Kalahari Migration Mobile Safari (7 Days/6 Nights)

After breakfast you'll enjoy a nature walk before saying goodbye to Tau Pan Camp where you depart for the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Most of the scenery en-route to CKGR is cattle country and dry savannah bush.

After about 2 hours of driving from Tau Pan, the vegetation changes and small dry pans (open areas) appear and then the land falls gradually away to Deception Valley. The valleys in the Kalahari are extinct river valleys that occurred millions of years ago and are now covered in short dry grass. After a little rainfall the grass turns green offering the wildlife much needed nutrition.

You will explore areas like Deception Valley, Passarge Valley, Sundays Pans and Letiahau. To get a better idea of this unique ecosystem we recommend you read “Cry of the Kalahari” by Mark and Delia Owens. A fiercely beautiful but hostile environment - the Central Kalahari will creep into your soul and for many months after your visit you will yearn to return.

You will spend the next three nights in the CKGR.

The Kalahari Desert

The Kalahari Desert stretches nearly 360,000 square miles across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. The Kalahari is not a true desert in the strictest sense of the word as it receives too much rainfall (between 5 and 10 inches annually). Derived from the Tswana word Kgala, meaning "the great thirst", or Kgalagadi, meaning "a waterless place", the Kalahari is a vast area of red sands, dry river valleys, and open grasslands. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the largest, most remotely situated reserve in southern Africa, and the second largest wildlife reserve in the world. The Reserve was originally established (in 1961) with the intention of serving as a place of sanctuary for the San, in the heart of the Kalahari (and Botswana), where they could live their traditional hunter/ gatherer way of life without intrusion or influence from the outside world.

Once the traditional home of the San people, the Kalahari supports a surprisingly diverse population of wildlife that have adapted to the extremely dry conditions. Antelope that are regularly seen are gemsbok, eland, kudu, blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, springbok, and giraffe. It is also possible to see the endangered black rhino. Predators in the area are – cheetah, leopard, hyena, caracal, serval and the black-maned Kalahari lion. Many of these animals are not usually found in the game parks to the north. Birdlife in the Kalahari is just as exciting as the animals – with many grassland specialists and larger birds including the bateleur, martial eagle, korhaan, tawny eagles, secretary birds, kori bastards, ostrich.

In the rainy season from December through March, the Kalahari is transformed into a lush, green oasis and the early evening air is dominated by the never ending calls of the Kalahari barking geckos. Zebras arrive from the north and thousands of animals give birth during this season of plenty. All this activity attracts lions and other predators to take advantage of the vulnerable young animals.

On the morning of Day 5, the camp crew will pack and move camp while your guide takes you east to the huge and expansive grasslands of the Makgadikgadi Pans to search for the huge numbers of zebra (up to 25000 animals) that arrive at this time of year.

The zebra move from the Boteti river system and concentrate on the open grasslands in search of nutritious grasses to give birth to their young. Despite their numbers they can be elusive and we spend the next three nights in search of the herds and exploring this vast open landscape.

You'll even search for the zebra migration by air, as a scenic flight by helicopter is included in the safari.

Makgadikgadi Pans

The Makgadikgadi is a place of wide-open, uninhabited spaces under an endless canopy of blue sky. The remoteness, inaccessibility and danger of the pans all add to their allure. It is a vast expanse filled with subtle hues and surrealistic beauty. Almost the size of Portugal, the pan covers 4600 square miles and is the largest salt pan in the world. The pan is only a portion of what used to be one of the largest inland lakes in Africa.

The Makgadikgadi area is comprised of the Sua and Ntwetwe pans. During the heat of the late winter day, the pans become a shimmering mirage of disorienting and ethereal austerity. The large number of small villages and the small stone age tools and other artifacts that can be found scattered around the islands (for example on Kubu Island), all point to the fact that the Makgadikgadi Pans have supported human habitation, and their livestock, for a very long time. At one time the Makgadikgadi Pans were important as a major trade route.

Despite the lack of water for most of the year, the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans contain several diverse habitats including riverine woodland, scrubland, grassland and salt pans. Large areas of the Pans are covered in lush swathes of mixed grasses that offer a banquet for thousands of animals including species like wildebeest, zebra, springbok, oryx, kudu, and steenbok that arrive around December. This large population of grazing animals attracts the charismatic predators that Africa is known for including lions, leopards, cheetah. The extremely rare wild dogs have even been recorded in Nxai Pan. The grasslands of the Makgadikgadi hide small colonies of meerkats that have become habituated to people and provide a few hours of rewarding interaction.

In September large herds of antelope, zebra and wildebeest roam the dusty plains awaiting the first rains. On their arrival the waters turn the pans into a perfect mirror of the sky, distorting all sense of place and time. Although these rains are short lived, in December another deluge turns the edges of the vast pans into waving fringes of green grassland where herds of wildlife converge to partake in the bounty. The Makgadikgadi zebra migration moves east away from the Boteti River into the huge open grasslands of the Makgadikgadi Pans after Botswana's first good rains. During the rainy season when the pans are full countless flamingos and other birds come here to breed.

Following a customary early morning breakfast and early game drive you'll say goodbye to the camp staff and drive back to Maun. You will arrive in Maun around noon in time for outbound flights or for your onward arrangements.

If you’re interested in extending your safari to Victoria Falls, Cape Town or other destinations in Africa, please let us know!