Red dunes and distance
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
About Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
The Kgalagadi was Africa’s first transfrontier park: two national parks, one on each side of a border that is not fenced, run as a single conservation area. Animals have never observed that border, and since 2000 the administration no longer does either.
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What sets the Kgalagadi apart from everything else is its geography. Two dry riverbeds, the Auob and the Nossob, run through the dune fields, and almost all the animals gather along them, because that is where the boreholes and waterholes are. The tracks follow the same riverbeds. The result is a park with exceptionally open sightings: no thicket, no undergrowth, just red dune, pale grass and whatever is standing in it, often at a distance from which you can watch for an hour without disturbing anything.
That openness is also one reason photographers keep coming back. There is no thicket in the way: the animals stand clear in the frame, and gemsbok, springbok or lions stand out sharply against the red of the dunes, the pale grass and a sky that is usually cloudless. In the golden hour the dunes seem to glow, and with a bit of luck you will see leopard or cheetah on their slopes.
What the driving is like
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On the South African side of the Kgalagadi the tracks are generally in good condition, but they are gravel and sand without exception. The gravel can have sharp, pointed stones, so get your tyre pressure right, and make sure you have a spare. A 4×4 is not strictly necessary here, but it can make driving easier, especially after rain. The three large camps, Twee Rivieren, Mata-Mata and Nossob, have fuel and shops, so you can stock up along the way. There are also designated 4×4 trails, which you book through SANParks. Some of the smaller wilderness camps, such as Bitterpan, can only be reached by 4×4.
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The Botswana side of the Kgalagadi is a different world, and you can only drive it in a 4×4. The tracks are mostly deep sand; an ordinary car will not get you anywhere here. There are no large camps with fuel or shops, only simple, remote campsites. You are entirely on your own and have to plan ahead: enough fuel for the whole route, plenty of water and food, spare tyres and recovery gear. Anyone driving here should have experience in sand and prepare the route carefully. The reward is real wilderness and solitude.
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On the South African side the distances between camps are long, with no fuel in between. Fill up in each of the three large camps (Twee Rivieren, Mata-Mata, Nossob) before you move on, and be generous with your fuel estimate on sand and gravel, because consumption is higher than on tar.
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Take plenty of drinking water, especially in the hot summer, and leave yourself a margin even on short stretches. A spare wheel with tools and a compressor belongs in the route plan, because a breakdown far from the camps often means a long wait before anyone comes by. The camps close their gates in the evening, so keep that in mind when you plan longer stretches.
On the Botswana side all of this applies even more. There is no fuel and no shop at all, and you have to plan fuel, water, food and equipment for the entire route.
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In the Kgalagadi there is mobile reception only at Twee Rivieren, not at Nossob or Mata-Mata (Mata-Mata sometimes picks up a Namibian network). In the wilderness camps and on the tracks in between you will normally have no signal. That is part of the adventure: switching off completely in the vastness of the Kalahari. If you want to be on the safe side, you can hire a satellite phone through your car rental company. Do not count on the satellite emergency SOS of newer iPhones, because it is not currently available in South Africa or Botswana.
When to go
March to May and September to October
March to May and September to October are the most pleasant months. The days are warm to hot, and in September temperatures can climb above 30 degrees at midday. Nights and early mornings, on the other hand, are much cooler; especially in early September it can drop close to freezing. Keep that in mind when you pack: warm layers for the early morning drives and the evenings, and light clothing for the midday heat.
June to August
Winter is the classic game viewing season. The days are mostly sunny and clear, the nights and early mornings bitterly cold, so warm clothing in several layers is a must. In return, predator sightings at the waterholes are at their best now, because the animals depend on the water and come to drink regularly.
December to February
In summer the Kgalagadi is at its liveliest. After the first rains the grass turns green, the springbok drop their lambs, and there are plenty of raptors in the park. The heat comes with it, though: expect temperatures above 40 °C, and the middle of the day is best spent in the shade, by people and animals alike. Strong thunderstorms often build up in the afternoon. They can damage the tracks badly enough that parts of the park become impassable for an ordinary car, so a vehicle with more clearance is the safer choice at this time of year.
What this changes for your planning
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The distances are the difficulty
Nothing about the driving is technical on the main tracks. What is demanding is that the next camp is hours away, there is no fuel in between, and nobody is coming the other way.
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Crossing the border in the Kgalagadi
Two countries, one park, two sets of rules. There is no border control inside the park: if you visit the Botswana side and leave the park through the country you entered, you do not need your passport. Formalities only apply if you leave the park through a different country. That is a real border crossing, and not one you make on the spur of the moment.
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Botswana
Preparation: You need at least two nights on the South African side, plus a 4×4, at least two vehicles for the routes in Botswana, and a separate booking for the camps there.
Twee Rivieren: This is where you exit South Africa and enter Botswana. Both border posts (Twee Rivieren and Two Rivers) share one building at the entrance gate and are staffed only from 7:30 to 16:00.
Onward: You then drive into the Botswana section and later leave the park through one of the Botswana gates (Two Rivers, Mabuasehube or Kaa).
Namibia via Mata-Mata
Preparation: Here too you need at least two nights in the park. The vehicle must carry the black-and-white “ZA” sticker.
Twee Rivieren: There is no South African border post at Mata-Mata, so you complete your exit from South Africa (immigration and customs) beforehand at Twee Rivieren.
Mata-Mata: Only the entry into Namibia happens here, with passport control and customs. A road fee is due on entry (according to SANParks, 242 rand per vehicle and 154 rand per trailer).
Time: Namibia moves its clocks back one hour in winter (from the first Sunday in April to the first Sunday in September). That matters for your timing and for gate closing.
Exception: If you only enter from Namibia and return to Namibia via Mata-Mata, you do not need to enter South Africa. You only clear the Namibian side on your way back.
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The camps book out a long way ahead
If you want to stay overnight in the Kgalagadi, you have to be early, and I mean really early. SANParks opens bookings about eleven months in advance, and the small wilderness camps in particular, which are the reason many people come at all, are often gone within a very short time. Some travellers even set an alarm in the middle of the night to grab a place the moment it opens on the SANParks website. So decide on your travel dates first, and book as soon as the booking window opens.
From my own trips
If you travel far from the next village in rarely used areas, pack emergency food and a satellite phone or another way to call for help. Reputable rental companies offer some of this as add-on equipment, for a fee, and it has to be requested in advance.
How long to plan
At least 6 nights
Getting there alone usually takes the best part of two days, whether you come from Windhoek, Cape Town or Johannesburg, so plan an overnight stop on the way and do not arrive in the park exhausted. In the park itself you should spend at least two nights on each of the two riverbeds, the Auob and the Nossob. Only then is there enough time for sightings, and the trip does not feel like a transfer with animals by the roadside. The more days you have, the better, because distances in the park are long, and the best things in the Kgalagadi often happen when you have time to wait.
The camps, and what they mean
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Twee Rivieren
The entrance camp in the south and the largest. It has fuel, a shop, a pool and, as the only camp in the park, a restaurant serving breakfast and dinner à la carte. It is also the only camp with reliable mobile reception.
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Nossob
The camp lies deep in the park on the Nossob riverbed, close to the Botswana border, remote and hot. It is the classic address for the black-maned lions. With fuel, a shop and a pool, it is also an important supply point. This is where you fill up one more time before setting off on the 4×4 trail into Botswana.
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The route to the Bitterpan wilderness camp starts here too: it is a one-way track over sandy dunes and only passable by 4×4. Plan a night in Nossob beforehand, because that is where you check in for Bitterpan, and the drive takes a good two and a half to three hours. One more tip: the shop sells homemade roosterkoek, bread rolls toasted over the coals, which you should not miss.
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Mata-Mata
The camp lies on the Auob riverbed in the west of the park, right on the Namibian border. It is the smallest of the three main camps and much quieter than Twee Rivieren. The drive up the Auob from Twee Rivieren (around 120 km) is considered the gentle one and is often a good choice for cheetah sightings.
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Mata-Mata has a pool, a waterhole with a viewing point right at the camp, fuel and a small shop. There is no South African mobile reception, though there is sometimes a Namibian signal. Coming from Bitterpan over the dunes, you reach the Auob track just before Mata-Mata. The camp is also the border crossing into Namibia, with the rules from the section on border crossings.
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The wilderness camps
Six small unfenced camps far out in the empty Kalahari, with only a few units each and no shop or fuel. Here you are completely alone with the wilderness and the sounds of the bush, and with a bit of luck a lion walks right past your accommodation. That is exactly what makes them so special. It is why many people keep coming back, and why they are the first to be booked out.
For the camera
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The Nossob runs roughly north to south, the Auob from northwest to southeast, so for most of the day the light falls on the track from the side. What matters is where the waterhole is: depending on its position and the time of day, you either have the sun behind you while the animals drink, or you are looking straight into it.
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A waterhole that is perfectly lit in the morning can be in backlight by evening. So plan which one you drive to when, and pay attention to which side of the track you stop on. A great help is the book “Kgalagadi Self-Drive” by the van den Berg family (with Jaco Powell). It describes the routes with waterholes, distances and driving times, so you can plan your photo drives precisely.
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The highlight of the Kgalagadi is the open view: there is hardly a bush in the way, and you get a clear sight of the animals, which makes for impressive photographs.
What goes wrong
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Underestimating the tyres. The tracks are mostly gravel and sand, and corrugations and sharp stones are hard on tyres. It is easy to manage, though. Let some air out before you set off: with lower pressure the ride is smoother, the tyres last longer and you get through sand more easily. Add a spare wheel that you check before leaving, and a compressor to pump the tyres back up at the end of the track. Prepared like that, you can enjoy the drives at ease.
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Setting off without enough water and fuel for this leg, the next one and the one after. There is nothing between the camps: no fuel, no shop, no water and hardly any traffic. The distances are long: Twee Rivieren to Mata-Mata takes around two and a half hours, to Nossob a good three, and on sand and gravel the car uses noticeably more than on tar.
Questions people ask
Do I need a 4×4?
It depends on where you want to go. On the tracks along the riverbeds, between the three large camps, clearance matters more than four-wheel drive. The tracks are usually in good condition, but a higher vehicle gets you through more comfortably, especially after rain. In heavy thunderstorms some stretches can become impassable for an ordinary car.
Away from the riverbeds it is different. The dune routes to remote places, such as the one-way track to Bitterpan or the road to Gharagab, can only be done in a proper 4×4. The same goes for the designated 4×4 trails, which you book in advance through SANParks. There are exceptions here too: according to SANParks, the Kieliekrankie wilderness camp on the southern dune road can be reached in an ordinary vehicle.
For the entire Botswana side, on the other hand, a 4×4 is a must. Deep sand is the rule there, and the routes may only be driven with at least two vehicles.
Are there elephant and rhino?
No, and the reason is water. The Kgalagadi is a desert park where the Auob and the Nossob carry water only very rarely and there are hardly any natural waterholes. Hippo and buffalo depend on permanent water and find no habitat here. Elephant and rhino need large amounts of water plus plenty of food, which the sparse Kalahari with its dunes and thin grass cannot provide. Instead, this is home to animals that cope with the dryness: predators in open country, such as black-maned lions, cheetah and leopard, plus gemsbok, bat-eared foxes and meerkats. You will hardly be able to watch many of them this well anywhere else.
How cold does it actually get?
On winter nights from June to August temperatures regularly drop below freezing, on some nights well below. During the day, by contrast, it is sunny and pleasantly warm, often around 25 degrees. Anyone who only thinks of sun and heat sits in the car at sunrise and regrets it. Layering works best: several thin layers you can wear on top of each other in the morning and take off one by one by midday. Pack a warm base layer, a fleece and a windproof jacket, plus a hat and gloves for the early drives. That way you are well prepared at sunrise and not overheating at midday.
Can I cross into Botswana?
Yes, but it is a real border crossing with all the formalities, and the routes have to be planned in advance. In short: you exit and enter at Twee Rivieren, where the South African and the Botswana border post (Two Rivers) share one building, staffed only from 7:30 to 16:00. You need at least two nights in the park, a 4×4 and at least two vehicles for the routes on the Botswana side. The camps there are booked separately from SANParks. All the details are in the section on border crossings. It is worth it, but it is not a spontaneous decision.
Is there mobile coverage?
At Twee Rivieren, mostly. According to SANParks it is the only camp with mobile reception. There is no South African signal at Nossob and Mata-Mata, and you should not count on one on the tracks, in the wilderness camps or on the Botswana side either. That is part of the adventure, but it belongs in the plan: download offline maps, agree on meeting points and times in advance, and tell someone when you will be back in touch. If you want to be on the safe side, you can hire a satellite phone through your car rental company. Do not count on the satellite emergency SOS of newer iPhones, because it is not currently available in South Africa or Botswana.
Borders: Natural Earth
