Kalahari Desert

• Covers 70% of the country
• Stretches into other African countries
• Includes desert-adapted and endangered animals

The Kalahari Desert covers most of Botswana and reaches into Namibia, South Africa and other African countries as well. It takes its name from the word kgalagadi which means “the great thirst” in Tswana.

Most of the desert is part of protected reserves such as the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Khutse Game Reserve and the newly formed Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park which extends beyond country borders and is one of the largest protected wilderness areas in the world at 2,5 million km².

The landscape typically consists of open plains, saltpans, sand dunes to flat bushveld which becomes more dense towards the south. Rain is extremely rare and temperatures during summer can soaring into the 40’C.

Special features include:

• Fauna and Flora
  The Kalahari is known for unique desert-adapted animals: like the blackmaned Kalahari lions and gemsbok. Other animals include giraffe, leopard, lion, blue wildebeest, brown hyena, the endangered wild dog and eland.  It is also great for birdwatching and apart from migrating flamingoes and pelicans, this is an excellent area for raptors, with over 50 recorded species
  
• San Bushmen
  The San – or Basarwa as they are also known – are a tribe of nomadic hunter-gatherers who have continued their traditional way of life for thousands of years. But due to the encroachment of modern technology and society, much of their habitat and way of life has become threatened. In the southern regions of the Kalahari however, the San have been given land for settlement and they live here without interference
  
• Deception Valley
  This is the name of a dry pan that seems to be full of water, but is revealed to be completely parched only when one comes right up to it.