The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is a large wildlife reserve in central Botswana. At 52,800 km² (20,400 sq mi), the reserve is vast, covering an area larger than the Netherlands and taking up more than 10 per cent of Botswana's land area. It is the second-largest wildlife reserve in the world.

Understand

History

Bushman drinking water from a pan

While the reserve was established in 1961, the Bushmen, or San, have inhabited the lands for thousands of years, roaming the area as nomadic hunters. There has been an ongoing dispute between the Bushmen and the Botswanan government, which has been forcibly relocating them from the reserve. Although a Botswanan court declared the evictions illegal in 2006, most Bushmen are still blocked from access to their traditional lands in the reserve.

Landscape

The land is mostly flat, and gently undulating covered with bush and grasses covering the sand dunes, and areas of larger trees. Many of the river valleys are fossilised with salt pans. Four fossilised rivers meander through the reserve, including Deception Valley.

Flora and fauna

A caracal in the reserve

The reserve contains (take a deep breath) giraffe, elephant, white rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, spotted hyena, brown hyena, honey badger, meerkat, yellow mongoose, warthog, cheetah, caracal, Cape wild dog, black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, cape fox, leopard, lion, wildebeest, zebra, eland, sable antelope, gemsbok, springbok, steenbok, impala, greater kudu, aardvark, cape ground squirrel, cape hare, cape porcupine, chacma baboon, red hartebeest and ostrich.

Get in

The reserve can be accessed via four official gates for which you need a paid permit. These can be purchased in Gaborone or Maun. Although you cannot officially pay at the gates, there are "unofficial" ways to access the reserve. The secret entrances are sandy tracks, which require a four-wheel drive vehicle with sufficient ground clearance even outside of the rainy season.

See

• Deception Valley – one of the most popular areas of the reserve, where animals gather to feed after the rainy season

Sleep

Deception Valley Lodge

There are many official campsites where you can camp. For more upscale accommodation, there is:

• Deception Valley Lodge – the most luxurious accommodation in the reserve
• Tau Pan Camp - operated by Kwando Safaris and located on an elevated sand ridge approximately 70 km (43 mi) west of Matswere Gate. Along with a small swimming pool and showers, you get an excellent view over the Tau salt pan