The border crossing into South Africa went smoothly. The bureaucracy reminded us a bit of an Asterix comic in Rome, where the protagonists had to visit constantly changing offices in order to always bring new stamps. We had a similar experience in Ariamsvlei. After about 20 minutes everything was done and we could start our drive towards Augrabies Falls.
A stop at Augrabies Falls
We really wanted to visit the Augrabies Falls on our way to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and since we were planning to renew our Wild Card, we did so at the falls and saved the entrance fee. The Wild Card is an excellent deal. You pay a flat fee and two people can visit over 80 national parks managed by Sanparks for a year free of charge. In 2018/19 the card paid for itself from 10 days of visits, this year it is a few more. Since we booked 15 nights in the Kgalagadi alone, purchasing it again is a no brainer. After buying the card we spontaneously decided to stay at the falls and spend the night there to celebrate Guido’s birthday – and at least a little bit! The falls still had an impressive amount of water and so we had a good time there.
Finally wildlife again – off to Kgalagadi
We had a whopping 12 reservation numbers for the upcoming 15 nights in the Kgalagadi (South Africa). This means that we looked daily – sometimes several times – on the booking page of Sanparks, whether a campsite is available and collected our bookings slowly over time. You have to know that these camps are usually booked 10-12 months in advance and cancellations often happen at the very last second. For us as spontaneous bookers without any desire for long-term commitments, this is of course a real hell. It is even worse with the Wilderness Camps. These are practically not bookable, because tour operators block large contingents to sell them themselves. All in all, a stiff corset in South Africa, with which we had our trouble.