At first glance the Kalahari is harsh and hot, but once it gets under your skin it is hard to forget the beautiful scenery that was etched into your memory on your first visit.

To make a visit to the Kalahari easier and more enjoyable I am sharing a short packing list for your visit:

1.       The number one slot is filled by a good body lotion. The air is dry in the Kalahari and the water do not treat your skin gently either.  Unless you want to look like the dry riverbed of the Nossob river, pack enough of it.  You will certainly need it.

2.         And while on the lotion and potions pack the sunscreen, especially during the summer.  You will spend most of your time in your vehicle, but even then make sure you cover up with suntan lotion to protect you from the African sun.

3.         Lip balm and eye drops.  Like I said when discussing body lotion the air is dry, you do not want your lips to be cracked and your eyes red and irritated.

4.         Of course if you wear a hat a lot of the sun will not get to your face.  It is still an important item whether it is summer or winter in the Kalahari.  

5.         Pack the bug spray.  This is a malaria free area, but flying insects can be annoying and you do not want to swat them the whole time.  This might just chase away that beautiful cheetah that you were watching through your binoculars.

6.         Speaking of which – binoculars and cameras. A binocular is an important item as you can see far and wide here.  The animals are not always close to the road. And the possibilities to capture “star trails” on a cloud free night is big.

7.         Bird and animal books.  That is what you will be doing here – spotting animals.  You will be amazed at what you will learn when looking up even the ordinary animals. 

8.         Fill up your water bottles in the morning before you leave camp. There are no kiosks selling water and cold drinks as this is one of the less developed parks in South Africa.

9.         An item for the ladies: Wear a sports bra …  At times with all the vibrations on the corrugations, your bones, and more, will rattle and roll.  (Read this one with a bit of humour, please).

10.      At last something to pack for the men.  It is a good idea to fit a seed net for your vehicle especially when you plan to drive the 4×4 trial.  The grass is high and dry and the slightest of heat friction can set your vehicle alight.  Get into the habit of checking regularly underneath your car for dry grass that are stuck … and deflate your vehicle’s tyres, it makes the ride easier. To monitor the correct pressure you will obviously need a tyre pressure gauge!

I hope that this will add to you being a happy camper in the Kalahari and remember to enjoy your visit and the sunsets.

To gain some more insight into the Kalahari also read the Red Dune Route post at Kalahari Red Dune Route

The post 10 ESSENTIALS TO PACK FOR A VISIT TO KGALAGADI TRANSFRONTIER PARK appeared first on TRAVELBUCKET.

I prefer to travel as light as possible and keep the kitchen equipment/ utensils to the minimum.  Fancy cooking is something that I will attempt when I am at home with all the crockery and cutlery at hand.  After all, this is why we come to the bush – to get back to basics again and appreciate nature.  I can proudly say that I have had a braai in countries like Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and Zambia!

When camping there are basically two ways to cook – either with a gas cooker or over the open fire.  We make a fire every night when camping so that is the obvious choice for us when we travel in Africa.  You will find wood or charcoal almost everywhere in Africa as it is an integral part of rural living on the continent.

There are various ways and methods to braai as this is second nature for us South African.  Read more on this topic in my post a  “Braai – a way of life”.

When we come to potjiekos which is made in a cast iron pot (three-legged or flat bottomed) over flames and not coals like when you are braaiing.  I prefer the flat-bottomed pot as my dish normally burns in the three-legged one.  I do not know what I am doing wrong!

When making potjie your choices of meat are endless – venison, beef, lamb, chicken, etcetera.  I even make a kick-ass lasagne potjie.  The best thing about a potjie is that you can add what you can find on the local markets.  In our case this mainly determines what type of potjie we are having that night.  (I will post on how to buy food on the local markets in a separate post).  However, I prefer to make a potjie when we are making camp for more than two days at a place, especially if you arrive late, there is not always enough time to make the potjie as it requires simmering over the fire.

A potjie is a good alternative to a braai as quality meat can at times be hard to find in Africa.  I am pretty sure that we had donkey tails once (sold as ox tail) in Choma, Zambia, but we survived that too!  When you are hungry and there are not a lot of options available, you just give it and go ….

My flat bottomed potjie also serves as an oven in which I bake bread.

Buy food that will last in the African heat.  Refrigerator space is always limited.  Butternuts (hard to find in Africa), gems and potatoes, onions and cabbage can take you a long way and sometimes it is the only vegetables that you will source for a couple of days.  So you need to be innovative with your recipes.  Aluminum foil comes in handy when doing vegetables over the fire.

I also take some dry rations such as pasta and couscous for emergencies – you never know what can happen in the African bush.  Rusks and coffee is also a quick breakfast fix when you have limited options in the bush.  Eggs are always problematic to pack and keep them whole, so I only buy it when I am pretty sure that it will be used the same day – boiled for lunch later or scrambled for breakfast.

Share your cooking experience in the commentary section of the post.  It may be useful to some newbie camper that is unfamiliar with local customs and conditions.

–oOo–

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If you like to explore the back roads of South Africa the route through the Overberg that will take you to the pont at Malgas across the Breede River is a worthwhile, one of a kind experience.

What makes the Malgas pont rather special?  It is the only remaining hand-drawn pont of its kind in the country. There are at least two other pontoons that comes to mind when writing about this topic, but they are not hand-drawn – the one over the Kei River in the Eastern Cape and the one at Sendelingsdrift in the Richtersveld crossing the Orange River in the Northern Cape but it is not the same as the hand-drawn one at Malgas.  I am adding these two pontoon crossing to Wallace’s travel list!

The service begun in 1860 and is still operational today from sunrise until sunset, weather permitting. It will take you about 10 to 15 minutes to cross the river.  Just enough time to take the compulsory pictures of the Land Rover on the pont and have a chat with the friendly operators of the pont.  As they were walking up and down on the pontoon I was wondering what is the total amount of paces that they take every day.  Surely, during the holiday season and over weekends they walk further than during the week when there are less visitors.

The village of Malgas peaked during the year 1860 when it boasted a hotel, shop, boarding house, school, church, goal and a powder store.  During this period fresh water was also transported in flat bottomed boats down river to Port Beaufort and Infanta at the mouth – a distance of about 40 kilometres.  However, today all the hustle and bustle are gone and you will find mostly accommodation, a couple of holiday homes and a little country store along the shores of the river.

Malagas was the name of a Hottentot chief, whose kraal was situated near the site. The name of the village was changed to Malgas because in the olden days, post for the village ended up in Malaga Spain!  Today both versions of the name are still in use.

If you are willing to travel on gravel you will find this unique experience at: S 34° 18.132′ E 020° 35.410′

NEED TO KNOW: 

They take only cash – no card machines in this part of the world.  The fee we paid during April 2018 was R55 per vehicle.

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