The Kalahari Desert is a real wilderness area covering about two thirds of Botswana. It is largely made up of grasslands, salt pans and acacia forests, rather than being the classic sand dune desert you would find elsewhere. Although it is a seemingly inhospitable land, it supports quite a diverse if sparse range of wildlife.
There are two main game viewing areas in the Kalahari, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) and its southern annex the Khutse Game Reserve.
The CKGR is one of the world's largest game reserves, at about 53,000 square kilometres. It was originally set up in 1961 as a refuge for the San Bushmen. In recent years this has been the cause of many problems, as the Bushmen were forcibly removed from the reserve and placed in settlements on the outskirts. Thankfully, however, this decision was successfully defeated in court in 2006 and the Bushmen are now returning.
Although it is a seemingly inhospitable land, and has very litle rain, it supports a surprisingly diverse if sparse range of wildlife from predators such as lions, cheetahs, leopards and brown hyenas to plains game such as wildebeest, gemsbok, duiker and springbok. There are also good birding possibilities, especially in the rainy season.
Perhaps the most famous and beautiful part of this region is Deception Valley which was the setting for the book "The Cry of The Kalahari" by Mark and Delia Owens. Deception Valley is an ancient dried up river bed, about 80kms long in the northern part of the reserve.