Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is one of the few unique Safari Destinations in Botswana, situated in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. This Game Reserve was established in 1961 and spans a total area that approximates to 52,800 square kilometres (20,400 mi2). Although less popular compared to its counterpart safari destinations (Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is worth a visit during an African Safari or Botswana Safari. Despite not being so famous, this Game Reserve is actually one of the largest conservation areas in the country, it is literally larger than the Netherlands, and covers almost 10% of Botswana’s total land area, making it the second largest game reserve in the world after Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve that covers about 54,600 km2 (21,081 sq mil).

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is located within Botswana’s Ghanzi District, ant it takes up over 40% of the district’s territory. When planning a safari to Botswana, this safari Game Reserve is worth visiting for unique sightings and encounters. At Deks Tour Africa, we have tailor made safari packages that will allow you to explore this unique Game reserve during your Safari holiday/African Safari/ African Vacation to Botswana.

Unique Facts and History of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The area covered by the Game Reserve has been inhabited by the Bushmen, or San for thousands of years as nomadic hunters. Unlike most reserves, it was created primarily to protect the traditional lifestyle of the San (Bushmen), before independence in 1966. It became one of the first Reserves in Africa that catered to both wildlife and people. However, the Botswana government has tried to relocate the Bushmen from the reserve ever since, claiming they are a drain on financial resources despite revenues from tourism and in1997, three quarters of the entire San population were relocated out of the reserve. Later in October 2005 the government again resumed the forced relocation into resettlement camps outside of the park leaving only about 250 permanent occupiers.

A Botswana court declared the eviction unlawful in 2006 and upheld the Bushmen’s entitlement to resume their living in the reserve. But as of 2015, the majority of Bushmen are unable to access their ancestral grounds within the reserve. Although private game ranches were permitted to offer hunting opportunities to visitors, the Bushmen were prohibited from engaging in their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle due to a statewide hunting prohibition.

In the southeast part of the reserve, Gem Diamonds opened the Ghaghoo diamond mine in 2014. The mine may produce diamonds valued at $4.9 billion, according to the company’s assessment. “Ghaghoo’s launch was not without controversy given its location on the ancestral land of the Bushmen,” according to the Rapaport Diamond Report, a pricing reference for the diamond business.

Geography, Wildlife, & other Attraction in Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The landscape of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is largely flat, characterized by wide expanses of flat terrain that give the environment a soft, rolling appearance. The landscape is largely shaped by ancient sand dunes that have, over time, been stabilized by growing vegetation in the Reserve. The landscape is also dotted with grasses and hardy shrubs that are well adapted to the dry, sandy desert conditions at the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

Occasional, you might also see grown larger trees, that make the park more breaktaking and stunning while providing habitat to important birdlife and wildlife in the Reserve. Although this Game Reserve is located within a desert, it still receives rainfall and this makes it even more unique compared to other deserts in the world.

The Reserve is also known to host the fossilized river valleys, which reveal evidence of a much wetter climatic in the past. These ancient river systems no longer carry water but instead form shallow, meandering depressions across the land. Many of these valleys contain salt pans, flat, mineral-rich surfaces formed as water evaporated and left behind layers of salt and other deposits.

There are about four major fossil rivers that traverse the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, however, the most notable is Deception Valley, which believed to have formed about 16,000 years ago. Unlike most safari destinations in Africa like the Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Masai Mara National Reserve, and Kruger National Park in South Africa, that are best during the dry seasons of the year, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve only comes alive mostly during the the rainy season, attracting wildlife and supporting bursts of plant growth.

Wildlife in the Reserve

During your safari to Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve, expect to encounter South African giraffe, African bush elephant, spotted hyena, brown hyena, honey badger, meerkat, yellow mongoose, common warthog, South African cheetah, caracal, African wild dog, black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, cape fox, African leopard, lion, blue wildebeest, plains zebra, common eland, sable antelope, gemsbok, springbok, steenbok, impala, greater kudu, aardvark, cape ground squirrel, cape hare, cape porcupine, red hartebeest and ostrich.

Book your safari today with us and explore the Unique Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. Email us, WhatsApp, or call us today and get your journey tailored to suit your best interests. Our travel consultants are ready to craft for you a journey of a life time.