Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The Central Kalahari is the second-largest game reserve in the world, some 52,000 square kilometres of grassland, fossil river valleys and pans in the middle of Botswana, with almost no infrastructure. Deception Valley and the Passarge and Piper pans are where the wildlife gathers after the summer rains, from about December to April, when springbok, gemsbok, black-maned lions and cheetah move onto the green flush; the dry months are quieter. It is a self-sufficient 4x4 destination, with a few remote camps and public campsites that must be pre-booked, and it is the home of the San communities whose story is inseparable from the reserve.