The sheer enormity of the Kalahari is difficult to imagine. The Kalahari desert itself is a massive 900,000 square kilometers (350,000 square miles) covering much of Botswana and parts of South Africa and Namibia. The surrounding Kalahari Basin extends this area to 2.5 million square kilometers (970,000 square miles) encroaching into Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, making it the largest sand basin in the world! The Kalahari receives a small amount of rainfall and is actually quite well vegetated, so for this reason it is considered to be a semi-desert rather than a true desert. Acacia trees and a variety of savannah herbs and grasses support the resident animals and birds. After the summer rains, the plains flourish into a grazing wonderland and a haven for migratory birds and the arid Kalahari becomes one of the prime game-viewing areas in Botswana. The Kalahari’s Makgadikgadi Pans and Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) offer a great range of safari camp and lodge accommodation options.

The Tuli Block, a narrow margin of land on Botswana’s eastern border, is well known for its breathtaking and very photogenic topography and is distinctly different from anywhere else in Botswana. This unique pocket of wilderness, edged by South Africa and Zimbabwe, is characterized by rocky outcrops, sandstone cliffs, stones and pebbles of all shapes and sizes, red sand and the instantly recognizable baobab and fever trees. Wildlife, including the large eland antelope, thrives in the Tuli’s wild and rocky terrain and the Tuli is also a well-known birding hotspot. Sites of unique San rock art and fossil discoveries add an interesting archaeological aspect to the area. Game viewing in the Tuli’s well-managed, mostly private reserves will not disappoint. The Northern Tuli Game Reserve (NTGR), at the convergence of the Limpopo, Shashe and Motloutse rivers, is a popular safari destination with Mashatu Game Reserve comprising about 40% of the NTGR. Accommodation options in the Tuli Block consist of a small number of safari camps.

Ideally positioned south of the Linyanti River, Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and the Chobe River is Botswana’s superb Linyanti Savuti region, a 5000 square kilometre wilderness area in the south west of Chobe National Park. There has never been a better time to visit the Linyanti Savuti region to experience the paradise created by the resurgence of the 75 kilometre long Savute Channel. The Savute Channel is a watercourse which flows on a periodic basis and, after drying up in the early 1980’s, it resumed flowing several years ago intensifying the regions fantastic game activity even further. Today, the Channel is a haven for water birds, hippos, aquatic plants and fish. A safari in the floodplains, grasslands and woodlands of the Linyanti Savuti region is a perfect complement to time spent in the wetlands of the nearby Okavango Delta. A good choice of accommodation options are offered in the Linyanti Savuti area including intimate luxury safari camps and lodges.

Botswana’s extraordinary Okavango Delta wetland system fans out over the sands of the Kalahari Basin in the north western corner of the country. During Botswana’s dry season the Okavango swells to around 15,000 square kilometers (5790 square miles) as flood waters gradually percolate south from Angola via the Okavango River. The Okavango Delta provides a vital source of food, water and shelter for an astounding array of wildlife, birds and aquatic species and visitors are treated to some truly eye-popping wildlife experiences - prey and predator interactions, migration activity, waterside antics and bird watching that will enchant the most seasoned twitchers. Many a safari enthusiast aspires to visit the legendary Moremi Game Reserve in the heart of the Delta. Around 70% of the Moremi is within the Okavango Delta itself and Chief’s Island and the Moremi Tongue form the mainland portion of the reserve. An excellent range of wet, dry and mixed safari camps and lodges are available in the Moremi Game Reserve and the surrounding private concessions.