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BOTSWANA OVERLANDBotswana is one of the most famous destinations in Africa. The stunning waterways of the Okavango Delta, the Kalahari Sand Dunes and the abundance of wildlife are just a few features of what makes Botswana an ultimate destination. Most peoples highlight is the makoro safari experience in the Okavango Delta - where you will be gently poled by experienced guides through the winding water ways teeming with wildlife. The north eastern region of the Kalahari Basin contains the Makgadikgadi Pans - an extensive network of saltpans and ephemeral lakes. MUST DO'S
MORE INFO ON BOTSWANA: Although Botswana has no mountain ranges to speak of, the almost uniformly flat landscape is punctuated occasionally by low hills, especially along the southeastern boundary and in the far northwest. Botswana's highest point is 1,491m Otse Mountain near Lobatse, but the three major peaks of the Tsodilo Hills, in the country's northwestern corner, are more dramatic. GEOGRAPHY Landlock Botswana extends more than 1100km from north to south and 960km from east to west. The Kalahari (Kgalagadi) covers 85% of the country in the central and South-Western areas. The country lies between longitudes 20 and 30 degrees east of Greenwich and between the latitudes 18 and 27 degrees approximately south of the Equator. The Okavango, which originates in the uplands of Angola to the northwest flows over the sandy Kalahari to form an inland delta. The delta covers 17,000 square kilometers, which make it the largest inland delta in the world. HISTORY San (Bushmen) were the aboriginal inhabitants of what is now Botswana, but they constitute only a small portion of the population today. The Tswana supplanted the San, who remained as subjects. Beginning in the 1820s, the region was disrupted by the expansion of the Zulu and their offshoot, the Ndebele. However, Khama II, chief of the Ngwato (the largest Tswana nation), curbed the depredations of the Ndebele and established a fairly unified state. A new threat arose in the late 19th century with the incursion of Boers (Afrikaners) from neighboring Transvaal. After gold was discovered in the region in 1867, the Transvaal government sought to annex parts of Botswana. Although the British forbade annexation, the Boers continued to encroach on native lands during the 1870s and 80s. German colonial expansion in South West Africa (Namibia) caused the British to reexamine their policies, and, urged on by Khama III, they established (1884-85) a protectorate called Bechuanaland. CULTURE About 60% of the people claim Tswana heritage. Botswana also has one of the world's most predominantly urban societies, with the greatest concentrations in the strip between Lobatse and Francistown. The small number of Europeans and Asians live mainly in Gaborone, Maun and Francistown, and the Herero, Mbukushu, Yei, San, Kalanga and Kgalagadi are distributed through the west. CLIMATE The rainy season is from November to March and the best season for wildlife viewing is during the dry winter months (late May to August), when animals stay close to water sources. TRAVEL TIPS:
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