Central Kalahari, Landscape in the Sun

As has been the case on several previous trips to Africa, our home for many days was a fleet of Toyota Hiluxes with rooftop tents. There are a few advantages, several disadvantages and a couple of very real dangers. I’ll save the details for a separate article about this camping adventure, which is basically a magnet for trouble but also delivers unforgettable experiences.

There was really no other way to do it there. The Central Kalahari is one of the most remote regions of Botswana, where you can’t exactly book yourself a lodge (well, almost).

When Honza told us years ago that he had once spent three days there without seeing a single other person, I immediately knew this was a place made for me. Anyone who knows me knows that when I put together an African itinerary, I always try to make sure there are no other people – no other vehicles – around. Or at least as few as possible, by travelling outside the peak season.

The greatest advantage of exploring the wilderness independently with a rooftop tent is that, when photographing, you can more or less “do whatever you want” – not literally, of course, and only after taking all the objective risks into account. For example, you could get out of the car at the wrong moment and be eaten by a lion.

In addition to 12 days in the Central Kalahari, we also photographed in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and Nxai Pan National Park (I had already been there in 2018), which was an ideal few days on our way back to civilisation.

A traditional list of the most spectacular wildlife sightings would normally follow here, but as we all suspected from the start, this trip was really more about the experiences.

Dozens of kilometres without seeing a single other vehicle. During our daily 70–120 km wanderings through the wilderness, we encountered just one or two. Powerful nighttime storms that left us waking up in a lake of water. Being surrounded by a pride of lions when we got out of the car after arriving in Kori in the dark. Screeching Barn Owls waking us every night and landing on our tents. A blooming desert, kilometres of yellow flowers and hundreds of butterflies in every direction. An early-morning departure from Deception Valley ahead of a storm, when we spent an hour driving through 20 cm of water and mud-filled potholes.

A leopard with a freshly killed springbok in a tree on a small patch of vegetation. A patient family of six Bat-eared Foxes in the morning light. A Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill regularly feeding a brooding female inside a tree cavity. A successful rescue mission, pulling out some unfortunate Dutch travellers who had got stuck in the mud and had been unable to get any help for 30 hours. Unexpectedly large herds of zebras gathering in pools along the Boteti River. Sunsets and sunrises with giraffes in Nxai Pan. A Toyota mishap when I drove into a hole filled with mud and water so deep that Honza had to pull me out with a rope. Being there for the birth of a young zebra. A pair of Spotted Eagle-Owls responding beautifully to a recording in the evening. And enormous numbers of gemsbok roaming the plains of the Central Kalahari.

It was worth it! Just like every journey into nature with a camera, really. And now, looking through the photographs that should accompany this article, I realise that we actually managed to photograph quite a lot.

Sure, we have all seen plenty of Africa by now, and it was impossible not to make comparisons. Even so, I would happily go back to the Central Kalahari.

Actually, the only disappointment was that full moon, shining throughout the entire night. Because without it, there probably isn’t a more remote place on Earth, free of light pollution, for stargazing.