This is an elderly springbok, South Africa’s national animal, at a waterhole in Witsand Nature reserve, in a southern corner of the arid Kalahari sand system. From the fact that it was alone, and heavily scarred on its nose, I knew it was a bull. The scars are the result of rutting, a battle for dominance that he probably lost to a younger male; you can just make out the scars below the brown blaze and his eyes.I was in a hide, which made it possible to get this close, although every time I moved, to change lenses or to swat a fly, he dashed off, slowly returning a little later. That happened five times.
Witsand is pure magic for the bush enthusiast who doesn’t need the ‘Big Five’. It consists of massive, blue sky by day and a gazillion starts by night, especially at new moon. Accomodation is in a handful of beautiful and private, large thatched chalets, positioned in the bush so that one isn’t in sight of the other – which led me to feel I was the only one there. For this reason the animals also feel they have the run of the place, with mongoose, jackal, striped field mice and birds visiting the bird-bath daily, “ Unfazed by the humans”, says Owen, the Witsand tourism manager who gave me a bed for the night.
In the less than 24 hours I spent there, duikers were always browsing around the camp.The camp has a pool, as it gets very hot in summer, and there are hikes and walking trails laid out.I’ve been wanting to visit for years, and on driving back home to Cape Town from Jo’burg I had decided to drive a little west via Witsand; a quieter road with no tolls and plenty of discovery. It was a good choice.
PS – Ask Owen why the camp has unlimited water. And about the pangolins and the farmers and the animal rehab centre.
https://www.witsandkalahari.co.za/
Angus is a Private Guide / CNN award-winning Journalist taking Tourists through Cape Town, South, East and Southern Africa.
Angus is serious about his craft. With considerable experience in the various media – TV, print, radio, photography and the internet – Angus has covered every aspect of travel, whether rural communities clashing with wildlife, tracking the Serengeti migration, hiking Table Mountain or searching for that perfect sauvignon blanc.
Instagram: @african_storybook
Twitter: @angusbegg
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