Home » Zambia » Day 8. Sat 24th April Into the Kalahari Game Reserve.

We leave at five for the Kalahari Game Reserve. We drive to Ghanzi where we turn off the tarmac onto a sandy track. It is not a long way, but difficult driving, and in addition the land rover has developed a leak in the water system which is rather worrying. We have pink sausage sandwiches and cake for breakfast.
The central Kalahari is not a true desert, as it receives on average more than 10 inches of rainfall a year, and sometimes a great deal more. This year the rains have been good and the "desert" is a lush green. However, moisture evaporates quickly from, or is absorbed into, the sandy soil, and sometimes there may be little or no rainfall for several years.

Day 8. Sat 24th April Into the Kalahari Game Reserve.

DaveMidgley
2005-10-22 10:19:58

Displayed times (last time: )

We leave at five for the Kalahari Game Reserve. We drive to Ghanzi where we turn off the tarmac onto a sandy track. It is not a long way, but difficult driving, and in addition the land rover has developed a leak in the water system which is rather worrying. We have pink sausage sandwiches and cake for breakfast.
The central Kalahari is not a true desert, as it receives on average more than 10 inches of rainfall a year, and sometimes a great deal more. This year the rains have been good and the "desert" is a lush green. However, moisture evaporates quickly from, or is absorbed into, the sandy soil, and sometimes there may be little or no rainfall for several years.

We eat lunch, pink sausage sandwiches and cake again, at the Game Reserve gate, while Ken pays. He also manages to do a temporary on fix the coolant leak in the Land Rover engine using a plastic bag.

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is one of the largest wildlife protectorates in the world, at over 32,000 square miles it is about the size of Ireland.

From the gate it is about 70Km to our camp site at Piper Pan, and we get there at about three o'clock. We have three tents between us and, in view of my tendency to snore rather loudly, Ken decides to share with Blondie instead, so I get a tent to myself. Ken shows us how to put up the tents, and also gives us a talk on good camp practice, which includes never leaving them open, not leaving shoes outside at night, and peeing round the tent to "mark the territory" which will discourage predators. We are a little doubtful about the latter idea, and the women don't attempt it at all! The tents are basic but ideal for the purpose, very easy to put up once you get the hang of it, but roomy and high enough to stand in. They have integrated floors to keep out unwanted visitors, and are fully mosquito-netted. We also get nice thick mattresses, which is good, as I didn't have room for an air-bed.

For the first time ever we see Ken wearing shoes. The ground in the Kalahari is covered with tiny thorns, designed a bit like those things they use to puncture tyres - which ever way they fall theres a spike sticking upwards. Knowing this Ken has brought along a pair of sandals that he has kept since he stopped wearing shoes thirteen years ago, and are definitely looking their age. Nevertheless it doesn't stop him and the rest of us getting thorns in our feet, and thorn removal sessions become a regular event.

Once the tents are up Blondie and I are given the task of setting up camp while Sunshine and Pirate go off with Ken in the land rover to gather firewood. It seems that Big Pirate Pete is ideally suited to this task as they return scratched and dirty but with the roof piled high with branches and full of tales of his prowess. The fire is soon blazing and steaks sizzling. Sunshine, as a vegetarian, is a little out of her element with such serious carnivores, especially Ken, who can devour a T-bone steak the size of a dinner plate and order extra sausages. However, we are well stocked with tins of beans and vegetable curry, and she does OK.

After supper Ken decides that it's time to open the duty-free Jack Daniels that I have been carting around in my rucksack. I'm not feeling quite up to an evening on the whisky, and neither are the others, but Ken is quite happy to polish off most of the bottle without any assistance.

We decide to leave the washing up until the morning, and sit around the fire instead, telling jokes and trying to remember the words of songs.