What activities offer African safaris in teh desert?

When you hear that somebody goes on African safari you imagine immediately lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant and rhino and people in 4x4 safari vehicles snapping away with their cameras. But what about the desert?

Botswana and Namibia are home to amazing deserts, the Namib and the Kalahari. Wildlife sightings in the desert are slightly different from game drives in the bush. First of all you start looking different. There are lots of desert adapted animals, but they are often small and very well camouflaged. The bigger mammals are mostly not in great numbers, unless you go to the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana during green season. You got to look for them, but when you see an Oryx walking the sand dunes of Sossusvlei you cannot find a better photographic subject than that. Its magical.

But the desert offers more. As mentioned in an earlier post, stargazing is one of the activities. There is no distraction from the light from settlements, the air is clear and just by lying down on your back on the desert floor you can watch the whole universe. Another great activity is quad biking. It is great fun to explore the desert that way and you can cover big distances without getting too exhausted. Guided walks are also a very nice thing to do. Walk the desert with a guide from the local tribe and you will be surprised what the desert has to offer. You would have never saw it yourself. And on top of all that comes the balloon ride with a champagne breakfast at the landing spot. Go with the wind in the best early morning light and capture the breathtakingly beautiful landscape with your camera. It is an utterly amazing experience.

Ready to visit the desert? Happy desert photo snapping!


Ute Sonnenberg for www.rohoyachui.com

Tags: african safari holiday