Kalahari Plains

Situated on an immense pan, Kalahari Plains lies in a remote corner of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, a place famed for vast herds of antelope followed by abundant predators – including the legendary black-maned Kalahari lions and feisty honey badgers. It also offers some of the best summer wildlife viewings in Africa. Game drives unlock wildlife treasures, while respectful San cultural experiences provide insights into their unique customs and traditions.

Eight canvas units (including one family unit) each include a sleep-out rooftop platform from which to enjoy the night skies. The camp, including its main area with pool and deck, takes in the sweeping, spacious views across the Kalahari. Solar power provides electricity and hot water, with innovative insulated canvas walls and roofs keeping the temperatures inside comfortable.

Kalahari Plains is involved in a number of conservation initiatives that include wild dog research and working closely with local communities.

About the Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The Bushmen, or San, have inhabited the lands for thousands of years since they roamed the area as nomadic hunters. However, since the mid-1990s the Botswana government has tried to relocate the Bushmen from the reserve, claiming they were a drain on financial resources despite revenues from tourism. In 1997, three quarters of the entire San population were relocated from the reserve, and in October 2005 the government had resumed the forced relocation into resettlement camps outside of the park leaving only about 250 permanent occupiers. In 2006 a Botswana court proclaimed the eviction illegal and affirmed the Bushmen's right to return to living in the reserve. However, as of 2015 most Bushmen are blocked from access to their traditional lands in the reserve. A nationwide ban on hunting made it illegal for the Bushmen to practice their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle, despite allowing private game ranches to provide hunting opportunities for tourists.

In 2014 a diamond mine operated by Gem Diamonds opened in the southeast portion of the reserve. The company estimated that the mine could yield $4.9 billion worth of diamonds. The Rapaport Diamond Report, a diamond-industry pricing guide, stated, "Ghaghoo's launch was not without controversy given its location on the ancestral land of the Bushmen".

A huge bush fire in and around the park in the middle of September 2008 burnt around 80 per cent of the reserve. The origin of the fire remains unknown.

This park contains wildlife such as giraffe, elephant, white rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, spotted hyena, brown hyena, honey badger, meerkat, yellow mongoose, warthog, cheetah, caracal, Cape wild dog, black-backed jackal, bat-eared fox, cape fox, leopard, lion, wildebeest, zebra, eland, sable antelope, gemsbok, springbok, steenbok, impala, greater kudu, aardvark, cape ground squirrel, cape hare, cape porcupine, chacma baboon, red hartebeest and ostrich. The land is mostly flat, and gently undulating covered with bush and grasses covering the sand dunes, and areas of larger trees. Many of the river valleys are fossilized with salt pans. Four fossilized rivers meander through the reserve including Deception Valley which began to form around 16,000 years ago.