Kalhari Desert

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April 20th

I arrived safe and sound in Johannesburg airport after a 21 hour flight! The last 2 hours of the flight, I was starting to get a little stir crazy and was wondering when I could actually lay down and get some serious sleep. I stayed the night at Southern Sun Johannesburg, it is a very nice hotel.

April 21st - 22nd

I took a puddle jumper up to Maun to meet up with the rest of the people that would be on this safari. Helga from Luxemburg (age 64 - this was her 9th safari in Africa); Mark and Sue (from Brisbane - Australia) and our 2 guides (Thuto and Christine).

From the airport, we drove about 2 hours to our first destination which is the Kalahari Desert. We stayed at Jack's Camp for the 2 nights, the accommodations were pretty luxurious for being in the wild. In fact, the toilet was literally a "throne"

Kalahari Desert, is an arid region on the interior plateau of southern Africa, occupying central and southwestern Botswana and parts of west central South Africa and eastern Namibia. The desert covers an area of about 100,000 sq miles. The Kalahari is part of a large sand basin stretching into Angola and Zambia in the north, through Botswana into Zimbabwe in the east, south to the Orange River in South Africa, and west to the highlands of Namibia. This basin has a total surface area of about 360,000 sq miles. The name Kalahari is derived from the Tswana word Kgalagadi, meaning “the great thirst.” The saltpans are among the largest in the world, and were part of a super-lake, which was fossilized thousands of years ago.

The animals were incredible. Due to the zebra migration, we saw 350 zebras traveling across the desert, it was awesome! Other animals include: Brown Hyaena, Oryx, Springbok, but the most fascinating creature we saw are Meerkats!

One of our activities is quad biking, and the other was a trek with the Bushman. The walk with the bushmen was interesting, their way of communicating with each other is "clicking" sounds.

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Photos

Trip to Botswana
Yours truly on embarking on a trip of a life time! It was my 50th birthday present from me to me!

Puff Adder
This is our welcome greeter to the Kalahari Desert

Sunset
Sunset in the Kalahari is incredible!

Stripes
Talk about stripes! We saw over 350 Zebra, as they were migrating.

Meerkat
Look both ways before crossing.

Meerkats
Up, close, and personal. They come right up to you.

Baobab Tree
This tree is over 1000 years old.

Safari Nuts
Group photo at the base of the Baobab tree. I felt like someone "shrunk" me.

African Village
This is a pretty awesome village.

Jacks Camp
We stayed at Jacks Camp - it is divine luxury. Wilderness Safaris upgraded us to Jack's Camp because the other camp was rained out.

Inside my tent
This is a bed fit for a queen!

The "Throne"
No joke - talk about "potty" style!

Dining in style
It is always a pleasure to have a meal in the dining area at Jack's Camp. When you go, it will look different than this, as they are doing renovations.

Born to be wild
The salt pans are large, it seemed endless. We had fun on these!

Rain in the Kalahari
Rain in the Kalahari is a beautiful site. In Botswana this year, rain seemed to be in abundance.

Bushmen
Our last morning in the Kalahari, we walked with the Bushmen.

Comments

[DARLENE]

Kalahari
OMG that look like so much fun i will be 50 next year and i am going too do the same thing a gift to me from me i am a member of the fkmp they have a research trip this year it is $3850.00 accomadations food working with the researchers and the meerkats my favorite actually from animal planets Meeerkat manor i loved your photos thanks for sharing your safari with i guess the public thanks darlene wagner

[Ksue44]

Kalhari Desert
Darlene - Your 50th birthday should be SPECIAL! That is a special time of your life, and in essence, when you turn 50, that's the beginning of the second (and better part) of your life! When you go, be sure and blog, and take photos. I think I took 894 photos during my Africa trip. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the blog!