Travel to the Kalahari for one of the biggest safari secrets in Africa. Far from being an empty desert, Botswana’s Kalahari is home to a rich mix of birds and animals and offers some of the best game viewing in the country. It’s a place of big cats and wild dogs, meerkats and springboks as well as zebra migrations and great bird watching.
It’s easy to visit too. Botswana’s Kalahari reserves are just an hour’s flight from Maun airport and the Okavango Delta. Safari lodges are tucked away – often in exclusive-use concessions – and offer plenty of comfort. Activities range from game drives and stargazing to nature walks, quad-biking and horseback safaris. You can also experience the Kalahari on a guided overland safari, staying in tented camps and enjoying the camaraderie of the campfire.
A Kalahari safari is best combined with Botswana’s more famous wildlife destinations: the Okavango Delta/Moremi and the Chobe National Park. These itineraries mix familiar animals such as elephant, buffalo and hippo with desert specialists such as gemsbok antelope – and the predator count will be high. It’s usually enough to visit just one of Botswana’s three Kalahari reserves but keen safari travellers and wildlife photographers may want a taste of each.
Nxai Pan National Park is the smallest reserve. It has savannah and desert animals, good predators, and its summer greenery even attracts elephants and buffalo. The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park lies around enormous salt pans and offers open grassland habitats as well as seasonal rivers. It’s great for summer game viewing and birding. The enormous Central Kalahari Game Reserve is equally good in summer (springbok birthing season) and has a well-deserved reputation for big cats. It’s also a great dry-season destination thanks to its permanent waterholes.
A safe and beautiful destination to visit, the Kalahari has broad appeal. It is virtually malaria-free and sits under warm, dry and sunny skies for most of the year. Several lodges welcome families with children while others are honeymoon-favourites. Browse our recommended Kalahari safari tours and accommodation or simply contact us for more information and advice.
The Kalahari’s relatively simple climate offers travellers a simple choice about when to go: the dry or wet season.
The long dry winter from May to October offers the most comfortable conditions for a Kalahari safari. There is virtually no risk of malaria and daytime temperatures are warm to mild from May through August with extremely cold nights. Expect the mercury to fall below freezing at night in June and July. September and October are very hot and dry but many animals are concentrated around permanent water, including your lodge’s in-house waterhole.
The summer rains begin in earnest in December and turn the Kalahari green. There is sporadic but heavy rain with many sunny days in between. The early Green Season is a favourite time for some safari travellers. The light is better for photography than in the cloudless glare of winter, and since many animals give birth, it is also a great time to see the Kalahari’s predators in action. Bird watching is also at its best in summer: migratory birds arrive almost doubling the number of resident species.
Set in the best game viewing areas of the Kalahari’s three parks and reserves, Kalahari lodges are about as remote as you can get in southern Africa. The views in all direction are filled with land and sky with barely a hint of human disturbance. Most are fairly recently built and have been designed to exacting environmental standards though you won’t lack for comfort and convenience.
Most Kalahari lodges are tented camps, complete with bar, lounge and restaurant. Your suite will be well-appointed with a private bathroom and wonderful views. The lodges are built overlooking water, a vital feature for armchair game viewing, and offer a range of activities besides 4X4 game drives. You may go out walking with San Bushman guides, or visit a local village, go on a night drive or be guided through the cosmos on a star-gazing evening.
Browse our recommended Kalahari lodges below or simply ask us for advice on choosing and booking a lodge suitable for your needs and budget.
The Lodge boasts of three categories of unique tented accommodations strategically secluded to ensure a feeling of privacy and intimacy at all times. The safari lodge can accommodate a maximum of twenty guests, thus ensuring exclusivity that defines contemporary luxury.
Luxurious safari lodge located near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. It offers elegant tented accommodations with stunning views over the Kalahari landscape. Guests can enjoy expertly guided game drives, night drives, and immersive cultural experiences, including interactions with the San Bushmen.
Luxury safari lodge with eight spacious chalets, situated on a 43,000-hectare private conservancy adjacent to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Guests can embark on guided day & night game drives, walking safaris, and cultural experiences led by the Naru-speaking San Bushmen.
The camp comprises nine luxury en-suite tents, each perched on raised decks to maximize the views on the iconic Tau Pan. Guests can engage in a range of activities, including game drives, guided nature walks with San Bushman trackers, and stargazing sessions on the sleep-out deck.
Such is the breadth of wildlife in Botswana’s Kalahari that it would be easy to enjoy a Kalahari safari as a stand-alone experience. But Botswana’s heavyweight destination – the Chobe National Park – is just a short hop away by light aircraft; the Okavango Delta and the teeming floodplains of the Moremi Game Reserve are just over the horizon. It makes sense to put a Kalahari safari into a larger itinerary.
Vast and wild, the Kalahari is not a self-drive destination, and there are three reserves to consider, each with different landscapes and wildlife profiles. You’ll need to choose between mobile safari operators and fly-in safaris where you share a charter flight between lodges, enjoying maximum time on safari as well as a bird’s eye view of the Kalahari grasslands.
Browse our recommendations Botswana tours below. We can easily include a Kalahari safari as well as other safari destinations to these tours. Alternatively, contact us for advice on the right tour for your needs and budget.
Our team of destination experts will design a holiday to meet your budget and interests. Let’s start planning your tailor-made African safari today!
Best experienced as part of a larger Botswana safari, the Kalahari’s parks and reserves are easily accessed by air (generally from Maun airport) as well as by 4X4. This makes them natural and highly rewarding combinations with the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve and the Chobe National Park. Browse our suggested itineraries or simply ask us about including Botswana’s Kalahari onto your tour.
