Kalahari Gemsbok National Park Things to Do

Buy a “Wild” Card and Save Money
The Wild Card program has been recently introduced in the South African National Park system to make the parks more affordable for those making multiple entries. The card has a small computer chip in it that stores and process information. South African residence may buy a card specific to one region or “clusters”. For instance the Bushveld Cluster would include Golden Gate, Kruger, Mapungubwe, and Marakele National Parks. International tourist pay the same no matter what. The price is good for one year no matter how many parks or how many times you visit.

For all parks South African Residence pay R195 for individual, R335 for a couple, and R440 for a Family.

For International tourist the card is R795 for individual, R1395 for a couple, and R1795 for a family.

Other benefits like 5% cash back on accommodation, car rental, refreshments, etc. may also be available with the card.

Kruger and Kgalagadi Parks costs R120 a day per person. Other parks are less expensive, but if you are planning to spend a lot of time in the South African national Parks, absolutely get the card.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the middle of the Kalahari Desert. It has sparse vegetation and most of the water is found in the dry riverbeds of the Auob and Nossob Rivers. This is a fantastic park to find predators and to see large herbivores that constantly search for water and sweet grasses. Lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena, brown hyena, honey badger, black back jackal and bat-eared fox are some of the predators you may find here. Springbok, gemsbok, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, steenbok are common and eland and giraffe uncommon. Ground squirrel and suricates (meerkats) are prevalent. There are no larger game here such as buffalo, elephant or rhino, but the amazing landscapes and the better opportunity of spotting predators make up for that lacking.

The gemsbok, or Oryx, is a large antelope with very strait serrated, horns. They are grayish with black and white markings and have a horse like tail. They are quite common.

The uniqueness of this species of antelope is its adaptation to the desert climate. It survives on meager amounts of water mainly by eating wild melons and cucumbers. They are efficient users of water and can go with out urinating. They have a unique way of cooling their blood in their sinuses as air breathed in passes across arteries for heat exchange.

For a big and dangerous looking animal, these gemsbok are very skittish.

Meerkats, also called suricats, are a busy animals. They are small like mongoose but are much more entertaining. They are found in dry open country and live in dens in large packs of 30 or more. They are always busy sratching at the earth looking for invertebrates, digging out their dens which are sometimes share with squirls and other small mamals or standing guard looking for danger. They stand on the hind legs using their tail as a kick stand to hold them up. There are plenty of birds of prey, jackals, hyena and other large predetors to look out for.

They are very social creatures and constantly interact with one another. If you get lucky and spot a den, which are occasionally right off the road, sit and watch these creatures for awhile. They will not disappoint.