along the park's western border are a number of private reserves, supplementing the land available to Kruger's game and allowing greatly enhanced opportunities for safari visits. On the private reserves, visitors are permitted to travel on foot, in open vehicles, and to view wildlife at night, none of which activities are permitted within the park itself.

　　Kalahari Gemsbok National Park

　　More remote and rugged than Kruger, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park is situated at the southern extremity of one of the world's great desert regions--the Kalahari. Despite the relative absence of lush vegetation, the park abounds in wildife, including impressively large herds of springbok, gemsbok, eland, and wildebeest. Unsurprisingly, these herds also attract another expected visitor: the Kalahari lion. Visitors to the Kalahari may have to make do without the luxurious accommodations of the Kruger's surrounding private reserves, but for the hardier traveller Kalahari Gemsbok can be a destination of unparalleled grandeur.

　　Canoeing the Orange River

　　The great Orange River originates in the Lesotho highlands, where it begins a long, meandering sweep westward across center of the country. By the time it reaches the Atlantic Ocean on the Namibian border, it has travelled 2,340 kilometers. Wide and gentle, with just enough rapids to get the heart beating, it is ideal for canoe safaris.

　　The most popular area for canoe safaris on the Orange River is the northwest, where the river wends through the sere realms of Bushmanland. The banks of the river, however, are typically lush --- an oases ideal for viewing birds and game. Just beyond the river's edge lurks a totally separate environment, a desert landscape with beautifully austere hills and mountains in the distance.

　　Camel Safaris

Though camel travel invariably brings to mind desert visions of Arabia, North Africa, and Asia, it is increasingly becoming a popular safari alternative in South Africa, which has more than its share of desert.