FACT FILE II MAP II ITINERARIES
BOTSWANA PARKS
Central Kalahari GR
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), situated right in the center of Botswana, was set up in 1961. It is one of the largest game reserve in the world at 52, 800 square kms. The reserve is characterised by vast open plains, salt pans, ancient river beds, sand dunes, flat bushveld, with Mopane forests to the south and east. Rainfall is sparse varies from 170 to 700 mm per year. The people who live here are known as San or Bushmen, and have been resident for thousands of years. Originally nomadic hunters and gatherers, the lifestyle of the San has gradually changed with the times and they now live in settlements, some of which are situated within CKGR. Animals found here include gemsbok, springbok, ostrich, kudu, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, giraffe, eland, brown hyaena, warthog, wild dog, cheetah, leopard and lion. The best season for wildlife is between December and April, when the animals tend to congregate in the pans and valleys.
Chobe National Park
Chobe was declared a national park in 1967, making it Botswana's oldest park. At 10,566 sq km, it is also the country's second largest. The park is divided into four main areas comprising the Chobe River front with floodplain and teak forest, the Savute Marsh in the west, the Linyanti Swamps in the northwest and the hot dry hinterland in between.
Chobe's main feature is its 120,000 elephants, from only a few thousands in the early 1900s. These elephants are protected and have escaped the massive illegal poaching that decimated other populations in the 1970s and 1980s eg Tsavo in Kenya. These herds are migratory, making seasonal movements between Chobe and Linyanti rivers during the dry season, and to the salt pans in the southeast during the rains.
Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park
Established in 2000 by combining Botswana's Gemsbok NP with South Africa's Kalahari Gemsbok NP, this is one of the largest parks in Africa, with an area of 38,000 sq kms. The park is drained by the two rivers - Noosob and Auob . On the Botswana side, the park is divided into three main wildlife areas, the Two Rivers section, the Wilderness Trail and the Mabuasehube section. Tourists entering from the Botswana side may travel around the South African part of the park at no extra cost and without any immigration formalities. Tourists wishing to leave the park into South Africa will find that there are immigration facilities at Two Rivers.
Moremi Wildlife Reserve
Moremi Wildlife Reserve includes 30% of the Okavango Delta and and covers an area of 4,871 sq km. It was officially designated as a game reserve in April 1965. Moremi is best visited in the dry season and game viewing is at its peak from July to October, when seasonal pans dry up and the wildlife concentrates on the permanent water. From October until the rains break in lat-November or early-December, the weather can be extremely hot - both day and night! Roads can become difficult to pass in the rainy season. Mosquitoes are prevalent throughout the reserve and it is strongly recommended that visitors should take an anti-malarial prophylactic before, during and for four weeks after their visit, especially during the rainy season. Water for drinking should be boiled or chemically treated. Birdlife is prolific and varied, ranging from water birds to shy forest dwellers. Elephants are numerous, particularly during the dry season. Other species include buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog (Moremi contains 30% of Africa's wild dog population), hyena, jackal and many species of antelope.
Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta, once part of the Makgadigadi ecosystem, is one of the world's largest inland deltas, created by seasonal flooding of the Okavango River, which flows 1200 kms from the Angolan highlands, post the heavy rainfall in Jan-Feb. Each year approximately 11 cubic kilometres of water spreads over the 15,000 km² area. The flood peaks between June and August, during Botswana’s dry winter months, when the delta swells to three times its permanent size, attracting animals and creating one of Africa’s greatest concentrations of wildlife. Species include elephant, buffalo, hippopotamus, lechwe (numbering 60,000), tsessebe, sitatunga, wildebeest, giraffe, Nile crocodile, lion, cheetah, leopard, brown hyena, spotted hyena, wild dog, springbok, greater kudu, sable, black rhino, zebra, warthog, Chacma baboon, etc. The delta also includes over 400 species of birds, including African fish eagle, Pel's fishing owl, crested crane, lilac-breasted roller, hammerkop, ostrich, sacred Ibis, etc.. The delta is also home to 71 species of fish. Papyrus and reed rafts make up a large part of the Okavango's vegetation. During the flood season they float well above the sandy river bed with roots dangling free in the water. This gap between bed and roots is utilised as shelter by crocodiles. The Okavango Delta peoples consist of five ethnic groups, each with its own ethnic identity and language. They are engaged in mixed economies of millet/sorghum agriculture; fishing, hunting, and the collection of wild plant foods; and pastoralism. The Bugakhwe and ||anikwhe are Bushmen, who have traditionally practised fishing, hunting, and the collection of wild plant foods.
Pans
Makgadigadi Pans NP:
Designated a game reserve in 1970, it became a national park only in 1992, with an area of 4,900 sq km. The name Makgadikgadi means "a vast wilderness of space". The pans fill up with water during the rains from mid-November and retain the water upto April or May, and attract waterfowl and a large migration of wildebeest and zebra. The salt pans resemble a giant lake in the hot season but that is in fact only a mirage. The wet season also brings migratory birds such as ducks, geese and great white pelicans. The pan is home of one of only two breeding populations of greater flamingos in southern Africa. The only birds here in the dry season are ostriches, chestnut-banded Plover and Kittlitz’s plover. The grasslands on the fringes of the pan are home to reptiles such as tortoises, rock monitor, snakes and lizards including the endemic Makgadikgadi spiny agama.
Nxai Pans NP:
Located close to the Makgadigadi Pans is the Nxai Pan, which covers an area of 2,578 sq km. Perhaps the focal point of Nxai Pan is the water hole, situated only two kilometres from the entrance gate, in the midst of a large grassy plain which is dotted with a few clumps of short umbrella thorn trees. Here, and within the mopane woodland, lion, giraffe, kudu, impala, ostrich, fascinating birdlife and large numbers of springbok, together with a good population of jackal, bat-eared fox and numerous smaller creatures, are permanent residents. Once the rains have started, gemsbok, elephant and zebra migrate to the area.