Hemmed in by four neighbouring countries, landlocked Botswana consists of a relatively flat tableland spread between 900 and 1,400 metres above sea level that stretches for 224,607 square miles across the centre of southern Africa. Landscapes vary between deserts and deltas and play home to a vast variety of animal life.
Botswana is dominated by the semi-arid Kalahari Desert, which spills across the country from South Africa to the south and Namibia to the west. Rising from the sand dunes in the north west of Botswana are the quartzite Tsodilo Hills, both a geographical and a cultural highlight of the country with their rock art dating back at least 100,000 years.
Besides the Kalahari, which is crossed by a number of migratory animals after rain, the country is encrusted by the Makgadikgadi salt pan in the north-east and enriched with the vast inland delta of Okavango in the north-west. Flowing into Botswana from the Angolan highlands, the waters of the Okavango spread out during the rainy season like an immense clawed foot over an area of 17,000km2. Forming part of the patchwork of protected lands that amount to 20% of Botswana’s total area, the Okavango Delta is an oasis of lagoons and channels amidst a fan of islands, sands, reeds, grasslands, palms and Mopane forests.
Okavango’s concentration of resources attracts exceptional wildlife in large numbers, from elephants to buffalo, hippopotamus, leopard and rhinoceros, along with many more spectacular game animals and hundreds of species of bird. Chief’s Island and the Moremi Game Reserve, which are both situated within the Okavango Delta, are renowned for their big cat and big five populations respectively.
Another prime area of Botswana for wildlife experiences is Chobe National Park, which lies to the east of the Okavango Delta. A rich habitat of woodland, marsh and floodplain, Chobe supports huge herds of elephants and buffalo. Being hemmed in certainly has its advantages.
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