Confessions of a Kalahari addict

Posted on 31 October 2012

The Kalahari. It’s vast and ageless, a semi-desert of photogenic red dunes and star-crammed skies where African animals run wild. Be warned: visit it once and it may capture your heart forever.

That’s certainly what happened to me.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park sprawls across the border between South Africa and Botswana. I’ve visited it something like two dozen times or more, in summer, winter, autumn and spring. I’ve seen all its faces. And I’ve fallen in love with it over and over again.

In my new e-book Travels in the Kalahari: Exploring the spirit of the thirstland you can tag along on some of my adventures: walk with a Bushman tracker, enter the world of the meerkat, track cheetahs across the dunes, drive a 4×4 trail, camp out under the stars and taste Kalahari truffles, and lots more.

A ‘need to know’ section at the end gives you basic advice on how to recreate some of these experiences for yourself.

This is my second travel book, a more focused look at one of my favourite places on the planet than I was able to give in A Walk in the Park (which covered 14 national parks and their surrounding areas). Now I can explore the spirit of the Kalahari – and why it’s so special – in more depth, but without shying away from its challenges.

I promise it’s not hi-falutin stuff that’s hard to wrap your head around; just a collection of stories about some of my journeys there and the people and animals I met. I’ve written it in a chatty style, so we can pretend we’re just swapping tales around the campfire.

Gus and Margie Mills, wildlife researchers, authors and gurus of all things Kalahari, were kind enough to write the foreword. Here’s part of what they said:

In this collection of superbly written Kalahari cameos and anecdotes, Roxanne takes us on a journey of her experiences through the Kalahari; most of them amusing, others informative and some rather disturbing. For those who have visited the park it will bring back memories and perhaps explain some mysteries, like “Why was I always thirsty after brushing my teeth?” For those who have not yet had the opportunity to experience it, it will whet the appetite.

The Travels in the Kalahari e-book is now available from Amazon for just US$6.99 (about R60.00). And no, you don’t need to have a Kindle reader to read it; you can download free apps here that will allow you read it on your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android phone or tablet, BlackBerry or Windows Phone 7. For around the price of two draughts of beer, you could be reading it on your chosen device in less than five minutes from now. Convenient, huh?

A printed version may be available later. If you’re interested in getting a printed copy, please email me at [email protected] with “Kalahari mailing list” in the subject line and I’ll let you know when it becomes available.






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