Things to get up to...
When you Stay at Kalahari Bush Breaks

Activities at Elandsbult include extended game and scenic drives in 4x4 vehicles, walks and game stalking through the veld illuminated by the bright African sun, or observing game from a safe distance, undetected.

Kalahari Bush Breaks allows you to choose a wide range of adventures. We are convinced that you will fall in love with the deafening tranquillity and that your impressions will be unforgettable!

Even stargazing, whilst lying flat on your blankets under the brilliant starlit skies, will take on a whole new meaning. Armed with a hamper of goodies, couples can break away for either an exclusive picnic lunch in the tree-house, or even spend the night under the stars, amply protected by cuddly duvets, lanterns and mosquito netting.

Time at Elandsbult is not an issue, there are no set schedules, and certainly no pressure to participate in drives or walks. The Kalahari Bush Breaks team offers such a broad spectrum of options that guests are at liberty to choose as and when they want, those facilities which suit their personal preferences.

Game drives, animal tracking on foot, or evening cocktail stops are peppered with fascinating facts and a thought-provoking philosophy on man's relationship with nature and the universe.

The Kalahari offers visitors the opportunity to see one of the last essentially intact eco systems in Africa - as well as visiting a land where Bushmen once roamed. Add to that the open nature of the terrain, and you have fine wildlife viewing against a backdrop of high scenic drama.

There are no lakes here, no flowing rivers. Temperatures are extreme: there are summer highs of over 40°C, and winter lows reach a bone-chilling - 10°C. But this frequently arid and often barren-looking terrain, which has a great beauty of its own, is home to thousands of plants and animals which survive and reproduce century after century. Fascinating survival techniques abound in the hostile wilderness.

WE DON'T HAVE THE "BIG FIVE", BUT WE ARE EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT OUR "SMALL 500"

Usually, however, the Kalahari is cloudless. Humidity is low, and this combined with high daytime temperatures creates high rates of evaporation.

Plants are either perennials, which live for many years, or annuals, which germinate, grow, flower, seed and die in one year.

Perennials are the backbone of the system, providing many animals with a stable supply of nutritious, high-quality food in both the wet and dry season.

The annuals can be regarded as an unreliable luxury, exploding into abundance when conditions are favourable, but remaining unseen during droughts.

The Kalahari has amazing strategies for survival and plants exhibit ingenious adaptations to accomplish this. For instance, some seeds take advantage of strong winds by having wind dispersal aids such as "wings". Others like the Devils Claw, (Harpagophytum Procumbens) have fruits armed with long hooks which become entangled in animal hair.

Two major additional problems confront animals that live in hot, arid regions like the Kalahari. Firstly, the animals must be able to breathe and excrete waste products from their bodies without losing too much water. Secondly, they must be able to keep their body temperature below lethal limits and yet, as far as possible, avoid cooling themselves by water-expending panting or sweating.

Birds: Of the 264 species recorded in the Kalahari, only 78 are residents (always present). Sixteen species are regular seasonal migrants. Another 18 are classified as nomads, meaning that they visit the Kalahari regularly but not during any predictable season. And the great majority of species recorded(152) are vagrants - irregular visitors which may be common in some years, depending on conditions.

The resident bird species are chiefly Raptors, like the Chanting and Gabar Goshawks, Martial and Tawny Eagles, or insectivores, such as the Marico and Chat Flycatcher. The striking Crimsonbreasted Shrike, the Forktailed Drongo and the familiar Anteating Chats. A few mixed feeders (insects and fruits) such as the Redeyed Bulbul, Pied Barbet, and Cape and Burchell's Glossy Starlings are also common residents. These species do not reach the numbers of the nomads because they live off the lower density, although more predictable food supply than seeds.

Among the smaller fry creatures of the Kalahari there are interesting adaptations to hot, dry conditions, and fascinating interactions between species. Although they may be common and widespread, some of these animals are rarely seen because, besides their small size, many are nocturnal. But they are a vital food source for all the carnivores, from Suricates to Lions, as well as for predatory birds.

Two unusual and rather strange mammals are the aardvark and pangolin. The Aardvark is the only living member of its order (Tubulidentata) and is one of the least known of all living mammals. Pangolins are unique amongst mammals in that, instead of hair, their bodies are covered with horny scales.

It is hard to believe that amphibians can survive in a region as arid as the Kalahari. But after heavy rains the world rings out with the chorus of hundreds of small sand frogs (Tomopterna Cryptotis) and rain frogs (Breviceps adspersus).

Invertebrates- animals without backbones - are far more numerous than Vertebrates. Insects alone account for a staggering 70% of all animal species. For example termites are one of the oldest insect orders.

They have been around for nearly 100 million years, and they have evolved an amazingly complex social life with hundreds of thousands of individuals living and working together in a single colony. A clear division of labour exists between workers, soldiers and sexed individuals. When conditions are propitious, the sexed termites erupt in thousands from their nests as winged nymphs and attempt to start new colonies.

Beetles are the largest order in the animal kingdom. So far, some 300 000 species have been described worldwide and there are many more to come. Large and conspicuous dung beetles, which belong to the huge family Scarabaeidae, are common in the Kalahari. Their ability to find fresh dung is incredible. Sometimes, before an animal has even finished defecating, the first beetles have arrived and are busy rolling away the first dung balls. These are buried close by and provide food for the beetle and their larvae.