To the south of the Kalahari runs the Orange River, a powerful passage of water cutting through the aridity of the Northern Cape en route from its catchment in Lesotho’s alpine reaches to its destination on the desolate Atlantic shoreline (see p.101). Visitors approaching the Kalahari by road from the south will need to pass through the regional centre of Upington, sprawling along the river’s verdant banks. A little to the west is the Augrabies Falls National Park, where the river plunges into a magnificent gorge that it has carved for itself through glistening granite. The birdlife here displays an interesting mix of Karoo and Kalahari elements, and well deserves exploration.

As one moves southeast through the vast and varied area between Upington and Kimberley, the provincial capital, the red sand, yellow grass and sculpted acacias continue. Here, a selection of bird species characteristic rather of South Africa’s more wooded eastern regions add a tropical flavour to the birding. Our focus will not be on these more peripheral species, as they are much easier to find elsewhere, and we will concentrate rather on the specials of the region. In recent years, birders have been drawn to Kimberley in winter following the fascinating discovery of a new species of migrant pipit, which has added an exciting element of endemism to the already diverse birding.

Indeed, the Kalahari receives the majority of its tourists during winter, when the days are mild and cloaked by a resolutely blue sky, and the nights often bitterly chilly. In the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, game is most visible at this time, and conveniently concentrated in the accessible riverbeds. During summer, the birdlife is augmented by a significant migrant cohort, and the resident birds are more active, especially after the late summer rains when the afternoon skies pile up with spectacularly dark and forbidding thunderheads that provide a dramatic backdrop to the lush veld.

Good roads (mostly tarred) link all the sites described below, and they can be easily combined with a loop through Bushmanland (p.86). A very bare minimum of two full days should be devoted to the park, although those with more time on their hands will find a week or more successfully spent. The Upington region and the Witsand Nature Reserve, in addition to being good birding spots in their own right, provide pleasant staging posts to break the otherwise gruelling full-day drives from Cape Town to the entrance of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, and from here to the Kimberley region. Visitors should note that Kalahari distances are vast, and should take particular care to allow sufficient travel time on unsurfaced roads (see page on trip planning).