Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park also known as Peace Park is a mouthful of a name with more than 3 syllables, hence it’s a hard one to pronounce. To hack it and to not bite one’s tongue! Kgalagadi is pronounced as Ka-la-hari, a name it gets from the Tswana word Kgala meaning a place of thirst and aptly so. For this handsome, remote, pristine Kalahari Desert safari destination is characterized by miles upon miles of dry red sand dunes tinted with random trees, thin vegetation and the two dry river beds of Nossob (meaning dark clay) and Auob (meaning bitter water). These two dry river beds are the lifeline of the park despite the allegation of some geologists that they flow only once in a century. Regardless of the allegation, the dry river beds fill up occasionally and summarily after heavy downpours. They as well have underground springs that sustain camelthorn trees and lush grass growing in the seemingly dry riverbeds.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is remotely located in the south western border of Botswana on a staggering land mass of over 38,000 square kilometers bordering Namibia on its western flank, with three quarters of it lying on the Botswana side and the other quarter overlapping into north western South Africa. This exploit makes it a transfrontier since it is a single park in two countries, a first in Africa with such an arrangement. Kgalagadi is approximately twice as big as Kruger National Park, making it one of the world’s largest conservation areas.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park was established by a merger of South Africa’s Kalahari Gemsbok National Park established in 1931 and Botswana’s Gemsbok National Park established as a game reserve in 1932 and later pronounced a national park in 1971. The park was established to protect the ancient migratory wildlife routes that animals used and still use to move across borders without any barriers that country borders normally create. The merger began as a gentleman’s agreement in 1948 between the then Bechuanaland Protectorate and the Union of South Africa to set up a conservation area in the bordering areas of the two countries. Years later in 1992 representatives from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) of Botswana and their counterparts from the South African National Parks Board (now SANParks) established a collaborative management agency to operate the wildlife area as a solo ecological entity.

Overtime management plans, inclusive of park entry revenue shares, conservation, infrastructure etc. were drafted, reviewed and approved in 1997. Two years later on the 7th of April 1999 a historic bilateral agreement to cement the earlier wildlife conservation and management efforts were endorsed by authorities from these two countries. The icing on the cake was on the 12th of May 2000 when the then presidents of Botswana and South Africa, Hon. Festus Mogae and Hon. Thabo Mbeki respectively formally launched southern Africa’s first peace park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Later on in October 2002 both governments set aside 580 km² for the use of the native communities (Mier and San) and named it Ae!Hai Heritage Park. The land was divided between 301.34 km² of Mier Heritage Land and 277.69 km² of San Heritage Land. The land was inducted as the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary in Africa by the International Dark Sky Association to preserve and protect the night time environment and the heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting. The South African National Parks (SANParks) manages the land under contract and the contract proceeds provided funds that constructed a lodge called Xaus (meaning heart in the native language). This facility is being managed by Transfontier Destinations on behalf of the two communities.

In September 2014 a setback of sorts happened when the government of Botswana silently unloaded the rights to frack for shale gas in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It permitted prospecting block licenses for 23,980 Km2, 29,291 Km2 and 34,435 Km2 more than half of the Botswanan part of the park to a United Kingdom listed company called Nodding Donkey that later morphed into Karoo Energy in November 2015. However, despite the setback we give thanks to this two-pronged visionary conservation effort that began many years ago, for it has aided free movement of wildlife and tourists in this zone (no passport required unless one plans on a departure through another country).

Owing to the parks geolocation and desert conditions! big mammals like elephants, rhinos and buffalos are not present here. However, irrespective of the frequent famines and extremes of climate, Kgalagadi National park rears life in great abundance with its species of acacia budding in the riverbeds, quick grass, gemsbok cucumber and shrubs such as raisinbush and driedoring. This vegetation is the much needed food for the large herds of herbivores like blue wildebeests, springboks, Burchell’s zebras, red hartebeests, giraffes, gemsboks, elands and many other more herbivores that teem these plains.

Of course these herbivores attract Predators and plenty of them are in town, no wonder Kgalagadi is hailed far and beyond its precincts for its healthy predator population and viewing of the famed black maned Kalahari lions, cheetahs, leopards and small cats such as caracals, wild dogs and black-backed jackals. And because of its healthy lion population, the park was declared a lion conservation unit and a lion strong hold in southern Africa in 2005 and it is equally hailed for its seasonal movement of large herbivores. All the above coupled with the thin vegetation of the plains and concentration of animals in the dry riverbeds of the Auob and Nossob Rivers make Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park a perfect safari destination of choice for rustic game drive lovers. Kgalagadi is a birders haven as well, especially those fond of birds of prey. The park boasts of well over 280 bird species registered in its precinct, 92 of which are residential. It is famed for its raptors like the most common black-chested snake eagle, owls, bateleur, tawny and non-raptors like the big kori bustard, weavers and many more other birds.

Kgalagadi is a classic self-drive game park owing to its remoteness, size and terrain, however precaution ought to be practiced for its remoteness, self-drive, vastness and lack of network imply that should something go wrong one would be stuck out there in the untamed wilderness for several hours without assistance. That said, the park management takes precaution as well. It does so by keeping track of its visitors using a permit system to make sure its visitors return safely into camp each night. The visitors turn in their permits every evening when they enter camp and they pick them up again when they go for their morning drives after informing camp staff members which directions they intend to drive to. Meaning if a visitor fails to turn up at their chosen camp it becomes a distress call issue necessitating a search and rescue team that is dispatched immediately. That said! once Kalahari sand gets into your shoes, legend has it that most assuredly you’ll be drawn back here over and over again. Aptly so, for the plain’s untamed virgin beauty, loud silence, extreme elements of weather, vast open space and unchained blue sky draping the tremendous wildlife of the plains are overly luring.