Adventurous travellers seeking a truly remote African safari will be thrilled to discover it in central Botswana. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the second largest game reserve in the world and one of the least visited, nothing can prepare you for the sheer wonder of exploring this vast reserve with its wild, untouched beauty. The landscape is dominated by sand veld, acacias, and Kalahari apple-leaf, interspersed with grasslands and dotted with occasional sand dunes, pans and fossil river valleys. While the reserve is home to an impressive variety of wildlife, there is one animal that is rather obviously absent, the human being. It is this lack of human traffic, combined with the park’s lack of infrastructure, that makes for a challenging and marvellously authentic African experience. Visitors need to be entirely self-sufficient but those willing to make the effort will be richly rewarded.
As previously described
The small town of Xhumaga is situated in north-central Botswana and rests on the western bank of the Boteti River, flanking the Makgadikgadi National Park. This photographer’s wonderland presents visitors with striking scenes of vast open plains, dramatic Acacia tree silhouettes and wandering herds of wildlife. The Makgadikgadi National Park, which encompasses the largest saltpan in the world, provides a home for antelope, zebra and wildebeest, and stone-age tools and artefacts dot the landscape. At the Nxai Pan, nature enthusiasts can spot unusual species such as hartebeest, bat-eared fox, brown hyena, and cheetah. A rich culture flourishes here, and the town is happy to welcome visitors to their way of life. Make sure to try some of the region’s traditional dishes such as mopane worms, lamb, meat stew (seswaa) and maize porridge (pap), as well as the sweet, tasty watermelon (lerotse) grown here.
