This vast country is undoubtedly one of the most culturally and geographically diverse places on earth. Fondly known by locals as the 'Rainbow Nation', South Africa has 11 official languages and its multicultural inhabitants are influenced by a fascinating mix of African, Asian and European cultures. Spend your days: discovering the gourmet restaurants, impressive art and nightlife scenes and fine beaches of Cape Town; enjoying a typical local braai (barbecue) in the Soweto township; browsing the bustling Indian markets in Durban; or sampling some of the world’s finest wines at the myriad wine estates dotted around the picturesque Cape Winelands. Due to its rich and turbulent history there are plenty of historical attractions to explore including the Zululand battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal, the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg and Robben Island, just off the coast of Cape Town. Above all else, South Africa’s attraction lies in its remarkably untamed wilderness with its astonishing range of wildlife roaming freely across massive unfenced game reserves such as the world famous Kruger National Park. With all of this variety on offer, it is little wonder that South Africa has fast become Africa’s most popular tourist destination.
The Northern Cape is South Africa’s largest and least densely populated province, characterised by wide open spaces and mostly dry terrain, though the Orange River meandering along the northern border creates a compelling contrast to the arid desert landscape. It is home to several prominent national attractions, including the majestic Augrabies Falls, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park and, in spring, the blooming Namaqualand wildflowers. Visitors can also look forward to exploring the red dunes of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, visiting the impressive Big Hole in Kimberley, and going on adventures along the Orange River.
Combining the former Kalahari Gemsbok National Park of South Africa and the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, the enthralling Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a wonderland of bright orange dunes, spectacular wildlife and fascinating flora. This hauntingly beautiful desert land is part of Africa’s first transfrontier park, ensuring that conservation is the top priority for this vast ecosystem and its inhabitants - it also supports and protects the indigenous people here, the ‡Khomani San and Mier communities. Visitors can look forward to spotting lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs, blue wildebeest, springbok, eland, and more than 200 bird species, including migrating flamingos and pelicans, and numerous raptors. Some of the activities on offer include game drives, 4x4 excursions, hiking, swimming, eco trails, star-spotting and nature photography.
Situated in the Kalahari Desert region of Botswana and South Africa, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is an expansive wildlife preserve. One of the world’s last unspoilt ecosystems, the arid landscape is characterized by vast grasslands dotted with thorn trees, shifting red dunes and dry riverbeds. Visitors can look forward to viewing an abundance of wildlife including gemsbok, black-maned Kalahari lions, blue wildebeest, and migrating herds of wildebeest and springbok. Known as one of the best places in the world to spot big cats, visitors can look forward to catching a glimpse of the ever-illusive cheetah. Highlights include: game-viewing drives, hiking, 4x4 trails, guided walks with park rangers and photographic safaris. Bird enthusiasts can look forward to spotting an array of bird species. Don’t miss the incredible African sunsets over the quintessentially African landscape.
Encompassing the Gemsbok National Park and later forming part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the Mabuasehube Game Reserve is set in the scenic southern region of Botswana. This remote and wonderfully wild reserve is a 4x4 self-drive trail mecca, where adventurers can tackle the sandy Mabuasehube Wilderness Trail, the Kaa Trail and the Polentswa Trail, which travels through vast grasslands, pans and gently undulating dunes. Visitors can enjoy camping in the pristine, untouched wilderness after a day of negotiating the roads less travelled, experiencing close encounters with lions creeping through your campsite at sunrise and spotting abundant wildlife dotting the landscape in the wake of the rains. Look forward to languid evenings next to warm fires and view spectacular starry skies in the magnificent Mabuasehube Game Reserve.
The Kalahari is an exceptionally beautiful living desert a large semi-arid sandy savannah draped over a gently rolling inland sea of sand covering most of Botswana and large parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is also the last bastion of the San people with the modern world having enveloped all the other areas they once roamed.
The Hainaveld and Ghanzi Farms surround the northwestern border of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana and serve primarily as cattle farming and game viewing areas.The Ghanzi area is home to over 200 cattle farms and is known as the centre of Botswana’s cattle farming industry. This area is home to a blend of cultures including the Bakgalagadi, who are the original inhabitants, the Herero, the San, the Batawana, and the Afrikaaners. Situated on the Northern border of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the Hainaveld area, known for its game viewing, first-class bird watching and cultural tourism. Visitors can explore local villages, learn about the ancient Kalahari hunter-gatherer’s traditional way of life, relax at a luxury lodge or spend a day on safari spotting abundant wildlife.
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the second-largest wildlife reserve in the world. The vastness of the 52,800 km reserve in the midst of the Kalahari desert of Botswana is mind-numbing. Here time comes to a standstill as the wide white earth conspires to meet the open, blue sky. Golden grass can be seen in all directions, occasioned by short trees and scrubs while wide sand pans beckon the tourist to come closer and feel awed.
While the summer rains bring together scores of wild animals eager to graze on the lush and sweet grass, the dry season has its own beauty that attracts the visitor, though lucky visitors might spot an animal or two. The wildlife usually seen includes wildebeest, brown hyena, warthog, hartebeest, eland, wild dog springbok, giraffe, gemsbok, cheetah, lion and leopard. The northern deception valley, so named because it is a 80km long ancient riverbed where mirages take place, has the highest concentration of herbivores and predators seen in and after the rains. Hence, it is the most visited area of the reserve also close to the eastern Matswere Gate. There is also a large diversity of bird life and a number of endangered species. A number of public campsites cater to the visitors. The Sunday and Leopard Pans, Passarge Valley and Piper's Pan are popular spots to visit.
Access is from Ghanzi on the west for about 3 hours to the gate at Xade, Rakops and Maun (3 and a half hours to Matswere) on the north east and Khutse from the south. The gates at Xade and Tsau also house campsites. Petrol and diesel are available at Ghanzi and Rakops. By air, the tourist can land at one of the four airstrips at Deception Pan, Xade, Xaka or at the game scout in Khutse.
The reserve was formed originally in 1961 with the issue of protecting the San in mind. It was proposed that the San could live a private life and continue their hunter/gatherer ways without intrusion from the external world. Now they have mixed with people from other tribes and some have found employment in the various lodges as guides. Using their traditional wisdom passed down through generations, the Bushmen can show visitors how to survive life in the great arid desert.
The two permanent accommodation options are the private camps Kalahari Plains Camp and Tau Pan Camp. There is an old-style safari camp near the Kalahari salt pans called the Meno a Kwena Tented Camp that offers 2-3 days short trips. Visitors may also find lodges just outside the reserve including the Deception Valley Lodge and the Grassland Bushman Lodge.
The reserve conditions though harsh, reward the tourist with the ultimate African holiday. A night sky full of stars, fascinating reptiles, scorpions and insects, immense number of grazing animals and the peace and solitude that the great Kalahari Reserve has to offer are a visitor's dream come true.
As previously described
North-eastern Botwana’s Boteti River, within the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, lies on the grounds of an ancient lake, within a region where some of the first ‘homo sapiens’ (humans) lived. This area is an essential part of the massive annual migration - visitors can look forward to seeing enormous herds of oryx, wildebeests, impalas, zebras, and springbok as well as elephants and hippopotamuses along the riverbank. The river also provides prime bird-watching opportunities, with large flocks of flamingos and numerous other species calling it home. Besides the usual nature reserve activities, try taking a small chartered plane for the best views of the herds; go quad biking across salt flats and sleep there under the stars, or take a cultural tour to see ancient tribal sites.
The great Kalahari Desert is a vast expanse of sand mostly arid and untouched for a millions of years. A complex of huge, flat salt pans lies in the middle of the northern Kalahari. It’s an isolated landscape with a very interesting history and geology.
The Makgadikgadi Pans cover 10,000 sq.km of the desert. Nwetwe and Sowa are two major pans and along with smaller pans make up the Makgadikgadi Pans. The Makgadikgadi National Park is an area of 3900 sq. km that includes the western end of Ntwetwe in the east to the Boteti River in the west, south east of the Okavango Delta and surrounded by the Kalahari Desert. The northern boundary of the reserve is fanned by the Nxai Pan National Park separated by the Nata-Maun road. On opposite sides of the Makgadikgadi National Park are two contrasting areas: the Central Pans and the Boteti River Area.
An interesting conservation project is the Nata Bird Sanctuary, located in the extreme northeast of the Sau pan in the Makgadikgadi, about 170 km northwest of Francistown. Another place of interest is the Kubu Island near the southwestern shore of Sowa pan. This area also houses the world’s largest diamond pit mine.
Situated in Botswana’s Central District, next to the mighty Lotsane River, the town of Serowe is the leading trade and commerce centre of the region. It is Botswana’s largest village and serves as the capital of the Bamangwato tribe. Serowe is the birthplace of the country’s founding father and first president, Sir Seretse Khama. The town offers all the amenities needed and serves as a convenient stopover for travellers looking to stock up before venturing north to the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park or the Central Kalahari. Visitors can look forward to exploring the town’s history at the fascinating Khama III Memorial Museum, the official Khama graves, and the London Missionary Society church, which, with its impressive tall steeple, has become a prominent landmark of the town.
Named for what Rudyard Kipling described as the ‘great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River’, Limpopo Province is a region of immense natural beauty, made up largely of pristine savannah plains sheltering a diverse array of wild animals. Home to the northern half of the renowned Kruger National Park, as well as over 50 provincial reserves and several luxury private game reserves, it is popular with visitors wanting an authentic safari experience, while the archaeological site Mapungubwe holds plenty of interest for history buffs.
As previously described
