Botswana is located in the center of Southern Africa and covering an estimated area of 581,730 square kilometers making it the size of France. The country is bordered by Zambia and Zimbabwe to the northeast, Namibia to the north and west and South Africa to the south and southeast. At Kazungula, four countries - Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia - all meet at a single point mid-stream in the Zambezi River (the shortest border in the world).
The vast Kalahari Desert, the largest continuous stretch of sand in the world, covers 84% of Botswana, extending from the Orange River in South Africa to the equator in Gabon. With the exceptions of the Okavango and Chobe areas in the north, the country has little permanent surface water.
Early travelers to the region referred to it as a "thirstland desert," however, this is a misnomer: Most of the Kalahari is covered with vegetation including acacia woodland and golden grasslands. This empty and pristine terrain is occasionally interrupted by gently descending valleys, sand dunes, large numbers of pans and, int he extreme northwest, isolated hills, such as Aha, Tsodilo, Koanaka and Geqihaba. The clay pans fill with water during the rainy season and their hard surface layer ensures that water remains in the pans and is not immediately absorbed , creating life-giving sustenance to game and bird life.
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve, extending over 50,000 square kms, was set aside in 1961 as a haven for the Bushmen in which they might continue their traditional lifestyles of hunting and gathering from the desert. The reserve and empty lands around it support tens of thousands of desert antelope - gemsbuck and springbuck, lions, leopard and cheetah.
Bushmen were the first known inhabitants of Botswana. They have lived in the Kalahari for at least 80,000 years, but no one can say why they chose the Kalahari as their home. Estimated at 120,000 members, the Bushmen are not threatened as a race, but their hunter-gatherer way of life is coming to an end due to various political and socioeconomic factors.
In the northwest is the Okavango River Delta - 15,000 square kms. covered with a glistening network of crystal clear water channels, lagoons, swamps and islands. This unique freshwater system is the pulsing heart of Northern Botswana's wilderness, growing with the dry season and shrinking as the wet weather returns. The largest permanent inland delta system in the world, only slightly larger than Israel, it sparkles like a previous jewel in the Kalahari Desert sand, an ecosystem of a size and intricacy rivaling any on earth.
Within Botswana's wilds live some of Africa's last great free-roaming herds of Cape Buffalo, zebra, antelope and, above all, elephants. Botswana's elephants have been the beneficiaries of the nation's stability and the national herd provides the largest concentration of elephant in the world.
In complete contrast, the northeastern region of the Kalahari Basin contains the Makgadikgadi Pans - a huge expanse of pristine, sugary white landscape larger than Switzerland. Once a large river-fed lake, the Pans now lie saline and empty. They are littered with stone tools and artifacts dating between 2,000 - 500,000 years old. During the wet season, up to 75,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate into the area with regular sightings of lion, cheetah and other predators following in their wake. Thousands of flamingo appear to feed as long as the water lasts. It is the permanent haven for desert species such as the meerkat and the elusive brown hyena.
Botswana
A Traditional Tented Wildlife Safari
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