The Auob valley, running northwest from Twee Rivieren to Mata Mata, has more vegetation and generally more game: gemsbok, springbok, blue wildebeest and the lions that follow them. It is the more reliable of the two for a first visit.

The Nossob valley, running north to Nossob camp and beyond, is starker and quieter, with a reputation for cheetah on the open flats and for the park's best leopard sightings in the camel-thorn trees along the bed.

The waterholes themselves are the whole method. Sit at one for an hour rather than driving between five — sandgrouse come to drink in flocks in the morning, raptors follow them, and predators use the same water later in the day.

The dunes and the trees hold what makes Kgalagadi distinctive: sociable weaver nests the size of haystacks with pygmy falcons living in them, bat-eared foxes, meerkats, and one of the finest raptor lists in Africa — martial and tawny eagles, and the lanner and red-necked falcons that hunt the doves at water.

March to May, after the summer rains, brings green grass, newborn antelope and the best raptor numbers. The dry winter months concentrate game hardest at the waterholes but bring bitterly cold nights. Midsummer is extremely hot.

Practicalities

This is one of Africa's great self-drive parks. The main riverbed roads are manageable in a two-wheel-drive vehicle in good conditions, though a high-clearance vehicle is far more comfortable and is required for the dune tracks and wilderness trails. Rest camps and the remote wilderness camps book out months ahead, and Nossob and the northern camps are a long drive from the gate — carry fuel, water and spares.