African Blog: Kalahari

• Birds of a Feather: my Top 5 Birding Spots in Southern Africa

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Namibia,, South Africa,, Zimbabwe,, On Safari,, Wildlife,,

  March 17th, 2010 11:01am

  Funny people, bird watchers (I should know - I am one myself). Capable of dropping everything in pursuit of some wind-blown vagrant or unpronounceable rarity, bird watchers (birders to their...

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• No Rain, No Gain: Why Travel to Botswana in the Off Season.

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, On Safari,, Travel Tips,, Wildlife,,

  April 13th, 2010 3:56pm

  So Botswana has a rainy season but don't panic just yet. Considering the extreme north of the country experiences the highest annual average rainfall at 650mm (about the same as London) and the bl...

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• Sweeping Herds: the 2 Great African Migrations You Probably Won’t Have Heard Of.

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Zambia,, On Safari,, Wildlife,,

  May 12th, 2010 11:46am

  I reckon it's Basil Fawlty's fault: the manic Torquay hotelier's "herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains" line has long been part of the English lexicon and partly inspired this write...

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• Odd Couples: African Animals in Unlikely Relationships

  thefynbosguy in On Safari,, Wildlife,,

  June 7th, 2010 7:45am

  All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait: Honey badger/Goshawk The Honey Badger is a bad-tempered 15kg ball of bristling fur and sharp teeth with a reputation for punching way above ...

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• Putting the Wild back into Wilderness: A Southern Africa Wilderness Guide

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Mozambique,, Namibia,, African Adventures,, On Safari,, Wildlife,,

  June 22nd, 2010 8:28am

  Okay, I'll admit it: we get kind of smug south of the Zambezi. African countries here generally have great roads, clean water, lots of power and shops full of food. In addition, our national parks are well o...

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• Thirstland: the Kalahari Made Easy

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Namibia,, South Africa,, African Adventures,, On Safari,, Wildlife,,

  July 8th, 2010 3:19pm

  Ask someone to describe the Kalahari Desert and chances are they'll scratch their head a bit and come up with images of sandy wastes and sharp-eyed Bushmen hunters....

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• Delta in the Desert: How the Okavango Delta Works

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, On Safari,, Wildlife,,

  July 19th, 2010 9:46am

  The Okavango Delta is, without question, one of the natural world's finest creations. An enormous freshwater wetland fed by an enigmatic river, it sits surrounded by wild Kalahari woodland and savan...

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• Desert Safaris in Africa

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Namibia,, South Africa,, African Adventures,, On Safari,, Wildlife,,

  August 10th, 2010 9:37am

  Tricky word, 'desert'; images of clean-lined dunes and palm trees immediately spring to mind, and in Africa's largest desert - the Sahara - this is largely true. Trouble is, the Sahara is ni...

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• Spotted, Moving Swiftly: the Best Places to See Cheetah

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Kenya,, Namibia,, South Africa,, Tanzania,, On Safari,, Quick lists,, Travel Tips,, Wildlife,,

  September 1st, 2010 10:52am

  You have to feel sorry for cheetahs: way down on the predator pecking order (below wild dog, just above jackal), they regularly lose freshly-caught prey to lions and hyenas; they are persecuted as livestock-...

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• Africa’s Most Beautiful & Striking Antelope

  kimberoo in Botswana,, Kenya,, Namibia,, South Africa,, Tanzania,, Zambia,, Zimbabwe,, Wildlife,,

  December 2nd, 2010 2:52pm

  I was on safari at Sanbona Game Reserve recently - a beautiful private reserve located in the Karoo in the Western Cape, and something really stood out for me: ...

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• 5 Reasons to Spend Christmas on Safari

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Namibia,, South Africa,, Zambia,, On Safari,, Travel Tips,, Wildlife,,

  December 21st, 2010 9:37am

  Feeling stressed yet? I am - Christmas is just around the corner, bringing with it the wearingly familiar routine of wallet-emptying shopping, ulcer-inducing meals, crippling hangovers and piles of plastic tat. ...

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• 5 Great Summer Birding Destinations

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, South Africa,, Zambia,, Zimbabwe,, On Safari,, Quick lists,, Wildlife,,

  December 30th, 2010 9:04am

  Some people just can't get excited about birds but even the most cynical among the anti-birders cannot fail to be impressed by Southern Africa's avifauna (big word for birdlife). No...

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• Meet & Greet: are there any genuine interactions with local African cultures left?

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Kenya,, Namibia,, Tanzania,, African Adventures,, Community & Culture,, Responsible Tourism,,

  January 11th, 2011 10:51am

  Most people come on holiday to Africa to marvel at the stupendous wildlife that grunts, growls and gallops across burnished savannahs. Interaction with the local population is usually limi...

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• After the Rains: Africa Transformed

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, South Africa,, African Adventures,, On Safari,,

  February 23rd, 2011 9:40am

  The thing about Southern Africa is that it's - generally speaking - a dry place: rain tends to fall in miserly amounts and only at certain times of the year. But what rain does fall is usually enough to transform landscapes,...

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• Wrong Place, Wrong Time: When NOT to go on Safari

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, Namibia,, South Africa,, Zambia,, Zimbabwe,, On Safari,, Travel Tips,, Wildlife,,

  April 4th, 2011 2:57pm

  Part 1: Southern Africa It's one of the most commonly asked questions in the travel industry: "When's the best time to go on safari?" And the soothing answers from the ...

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• Botswana by the Month: a guide to what happens when.

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, On Safari,, Travel Tips,,

  May 9th, 2011 11:55am

  Funny thing, weather: while landlocked Botswana may not have the alarming seasonal variations of, say, where'd-this-12-feet-of-snow-come-from-Canada or the amusing mix of sun-wind-rain-hot-cold that I experience here in Cape Town...

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• GOURMET SAFARI: EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

  lynsay in South Africa,, Family Holidays,, Food & Wine,, On Safari,, Travel Tips,,

  June 9th, 2011 4:24pm

  When going on a 5 star safari, an amazing African wildlife experience is to be expected. But what I am in search of are safari lodges that offer a superlative taste sensat...

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• Paradise Lost? Ecological Crisis in the Okavango Delta.

  thefynbosguy in Botswana,, News & Current Affairs,, Wildlife,,

  June 22nd, 2011 10:33am

    Get ready for some bad news: on the face of it, there is a catastrophic disaster looming in the Okavango Delta. According to an article by Don Pinnock in the hi...

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• Game On: South Africa’s Heavyweight Reserves Compared

  thefynbosguy in South Africa,, Family Holidays,, On Safari,, Travel Tips,,

  August 2nd, 2011 2:40pm

  If you're into large dangerous animals sporting fearsome teeth, horns and tusks then you'll simply love South Africa. It's one of the best places in Africa to see the serious stuff - the Big 5 in particular - but the choice of big ga...

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• What the Magic of Africa Means to Me

  kimberoo in Botswana,, Kenya,, Lesotho,, Malawi,, Mauritius,, Mozambique,, Namibia,, Other,, Rwanda,, Seychelles,, South Africa,, Swaziland,, Tanzania,, Uganda,, Zambia,, Zimbabwe,, Inspirational Stories,, Quirky Stuff,,

  August 4th, 2011 3:41pm

  For anyone who has ever visited Africa, the sheer, infectious ambiance is hard to forget. That feeling of being completely immersed in a place is hard to find, but somehow Africa j...

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