The Kalahari – Okavango

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The CKGR established in 1961 by the British Government to protect the traditional way of life of the nomadic San Bushman tribes. The park covers an area of 52800 square kilometres and makes up an 11th of Botswana’s total land area making it the second largest game reserve in the world, the first being the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania covering 54 000 km2. The CKGR is a scrub desert with almost no surface water available. Home to the famous “Kalahari Lions” the area has healthy populations of cheetah, brown hyena, gemsbok, springbok, giraffe, wildebeest, bat eared fox and the tenacious honey badger. A landscape with endless horizons, the early evening air is dominated by the never ending calls of the Kalahari barking geckos.

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

The Makgadikgadi zebra migration moves east away from the Boteti River into the huge open grasslands of the Makgadikgadi Pans after our first good rains. Our camp will be erected in the grasslands just north – west of the expansive Ntwetwe Pans or further north at Baines Baobabs or Nxai Pan. The salt pans cover an area of over 16 000km2 in the Kalahari Basin and form the bed of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi which evaporated millions of years ago. Although Nxai Pan was once part of the great super lake, it is quite different to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans as it boasts broad hectares of short sweet grasslands with occasional “islands” of trees. The rich grassland provides good grazing and attracts springbok, impala, gemsbok, giraffe, kudu, hartebeest, zebra, wildebeest, all followed by lions and hyena, as well as a wide array of birdlife. The grasslands of the Makgadikgadi hide small colonies of meerkats that have become habituated to people and provide a few hours of rewarding interaction. Baines Baobabs, a cluster of seven Baobab trees are located within the park. The Baobabs were painted by Thomas Baines when he passed through travelling with John Chapman in 1862.

Okavango Delta & Moremi Game Reserve

The Okavango is a unique ecosystem, an inland delta situated in the middle of the largest stretch of continuous sand in the world – the Kalahari Basin. This wetland lies like an oasis in an otherwise inhospitable landscape. Where land and delta meet, a mosaic of pans, grasslands, forests and lagoons provide an extremely rich and diverse habitat in which a multitude of animals and birds flourish. This wetland is one of the natural wonders of the world and is a fragile ecosystem that remains one of the worlds least spoilt and most beautiful wildernesses and is home to various unique species e.g. sitatunga antelope and red lechwe. Moremi Game Reserve is situated in the eastern corner of the Okavango Delta. Moremi is one of the most beautiful and varied reserves found on the African continent with a diverse selection of wildlife and incredible scenery. The reserve consists of both swamped areas like Xakanaxa and dry-land areas like Khwai.