In the Kalahari Desert the sand is the storyteller, holding in its grains of sand the history of every creature that’s crossed it - often just a faint indentation in the sand, a single tuft of fur, or a scattering of feathers. To the untrained eye, the land may appear silent and empty. But to an expert tracker, one who can read the land, the sand tells the stories of hunts and escapes, night wanderings and quiet moments of rest. It’s a living storybook that records the movements of its wild inhabitants. Visiting the Kalahari isn’t just about spotting wildlife; it’s about learning to read the desert’s diary.

Long before GPS and field guides, tracking was the original form of wildlife observation. For the San people, who have lived in the Kalahari for thousands of years, tracking meant survival, it was the skill that brought food to the camp and kept danger at bay.

On a cool morning in the CKGR, I follow a San tracker. His eyes scan the ground as if he’s reading the pages of a newspaper. He pauses, crouches, and points to an almost invisible indentation in the sand. “Lion,” he says simply, a faint smile crossing his face. I see nothing at first, and then the shape slowly emerges from the pattern of shadows, a round pad print with no claw marks.

The San Bushmen: Guardians of a Vanishing Language
The San Bushmen, one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures, have lived in Southern Africa for tens of thousands of years. In the vast, dry expanses of the Kalahari, their survival depended on their ability to track animals; for food, for safety, and for understanding the seasonal rhythms of the land. They read the land as others read books.
My San guide tells me how his grandfather could follow a wounded gemsbok for two days, knowing when to give the animal space and when to close in. He explains that tracking is as much about empathy as observation, imagining the animal’s choices, feeling its hunger or fear, and moving in harmony with it.

Modern trackers in the Kalahari have inherited that legacy. They can tell from a single track whether a lion is hunting or resting, whether a springbok was walking or running, and even if an animal is injured. A skilled San tracker can identify the species, sex, and approximate age of an animal from its spoor, judge the freshness of a track with astonishing precision, and detect tiny disturbances invisible to most eyes. To his eyes, a faint pad mark tells of a leopard slipping past under cover of darkness. A scatter of hoof prints and a streak in the sand reveal a springbok’s startled leap. A set of brown hyena tracks, straight as a ruler, speaks of a determined night patrol.

The Kalahari: A Perfect Tracking Ground
The Kalahari’s red sands are like a natural sketchbook. The early morning light reveals even the faintest of impressions, while the open terrain allows trackers to follow a trail for kilometres without losing it.

The best time for tracking is just after sunrise, when the low angle of the sun casts shadows into each depression, making the spoor stand out. The cooler morning temperatures also preserve the sharp edges of prints, before the heat and wind of the day blurs them.

Reading the Signs: More Than Footprints
While footprints are the most obvious signs, trackers use a wide range of clues:

Spoor: This is the term for an animal’s track, but it can also include broken twigs, displaced stones, and disturbed grass.

Scat: Droppings reveal diet, health, and often how recently the animal passed.

Scent Markings: Some predators spray vegetation with scent, which a tracker can identify both visually and by smell.

Feeding Signs: A half-eaten carcass, stripped leaves, or gnawed bark tell of recent activity.

For Understanding Spoor: The Details in the Sand
Here’s what some of the most common spoor in the Kalaharilook like:

Lions: Large, round pads without claw marks (retracted claws when walking). Males average around 12–14 cm across; females slightly smaller. Deep impressions suggest a heavy, muscular male; a longer stride may indicate a purposeful walk towards prey or water.

Leopards: Similar to lions but smaller and more compact. Around 8–10 cm across. Often found in more secluded routes, like along the edges of thickets or near rocky outcrops.

Brown Hyenas: Oval paw print with clear claw marks (non-retractable). Front paws are larger than back paws, averaging about 9–11 cm. Their gait is distinctive, with front tracks set wider apart; often seen following straight-line patrol routes between den sites and feeding areas. Brown hyenas tend to leave white droppings, packed with hair and bone fragments, a sign of their scavenging diet.

Antelope: Springbok, gemsbok, and wildebeest leave distinctive cloven hoof prints. Trackers can determine species by the size, spacing, and shape of the hoof marks.

Springbok: Small, sharp, heart-shaped hoof prints, often in neat pairs.

Gemsbok (Oryx): Larger, elongated hoof prints, sometimes splaying outward in softer sand.

Wildebeest: Wide, rounded hooves with a heavier, deeper imprint; may show skid marks from sudden starts.

Meerkats: Tiny hand-like prints with long claw marks from digging.

Porcupines: Broad paw prints paired with a dragging tail mark.

Snakes: A continuous winding groove

Following the Signs: How A Tracker Thinks
Expert trackers don’t just look at the ground, they read the whole landscape. A broken twig might confirm the direction of travel. Droppings can narrow down the timeframe. Even bird alarm calls can indicate nearby predators.

San Bushmen trackers use a form of ‘speculative tracking’, anticipating where the animal is heading based on behaviour and terrain. For example, Brown Hyenas tend to follow habitual night routes, making their movements more predictable, while antelopes heading upwind may be moving toward a water source they can smell.

Conservation Through Tracking
Tracking is not only an adventure for guests; it’s a vital conservation tool. By monitoring wildlife movements, trackers help researchers understand migration patterns, predator-prey dynamics, and habitat use. In the Kalahari, this data can indicate the health of an ecosystem, for instance, a decline in fresh tracks near a waterhole might suggest overuse, drought impact, or human disturbance.

Community-based tracking programs also provide employment and preserve traditional skills, ensuring that the art of reading the sand is passed down to future generations. For the San Bushmen, sharing their skills with conservationists and visitors ensures their traditions remain alive, valued, and relevant in a modern context.

Respect for the Desert
Tracking is an art of observation, not intrusion. Skilled trackers maintain a respectful distance, ensuring wildlife remains undisturbed. They move quietly, approach from downwind, and read subtle behavioural cues to avoid causing stress. This ethos reflects a deeper truth: tracking is not about conquering nature, but about entering into a silent dialogue with it.

To walk with a tracker here is to learn a new language: the language of the sand. Once you’ve read its script, the desert is never empty again, it’s alive with characters, plots, and unfolding dramas.

Sarah Kingdom

Travel writer, mountain guide, yoga teacher, trail runner and mother, Sarah Kingdom was born and brought up in Sydney, Australia. Coming to Africa at 21 she fell in love with the continent and stayed. Sarah guides on Kilimanjaro several times a year, and has lost count of how many times she has stood on the roof of Africa. She has climbed and guided around the world and now spends most of her time visiting remote places in Africa. When she is not traveling she runs a cattle ranch in Zambia with her husband.

Tracking Wildlife: What the Sand Tells You in the Kalahari

Sarah Kingdom