EAST - KALAHARI DESERT Kalahari Desert
When it rains the water drains away into the dry dune valleys, but the region has several seasonally inundated pans, such as the Etosha Pan in northern Namibia and the large
The Kalahari conjures up visions of ancient red dunes,
salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana. Animals
Lourens van der Post, the Bushmen (San) and black-maned
that live in the Kalahari include lion, brown hyaena, meer-
lions. It is very different to the Namib, as it is not a desert
kat, giraffe, warthog, jackal, eland, gemsbok, springbok,
in the strict sense of the word. It receives more rain than a
hartebeest, steenbok, kudu and duiker, and many species
true desert, well over 100 millimetres a year on average,
of bird and reptiles. Vegetation in the Kalahari consists
in some areas as much as 250 millimetres. However, the
mainly of grasses and acacias, but there are over 400
sand sheet that covers the Kalahari has virtually no surface
identified plant species present, including the wild water-
water. Evidence suggests that the region once may have
melon or tsamma melon.
been much more arid than it is now. A better description of the Kalahari would therefore be that it is a ‘fossil desert’
The San people or Bushmen have lived in the Kalahari
rather than a true desert.
for some 20 000 years as hunter-gatherers, surviving by hunting game with bows and arrows and gathering edible
The word ‘Kalahari’, meaning ‘a waterless place’, is de-
plants such as berries, melons and nuts and also insects.
rived from the Tswana word Kgala, meaning the great
Bushmen rarely drink water, getting most of their water
thirst, or the tribal word Khalagari, Kgalagadi or Kalagare.
requirements from plant roots and desert melons found
Vast areas of the Kalahari are covered by red sand, accu-
on or under the desert floor, and storing water in blown-
mulated in longitudinal or linear dunes that trend paral-
out ostrich eggshells. They have their own characteristic
lel to the prevailing wind. They are generally straight and
language that includes clicking sounds.
very long, with sharp crests. Formed many centuries ago, they have become fixed by vegetation of the acacia type
There are several excellent guest farms and lodges in the
and grass cover, with broad dune ‘streets’ in between. An
Kalahari, including the well-known flying centre at Bit-
outstanding feature of the Kalahari dunes is their extraor-
terwasser, a major attraction for gliding, also referred to as
dinary red colour, which is due to a thin film of red iron
‘soaring’. Most of these establishments include visits to the
oxide that coats each grain of sand.
Bushmen, who tell tourists about their lifestyles, including how they track and hunt, which plants they incorporate in
Summer temperatures in the Kalahari range from 20–45°C.
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their diet and the many medicinal uses of plants.
EASTERN ACCOMMODATION
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