Kalahari Desert
November 22, 2009
The Kalahari Desert is huge, covering 360 square miles of Africa. Unlike many deserts, or even the common perception of a desert, it includes large areas of lush grazing land after rains fall. In fact, it’s considered a semi-arid desert, unlike the super dry deserts such as the Atacama Desert which receives only about 1 millimeter of rain each year.
While the Kalahari Desert is called a desert, it isn’t a true desert. Some areas receive a great deal of rain – up to 250 millimeters of rain each year. It’s not regular or dependable rain, which gave the area its name. It’s known as either place without water or great thirst by the people in Africa.
The Kalahari Desert wasn’t always desert like. Makgadikgadi, a lake, once covered the area. The lake covered a huge area, 80 thousand square kilometers. Makgadikgadi would have tied Lake Superior as the largest of the great lakes. It was also about 30m deep on average. By 10,000 years ago, the lake was completely gone.
Survivor man filmed an episode in the Kalahari Desert when the host spent six days there. It was 107.6°F in the shade! Out of the shade, forget about it – 149°F. That’s a huge contrast to the temperatures at night. Try 44°F. He didn’t know which one he liked less, the cold or the heat.
One of the most important aspects of surviving in a desert like the Kalahari Desert is trying to drink enough water. That’s generally true. It can become a matter of life and death in 140° Fahrenheit dry heat. Survivorman ran into a severe lack of water. He resorted to every trick in the book to get some of this important resource. He tried collecting water with a urine still. Waste not want not. He also found some plants that kept a lot of water, but the roots had to be chewed so it was the equivalent of only a few drops. He called it quits after six days, dizzy from a lack of hydration. Six days was the most this trained survivalist could take.
That’s life in the Kahalari Desert. Would you want to go there?
