Even though the book, The Last Wilderness: Journey Across the Great Kalahari Desert by the late Nicholas Luard (1937-2004), is a bit more than 30 years old, it still presents interesting insights into the Kalahari Desert and the Republic of Botswana. For environmental planners, biologists, zoologists, naturalists, and conservation activists it provides a unique snapshot in time of one of Earth’s most treasured, sensitive, and unique landscapes.

The book begins as an enjoyable and hypnotic essay on this African treasure and the author’s goal of crossing much of it while documenting what he found along the way. I found this to be terrific reading. However, the last few chapters do tend to divert from this track and spend a protracted amount of time on the history of big game hunting in southern Africa. While mildly interesting (I am not a hunter, nor ever have been), this portion seemed more tangential to the original purpose and thus had less discussion on his personal observations while crossing the desert. Yes, it is an important historical topic pertaining to the Kalahari and the animals that reside there, but it seemed to take the book further afield than necessary.

As a professional planner, I enjoyed the author’s 1981 description of the capital city of Gaborone and other smaller communities he encountered on his journey. Because of my environmental planning experience, Mr. Luard’s manner of clearly articulating the beauty and danger of the region made for captivating reading. I could easily imagine each location in my mind’s eye based on his detailed descriptions.

I do know this, after reading Mr. Luard’s fine book, I want to travel to Botswana and see the Kalahari Desert even more than I did before. Granted, it’s probably a faded image of its former self, but that does not diminish its unique attraction to anyone environmentally inclined.

As an eco-tourist, the Kalahari Desert is among numerous great natural places on Earth all of us should strive to experience, if for no other reason, but to be able to accurately describe the importance of saving them to others. Other comparable sights could include the Australian outback, the Gobi, the Sahara, the Amazon rain forest, the Great Lakes, coral reefs, the arctic and Antarctic regions, the steppe, or the northern boreal forest. Educating the general public about the importance of threatened eco-systems is half the battle toward saving them. Once understanding and knowledge is possessed, then definitive action, activism, preservation, and conservation can begin in earnest. The Last Wilderness is the perfect conduit to build such a response for the sake of the Kalahari Desert and Mr. Luard should be commended for bringing that about in grand style.

Here are a few gems from Mr. Luard’s book: