The Kalahari & Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape, South Africa

The vast Kalahari is a land of desert red dunes, endless horizons and huge skies. Within it lies the Kgalagadi Transfontier park as well as Tswalu Private Game Reserve. Kgalagadi means 'land of thirst' and this hauntingly beautiful region has a special appeal all of its own. The park represents a vast eco-system relatively free of human influence and facilitates the seasonal migration of wildlife in search of water and the movement of free-roaming predators between South Africa and Botswana. In the heat of the day, desert-adapted black-maned Kalahari lions shelter beneath shady bushes and leopards take refuge in the branches of camelthorn trees. It is also home to cheetah, hyena and immense herds of springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest, blue wildebeest and eland. Nowhere in South Africa are you more likely to see cheetah than in the dry river beds - glorious in late summer and autumn, when the thorn bushes and shepherd trees are green and the grasses golden yellow.

The red sand dunes, sparse vegetation and the dry riverbeds of the Nossob and Auob show antelope and their predators to spectacular advantage. The open terrain is heaven for wildlife photographers. Particular specials of the park include suricate (also known as meerkats - hyperactive little omnivores have a wonderfully intricate family structure; black-maned Kalahari Lions and sociable weaver birds, busy little birds which construct the huge communal nests seen all over the reserve.

The Kalahari is also one of the finest areas in South Africa for viewing birds of prey. One special is the pygmy falcon, the smallest falcon in Africa and often to be seen around the Sociable Weaver colonies preying on the birds.

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