Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Like the remoteness and you can have the animals sittings to yourself

Escape to the beach.. without the water

Kgalagadi, pronounced by making a "k" sound followed by 2 successive throat clearings, is the real Kalahari. Real as in the small trees and bush on the nearest town on the map, a town called Hotazel, are replaced by sand. So much sand that Sand Surfing is a local sport. The temps while we were there were just over 40C during the day, a hint of sun, but luckily the nights cooled off to the low 20's- desert living at its finest.

Along with the day drives where all the animals are fast asleep by the watering holes in the rarity that is the shade, the Kgalagadi comes alive in the night time. with only 1 night in the park, to the night drive we went.

The best way to make friends when stuck in a confined space? Beer. Between a dozen people 'stuck' in the moving elevator that was the open topped Land Rover for our night drive, we were the guys dragging a cooler of beer onto the bakkie (bakkie = truck in the SA). 15 minutes in, the whole drive was friends. Sadly this was about the same time we got away from the camp and back into park. While the temperatures fell the animals rose. The bakkie was equipped with a few spotlights, so we took turns spotting the animals. Over the course of the drive, of all the animals we saw, by far the most exciting was an African Wild Cat. More rare than lions, the african wild cat was out hunting alone, had a moment in the spotlight, and was gone.

From the beachless dunes, to the black maned lion, to the beers with paap 'n vleis, the Kgalagadi was an excellent escape from anything resembling a cookie-cutter holiday package and the memories I walked away with won't be found in any other park in Africa.

Klaar

Good place fro adults and children - something interesting for everyone.

Accommodation - reasonable.
The only one thing which should be changed is the booking system for organised trips.
I made a booking for safari trip with my 2 friends which was not organised because of small group. It was one of the main reasons why we wanted to visit this park.

We saw much more wildlife, but not so much as in Etosha.

Well developed but still authentic bush.

Less crowded than other parks, as it is not so easily accessible; so you feel more frequently in the bush than in other places. Landscapes are particular as it is a semi desertic dry savana; wildlife is abundant but road network is limited

A place for raptors and badgers, black maned lions and majestic sunsets. The camps have a particular (Botswana) feeling to them with hard wood fires, sanded sites, 4x4 vehicles and ground squirrels chasing about. Great place, stay at least a week.

The park is excellent for photographing the animals and birds, especially the big cats.

The park offers so much in terms of very often a exclusive opportunity to be with wild game, be it the many different antelope species found there or some of the big cats like, cheetah, leopard and lion. Another plus is the fact that one gets quite close to the animals since most are very tamed. Then if one is real lucky, a kill by a predator is often seen in the park by visitors, so for photography, it's excellent. There are two points in my view that needs attention, namely the bad condition of the gravel roads and lately also the pile-up of vehicles at a "cat-sighting" that seems to occur more-and-more.

Kgalagadi is a unique destination, a game park in a arid region. The wildlife is spectacular, albight the absence of elephants, crocodiles and hippos. Therefore there are stunning sightings of cats. The road infrastructure is fair and the camps have everything you need - from accommodation to food.

Amaizing

Everything where very good! One night it was very very cold. But otherwise it was good. I will recommend the park to all our friends. We saw lots of lions, cheetha and other animals. The food in the Restaurant at Twee rivieren were excellent. The restrooms were clean all the time. We have a great time!