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Larger than Denmark or Switzerland the 52,800 square kilometre Kalahari Park, which was set up in 1961, is the third largest game reserve in the world.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

many people refer to the Central Kalahari simply as Deception. The name "Deception" comes from a pan the dry surface of which sometimes appears convincingly full of water until one gets right to the edge.

Landscape

In the southern Kalahari area the sand lies in distinct linear dunes. These dunes are covered in grass, shrubs and trees. In contrast with true sand deserts, the sand in the Kalahari is stabilized by vegetation.
Rainfall

Although the Kalahari is generally seen as a desert, it is in actual fact a semi-arid savanah, with average rainfall at Deception Valley Lodge of 300mm per annum.

Rainfall is one of the main ecological driving forces in this area. It determines the quantity of plant growth produced each year and the amount of food for game. The quantity and distribution of rainfall through the wet periods is also important. If for example it rains early in the season certain grass and tree species are favoured. Should it rain at a later stage totally different species are favoured and this phenomena will give the eco-tourist a totally different experience of the Kalahari every season.
Plant growth

The waving landscapes consist of vast sand dunes. Between the dunes one encounters low lying areas with small pans. The bigger trees are found on top of the sand dunes and around the pans. The most important large trees in this area are Acacia luederitzii, Terminalia prunioides and Boscia albitrunca.
Grass cover

The grass cover in the Kalahari is abundant and important after rain, not only as animal grazing but also as protection against erosion.

Botswana. You journey into the Central Kalahari National park, the second largest national park in the world.
You will explore the area around Deception Valley which is an ancient fossil river, game viewing is especially good as there are open plains and it is common to see very large herds of antelope. Sightings of predators is common as they lie in wait on the “river” banks, watching the antelope. We visit the camp site of Mark and Delia Owens, the authors of the book “Cry of the Kalahari”, we will learn more about their journeys in this fascinating region of Africa.

In this section

• Deception
• Haina