Central Kalahari Game Reserve

• Deception Valley

  The best-known part of the reserve, a fossil river valley in the north. In the rains and just after, December to May, its short grass draws springbok and gemsbok in large numbers, with lion, cheetah and leopard behind them.

  Expert Africa, Central Kalahari Game Reserve (seasons, wildlife, camps)
• Sunday Pan

  A pan with a waterhole fed by a solar-powered borehole. In the dry months gemsbok, springbok and jackal come in to drink, and one party wrote of spending hours parked beside it.

  Tracks4Africa blog, The Kalahari is not for sissies (Karin Theron, 30 September 2016)
• Tau Pan

  Springbok gather in dense herds on the short grass here. Sunday and Leopard pans get more visitors, but one writer who made the trek calls Tau Pan her best memory of the reserve.

  Tracks4Africa blog, Why you should visit the remotest park in Botswana (Romi Boom, 8 June 2021)
• Piper Pan

  A big pan about 140 km of soft sand from Matswere Gate, with a waterhole that pulls in plains game, elephant now and then, and the lions that hunt them.

  Evening Standard, Wild camping in Botswana's Central Kalahari (David Cohen, 20 May 2024), copy on Yahoo News
• Passarge Valley

  Another fossil valley in the north where springbok and gemsbok collect on new grass from December to May.

  Expert Africa, Central Kalahari Game Reserve (seasons, wildlife, camps)

• At 52,800 km² the reserve is larger than the Netherlands and is usually ranked the second largest game reserve in the world. It takes up over 40 percent of Ghanzi District. source
• Ghanzi District, which holds the whole reserve, had 56,555 people at the 2022 census, fewer than any other district in Botswana, on 117,910 km² of land. source
• Kalahari comes from the Setswana kgala, "the great thirst", or Kgalagadi, "a waterless place". source
• Deception Valley is a fossil riverbed. It is said to get its name from the mirage that shimmers over its pan and looks like water. source
• There is a diamond mine inside the reserve. Gem Diamonds bought the deposit, then called Gope, from De Beers in 2007 and spent more than US$85 million on an underground mine, Ghaghoo, beneath 80 metres of sand. It was commissioned early in 2015 and put on care and maintenance in March 2017. In June 2019 Gem agreed to sell it to a Botswana company. source
• The presiding judge in the 2006 case was Unity Dow, the first woman appointed to Botswana's High Court. The case was brought by Roy Sesana and Keiwa Setlhobogwa on behalf of 241 others. source

Checked 12 October 2026.

• very likelySpringbokThe short-grass pans and valley floors, above all Deception Valley and Passarge Valley. All year, in herds of more than a hundred during and just after the rains (December to May)source
• very likelyGemsbok (oryx)Open plains and around the pans. All year. They can go long periods without surface watersource
• very likelyBlack-backed jackal and bat-eared foxOn the pans and at the waterholes. One overlander wrote that she had never seen as many in any other parksource
• very likelyOstrich and kori bustardOut on the pans and grass plains. All yearsource
• likelyGiraffe, kudu, red hartebeest and blue wildebeestAll year. Wildebeest gather in large herds in the rains, December to Marchsource
• likelyGround squirrelAround the campsites, along with the hornbillssource
• likelyLionMost often reported from Deception Valley and the north of the reserve. The males here have dark manes. Best in and just after the rains, when prey gathers in the valleyssource
• likelyBirds of prey: pale chanting goshawk, bateleur, tawny eagle, secretary birdAround the pans and open plains in the north of the reservesource
• possibleCheetahThe wide open pans. The reserve is counted among the better places in Botswana to find themsource
• rareBrown hyenaMore common here than in northern Botswana, but still seldom seensource
• rareLeopard and African wild dogBoth live in the reserve, but in low numbers compared with northern Botswanasource
• rareElephantThey do move through, but sightings are few and far between. This is not an elephant parksource

Likelihood is for a normal visit of two or three days, from the sources linked. Nothing is guaranteed in the wild.

Malaria

The reserve lies in Ghanzi District, which the CDC lists among Botswana's malaria transmission areas, and it recommends prescription antimalarials for travel there. Some travel writers call the Central Kalahari malaria-free. I would go with the CDC and ask a travel clinic before you leave. source

Lions and hyenas in camp

No campsite has a fence and the operator says plainly that wild animals can walk in. Stay in your site after dark, keep quiet between 20:00 and 06:00 as the camp rules ask, and never feed anything. source

Remoteness

When the government organised a large gathering deep in the reserve in December 2024, the Ghanzi District Commissioner told people driving in to carry extra fuel and travel in groups. That is sound advice for any visitor. The reserve has no phone network of its own, and one had to be brought in for the event. source

Mud and flooded tracks

After heavy rain the pans and clay stretches become impassable. In February 2025 the Ministry of Environment and Tourism closed tracks around Motopi, Passarge, Deception Pan, Kukama, Lekhubu, Letiahau, Piper Pan, Phokoje, Tau Pan, Sunday Pan and Leopard Pan because of flooding. Ask at the gate which routes are open before you commit to one. source

Dry grass and fire

Dry grass lines the narrow tracks and grows on the hump between the wheel ruts. Stopping a hot vehicle over it can start a fire, and one party passed three burnt-out vehicles on a single trip. source

Park rules

The speed limit in Botswana's parks and reserves is 40 km/h. You may not drive between gate closing and opening time: gates open from 06:00 to 18:30 from 1 April to 30 September and from 05:30 to 19:00 from 1 October to 31 March. Riding on the roof or roof rack is banned, and so is feeding or giving water to any animal. Where there is no approved bin, your litter has to leave the reserve with you. source

• Carry every litre of water you will need. Campsites have a bucket shower and a pit latrine but no water, and the borehole at Matswere Gate has been known to run dry. One party found drinking water and showers at Xade Gate, but I would not plan around it. several sources
• Fill the tank and the jerry cans before the sand track from Rakops to Matswere Gate, and let your tyres down at Rakops. Deep sand and stop-start driving in the heat push fuel use up sharply. One group of seven vehicles in 2024 had a car run dry 30 km short of the exit gate, and the same group took ten hours over the 235 km from Piper Pan to Bape. one source
• Keep the daily distances short. Gate staff told one party that the 233 km from Deception to Xaka was too far for a day. one source
• Check who runs each campsite before you book. DWNP handles Deception, Kori, Leopard Pan, Phokoje, Xade, Bape and Xaka. Bigfoot Tours handles Passarge, Piper Pan, Sunday Pan, Lekhubu and Letiahau. The entry fee is paid to DWNP separately from a Bigfoot campsite booking. one source
• Have a fallback for the far-flung sites. A party that had booked Phokoje Pan in 2021 found no usable campsite there and had to push on to San Pan before dark, which was overgrown with thorns. one source
• Fit a seed net over the radiator when the grass is high and check it often. One party in April 2021 stopped every 5 km to clear theirs, even with nets on. one source

Checked 12 October 2026. Conditions change, so confirm with the park or venue before you go.