Kgalagadi Game Park 2017 | John Heathcock

In November 2017, I made a long awaited trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park located in the far reaches of the Northern Cape Region of South Africa. For details see https://www.sanparks.org/gallery/parks/kgalagadi. This is one of the most remote National Parks in South Africa and features a high concentration of iconic Gemsbok antelope and large population of big cats (Lion, Cheetah and Leopard) as well as a good number of Raptors. It was a great privilege to visit this park and I will return again one day to see more of the wildlife in this unique part of South Africa. I travelled with a group of seven good friends from Cape Town most of whom were on their first visit to the park as well.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park spans both South Africa and Botswana with the border splitting the park roughly in half. Our trip only covered the southern area of the South African side of the Park including the main camps of Twee Revieren (Two Rivers), Nossob and Mata Mata. One day I will explore the Botswana side of the Park as well which is more remote and requires a high level of self sufficiency in terms of vehicle and camping equipment.

The park is part of the semiarid region of South Africa commonly known as the Kalahari. Kgalagadi is the original indigenous name for the area which was modified by the British to more “English” Kalahari. It is amazing how much wildlife exists in this dry and harsh country. The South African side of the park is bounded by the Nossob and Auob Rivers which are dry riverbeds most of the time. The Auob river flows roughly every ten years while the Nossob river only flows roughly once every fifty years…!! South African National Parks have created many waterholes in the river courses which sustain the wildlife very well. Consequently most of the wildlife is found in the river course areas.

The following photographs capture the essence of the wildlife in the Park. We only spent five nights in the Park while some people spend ten or more nights in the park (and visit on annual basis). The secret to good wild life sightings is maximum time on the ground around the Park. There is a facebook page called Kgalagadi Public Sightings which shows many spectacular wildlife photos almost every day. It is well worth a visit if you are interested in African wildlife.