SOME HIGHLIGHTS

Some species have become almost synonymous with the Kalahari. When you think of the Kalahari, your mind immediately wanders to stately gemsbok, springboks, black-maned lions, curious meerkats, raptors, and magnificent acacia trees. While all of these species can be seen elsewhere, there is something truly special about seeing them in the Kalahari.

!KHAMAB
Hidden on the southeastern edge of the Kalahari lies the !Khamab Kalahari Reserve. This 100,000-hectare reserve has spent the past 20 years working purposefully to become a first-class conservation area. The reserve has become known for preserving landscapes, habitats, and ecological processes – and for maintaining the full spectrum of herbivores and predators typical of the eastern Kalahari Bushveld.

The Kalahari is often called a predator’s paradise, and the same is true for !Khamab. Here you can find all of southern Africa’s major predators. Lions, leopards, African wild dogs, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, and brown hyenas all call !Khamab home. In addition, many of the smaller, often shy predators are present. Jackals, caracals, aardwolves, African wildcats, honey badgers, black-backed jackals, Cape foxes, meerkats, and two species of mongooses are always a delight to see.

Together with a large number of herbivores such as eland, wildebeest, red hartebeest, springbok, giraffe, zebra, and even elephants and rhinoceroses, !Khamab offers wildlife encounters and photographic opportunities that few other places in Africa can match.

With nine permanent waterholes, species that previously only passed through during the rainy season are now present year-round. Wildebeest and zebras thrive at !Khamab, providing an important food source for the reserve’s large predators. Elephants (in small numbers), buffalo, kudu, and both species of rhinoceros are now permanent residents of the reserve. Spending time at the waterholes during the dry season is extremely rewarding – both to experience African wildlife and, above all, for photography. Large herds gather at the water to drink, stirring up dust that, in the golden light, creates magical photographic opportunities.

The Kalahari and !Khamab are also well-known for their raptor populations. The reserve hosts two breeding vulture species: the White-backed and the Lappet-faced vulture. Other common raptors include bateleur eagles, secretary birds, several eagle species, owls, falcons, hawks, and kites. The reserve is also home to other birds strongly associated with the Kalahari, including the world’s largest bird, the ostrich, and the heaviest flying bird, the kori bustard.

EXCLUSIVITY
The reserve offers us exclusivity, with only two lodges located in different parts of the vast area. We will stay the lodge in the north and we will have the lodge entirely to ourselves, providing complete flexibility to create a memorable photography experience.
Our days are spent out in the reserve, sometimes with a packed breakfast and returning to the lodge at lunchtime, or full days in the field with lunch at one of the many waterholes, watching the animals come and go.

HIDES AND SAFARI VEHICLES
We photograph from comfortable open safari vehicles, with only three photographers per vehicle, and from newly built hides positioned at ground level at some of the waterholes most frequented by the animals. We essentially have free access to the hides; early mornings attract large flocks of sandgrouse’s coming to drink, and in the afternoons impalas, springboks, rhinos, and other grazers usually appear. Currently, there are no overnight hides at !Khamab, but the waterholes are equipped with lighting, so we can stay as long as we like while waiting for opportunities to photograph nocturnal animals.

We will also conduct evening and night game drives to look for nocturnal wildlife such as aardwolves, aardvark, small cats, porcupines, owls and much more.

KALAHARI
The Kalahari is considered one of Africa’s few remaining wilderness areas! It is the largest undisturbed, dry, sandy savanna in Africa, covering almost 930,000 square kilometers across Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. It forms part of the 1.5 million square kilometer Kalahari Basin, which also includes the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Plains.

It is Africa’s southernmost desert and the second largest after the Sahara. However, it is not classified as a true desert, but rather a semi-desert. What distinguishes the Kalahari from a true desert is that the average annual rainfall exceeds 250 mm. Like true deserts, however, the Kalahari has very little surface water. Only during the rainy season do some of the many temporary pans and riverbeds hold water.

The Kalahari is often described as “the land of disappearing rivers.” Central Kalahari is home to some ancient rivers in Deception Valley that have not flowed for thousands of years. In the southern and western parts of the Kalahari, there are the Molopo, Moselebe, Kuruman, Nossob, and Aoub rivers, which only flow during very wet periods.

Endless red sand dunes are often associated with the Kalahari, which is partly true. Although it has the world’s largest sand expanse, dunes are mainly found in the western part, near the Namib Desert. In much of central and southern Kalahari, as well as the northern and eastern regions, sand dunes are virtually absent.

More information