Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve was founded in 1961 and is the largest conservation area in the country; at 5 million hectares, it is one of the largest in the world. The reserve was founded to protect the San Bushmen, with an aim to provide a home for these historical people in their natural environment and to ensure their survival and preservation of their way of life.

Located in the centre of Botswana, this reserve is characterised by extensive open plains, saltpans and ancient riverbeds. Four fossil rivers wind through the arid reserve, some of them 16000 years old.

Today this area is a fantastic game-rich reserve home to fascinating species that have adapted to the harsh desert environment. Among the shallow valleys, tsamma melons and gemsbok cucumbers historically offer the main source of water for animals and Bushmen during the dry season.

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve offers one of the most remote safari experiences in Africa and is renowned for its incredible wildlife viewing with huge herds of antelope followed by an abundance of predators.

With the arrival of the rains during the summer months, from the end of November until April, the desert turns into a wildlife sanctuary. Short grasses sprout in the pan systems and fossil riverbeds and plains game such as springbok, gemsbok and wildebeest congregate in their hundreds and thousands to feed.

This, of course, attracts predators such as lion and cheetah, which can be seen giving chase to a number of the hungry herbivores and their infant young. The Green Season in northern CKGR is one wildlife spectacle to be seen.

Cultural safari experiences with the Kalahari Bushmen provide insights into the unique and extraordinary culture of these fascinating people. At Haina Kalahari Lodge , guests can enjoy tented accommodation, wildlife at the waterhole, and interaction with the local Bushmen.