Home  Traveller Information Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
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Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park |
Africa's first formally declared trans-border conservation area, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, on the border of South Africa and Botswana, was officially launched on May 12, 2000 by South African President Thabo Mbeki and Botswana President Festus Mogae. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is located in Kgalagadi District approximately 865km south-west of Gaborone.
The combined land area of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is +/- 38,000 km² of which 28,400 km² lies in Botswana and 9,600 km² lies in South Africa
Transfrontier parks, border parks or transboundary conservation areas are protected areas that straddle international boundaries. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is such a protected area in the southern Kalahari Desert. The southern Kalahari represents an increasingly rare phenomenon: a large ecosystem relatively free from human interference. The absence of man-made barriers (except to the west and south of the Park) has provided a conservation area large enough to maintain examples of two ecological processes that were once widespread in the savannahs and grasslands of Africa. The large scale migratory movements of wild ungulates; and predation by large mammalian carnivores! These processes are impossible to maintain except in the largest of areas, and their presence in the Kalahari makes the system of special value to conservation.
In addition to this, the Kalahari has a particular aesthetic appeal. The harsh, semi-arid environment has placed adaptive demands on both fauna and flora that are of considerable scientific interest. Few other conservation areas have attracted so many research projects. This research has revealed a widely fluctuating environment, driven by rainfall events, which vary widely in time and space, and produces a system that is difficult to predict and understand without long-term study.
The significance of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is that it is the first formally declared Transfrontier Park in Africa and it will hopefully serve as a model for conservation in the 21st Century. The Government of Botswana is keen to make the Transfrontier Park a success. The Peace Parks Foundation has played an important role in the development of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and provides assistance for the creation of other transboundary conservation areas in the region.
What to Do
The Kalagadi Transfrontier Park is renowned for predator watching and for the seasonal movement of large herbivores such as Gemsbok, Springbok, Blue Wildebeest, Eland and Red Hartebeest, In the early hours of the morning and late in the afternoon, game gathers along waterholes in the riverbeds, most of which are fed by wind pumps and the chances of seeing the Kalahari Black Maned Lion as well as Cheetah, Leopard, Brown and Spotted Hyena, Wild Dog, and Black-Backed Jackal are excellent. There is a wide variety of bird species for the enthusiast and a variety of raptors may be seen. The cooler winter mo`nths from April to September are more suitable for a visit to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park than are the very hot summer months, when temperatures might rise above the 40° C mark.
Where to stay
Two Rivers Camping Ground, which is situated near the entrance gate, has three presently undeveloped campsites
Rooiputs Camping Ground - This ground is 25km up the Nossob River Valley from the entrance gate, has six individual campsites. There are no facilities available at Rooiputs at present.
Poletscua Camping Ground lies in the northern section of the Nossob River Valley and has three undeveloped campsites.
Mabuasehube Area: This is situated in the extreme east of the Gemsbok National Park. There are a number of individual campsites overlooking pans, some of which have small waterholes. Some of the campsites have picnic tables.
Mabuasehube Pan - four campsites with pit latrines, and small waterhole
Mpaathuthva Pan - two campsites with pit latrines, and small waterhole
Khiding Pan - two campsites with pit latrines
Lesholoago Pan - one campsite with pit latrine and one campsite without, and small waterhole.
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