Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Nxai Pans National Park
(
Click here
)
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
(
Click here
)
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
(
Click here
)
Khutse Game Reserve
(
Click here
)
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
(
Click here
)
OKAVANGO DELTA
The Okavango Delta is one of Africa's most extraordinary landscapes, not to mention the
antidote to the Kalahari's endless sea of sand. Covering between 13,000 and 18,000 sq
km, it snakes into the country from Angola to form a watery paradise of convoluted chan-
nels and islands that appear and disappear depending on the water levels. The delta is
home to more than 2000 plant species, 450 bird species and 65 fish species, not to men-
tion an estimated 200,000 large mammals.
The delta owes its existence to a tectonic trough in the Kalahari basin, a topographical
depression that ensures that the waters of the Okavango River evaporate or are drunk by
plants without ever reaching the sea; the delta is extremely flat with no more than 2m
variation in the land's altitude, which means that the waters simply come to a halt. The
delta's waters surge and subside at the behest of the rains in far-off Angola, and every year
around 11 cu km of water flood into the delta. The flooding is seasonal, beginning in the
Angolan highlands in January and February, the waters travelling approximately 1200km
in a month. Having reached the delta, the waters disperse across the delta from March to
June, before peaking in July and August - during these months, the water surface area of
the delta can be three times that of the nonflooding periods.
MOUNTAINS
Botswana could be one of the flattest countries on earth, but there are a few sites of topo-
graphical interest. The country's highest point above sea level is the rather modest Otse
Hill (1489m) which lies around 45km south of Gaborone.
Of far greater interest are the Tsodilo Hills in the country's far northwest, with dramatic
scenery and prehistoric rock art; the Tswapong Hills, a range of low, flat-topped hills cut
through with vertiginous canyons, good for hiking and birdwatching; and the Tuli Block,
shadowing the Limpopo River in Botswana's far east, with otherworldy
kopjes
rising up
from the riverine plains.
