Curious baby giraffe at Kalahari Rest Camp
Tired and dirty from a long day of driving, we spotted a signpost that looked kind of cool. “Kalahari Rest” it said. We drove through the gate and down a very long driveway into the Kalahari.
Kalahari Rest is 25km north of the town of Kang on the Trans Kalahari Highway. It is a great location if you are driving from Gaborone to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve along the A2.
Set in the middle of nowhere, it looked like our kind of place. Unfortunately being in the middle of nowhere does not equal cheap. The campsite cost a bit more than what we wanted to pay and we were about to leave when we bumped into one of the locals. Josh was not a bushman; he was an orphaned baby giraffe, raised at the campground. He walked straight to us and we were dumbfounded. One of the workers explained that he was only looking for apples. We were so taken by Josh that we decided to stay the night. He followed us everywhere and was very curious about everything we did. He even chased Hal around the toilets for several laps.
The sites at Kalahari Rest are big enough for two vehicles and two tents and are located a good distance apart from one another. Each is partially fenced in with wood and sticks, to prevent sandblast, giving it a charming rustic feeling.
The spacious restroom facilities include a toilet, basin, a couple of benches and a shower. Early every morning, the camp workers light a fire to heat the shower water. Pure bliss.
You can buy firewood from the lodge if you didn’t bring any.
The best thing about the camp was definitely Josh. The worst is something we didn’t find out until months later. They promote trophy hunting on their property. Not only do they allow tourists to pay big money to kill a variety of antelopes, but for even bigger money they allow them to kill predators including leopard. Seriously. We didn’t know that at the time.
I don’t agree with trophy hunting (especially big cat hunting) and for this reason my verdict is:
Would I stay here again? NO
Zoologist and amateur wildlife photographer. She has worked in the field with jackals, wolves, cheetahs & leopards. Due to her habit of dissecting every poo she finds on the trail, her friends refer to her as a poo-logist. Her travel memoir Dual Nature about traveling around Africa with a stranger will be published in 2013.
