The first pleasant surprise is that the road from Ashkam is now fully tarred right to the park entrance gate. 
The roads in the park are for the most part just plain awful: very badly corrugated with lots of loose gravel or sand. Due to years of grading the road surfaces are mostly at a much lower level than the surrounding veld making it difficult to see beyond the roadside grass in a low vehicle. This is why vehicles with high road clearance are so popular here and why it is not a good idea to go in your own or a rental sedan. Neither you nor your vehicle will ever be the same again!
My vehicle was a Suzuki Jimny, which handled the park roads with absolute comfort and ease. SANParks recommends 1.6 bar tyre pressure, but I found 1.2 bar was preferable. By keeping the vehicle in constant 4x4 mode, skidding and sliding on loose sand was minimised. The Jimny is high off the ground with its 15” wheels and we had no problem spotting and photographing the park’s extensive wildlife.
We saw a very large new luxury 4x4 being carted away on a flat-bed recovery vehicle after a “computer failure”, caused no doubt by the corrugations. I’m sure a recovery from and to Upington, 300 km away, is a rather expensive affair!

The most exciting and unique feature of this park is the concentration of wildlife along the two dried up but very well treed and grassed river beds, the Nossob to the east and the Auob to the west.
During World War I boreholes were sunk along both river beds about every 10km to provide water for any military invasion of the then German South-West Africa. 
Most of these boreholes are still operating, and provide life-giving water in an otherwise totally dry and hostile semi-desert environment. 
The park has two main roads, which follow these two dry river beds. The waterholes are all situated right next to the road. They attract and support a tremendous assortment and concentration of animals throughout the entire food chain. Lion, leopard and cheetah, large numbers of gemsbok, springbok, wildebeest and other smaller antelope, giraffe and birdlife in abundance down to whistling rats, mice, ground squirrels and vast numbers of reptiles of all description all co-exist. 
This park is truly a nature lover’s and especially a twitcher’s Eden, all due to the borehole water and the number and closeness of the water holes to the roads. 

Water is the life-blood of the park. The limited availability of water presumably means that SANParks has to permanently limit the extent of the visitor accommodation and this most probably accounts for the difficulty in securing bookings, particularly in the most popular spring and autumn periods, when the temperature extremes are not so severe. 
Apart from their three traditional camps, which have chalet and camping accommodation, SANParks has created six wonderful wilderness bush camps.
These comprise very creatively designed and comfortable rustic units. All are non-fenced, so you feel at one with nature. This accommodation is more expensive than the three traditional camps, but the feeling of closeness to nature, the limited number of guests, the peace and quietness and the stunning locations make them well worth the extra cost.
We stayed one night at the Bitterpan Wilderness Camp, which is 54 km west of Nossob (and 59 km east of Mata Mata). The camp is accessible only by 4x4 via a sand track with a few quite steep and heavily rutted dune climbs. 
Only four double sleeping huts are available at Bitterpan, so one seems to have exclusive use of this track. What an experience it is driving a 4x4 through the seemingly endless savannah with its panorama of gently rising, well-grassed dunes. 
Our was the first vehicle that day to visit Bitterpan, and the abundance and diversity of animal footprints on the sand track after the night’s rain were fascinating.
Twee Rivieren camp, situated right at the park entrance, is always of a high standard. We have always previously stayed over at this camp for one night before moving on to the more game-populated camps further north. This time we found by far the highest game concentration in the southern part of the park. 
We left Twee Rivieren at about 9am and came across a leopard in full view about 1km past the camp gate. 
All the nearby waterholes were operating well and water was in abundance. It is worth staying at Twee Rivieren longer. It is the only camp with 24-hour electricity, all chalets are air-conditioned, and there is a restaurant and a well-stocked shop. It also has the dubious advantage of having the only cellphone reception in the park. 
On our return close to the camp we came across a family of four cheetahs putting on a show for their rapt motorised audience. 
Nossob camp, which has always been our number-one game-viewing destination, was a bit of a disappointment.
Few of the nearby boreholes seemed to be working properly, with only Marie se Gat having a small muddy puddle. The first three waterholes north of Nossob were bone-dry, as were most to the south. 
Even the illuminated camp waterhole with its viewing hide was dry. We were told that it has turned out that the solar-powered borehole pumps require even more maintenance than the old traditional windmills and this just does not seem to be happening in this part of the park. It seems sad that the old windmills have been removed and replaced with ugly banks of solar panels, which for some reason are mounted at a 45 degree slant in full view. 
Apart from being a welcome landmark, there was something very nostalgic about a creaking windmill pouring out a steady stream of water into a concrete dam. 
At Nossob, little water equalled little or no game. 
Having said that, we had unseasonal, heavy, non-stop rainfall for about 12 hours whilst there, which no doubt kept the game deep under cover and away from the usually rather antelope-hazardous waterholes.
Nossob camp had a slightly run-down feel and was not up to the usual high standards we are used to from SANParks. 
Mata Mata was impeccable and the chalet accommodation large, clean and well equipped. The only downside was a very noisy diesel generator powering the Namibian border station: It was switched on at 5.30 pm and went off long after we had gone to bed – not at all appropriate for our last night in the park. 
We were, however, entertained by a very large spotted hyena that patrolled the camp fence after dark. 

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is well worth a visit and offers great value for money. 
Be prepared to spend a lot of time in your vehicle travelling really bad roads. 
A 4x4 is compulsory for a stay at Bitterpan. All the other camps are accessible by non-4x4 vehicles.
The game is concentrated at the many waterholes. It is worth waiting at one and watching the continual passing parade of wildlife. As with all game-viewing, patience and luck are the main factors, but in this park the waterholes give nature lovers a superb advantage.
For the more adventurous there are a number of excellent 4x4 trails, ranger-accompanied walks and game drives, which are all featured on the park’s website.
The park is truly unique and amazing, but make sure you have the right vehicle. 
Finally, make sure you book your accommodation a long time in advance.