Geography

Smack in the center of southern Africa, landlocked Botswana extends over 1,100km (680mi) from north to south and 960km (595mi) from east to west, occupying an area about the same size as France or a little smaller than Texas. It's bounded on the south by South Africa, in the north-east is Zimbabwe, while Namibia wraps around the country's western and northern frontiers. Botswana's landscape is almost uniformly flat – the semiarid Kalahari covers nearly 85% of the country, including the entire central and south-western regions. Most of the Kalahari (or Kgalagadi, which is its Setswana name) is covered with vegetation including stunted thorn and scrub bush, trees and grasslands. The largely unchanging flat terrain is occasionally interrupted by gently descending valleys, sand dunes, large numbers of pans and, in the extreme northwest, isolated hills. In the north-west, the Okavango River flows in from the highlands of Angola and soaks into the sands, forming the 15,000 sq. km network of water channels, lagoons, swamps and islands. The Okavango is the largest inland delta system in the world a bit smaller than Israel or half of Switzerland. The northeastern region of the Kalahari Basin contains the Makgadikgadi Pans – an extensive network of salt pans and ephemeral lakes.

In addition to the visible natural resources, Botswana has great diamond, coal, copper and nickel reserves. Consequently, the country does not depend on tourism for foreign exchange, and park management has a long term vision toward sustainability. So you will never encounter the crowded parks that occur elsewhere. For example, in the Moremi Reserve, which covers 1,100 square miles, only 400 people are allowed to camp in this vast area per night. In Botswana you have the wonderful sensation that you have Africa all to yourself. Local people greet visitors with warmth.