#Kgalagadi #SANParks
#camping #thelazycampers
Camping: R144pp
Park size: 38000 ㎢
Park size: 38000 ㎢
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| Kgalagadi Plains |
Getting there:
There are two ways of getting to the Kgalagadi, the R31 (via Upington) and R350 (past Van Zylsrus). Your choice of route will depend on your road preference. The R31 is the most travelled route as it is tar all the way the park gate, the R350 on the other hand is a dirt road for the last 250 km before the gate. If you are looking for an alternative route the R350 is a beautiful drive and the condition of the road was not too bad but it is a very dusty drive as the tyres kick up the very fine grey sand. There are no petrol stations for the 300km before the park so be sure to have a full tank.
There are two ways of getting to the Kgalagadi, the R31 (via Upington) and R350 (past Van Zylsrus). Your choice of route will depend on your road preference. The R31 is the most travelled route as it is tar all the way the park gate, the R350 on the other hand is a dirt road for the last 250 km before the gate. If you are looking for an alternative route the R350 is a beautiful drive and the condition of the road was not too bad but it is a very dusty drive as the tyres kick up the very fine grey sand. There are no petrol stations for the 300km before the park so be sure to have a full tank.
The Campsite:
The rest camp at Twee
Rivieren is right at the entrance to the park, on the South African side, and
if you plan on leaving the park through other gates into Namibia or Botswana
you can sort out customs on arrival at Twee Rivieren. The rest camp has a
campsite and chalets for accommodation as well as a little shop to get
essentials (as the nearest town is quite far away), a lovely little restaurant
in case you don't feel like cooking, a swimming pool to cool you down on the
very hot summer days and a petrol station (which only had diesel when we were
there) so that you can ensure you have enough fuel for all the game driving you
will be doing.
The campsite has many
sites (both powered and no power), however, a lot of the sites do not have shade
and so if you are in a tent without a canopy or gazebo it can be a little
tricky trying to find some decent shade. After driving around and contemplating for a while we eventually managed to find a lovely little site off to the side under a tree which provided ample shade for our tiny 3-man tent. Other than shade the tree provided lots of entertainment as we watched the birds flit in and out of the branches. Each campsite has a braai area, stone table
and stools as well as light which are convenient for evening relaxing. The
ablutions are ample, when we stayed the campsite was full but we never had to
wait for the toilet or the shower, there are also wash-up facilities and a
laundry room. There is limited cellphone reception in the campsite but reception in the park is very poor.
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| 1. Lone tree, 2. Windmill landscape, 3. Twee Rivieren Campsite |
Things to do:
The Kgalagadi is quite a remote place and so all activities are centred around the park: bird watching and game viewing (both self-driven and guided). Game drives in the Kgalagadi are beautiful and peaceful and the speed limit was surprisingly high at 50km/hr. Drives in this park are far and you will not see as much as if you were in the Kruger park, however, what you will see will be fantastic and you won’t have to fight 100 other cars to see it. If you are a birder, the bird life is spectacular especially the amount of birds of prey. On our visit we met an older couple, one evening, who told us that they had been in the car the whole day and had only driven 7km as they were watching the birds. Each day we did our own game drives and found the scenic drive on the Mata-Mata route very serene and saw plenty grazing animals (springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest and giraffe), but when we switched over to the Nossab route we were spoiled with some spectacular sightings: two young lions as well as a mating pair, a Honey Badger (what a treat), a Giant Eagle Owl right next to the road and to top it all off a cheetah with 4 cubs also right next to the road. Throughout the park we saw a great deal of birds of prey: Black Shoulder Kite, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Martial Eagle (we also saw two crows harassing a Martial Eagle mid-flight), as well as the larger birds like the Secretary Bird, Northern Black Korhaan and Kori Bustard.
The Kgalagadi is quite a remote place and so all activities are centred around the park: bird watching and game viewing (both self-driven and guided). Game drives in the Kgalagadi are beautiful and peaceful and the speed limit was surprisingly high at 50km/hr. Drives in this park are far and you will not see as much as if you were in the Kruger park, however, what you will see will be fantastic and you won’t have to fight 100 other cars to see it. If you are a birder, the bird life is spectacular especially the amount of birds of prey. On our visit we met an older couple, one evening, who told us that they had been in the car the whole day and had only driven 7km as they were watching the birds. Each day we did our own game drives and found the scenic drive on the Mata-Mata route very serene and saw plenty grazing animals (springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest and giraffe), but when we switched over to the Nossab route we were spoiled with some spectacular sightings: two young lions as well as a mating pair, a Honey Badger (what a treat), a Giant Eagle Owl right next to the road and to top it all off a cheetah with 4 cubs also right next to the road. Throughout the park we saw a great deal of birds of prey: Black Shoulder Kite, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Martial Eagle (we also saw two crows harassing a Martial Eagle mid-flight), as well as the larger birds like the Secretary Bird, Northern Black Korhaan and Kori Bustard.
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| 1. Jackal, 2. Lion mating pair, Cheetah cub |
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| 1. Northern Black Korhaan, 2. Pair of Secretary Birds, 2. Kori Bustard |
The picnic spots
inside the reserve are very well placed for stunning views while you enjoy your
time out of the car. The picnic spots are peaceful and spotless and most of
them have interesting fact boards or little museums. At the Auchterlonie picnic
spot, on the route to Mata-Mata, we were entertained by a squirrel who ran
around our feet and under the table while we ate our lunch. There were lots of
squirrels everywhere and we spent a lot of time watching their animated
behaviour. The squirrels were very cute and extremely entertaining and probably
one of the highlights of this park. There are quite a few viewpoints that
branch off the main road which are well worth the detour: some of them open up to
a flat plain while others allow you to get a spectacular aerial view of the
valley below.
We tried to book
ourselves onto the morning game walk and the sunset game drive (as these had
come recommended in all the reading I had done), however, we were told that we
could only do the game drive as they no longer do the game walks, which was
very disappointing. Nevertheless, we booked onto the sunset game drive and had
a wonderful drive with a very knowledgeable guide, Ian. One thing I really
liked about driving with Ian was his utter respect for the environment: one of his drive rules was that if an animal is not looking your way, you
may not call and whistle at it - we are visitors so he suggested we be
considerate. We were treated with sightings of bat-eared fox, cape fox, jackal,
steenbok, meerkats, wild cat and spotted eagle owls. If you are doing this
drive outside of the summer season I suggest you take a lot of warm clothing on
the drive because as soon as the sun sets the temperature plummets and although
we were warmly dressed I could have done with a blanket over my legs or a pair
of thermals under my jeans.
Temperatures in the Kgalagadi are extreme, we went in August in the hopes that the temperatures would be a little more comfortable; in the middle of winter the evenings are freezing (literally) but in summer the daytime temperatures are a scorcher. We had lovely days of about 25°C but we did experience the extreme: a day of over 30°C and a night where the temperature dropped to -2°C. This cold night was not too much of a problem as we were prepared for the cold: we slept with beanies on, gloves, socks and a jersey.
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| 1. Gemsbok licking the road, 2. Squirrel playing next to the road, 3. Springbok at one of the lookout points. |
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| 1. Pale Chanting Goshawk, 2. Giant Eagle Owl, 3. Large Sociable Weaver Nest |
Temperatures in the Kgalagadi are extreme, we went in August in the hopes that the temperatures would be a little more comfortable; in the middle of winter the evenings are freezing (literally) but in summer the daytime temperatures are a scorcher. We had lovely days of about 25°C but we did experience the extreme: a day of over 30°C and a night where the temperature dropped to -2°C. This cold night was not too much of a problem as we were prepared for the cold: we slept with beanies on, gloves, socks and a jersey.
The Kgalagadi is a
wonderful place to visit and the 3 days we spent there were not enough. We only
got to see a very small portion of the park. If you really want to experience
the full Kalagadi I advise you drive to and stay at some of the other camps as
well (Mata-Mata or Nossab), this will also ensure you see a greater variety of
wildlife. If you have a 4X4 you might also want to try one of the remote
campsites.
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