The Kalahari Desert & the Bushman

Photographs of the Kalahari by kind permission of Leroo La Tau.

The Kalahari Desert

The Kalahari Desert stretches across seven countries and covers the entire central and south western regions of Botswana. However, its name is misleading because the average rainfall exceeds that of a true desert. Instead it is a vast, arid, predominantly featureless area of sandy sediments. Its plains are covered by scrub, grasses and patches of woodland. There is no surface water in the Kalahari and only occasional rivers.

It incorporates the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, where a surprisingly large number of animals thrive. Remarkably, they have adapted to their surroundings and the harsh conditions in which they live.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is Africa’s largest protected area.It spreads across the heart of Botswana and is probably best known by visitors for Deception Pan and Deception Valley. The Pan attracts vast numbers of game after the rains. Here are just some of the species you might see:

• springbok, gemsbok, wildebeest, eland and red hartebeest
• cheetah, leopard, lion, brown and spotted hyena and wild dog
• giraffe, ostrich, meerkat, bat-eared fox, honey badger, porcupine

The main species of bird are Burchell's Sandgrouse, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Southern Barred Warbler, White-breasted Sunbird and Burchell's Glossy Starling.

The Bushman

The southern part of the Central Kalahari is home to the San Bushman. The Bushman are one of the most studied groups of people in the history of anthropology and for many thousands of years, they pursued a traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Yet this is a far cry from the lives they now lead. Detrimental outside influences and the pressures of Western culture have taken their toll on the Bushman.

The official Bushmanland territory in Namibia shrank dramatically in the 1990s leaving many with insufficient land to maintain traditional practices. Sadly, many of the Bushman are now hopelessly impoverished, something that seems hugely out of keeping with their extraordinary dignity and pride and the desire of many to be left alone to live as their ancestors did. There are some organisations focused on their plight but it is a slow process and by no means recovering.