see animals is although less. Nevertheless I took a nice picture from a Cap Cobra on one of this roads (luckily I was inside of my car).
Despite this I have seen quite a number of Oryx Antelope (which means in Afrikaans Gemsbok the reason for the old name of the park) and a few wildebeest. The real highlight of the tour was that I have seen three times in two days the famous Kalahari lions.
One of the basics for spotting animals is drive slowly, if you see a car standing approach slowly and look what to see. Very important avoid heavy breaking or speeding up. That make animals run away. If you leave a sighting leave slowly that the animals are not disturbed, the next one while appreciate it. Even if in your opinion it was now interesting sight, maybe it is for the next.
Although don’t only look for the big animals, sometimes you get the chance to see the little fellers (for example desert running mouse). Sometimes it happens that only while you are watching one animal you recognise that other around. Next important thing is only leave the car where it is allowed and even there only after checking if it is save. Otherwise you will be next big spot (“ have you seen this cute lion eating the stupid tourist̶
1;). If it does happen, never ever run if you are not 100% sure you make it back in to the car. Nearly every animal is faster then you and you trigger the animal to run if you do. On the other hand you have got a good chance to slowly walk to safety.
Even
if you are not as lucky with the animals then we have been, the landscape of the Kalahari is really beautiful an sunrise and sunset one of the best nature spectacle of the world.
Before driving to the park you should fill up your supplies. You can buy everything important at the camps but the prize’s are much above the common south African prizes.
Important although if you want to it in the restaurant at the camp you need to book your diner at lunch time, but it is really good.
At the end something about getting to the park. I was coming from Upington and the first 220 km are on a good tarmac road where the greatest danger are the to long straight parts where you easily loose concentration. Even if it doesn’t look like there will be a another bend.
The last 60 km are a challenge for driver and car ( at least when I have been there in the end of 2000), I seldom drove on such a bad sand road and belief me I had a lot of bad roads in south Africa and Namibia. You get direct from the so called corrugated iron (it really look like) into the next pothole.
If you are driving to fast you easily loose the control and if that would not be enough you have to watch for what is crossing the street.
If you may have an accident on this road don’t think that there will be immediate help. It is the main road to the park but astonishingly little traffic on the road.
The bad road is recognisable in the number of visitors in the park (luckily). When we have been there in low season, we have hardly seen another car outsight of the camps. The only good thing about the approaching road.

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