Africa's first superpark is a 3.6 million hectare amalgamation of the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana and the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa. It is a vast, still sea of rusted dunes, stretching for hundreds of kilometres in rippling rows sliced by two fossil rivers, the Nossob and Auob. Often called a desert, it's only in a few areas that the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park matches its parched reputation. A better definition would be ‘wilderness' or ‘arid savanna'. It's a land of rippling dunes, grasslands, saltpans and dry, tree-lined watercourses. Herds of unicorn-like gemsbok are one of the park's biggest attractions and the Kalahari lions are said to be the largest in the world.

Many South Africans are familiar with the three main camps of the former Kalahari Gemsbok National Park: Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata. These remain excellent bases for exploring, but the exciting options offered by six wilderness camps and a number of 4x4 routes allow... read more