Page 84 - Discover Botswana 24th Edition 2024

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O KAVA N G O
The landscape’s rejuvenation profoundly impacts the Kgalagadi’s
wildlife. Lush grasses and abundant ephemeral water bodies attract an
astounding array of birdlife, from exotic waterfowl to summer migrant
species. This bounty of resources also draws herbivores and their young,
from springboks and gemsboks to wildebeests, hartebeests, and elands.
Predators, both avian and terrestrial, follow suit, as this becomes their
season of plenty.
A FLEETING BEAUTY
Yet, as swiftly as the rainy season arrives, it departs, leaving behind a
transformed but fleeting paradise. The desert sun, relentless as ever, begins
to dry up the water sources and parch the land once again. The vibrant
blooms fade, the grasses recede, and the desert landscape slowly reclaims
its dominant role. Thus continues the perpetual cycle of life and death in
this delicate ecosystem.
But even as the land returns to its arid state, the memory of the summer
rains lingers. It is a reminder of nature’s enduring cycles, and of the delicate
balance that sustains life in the parched Kgalagadi. While the lush paradise
of the rainy season may be short-lived, its impact on the ecosystem is
profound and far-reaching.
Above: The moment the first summer rains permeate the parched earth,
the transformation starts and rapidly turns the Kgalagadi into a lush verdant
paradise, a season teeming with opportunities for feeding and breeding.
Left: Against the backdrop of the Nossob’s dunes, red hartebeests, one of the
Kgalagadi’s distinctive large antelope species, leisurely graze on the nourishing
green grasses that emerge from the clay soil along the valley during the brief
yet vibrant “green season.”
Facing page: An enchanting back-lit portrait of the “Jester of the desert”, the
charismatic and endlessly entertaining Meerkat, also known as the Suricate.