Kalahari Desert | Namibia Kalahari Desert Resources While Namibia is more famous for being the home of the Namib Desert , it must be remembered that much of eastern and southern Namibia is covered by another - the Kalahari Desert. The Kalahari is not a true desert as it receives too much rain, but it is actually a fossil desert. So do not expect to find the tall sand dunes associated with Sossusvlei , the landscape is more one of golden grass and small red dunes. The Kalahari Desert - or Kgalagadi, as it is known in Botswana – stretches across 7 countries – Botswana, Zambia, the Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It's coverage in Namibia is called a ‘desert' principally because it's porous, sandy soils cannot retain surface water, but in some areas annual rainfall can be as high as 250mm, which accounts for the luxuriant grass cover during good years.

As the Namibian area of the Kalahari Desert is covered with trees, ephemeral rivers and fossil watercourses, the reasonably regular rainfall patterns that occur every year do allow for huge numbers of mammals , birds , reptiles and amphibians , plant life and insects to thrive. In terms of vegetation most of the southern segment is taken up with camelthorn , red ebony and other acacias, and towards the centre silver terminalia and shrubs are common. Farther north, where the climate is wetter, the acacia gives way to bush savannah and dry woodland of kiaat (also known as wild teak) Zambezi teak (also called mkusi or Rhodesian teak) wild seringa (formerly Rhodesian ash) manketti, shiwi and other magnificent timber species. Large numbers of Tamboti trees grow in the Grootfontein area. The quiver tree (Aloe dichotoma) A. hereroensis and A. littoralis are 3 species of aloe that also occur here. The bush and grass of the Kalahari Desert provide perfect ambush cover for cheetah to get within sprinting distance of springbok , hare and porcupine .

Giraffes can go without drinking water for several weeks and browse various Acacia species for additional sustenance. Zebra graze leaves, grass, bark and roots throughout the area and gemsbok , surely one of Namibia's most remarkable mammals, obtains sufficient moisture from leaves and grasses. Black-backed jackal scavenge for carrion, kill young livestock (as do caracal) and otherwise survive on insects, birds and rodents and if the opportunity presents itself, small antelope. Black-footed cats prefer short to medium-length grass. Primates such as the lesser bushbaby and vervet monkey , the insect-eating aardwolf and other mammals including honey badger, meerkat and yellow mongoose , are all denizens of the Kalahari Desert. Arnhem Caves , one of the largest cave systems in Africa, is situated close to Windhoek on the edge of this famous semi-barren land. A visit to it's surrounding famous red sands are well-worth the effort. The giant leaf-nosed bat , the largest insect-eating bat in the world, can be found here as well as other sorts of cave wall clingers.

After mammals, birding comes a close second for many wildlife enthusiasts visiting Namibia . Species are many and varied and the Kalahari is a superb birding destination, especially to watch raptors. Expect to see martial eagle , brown snake eagle , black-breasted snake eagle, white-backed and lappet-faced vulture . The red-necked falcon will swallow swallows, snakes, bats and rodents. An interesting sight is the huge nests, housing colonies of sociable weaver birds , these nests often completely dominate the large acacia trees or telegraph poles on which they are built. The area is also home to crimson-breasted shrike , rosy-faced lovebird, Gaber goshawk, pygmy falcon and ant-eating chats , the rolling dunes and deep Kalahari sands provide ample birding and photographic opportunities. A desert wouldn't be a desert without reptiles and scorpions. The Kalahari purple-glossed snake live in sandy soils and round-headed worm lizards shelter under stones in both sandy and bushveld habitats. Eastern tiger snakes climb dead trees and into buildings in search of small roosting birds and bats.

One of the most common snakes is the puff adder , unlike most snakes it is fairly lazy and will not necessarily move off when it hears you approaching making It is fairly easy to tread on one and they won't hesitate to introduce you to their long fangs if you do. Scorpions are true desert-dwellers and some of the largest species in southern Africa reside in the Kalahari Desert. The orange-coloured Parabuthus granulatus dig burrows and forage actively for prey, often after other scorpions. Although it has a small sting, it is the most venomous of the region's scorpions. The largest and most common scorpion in the Kalahari sand system is the Parabuthus raudus , which reaches up to 160mm in length. Beware of this one though, especially when it is digging a burrow at the base of a plant, as it has been known to spray venom when provoked. The regular rainfall patterns mentioned earlier support many species of plant life. This allows some of the desert's smaller creatures to locate themselves here. The obscure sapphire and silvery bar butterflies are attracted to the creamy white flowers of the black thorn acacia .

The larvae of red tips and queen purple tips feed on the leaves of the shepherd's tree and the caterpillars of white-cloaked and spotted velvet skipper do likewise on the leaves of the velvet raisin bush. The Delagoa sandman can also be observed in the Kalahari Desert, often flying close to the ground or around one of the 30 species of Stipagrostis such as tall bushman grass . The most widespread species of dragonfly on the planet visits Namibia regularly, usually gliding along courtesy of rain-bearing winds. The global wanderer sports distinctive large wings with orange tips and not only do they breed in pools of rain water but the female can oviposit in any freshwater body. The broad scarlet can inhabit any waterway and the horizontal stripes of the male violet dropwing are a feature of many a farm dam. The aptly named Kalahari Tent Tortoise can be found in thorn bush, savannah and woodland. The main foraging period for this reptile is in the early morning when hyenas, jackals, birds of prey and honey badgers are on the prowl. San bushmen are also on the lookout for juvenile members of this species.

Their shells end up being sold to unsuspecting tourists as perfume or decorated snuff containers. The eastern sandy regions attract leopard tortoises , the largest and most common of Namibia's tortoises. Namibia's only amphibian - frogs, are represented in the Kalahari Desert. The giant bullfrog is perhaps the best known, not only because it is the largest frog in the country but when disturbed it will inflate itself, jaws open ready to give you a painful nip. Other croakers of the jumping kind include the tongue-less and eardrum free common platanna , the running frog which are often exposed at night by torchlight at the edge of the water and the rapid, high-pitched tuneful notes of Tandy's sand frog. But the Kalahari's true lure lies in it's eerie silence and solitude, both in the sparsely grassed plains and open spaces. Small but scattered populations of people live here. Sheep, limited ostrich farming and other agricultural enterprises dominate the erratic employment market. Today many of these businesses work together with the tourist industry. This provides much-needed additional income for the farmers, job security for their employees and vacancies on a permanent or temporary basis for the locally unemployed.

Farm tours, game drives, hiking, guided Bushman walks and cultural visits around ranches large and small has enabled the region to become a popular tourist destination in it's own right, especially for self-drive travelers. In Botswana although there are some private ranches, the land is mainly used on a communal basis, with the inhabitants raising goats and cattle. The best known of the Kalahari's inhabitants are the San Bushmen , numbering only a few thousand and squeezed into inhospitable pieces of land, where they are often exploited as cheap farm labour. The term 'Bushmen' is best know referring to nomadic hunter-gather people, also called 'Basarwa', (in Botswana) and 'San' (in Namibia and South Africa.) The word San means 'foragers' and in modern times, (unfairly) conjure up negative connotations of backwardness, low esteem, alcoholism and even banditry But the Bushmen are a proud people, and are keen to demonstrate their origins and knowledge of living in the bushveld. They still retain some specific cultural and linguistic characteristics such as the very interesting and unique 'click' language, and listening to is a wonderful experience in itself.

Five types of click sounds are known to exist, with a certain 'sucking action of the tongue' being responsible for the noise. Each has a different position of the tongue, and combined with the way the air is released, results in different sounds. The Bushmen are the remnants of Southern Africa's original inhabitants who occupied the whole sub-continent, long before black and white settlers invaded their territories and forced them to the margins. As proof of the fact that they occupied extensive territory, there are the superb ‘Bushman' rock paintings that are found in great numbers in caves and rock shelters all over southern Africa. In Namibia, excellent examples of Bushman rock art can be found in the Damaraland region. If you are wanting to visit Botswana, you may want to consider looking at car hire in Botswana . Although there is no national park in the areas of Namibia covered by the Kalahari, there are several recommended lodges and guest farms which allow visitors to explore this desert area. Kalahari Desert - Highlight - Ashworth Africa Blog Kalahari Desert While Namibia is more famous for being the home of the Namib Desert , much of eastern and southern Namibia is covered by another – the Kalahari Desert.

The Kalahari is not a true desert as it receives too much rain, but it is actually a fossil desert. So do not expect to find the tall sand dunes associated with Sossusvlei , the landscape is more one of golden grass and small red dunes. The Kalahari Desert – or Kgalagadi, as it is known in Botswana – stretches across 7 countries – Botswana, Zambia , the Republic of South Africa , Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It’s coverage in Namibia is called a ‘desert’ principally because its porous, sandy soils cannot retain surface water, but in some areas annual rainfall can be as high as 250mm, which accounts for the luxuriant grass cover during good years. Wildlife As the Namibian area of the Kalahari Desert is covered with trees, ephemeral rivers and fossil watercourses, the reasonably regular rainfall that occurs every year allows for huge numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, plant life and insects to thrive.

In terms of vegetation, most of the southern segment is taken up with camelthorn, red ebony and other acacias and towards the centre silver terminalia and shrubs are common. The bush and grass of the Kalahari Desert provide perfect ambush cover for cheetah to get within sprinting distance of springbok, hare and porcupine. Giraffes can go without drinking water for several weeks and browse various Acacia species for additional sustenance. Zebra graze leaves, grass, bark and roots throughout the area and gemsbok (oryx), surely one of Namibia’s most remarkable mammals, obtains sufficient moisture from leaves and grasses. Black-backed jackal scavenge for carrion, kill young livestock (as do caracal) and otherwise survive on insects, birds and rodents and if the opportunity presents itself, small antelope. Primates such as the lesser bushbaby and vervet monkey, the insect-eating aardwolf and other mammals including honey badger, meerkat and yellow mongoose, are all denizens of the Kalahari Desert. Arnhem Caves, one of the largest cave systems in Africa, is situated close to Windhoek on the edge of this famous semi-barren land.

A visit to its surrounding famous red sands are well-worth the effort. The giant leaf-nosed bat, the largest insect-eating bat in the world, can be found here as well as other sorts of cave wall clingers. Birds After mammals, birding comes a close second for many wildlife enthusiasts visiting Namibia. Species are many and varied and the Kalahari is a superb birding destination, especially to watch raptors. Expect to see martial eagle, brown snake eagle, black-breasted snake eagle, white-backed and lappet-faced vulture. The red-necked falcon will swallow swallows, snakes, bats and rodents. An interesting sight is the huge nests, housing colonies of sociable weaver birds, these nests often completely dominate the large acacia trees or telegraph poles on which they are built. The area is also home to crimson-breasted shrike, rosy-faced lovebird, Gaber goshawk, pygmy falcon and ant-eating chats, the rolling dunes and deep Kalahari sands provide ample birding and photographic opportunities. A desert wouldn’t be a desert without reptiles and scorpions.

The Kalahari purple-glossed snake lives in sandy soils and round-headed worm lizards shelter under stones in both sandy and bushveld habitats. Eastern tiger snakes climb dead trees and into buildings in search of small roosting birds and bats. One of the most common snakes is the puff adder; unlike most snakes it is fairly lazy and will not necessarily move off when it hears you approaching making it fairly easy to tread on one and they won’t hesitate to introduce you to their long fangs if you do. But the Kalahari’s true lure lies in its eerie silence and solitude, both in the sparsely grassed plains and open spaces. Small but scattered populations of people live here. Sheep, limited ostrich farming and other agricultural enterprises dominate the erratic employment market. Today many of these businesses work together with the tourist industry. This provides much-needed additional income for farmers, job security for their employees and work on a permanent or temporary basis for the locally unemployed. Farm tours, game drives, hiking, guided Bushman walks and cultural visits around ranches large and small have enabled the region to become a popular tourist destination in its own right, especially for self-drive travelers.

San/ Bushmen The best known of the Kalahari’s inhabitants are the San Bushmen, numbering only a few thousand and squeezed into inhospitable pieces of land, where they are often exploited as cheap farm labour. The term ‘Bushmen’ is best known, referring to nomadic hunter-gather people, also called ‘Basarwa’, (in Botswana) and ‘San’ (in Namibia and South Africa.) The word San means ‘foragers’ and in modern times, (unfairly) conjure up negative connotations of backwardness, low esteem, alcoholism and even banditry. But the Bushmen are a proud people, and are keen to demonstrate their origins and knowledge of living in the bushveld. They still retain some specific cultural and linguistic characteristics such as the unique ‘click’ language, and listening to is a wonderful experience in itself. Five types of click sounds are known to exist, with a certain ‘sucking action of the tongue’ being responsible for the noise. Each has a different position of the tongue, and combined with the way the air is released, results in different sounds. Create your own vacation Ashworth Africa Tours & Safaris specialises in tailor-made itineraries to southern Africa.

Contact us to customise an itinerary to meet your requirements. Kalahari Fun Facts | Stretching around 360,000 square miles across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, the Kalahari Desert is not a desert in the strictest sense of the word. It receives too much rainfall – between 5 and 10 inches annually. Only its vast expanses of sand, through which precipitation filters rapidly, leaving nothing on the surface, have made the Kalahari into the “thirstland” that early European settlers described. The desert is part of the 970,000-square-mile Kalahari Basin, which includes the Okavango River Delta and other wetter areas. The basin encompasses virtually all of Botswana and more than half of Namibia. The video game Mario Kart 64 includes a track called ‘Kalimari Desert’, a reference to the Kalahari Desert which is in Southern Africa. The Kalahari Desert covers about 350, 000 square miles from the southern part of the African continent. It includes some parts of South Africa, Namibia and big part of Botswana.

The Kalahari’s desert name comes from the local word ‘waterless place’. However, for the reason that the Kalahari’s sand retains water greater than some other deserts, there’s a variety of plant life in this desert. The Kalahari is generally known as a semi-desert or savannah, as it receives some rainfall has more plants and animals than the usual dry desert. From the 1965 film, Sands of the Kalahari several grouped plane crash survivors make an effort to survive in the desert. The Kalahari also features in the movies The Lion king and The Gods Must be Crazy. Some of the world’s largest diamond mines can be found in the Kalahari Desert. The vast area is also a rich source of nickel, copper and coal and it is also home to several huge game reserves. During summer time, temperatures can reach around 100 degrees, while winter weather temperatures can reach very cold ones. The Okavango Delta is the Only one permanent river that flows within the Kalahari Desert. The desert houses many different species involving birds, including the smaller weaver bird. The weaver bird creates huge nests from twigs and grass at the top of poles and trees.

Several of the world’s most dangerous big cats can be found in the Kalahari Desert, like cheetah, lion and leopard. The large antelope generally known as the Eland is also found here and this animal weights almost 910 kg. One of the world’s most well-known cultures, the San Bushmen, has lived in this desert for over 2 decades (20, 000 years). The primitive tribes still live here like they did before. Several years ago, the Kalahari Desert had more plants and animals than it does today, and it had hundreds of large lakes. As the seas evaporated, they left huge salt pans, or craters, which could still be seen these days. The British television line “Meerkat Manor” was made in the Kalahari Desert. The Taa language, spoken by lower than 5, 000 people in this Kalahari Desert is the language with more vowels and consonants than any other language. The name Kalahari means “large thirst” in Tswana language. The temperatures from the desert are extreme, summer being incredibly hot; while in winter temperatures can go even under 0 degrees.

The Kalahari is the southernmost desert in the African continent. It is the 6 biggest deserts by area on earth and the second biggest in Africa after the Sahara. There is a population of Bushmen in this desert. They are mostly hunters-gatherers. Thousands of years ago, the Kalahari Desert has been blooming with life because there were many lakes. Nowadays, in the place where the lakes were, large salt pans remain, such as Makgadikgadi Pan, the remains on the once huge Lake Makgadikgadi. Another big pan in this area is the Nxan pan. Once a very big irrigation plan was proposed to make parts of the Kalahari Desert suited for agriculture, but nothing happened with that. In 1885, the explorer Guillermo Farini published a book about some rock formations that he assumed were ruins of a city. Then other explorers wanted to visit Farini’s ruins, thus a quest to find the Lost City of Kalahari started. Nothing was found and it’s believed that Farini discovered just some natural rock formations in South Africa. Did you know that Kalahari Desert is featureless?

Yap, that undulating, sand-covered plain that’s about 3, 000 feet above sea level is sort of featureless. Its bedrock is exposed from the low yet vertical- walled hills called kopjes. Did you also know that the entire west part of Kalahari Desert has extended chains of dunes, and they’re oriented generally to the northwest? Some dunes can measure to a length of at least 1 mile and also a height of about 20 – 200 feet. The dunes are divided from one another by some broad parallel depression that’s locally been named straat- meaning a street or lane. The Kalahari Desert covers an amazing 350, 000 square mile. It is known as a semi-desert as it will get some little rainfall and supports more animals and plants compared to the other conventional dry deserts. Kalahari Desert is very rich with minerals in addition to resources. Did you know that the Kalahari Desert has a lot of the largest diamond mines in the world? I guess you now know. The area is also very rich with pennie, copper, and coal.

If you thought the Kalahari Desert is an area with minimal activity you might eventually notice it’s quite an active region. Kalahari Desert covers about three major countries. As I’d earlier stated this vast area covers section of South Africa, most of Botswana and Namibia. Meaning this Desert is found in the southern section of Africa. The desert hosts this World’s oldest culture generally known as the San Bushmen. It is believed how the Kalahari Dessert came in order to existence approximately 60 thousand ago almost in the same time frame of the formation of the Africa continent. The Dragon’s Breath Cave is usually an example of this deserts water reserves and it is one of the largest documented non-sub-glacial underground lakes for the entire universe. The Kalahari Dessert closely resembles a lot of the Australian deserts in the same latitude and the function of formation. The above should summarize some surprising Kalahari Desert Facts, though the area is very abundant with facts which might be quite surprising to me. Kalahari seems to have plenty of plenty activity going on and proves that it is quite an interesting spot to experience and go to as a tourist where you have many things that you can do.

The desert of Kalahari is a uniquely, pleasing experience. The Kalahari is a few changing landscapes which might be not confined to 1 country but span to Botswana, Southern Africa and Namibia. It is the southernmost desert in Africa and as I said before it covers a massive area of 900, 000 km². The surrounding basin covers a much greater area, extending into Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia although its distinctive red sands could be found as far away as the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (in South Africa and Botswana) has a great collection of secured wildlife as does this massive Central Kalahari game Reserve in Botswana. Although we have now treated them as another destination, the vast Pans of Makgadikgadi, the largest in the entire world, are actually part on the Kalahari region. There are also a great number of other pans in the place (e. g. Nxai Pan) which are full with water during the summer time rains and attract some animals.

The San Bushmen still occupy parts of Kalahari and search and track animals in traditional ways, using a bow and poison arrow, while in the same time gather fruits and roots. These are Africa’s oldest living origin and sadly their standard of living is quickly disappearing – that is your chance to see an old culture before it can be lost forever! Most of the Kalahari is just not a ‘true desert’, and mainly because it receives an average rain of between 75-250 mm each year, greater than the minimum requirements for any desert. It can be exceptionally hot in the summer season where the temperatures reach 40°C although the seasonal rains do alleviate the warmth and attract animals towards pans and waterholes. While in spring, flowers and crops bloom transforming the typically barren landscape into the oasis of color and add life to this desert. The winter is pretty dry and while daytime temperatures are a lot more bearable, it can get quite chilly through the night. Gwtting here really depends whether you intend to experience the Kalahari in South Africa, Namibia or even Botswana.

Most visitors that go to the Kalahari Desert tend to travel to the Central Kalahari game Reserve, an absolutely enormous reserve in the middle of the country. The closest town is Maun, with regular flights from Johannesburg, Cape Town along with other destinations in Botswana. Most travelers will likely then take a private charter flight in to the camp of their decision, since Maun is still far awayf from the reserve to Makgadikgadi. Travellers can also go and check out the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park which spills around into Botswana. To arrive here, you need to take an internal flight with South African ‘Airlink’ to Upington from either Cape Area or Johannesburg. The Twee Rivieren Entry Gate is approximately three hundred km north of Upington and the only way to go there is by driving. The Kalahari is situated in the south and east of Africa and travelers combine it with a trip to this majestic Fish River Canyon. Getting the Kalahari Desert is not easy; it is a very, very long drive from either Southern Africa or Windhoek. As such most travelers check out Botswana to experience the Kalahari since it is the most practical option.

The Kalahari is usually an ideal travel destination if you also go and visit the Chobe National Park plus the Okavango Delta, which will give you a real sense of Botswana. One of the diverse deserts on earth is Mojave Desert. You will find five regions on this desert. Some of them include southwestern, northern, central, southern central and western regions. Desert is considered as the driest area on earth. It only gets 10 inches of rain on a yearly basis. There is a little number of plants that can survive in Deserts and its areas. You will only get to see the low vegetation plants right here. You can walk in a desert and view the bare soil that the desert has. The size of a desert is estimated 33 square km. The formation of a desert depends on the soil condition and topography of a specific land. In the Asian and North American desert, it’s formed as a result of tectonic movement which has effects on the lowland sedimentary plains. Moving into a desert can be difficult for a person. The high intensity of sun light with lack of water may make your living there very difficult.

It will likely be hard for a human to survive in such conditions, with no water and food. Deserts generally receive lower than 40cm (16in) of rain a year. Around one third on the Earth’s surface is filled with deserts. Originally ‘Desert” means ‘A Abandoned Place’. Only around 20% deserts on Earth are covered in sand. Other large deserts include the Gobi Desert of Asia, the Kalahari Desert in Africa, the Patagonian Desert in South America, the Great Victoria Desert in Australia, the Great Basin Desert in America and the Syrian Desert in the Middle-East. Deserts have very reduced humidity. Despite the extreme conditions, deserts are home to a selection of plant life including various cacti and shrubs. They are also home to animals for example lizards and coyote. With not enough water, the high temperatures in the daytime and also sometimes freezing conditions through the night, deserts can be very dangerous places for individuals. Kalahari Desert Tours - Adventure Travel Guide Kalahari Desert Travel Guide Kalahari Desert Tours - Adventure Travel Guide The Kalahari desert is a sandy desert of predominantly powdered, red sand.

It stretches from the Northern Cape Province in South Africa through Namibia, Botswana and Zambia with an area of more than 350.000 square miles. Large parts of the Kalahari have been designated as protected areas. These regions include the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, the Central Kalahari Wildlife Reserve and the world famous Okavango River Delta. Furthermore, the Trans Kalahari Highway is open since the late 1990's. This well-constructed road is an essential trade and transportation route between the Indian Ocean in Mosambik and the Atlantic in Namibia. Namibia - The Vast Land Of Pristine Nature Namibia is one of the few countries where the ecology is still intact. In addition, the dry climate is extremely healthy, and tropical diseases are highly uncommon. Most diversified is the wildlife, which populates even remote areas of the Kalahari Desert. Here, the large herds of animals are moving unlimited and freely. Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, is the ideal starting point for travels to all parts of the country. In the hills of the Khomas Highland, about 15 miles west of the city, lies the Daan Viljoen Nature Park.

There, visitors can observe various species of antelopes, zebras, baboons and ostriches. Another impressive sight is the St. Mary's Cathedral, which was constructed in 1908. Also worth seeing is the Ink Palace, a magnificent monument of remarkable architecture, as well as the seat of the Namibian Parliament. Travelers are fascinated by the artistic and cultural streets in Namibia. There, guests can relax in one of the fashionable designed cafes. The African nation of Namibia attracts tourists from all over the world with its warm hospitality and diverse attractions. Botswana - Home Of Impressive Landscapes And The Okavango Delta In Botswana , one looks in vain for antique buildings, churches or other common landmarks because Botswana is different. Here, travelers can discover sights that only Mother Nature has to offer, and most landmarks can only be identified after a closer look. Botswana is home to the largest inland delta on the planet, the Okavango Delta. Here, one can encounter numerous life forms, and some of them are rare and endangered species. In the capital of Botswana, Gaborone is the dam, which is another main attraction. This is the reservoir from where the locals receive their drink water supply.

Likewise, sport fishermen can enjoy their favorite pastime in this area. It is an exclusive destination, and the yacht club in the city offers a swimming pool, as well as a bar with a breathtaking panorama. In the National Museum, the history of Botswana is represented. Here, tourists can learn about dinosaurs and the first traces of people in Africa. Furthermore, the museum exhibits modern art pieces of young artists, and a beautiful paining called "Dancing Tribes" can be admired at the entrance. Zambia - Where Waterfalls meet the Kalahari Desert A visit to the Victoria Falls is probably the biggest highlight of a Zambia holiday. The falls are located in the south of the country on the border to Zimbabwe. For many travelers, this natural spectacle is an unforgettable experience. At the Victoria Falls plunges the 1.6 miles wide Zambezi River into the depths. The Victoria Falls have been declared a World Natural Heritage by the UNESCO. Nearby the impressive waterfalls is the town of Livingstone. Due to a huge number of visitors, the city is well prepared to meet the needs of tourists. Therefore, all hotels are comfortably equipped with air conditioning and Internet. In the historical museum in Livingstone, travelers can see historic artifacts and documents.

Most tourists are particularly excited by the railway museum in the city, too. On a safari through the protected areas of Zambia, one can explore exotic plants and extraordinary African wildlife. A journey of adventure takes visitors to the outback of Zambia, where they can discover remote and old villages. South Africa Map — South Africa — Our Africa Zimbabwe map Hover over the points on the map to explore some important locations, such as South Africa’s wealthiest city, Johannesburg. It is a bustling, cosmopolitan city, but also has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Click on all the points to find out more about the highlighted places of interest, some marked by historical events mentioned on Our Africa or our Schools Wikipedia site. Karoo National Park The Karoo National Park is home to many desert animals including the Black Eagle and many species of tortoise. Endangered species such as the Black Rhino have been successfully resettled here. The area is unique as many fossils have been uncovered, some of which are estimated at almost 300 million years old! Soweto Soweto is the most heavily populated black urban area of the city of Johannesburg, bordering the city's mining belt in the south.

In June 1976, the township was the scene of violent riots when schoolchildren took the struggle against apartheid into their own hands. Find out more about the history and politics of South Africa on Our Africa Geography & Wildlife With its varied geography and diverse habits, the African continent is home to a wide range of flora and fauna. Though famous for its 'big game' animals, Africa has huge numbers of fish, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and insect species, as well as many tree, plant and flower species. Robben Island People lived on Robben Island many thousands of years ago before the sea channel between the Island and the Cape mainland was covered with water. From the 17th to the 20th centuries, however, Robben Island served as a place of banishment, isolation and imprisonment. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 years in the late 20th century. Today it is a World Heritage Site and museum. Kruger National Park Flagship of the South African national parks, Kruger stretches 352 kilometres along the Mozambique border and is home to a huge variety of wildlife.

It is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, yet to be officially opened, that links it with game parks in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Find out more about Kruger National Park on Our Africa Health Africa has a high number of communicable diseases, which place a huge burden on healthcare systems. The vast majority of malaria cases and HIV/AIDS-related deaths occur in Africa; these two diseases currently represent the greatest threats. With low investment in healthcare and a severe shortage of medical staff, many countries struggle to meet the health needs of their people. Johannesburg The world’s richest gold fields were discovered in Johannesburg during the 1880s and it remains the wealthiest city in South Africa. The contrast between rich and poor, however, has led to its unenviable reputation as a city with one of the highest crime rates in the world. Pretoria This quiet centre, known as the Jacaranda City thanks to its abundance of purple blossom-bedecked trees, hosts some notable museums. These include the Transvaal Museum, home to Mrs Ples, the australopithecine fossil found at Sterkfontein in the Cradle of Humankind.

Development ‘People are the real wealth of a nation.’ This is the belief of the United Nations, whose Millenium Development Goals provide a framework for improving the lives of millions. It helps when nations are peaceful, stable and growing economically. But where even the poorest countries focus on health, education and creating fairer societies, more Africans have the chance of a better life. Children Around one in six children born in sub-Saharan Africa don't live to see their fifth birthday and life can be tough for those who do. What are the common challenges facing African children and how do their lives compare with those of children in the UK? Hogsback Sited high up on the fertile slopes of the Amatole mountains, the village of Hogsback is a popular tourist attraction. Overlooking the rivers and plains of the Tyume Valley, its key attractions include indigenous forests – home to parrots and louries – spectacular waterfalls and exotic gardens. Durban South Africa’s third largest city lies in the middle of a vast sugar-growing area that was originally worked by indentured labourers from India. Durban is the country’s busiest port and one of the major centres of tourism thanks to its warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches.

Cape Town The City of Cape Town sits at the foot of the iconic 1086 metre Table Mountain, flanked by Devil's Peak, Lions Head and Signal Hill. Its rich history, stunning white beaches and colourful floral reserves make it a major cultural and creative draw for tourists. Kalahari The Kalahari Birds and animals employ various techniques to survive in the harsh conditions of the Kalahari desert. Zimbabwe map Explore Zimbabwe Find some of the key cities, sites of interest and national parks on this map of Zimbabwe. Agriculture & Famine A quarter of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is undernourished and famines can impact whole regions. Land is available to grow more food locally, but investment is needed in technologies such as irrigation for land to be used effectively. Farmers must also adapt to climate change if they are to feed the continent's rising population. Women A woman’s status varies by country and region across Africa. In many parts, women struggle against inequality in laws, education, pay and domestic responsibilities. Women’s health is also at risk from traditional practices such as early marriage. But with better education, girls can make more informed choices, leading to the greater development of African nations.

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch, the second oldest town in South Africa, is situated on the banks of the Eerste River. Known as 'Eikestad' ('Oak City') because of its oak tree lined streets, it features some fine examples of Cape Dutch architecture. Wines from the Stellenbosch region are ranked among the best in the world. History The first humans are thought to have lived in Africa and powerful African empires formed from the medieval age onwards. However, today's African nations were shaped by the European powers who colonised this vast continent. Having gained their independence, many African countries are still coming to terms with the legacy left by their colonisers. Namibia map Explore Namibia Find out more about Namibia’s unique conservation areas and the history behind some of its towns and cities. Foods Africa has some of the most distinctive cuisines and flavours in the world. Food varies widely, but there are commonalities across regions. Depending on what's grown locally, dishes are also influenced by the traders, immigrants and rulers who settled across the continent. Arab, Asian and European elements blend in with traditional African cooking.

Mozambique map Explore Mozambique Visitors to Mozambique often stay along the country’s coastline, which boasts some of the country’s key attractions. But you’ll see from the map there are also many places of interest inland. Poverty Across the rest of the world, absolute poverty has halved over recent decades, but in Africa it has barely fallen. About two-fifths of the population of sub-Saharan Africa survive week by week on what someone in the UK earns from just one hour's work on the minimum wage. Aggeneys Situated in a semi-desert landscape, the mining town of Aggeneys’ name comes from the Nama language and is said to mean ‘Place of Water’. Established in 1976, the town was founded to house the workers from the Black Mountain Mine – a mine that currently employs over 600 people. Games & Sport Africa is home to arguably the oldest-recorded games and sports. While some are only known through archaeology, modern-day games and sports such as Mancala/Mankala and Nubian wrestling are very much alive today. Of course, new sports have come along to claim the attention of Africans. You may have heard of one - it's called football.

Morokweng crater Formed about 145 million years ago by the impact of an asteroid, the Morokweng crater is buried underneath the Kalahari Desert in the Northwest of South Africa, close to Botswana. The crater is at least 160 km in diameter but cannot be seen from above ground – it lies beneath the surface of the ground. Botswana Map Explore Botswana Find out about some of Botswana’s key attractions, such as the Okavango Delta and other places of interest, such as the capital city, Gaborone. Vaal River At 1,120 km in length, the Vaal River flows westwards from its source in the Drakensberg Mountains east of Johannesburg into central South Africa. Water drawn from the Vaal helps support 12 million people living in the surrounding area, both industrially and as a source of water for irrigation. Climate Africa is a massive continent, with a range of climates. Some regions are hot and dry, like the Sahara, Kalahari and Namib deserts. Other parts are wet or covered in tropical rainforest.

Conditions also vary by altitude, from the dry salt pans of the Danakil Depression (one of the lowest points on earth) to the snowcaps (at certain times) of the highest mountains. Weather-wise, Africa has it all! Kalahari Desert, Africa - Map, Facts, Location, Climate Kalahari Desert Kalahari Desert PDF Landscape from the Kalahari Desert in Africa The seemingly infinite semi-arid deserts of the Kalahari in Botswana offer visitors unique experiences of unspoiled nature. The word Kalahari is inspired from the Tswana word Kgala, translated as “the great thirst”, or Kalagare, Kgalagadi or Khalagari that mean “a waterless place”. A land of extremes, droughts and harsh weather, the Kalahari also supports a variety of plants and wildlife, including black-maned lions, hyenas, cheetahs, leopards, zebras, and flamingos. The Kalahari desert boasts of housing Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa’s largest private game reserve, and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the world’s second largest protected area.

There are several other game reserves inhabited by meerkats, warthogs, brown hyenas, chacma baboons, the Kalahari lion, giraffes, jackals, and a number of species of antelopes, birds and reptiles. The vast space has a variety of landscapes including red sands and grasslands. Even though the desert is dry and arid, yet it supports a variety of flora such as African horned cucumber, acacia trees, hedged gourd and the Kiwano fruit, etc. Riemvasmaak, a village in the desert, offers a glimpse into the lives of semi-nomadic sheep and goat herders, and visitors can also experience rides across the red sands on a donkey cart. There are several settlements in the Kalahari desert. The area of Botswana comprises of Ghanzi, Tshane, Tshabong and Orapa districts. Gobabis and Mariental in Namibia, and Rietfontein and Noenieput in South Africa are some other settlements. The Senqu (Orange) River meets with its tributary the Vaal River and flows through the Kalahari region, surrounded by the fertile area, complete with vineyards.

Activities in the Kalahari Desert include safaris, as well as sand-boarding down the sand dunes, and soaking in the mineral hot springs. In the evenings you can watch the vibrant orange sunsets, and go stargazing under the clear skies of southern Africa. Kalahari Desert Map The Kalahari Desert covers an area of 900,000 square kilometers (350,000 square miles). Augrabies Falls National Park contains the world’s sixth tallest waterfall. The desert experiences very little rainfall with the driest areas experiencing 110–200 millimetres rain per year. Brandberg Mountain is the highest point in the park featuring an altitude of 8,550 ft (2,610 m). Where is Kalahari Desert? The Kalahari Desert covers most of Botswana and a small section of Namibia in South Africa and extends into Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The nearest Airport is Johannesburg International Airport. People usually prefer to go to the Kalahari Desert via roadways from either of these three countries: Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Best time to visit Kalahari Desert Spring season is one of the best times to visit the Kalahari Desert to catch a glimpse of the blooming, colorful wild flowers in Namakwa. The waterfalls will also be at their peak during and after the rainy season. More on Kalahari Desert Nearby attractions: Witsand Nature Reserve and Namib Desert. Last updated : Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Kalahari Desert | desert region, Africa | Britannica.com Kalahari Desert Cunene River Kalahari Desert, a large, basinlike plain of the interior plateau of Southern Africa . It occupies almost all of Botswana , the eastern third of Namibia , and the northernmost part of Northern Cape province in South Africa . In the southwest it merges with the Namib , the coastal desert of Namibia. The Kalahari’s longest north–south extent is roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres), and its greatest east–west distance is about 600 miles; its area has been estimated at some 360,000 square miles (930,000 square kilometres). Physical features of southern Africa.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Physical features Physiography and geology The Kalahari Desert is a featureless, gently undulating, sand-covered plain, which everywhere is 3,000 feet (900 metres) or more above sea level. Bedrock is exposed only in the low but vertical-walled hills, called kopjes, that rarely but conspicuously rise above the general surface. Aside from the kopjes, three surfaces characterize virtually all of the Kalahari: sand sheets , longitudinal dunes, and vleis (pans). Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) in the Kalahari. © Digital Vision/Getty Images The sand sheets appear to have been formed during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago), and they have been fixed in place since then. In some areas they appear to have been of fluvial origin, the result of sheet flooding in times of much greater precipitation, but by far the greater part of them were wind-formed . The sheets occupy the eastern part of the Kalahari. Their surface elevation varies only slightly, with relief measured in tens of feet per mile.

The depth of the sand there generally exceeds 200 feet. In many areas the sand is red, the result of a thin layer of iron oxide that coats the grains of sand. The entire western Kalahari Desert is characterized by long chains of dunes, oriented roughly to the north or northwest. The dunes measure at least 1 mile in length, several hundred feet in width, and 20 to 200 feet in height. Each dune is separated from its neighbour by a broad parallel depression locally called a straat (“street,” or “lane”), because each constitutes the easy way to travel. Similar Topics Libyan Desert Vleis, or pans , are the terminal features of desert drainage systems, the “dry lakes” at the end of ephemeral streams. Many are remnant features from an earlier period of greater precipitation. Very little water ever flowed to the sea from the Kalahari. Rather, each stream ended its course in a slightly lower depression from which there was no outlet. There, as the stream dried up, the fine silt particles carried in suspension by the sluggish stream were deposited along with soluble calcium minerals and salts precipitated out of the evaporating water.

The results are pans—flat surfaces devoid of vegetation that are gleaming white when dry, hardened by the cementing action of the soluble minerals, and, on occasion, covered by a shallow layer of standing water. Where the salt content is low, pans may become covered with grasses after a rain. Drainage In the southern and central parts of the Kalahari Desert, surface water is found only in small, widely scattered waterholes, and surface drainage is nonexistent. Nearly all of the rain that falls disappears immediately into the deep sand. Some is absorbed by the underlying rock strata; some is drawn to the surface by capillary action and evaporated into the air; and some, lifted from the depths by tree roots, is transpired from leaf surfaces. A small amount, landing on nonsandy surfaces, may flow short distances into pans, but this occurs only immediately after the infrequent rains. In some parts of the central and southern Kalahari, extensive ancient drainage systems have been detected—some on the ground and others by way of aerial photographs. None of these operate today, even in the wettest of years. Africa at Random: Fact or Fiction? In the northern Kalahari an extraordinary drainage system prevails.

During the summer heavy rains fall on the uplands of central Angola, far to the northwest of the Kalahari. Large amounts of runoff water feed a number of south-flowing streams, which merge to form the Okavango and Cuando ( Kwando ) rivers. The Okavango flows to the southeast and into the northernmost portion of the Kalahari, eventually breaking up into a number of distributary channels and feeding the vast area of swamps in northern Botswana . After an abnormally wet rainy season in Angola , excess water fills the swamps and overflows, filling Lake Ngami farther to the south, and flows eastward through the Boteti River into Lake Xau and the Makgadikgadi Pans . Similarly, the Cuando River flows south from Angola and partly into a northeastern extension of the same swamps. Thus is created the paradoxical situation of an area with an extensive excess of water in a region chronically short of water. Soils Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Soils in the Kalahari Desert are largely based on sand, are reddish in color, and are low in organic material. Chemically, they are relatively alkaline, and they are extremely dry.

In and near the pans, the soils tend to be highly calcareous or saline, and frequently they are toxic to most vegetation. Climate Traditionally, an area was classed as desert if it received less than 10 inches (250 millimetres) of rain annually. A more accurate definition of a desert is a region in which the potential evaporation rate is twice as great as the precipitation. Both of these criteria are applicable to the southwestern half of the Kalahari. The northeastern portion, however, receives much more rainfall and, climatically, cannot qualify as a desert; and yet, it is totally lacking in surface water. Rain drains instantly through the deep sands of the area, which creates a situation of edaphic drought (i.e., soil completely devoid of moisture). Moisture-bearing air is derived from the Indian Ocean , and precipitation is greatest in the northeast (with a mean annual precipitation of more than 20 inches) and declines toward the southwest (less than 5 inches on the southern fringe of the Kalahari). Precipitation, however, is highly variable. Most of the rain comes as summer thunderstorms, with great variation from place to place and from year to year.

Winters are extremely dry: humidity is very low, and no rain falls for six to eight months. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Great ranges in both diurnal and seasonal temperatures are the rule, the result of the Kalahari’s relatively high altitude and predominantly clear, dry air (allowing strong insolational heating in daytime and great radiational heat loss at night). As a result, shade temperatures often reach 110–115 °F (43–46 °C) on summer days but drop to 70–80 °F (21–27 °C) on the same nights; temperatures on winter nights commonly drop to freezing and may go as low as 10 °F (−12 °C). Plant life The presence of a deep sand cover over most of the area greatly affects the vegetation that grows there. Shallow-rooted plants cannot survive on a perennial basis, although annuals that grow very rapidly after a good rain may be able to sow seeds that will endure until the next good rainy season. Trees with roots deep enough to reach permanently moist sand levels do well.

The southwestern Kalahari Desert, with its very low precipitation, has few trees or large bushes—only scattered xerophytic (drought-tolerant) shrubs and short grasses. The central Kalahari, with more rain, has scattered trees (several species of Acacia ) and some shrubs and grasses. The northern Kalahari does not have the appearance of a desert at all. It has open woodlands, palm trees growing among thorn brush, and forests of both evergreen and deciduous trees that grow to heights of 50 feet and yield some species suitable for timber; one of the largest and most unusual of these trees is the baobab. The Okavango Swamp supports a dense growth of reeds, papyrus, pond lilies, and other water-loving plants. Aloe hereroensis, a member of the lily family. Its succulent (water-storing) leaves are well … Clem Haager—The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers Animal life The animal life of the Kalahari Desert is also richer and more varied in the north than in the south.

Yet even in the arid south, many individuals of several species stay for long periods of the year despite the absence of surface water. The principal species found in the south are springbok, gnu (wildebeest), and hartebeest—all of which occasionally are present in great herds—gemsbok (oryx), eland , and many smaller nongregarious species, such as kudu (in areas of denser brush), steenbok, and duiker . Springbok in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, southern Africa.

© Anthony Bannister/Animals Animals Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies The northern Kalahari supports a considerable population of giraffes, zebras, elephants, buffalo, and antelopes (roan, sable, tsessebe, and impala); predators such as lions, cheetahs, leopards, wild hunting dogs, and foxes; other large and medium-sized mammals, such as jackals, hyenas, warthogs, baboons, badgers, anteaters, ant bears, hare, and porcupines; and numerous small rodents, several types of snakes and lizards, and a wealth of birdlife. A lioness washing one of her cubs, Kalahari Desert, South Africa. © EcoView/Fotolia Richard F. Logan People and economy The Kalahari Desert is inhabited primarily by Bantu speakers and Khoisan-speaking San , with a small number of Europeans. Bantu-speaking peoples The Bantu-speaking peoples—the Tswana , the Kgalagadi, and the Herero —are relative newcomers to the Kalahari.

In the late 18th century the Tswana spread west from the Limpopo basin into the northern and eastern Kalahari; the Kgalagadi moved north and west into the southern and western Kalahari; and the Herero refugees from the German-Herero conflict of 1904–07 in German South West Africa (now Namibia ) fled east into the western and northern Kalahari at the beginning of the 20th century. Those in the remoter parts of the Kalahari who are unaffected by mining or other industry live in villages of between 200 and 5,000 people. Housing is mostly of the traditional type: single-roomed huts with mud walls and thatched roofs. Water is the limiting factor, confining settlement to places situated near wells or boreholes with potable water. Cattle , the basis of the economy, are kept on the outskirts of villages, or at distances of up to 50 miles away. Wells and boreholes are owned by local government councils, syndicates of cattle owners, or private individuals; year-round cattle grazing is limited to their vicinity.

In summers of above-average rains, however, pastoralists may trek with their stock to remote pastures, where for a short time water may occur in pools. Cattle and goats feed upon a small range of the available vegetation. Since effective pasture management is little practiced, the grazing of these animals is highly destructive. Pasture loss and subsequent desertification are serious threats to the ecology of the Kalahari Desert. Cattle are prized beyond their economic value, as their ownership is a measure of social status and personal worth. Thus, the desire to possess more cattle puts an increasing load on diminishing pasture, leaving it no chance for recovery. The traditional dangers to livestock—drought, disease, internal parasites, and wild predators—have diminished markedly as more boreholes have been sunk, veterinary care improved, and indigenous fauna have grown scarcer. In addition, wealthier cattle owners have improved their herds by introducing better stock and practicing scientific breeding. Trending Topics Eyjafjallajökull volcano Goats furnish most of the meat and milk for home consumption , and nearly all households cultivate crops of corn (maize), sorghum, and pumpkins. Because of the threat of drought, more crops fail than are successful.

Wild food plants and the meat of game animals are important components of diet in the smaller and more remote villages. All villages have trading stores or are visited by hawkers who sell foodstuffs and other commodities. All but the smallest villages have state-run primary schools, which are attended by the great majority of children, although few proceed to secondary education. State-run health clinics and hospitals in the larger villages supplement the services of herbalists and diviners. Riding horses and donkeys are the usual means of local travel. Trucks belonging to traders or to the mine labour recruiting agency are used for longer journeys. Large diamond deposits were discovered in Botswana soon after the country’s independence, and the opening of the diamond mine at Orapa in 1971 marked the beginning of the development of mining activities in scattered locations of the Kalahari. In addition, tourism and the sale of handicrafts have become economically important. San The San—or Basarwa, as they are called in much of the region—are now either clients of Bantu-speaking pastoralists and work at cattle posts in return for support or they are employees of cattle ranches or are dependents of such employees. Few San still follow their traditional pattern of hunting and gathering .

Many have been resettled—often, against their will—by the government of Botswana from their traditional homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to new villages built outside the reserve. Two San women sitting outside their dwelling in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana. AP Although all San traditionally were hunter-gatherers, there were significant cultural and social differences between groups. For example, a number of groups had long-standing clientships with Bantu-speaking stockowners, while other groups lived—until the 1970s—solely as autonomous foragers. Of these latter peoples, the Kung (!Kung), ! xong, and G/wi tribes (the “! ” and “/” representing click sounds) were intensively studied. While each group was distinct, the G/wi of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve can be considered an example of the traditional San hunter-gatherer way of life. The G/wi lived together in bands, each consisting of 5 to 16 households linked by bonds of kinship and friendship.

Each band had a recognized territory of 300 to 400 square miles, selected for its resources of food plants (the main part of the diet), wet-season water holes (used during the six to eight weeks when sufficient rainwater gathered in pools), trees (for shade, shelter, firewood, and wood for making artifacts), and areas of grazing to attract and sustain herds of game animals. Subsistence was based on a number of species of edible plants, of which eight were staples in their various seasons. This diet was supplemented by the meat of antelopes and other herbivorous mammals, by tortoises and other reptiles, and by the flesh and eggs of all but raptorial and scavenging birds. Plant-gathering was mostly done by women ranging within five miles of the camp, while men hunted over a much larger area. The main hunting weapon was a light bow shooting flimsy, unfletched, poisoned arrows. The range of these bows was only about 75 feet, and great skill was needed to stalk the quarry within this distance. Antelope leather provided material for clothing, which included cloaks that also served as blankets and carrying bags.

From November to some time between late June and early August—a period when there is sufficient food—the band lived as one community , moving from camp to camp every three or four weeks as the local supply of food plants became exhausted. Blighting frosts depleted the available food plants in winter (May to September), and the band would then split into its constituent households, each retreating to a separate part of the territory. Early-fruiting plants increased the food supply just before the approach of the wet season, allowing the band to reunite at a joint campsite. During dry seasons, shelters were little more than open windbreaks made of branches and grass. In rainy periods, domed structures of branches were thatched and made rainproof. Europeans Europeans first entered the Kalahari early in the 19th century as travelers, missionaries, ivory hunters, and traders. The only European settlement was in the Ghanzi District, where a number of families were allowed ranching blocks in the 1890s. Until the 1960s they led a life of isolation and poverty, but since then they have been able to gain ownership of the land and improve their living conditions.

Most other whites in the Kalahari are government employees or are engaged in private enterprise. Kalahari Desert Tours Namibia Swakopmund Namibia The main inhabitants of the Kalahari Namibia desert are the Kalahari Bushmen. A few of the remaining Bushmen are used as cheap farm labor on private ranches within the desert. The bushmen of the Kalahari were famed in the early 1980 film productions such as ‘Gods Must Be Crazy I & II', among many other films that were made to try to sensitize the Kalahari population to leave the desert for more habitable places else where in Namibia. But the San Bushmen are a proud people, and are keen to demonstrate their origins and knowledge of living in the bushveld. They still retain some specific cultural and linguistic characteristics such as the very interesting and unique 'click' language, and listening to is a wonderful experience in itself. There are the several rock paintings in caves and rock shelters all over southern Africa that show that these bush men have lived in such areas for a long time. In Namibia, excellent examples of Bushman rock art can be found in the Damaraland region.

Weather There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. It usually receives 76–190 mm of rainfall annually. The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2,500,000 square kilometres extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds—called omuramba—traverse the Central Northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for wild animals from elephant to giraffe, and for predators such as lion and cheetah, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopard or cheetah can still be found. Namibia Hotels and Accommodation Kalahari Desert Wildlife The Kalahari has a number of game reserves that include the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana which is the world's second largest protected area.

Khutse Game Reserve in Namibia, Kalahari Gemsbok National Park of South Africa and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park that stretches into the borders of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa are the other game reserves from the Kalahari Desert. Animals in the Kalahari Desert include brown hyenas, lions, Kalahari meerkats, giraffes, warthogs, jackals, eland, gemsbok, springbok, hartebeest, steenbok, kudu,duiker and many species of birds and reptiles Accommodation There is indeed plenty of accommodation within the Kalahari Desert giving you no excuse of not visiting Namibia Kalahari or even Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. You’ll find every thing from luxury Kalahari Desert hotels, standard game lodges, tented safari camps and bush camps. Namibia Hotels and Lodges in Northern part of the Kalahari Desert include Aru Game Lodge, Anhem Cave Rest Camp, Eningu Clay House, Kalahari Bush Breaks, Kiripotib Guest Farm and Sandune Lodge.

From the Southern part of the Namibia Kalahari desert are Aub Lodge, Bagatelle Kalahari Lodges, Bitterwasser Lodge, Camelthorn Kalahari Lodge, Hardap Dam Resort, Kalahari Anib Lodge, Kalahari Farmhouse, Surricate Kalahari Tented Camp and Zebra Kalahari Lodge. Tribes of Africa: The San Bushmen (Basarwa) Updated August 09, 2016. The San of the Kalahari The San (or Basarwa) people of the Kalahari are more commonly known as the Bushmen. The Kalahari is a vast desert that stretches over South Africa , Botswana and Namibia . Living in one of the most inhospitable terrains in the world, the San survived by hunting wild game and gathering roots and tubers. Many people outside of Southern Africa were introduced to the San culture and their "click " language through the South African made movie "The Gods Must be Crazy". The History of the San The San are considered to be the oldest culture in the world dating back over a hundred thousand years. Beautiful San rock art can be seen throughout Southern Africa where the San lived as hunter-gatherers.

In the past 2000 years the San were slowly pushed to live in the arid sands of the Kalahari Desert by Bantu tribes and white farmers who took the more fertile land for their crops and livestock. Traditional San Culture There are only about 3000 thousand San that still follow a totally traditional lifestyle of hunting and gathering (out of a population of 95,000). Groups (or bands) usually number 10 to 15 individuals and move around frequently to find new foods to gather, water resources and to follow migrating game. Shelter is temporary and made of branches tied together in a semi-circle with grass tufts on top. Groups are made up of family members and there is no official leader or chief. The San men traditionally hunt and the women are responsible for gathering. Hunting is a collaborative exercise and the meat is always shared among the group. The San are expert hunters with bows and arrows tipped with poison. Gathering has less social significance but generally provides up to 80% of the food. The San Today Like many hunter-gatherer tribes the world over the San are finding it very difficult to maintain their traditional culture and lifestyle.

Land that the San used to hunt on is increasingly being used for grazing cattle. Fences are put up to protect the cattle which means that the wildlife the San depend upon for their hunting are changing their migrating patterns. Farmers in the area have notoriously abused the San workers yet many San have become dependent on them for survival. The San's hunting and tracking skills have made them popular with armies who have used them to track guerillas and even map out mine fields. Farmers also use the San to track down poachers. Governments have forced the San to relocate to permanent locations usually with the intention of 'civilizing' them and providing schooling, running water and other modern amenities. Unfortunately rounding up hunter-gatherers and forcing them to live in settlements has been tried in many countries and has not been very successful. Having no concept of private ownership, the San struggle to prove that land belongs to them. Having no traditional tribal leader makes it difficult to present their grievances with one strong voice. And as with many hunter-gatherers the world over, their neighbors consider them 'savages' hence the derogatory name of 'Bushmen'. San Cultural Tours: There are several tours you can take where a San guide will take you on desert walks.

You will be shown how to collect veld foods, track game, collect herbs and participate in music and dance. Some San tours are geared to the big trophy hunter which brings in significant revenue for the tribes. Nhoma Safari Camp is a tented camp at Nhoma village, north east Namibia, 80km from Tsumkwe. Activities involve hunting with the Ju/'hoan hunters, veld food gathering, bush medicine, traditional games, the healing dance and tours to Khaudum National Park. This is an authentic San/Bushman cultural experience in Namibia. The village and camp is on the ancestral land of the Ju/'hoansi in a remote area. Kalahari Desert.com : Offers Bushmen walks, various dances, hunting and more in Botswana. 8 Day Bushman Trail Safari : This is a safari and cultural tour rolled into one. It includes game walks and game drives in the Kalahari desert as well as an introduction to San culture. The safari is in Botswana and begins in Maun. 7 Day Mobile Camping Safari in the Kalahari Mobile tented camps make this safari in Botswana a great option for those interested in both wildlife and San culture.

Game tracking and hunting with bows and arrows are offered among many more activities. Kalahari San Sources:

Question: The Kalahari Desert in Africa stretches across South Africa, Botswana and which other country?
Answer: Namibia