Cruising through the Kalahari

After having stocked up on water, fuel, food and safety advice, we headed south towards the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Whilst on our way there, Christel discovered a word of warning for visitors to CKGR during the month of October, as this was known as 'suicide month'... apparently because it became rather hot, dusty and sandy. Despite the ominous warning, ’twas to be a great couple of days, challenging yes, but rewarding as well.

The road on the way down to the nearest town was frequented by sand storms finding their way across the tarmac, and after having fuelled up one last time in Rakops, we headed into the Reserve.

The good thing about having a second car with us at the time was that it was a Toyota Hilux with an automatic gearbox, much to the delight of Christel who commandeered the vehicle from my dad at the gate of the Reserve, persuaded him to take a backseat in the Nissan Patrol, and set off with Dia next to her into the park.

CKGR was deserted, and technically very much a desert, judged by the amount of rain that falls on an annual basis. Nonetheless, it wasn't all sand and there were still remnants of green in the trees, of which there were plenty, whilst the grass where present had taken on a yellow tint. Game was sparse, and it took a good hour of driving in the park until Maina spotted a duiker, a small antelope, thereby earning himself right of access to the first cold beer when we made camp. Further along our drive, as we approached one of the few waterholes that there were, the number of animals increased markedly, with herds of springbok and oryx appearing from the shadows of the trees.

Our camp was located up on a hill overlooking the valley, and as we set up our tents and got the fire started, the sun started to descend from the sky and Christel made a new friend in the form of female duiker whom she named bambi :) and who took an interest in our activities and stayed with us for a couple of hours.

The other visitors were unfortunately less friendly, as a swarm of bees decided that our bucket of water provided the remedy to their hot and bothered life in the Kalahari, and commit mass suicide, whilst the ones that remained in the air made our food preparation rather frustrating. The smoke from our fire reduced their interest slightly, and as soon as the sun went under, the surviving bees also decided to return to their nest. Christel and Maina played guitar by the fire after our dinner, and as we went to bed, we could see lightning flashes across the plains in the distance.

 Christel slept rather badly, woken up by animal noises on a number of occasions, including once by the deafening noise of lions making a kill nearby. My suggestion that they had Bambi for breakfast did not go down well!