Kalahari Gemsbok Park

As promised, here is the link to my Kalahari Gemsbok Park photos.

The Kalahari desert is part of the huge sand basin that reaches from the Orange River up to Angola, in the west to Namibia and in the east to Zimbabwe. The sand masses were created by the erosion of soft stone formations. The wind shaped the sand ridges, which are so typical of the landscape in the Kalahari.

The dunes are stabilised through vegetation, so the area should actually be called a dry savannah.

The dominant vegetation – grasses, thorny shrubs and Acacia trees – can survive long drought periods of more than ten months every year.

To read more on the Kalahri Desert, look at the Kalahari Desert Wiki.

The Kalahari Gemsbok Park is a brilliant place to take photos of lions. The lions in this region are even more impressive because of their black manes. I did get some awesome shots, but there is so much more here than lions. It always happens like this, but now I wish I could go back again and take more photos of the “lower profile” creatures.

We stayed at the Nossob campsite. The last time I was there (15 years ago) this camp didn’t leave a great impression, but with the addition of a swimming pool and other “user friendly” stuff Nossob is now as good as the other campsites. They have also recently built a very good waterhole viewpoint, although this will really mean much more in the dry season.

All in all a trip to the Kalahari is well worth it. It is very hot (although not unbearably so) and remote, but I honestly feel that this kind of experience is healthy for the soul. Plus the wildlife is absolutely superb.