A Vacation In The Desert

A vacation in the desert has the potential of turning into one surreal experience that is bound to leave a lasting impression on the traveler. Vast stretches of open barren land, mounds of sand and occasional splashes of green in the form of some vegetation are what the desert is all about. But even this dry land has some magical portions hidden in it which splashes on travelers and leave them completely mesmerized. The silence during the nights is completely overpowering and baring the occasional twitter so some odd insect there is nothing what so ever that one can hear for miles. The sky at night is at its clearest and the experience of sleeping under this clear sky with a blanket of stars on top is surely one spectacular and soothing experience.

The Kalahari Desert is located in Botswana and extends deep into the areas of South Africa and Namibia providing it a total expanse of around 900,000 square kilometers,covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari Desert is the southern part of Africa, and the geography is a portion of desert and a plateau. The Kalahari supports some animals and plants because most of it is not a true desert. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. It usually receives 3–7.5 inches (76–190 mm) of rain per year. The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2,500,000 square kilometres extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds—called omuramba—traverse the Central Northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for wild animals from elephant to giraffe, and for predators such as lion and cheetah, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopard or cheetah can still be found.

This desert has allowed vegetation like wild grass and short scrubs to grow on it and also serves as an abode to the Tswana herdsmen and the Bushmen known as the San. the Kalahari desert is known as Kgalagadi in the local dialect and it is primarily the south west region of this desert with its small reddish sand dunes and small ridges that reflects and portrays a desert in true sense. The desert provides its boundaries to several wildlife parks and sanctuaries and in turn provides a safe haven to several varieties and species of wild animals and birds. These include the likes of cheetahs, leopards, giraffes and the famous black maned lions. Apart from these animals there are also present about 250 varieties of birds which have made the desert as their home.

There are several activities which can be indulged in when touring the Kalahari Desert. One of the most popular excursions here in the Kalahari involves spending a day with the members of the local San Bushmen. The language spoken by these Bushmen I heavily accented and it is very pleasing and interesting to hear them speak. They share in depth knowledge about the Kalahari Desert area and have learnt to live harmoniously with the local flora and fauna. The amount of information that one can get on the desert from them cannot be compared with any other information source as whatever input they provide it comes with their experience of living there in the midst of the desert.

The Kalahari Desert is not expected to provide any permanent camps or camping sites for the tourists and therefore the guests are expected to bring with them all the supplies when they plan to set up camp in the desert. But there is still an oasis of hope in the Kalahari for those wishing for some respite and luxury. This aid comes in the form of the Central Kalahari Game reserve which is very well equipped to provide you all the conditions required for an adventurous and at the same time a luxurious mobile safari option. Providing the luxuries of a spacious tent along with a bathroom, fine cutlery, a chef, good tasty food and wines it surely makes the desert look not so formidable and treacherous. But all said and done in order to experience the real desert one should camp there on their own without expecting to be waited upon and in return get the true unbridled experience of living in the wild amongst nature and under the watchful eyes of the stars and the moons. Truly heavenly!