Namibia is known for the Namib Desert which is the oldest desert in the world with some of the highest sand dunes. However, Namibia, together with South Africa and Botswana also hosts the lesser known Kalahari Desert. Although not a true desert, because of relatively high rainfall, this large semi-arid sandy savannah spans over a total of 900,000 square kilometers. The name Kalahari was derived from the Tswana word Kgala, meaning "the great thirst", or Khalagari, Kgalagadi or Kalagare, meaning "a waterless place”. Rainfall varies between 70-200mm per year and the summer temperatures can reach close to 50 °C. The relatively high rainfall compared to the Namib allows commercial farming in most of the Kalahari with sheep and goats being the main livestock kept. Prior to colonization, the San Bushmen have lived in the Kalahari for 20,000 years as hunter-gatherers.
The Kalahari is not a true desert as it receives too much rain, and it is known as a fossil desert or paleodesert. The Kalahari exists as a result of Hadley cells and Horse latitudes. The sand masses were created by the erosion of soft stone formations and the dunes now consist of quarts particles stained red by the high iron oxide contents. Only in recent geological history, 10 to 20,000 years ago, were the dunes stabilised through vegetation, so the area should actually be called a dry savannah. Unlike the dunes of the Namib Desert, those of the Kalahari are stable and not wandering. The low lying area between two dunes is locally known as the streets. The dominant vegetation is grasses, thorny shrubs and Acacia trees while plenty springbok and oryx roam the dunes together with many smaller mammals like jackal, hares and meerkat.
To log the cache you are required to do the following:
1. In your own words explain what a fossil desert is.
2. In your own words explain how a Hadley cell and Horse latitudes form a desert like the Kalahari.
3. Describe surroundings of the cache location with respect to dune height and shape.
4. Upload a photo of yourself at the cache location with a handful of sand and your GPS
Log the cache as a find and e-mail the owner the answers to the questions. If your answers are wrong I will delete your log and notify you.
Happy caching in the Kalahari!