Day in the Kalahari

Breakfast at Kalahari Anib as the sun rose over the bush — the southern African sunrise is something else, deep red and unhurried.

The morning was dedicated to the Bushmen Wisdom Experience, an optional activity offered by the lodge. A guide drove us out through the Kalahari by jeep, where we spotted eland, kudu, oryx, impala and springbok along the way. At our destination, we were presented with a representation of how the local bushmen people lived: a young man dressed and equipped as a traditional hunter, speaking only his native language throughout, with a translator rendering everything into English. He walked us through tracking animals, hunting, finding a partner, making fire, preparing food and medicine from the bush. Genuinely immersive and enlightening — the language barrier, far from being an obstacle, made the whole experience feel more authentic. Drinks and food followed, laid out by the guides in the bush. On the drive back, we were shown a remarkable communal bird nest — enormous, draped across a dead tree, shaped unmistakably like a sausage dog. Shortly after, gnu, ostrich — including some chasing each other — and giraffe, visible at a distance.

Back at the lodge, we discovered one of the jeeps had a flat tyre — almost certainly picked up on day two. We changed it there and then, had lunch from the supplies bought in Windhoek, and spent the early afternoon resting. We took to the pool despite the cold — and it was genuinely cold — which in hindsight felt like the right call before the afternoon ahead.

At four, we headed out for the safari and sunset. Giraffes again, this time much closer than in the morning, zebras, more antelope, and a brief glimpse of a jackal in the fading light. We stopped for the sunset — drinks and food once more, and a sky that needed no description. On the drive back, already dark, a warthog appeared in the headlights — Pumba, for anyone who grew up with The Lion King — followed by a jackal, unhurried and visible for far longer than the brief sighting earlier in the day.

Dinner, and then sleep. A long day, and an unforgettable one.