Central Kalahari Game Reserve

Ghanzi District, central Botswana

Mid-range
nature

The second-largest game reserve on Earth and its most otherworldly: fossil riverbeds (Deception Valley’s ancient pans), golden grass seas after rain, and black-maned Kalahari lions stalking springbok across nothing. Remote, empty, self-drive-friendly in the dry season — the anti-commercial safari.

Country: Botswana
Area: Ghanzi District, central Botswana
Category: nature · Mid-range
Location: -22.0833, 23.7500 — opens OpenStreetMap (needs signal)

Where to stay

Curated partners for this area, matched to the budget tiers used across this guide.

Tour operator

EXAMPLE — Kalahari Mobile Safari Co

Premium Booking link coming soon

Listings are curated independently. Where booking links are present we may earn a commission — never at a higher price to you.

Photos

Every image is license-verified for commercial reuse; photographers are credited where the license requires it.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 2 — Benjamin Hollis from Seattle, WA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 3 — Benjamin Hollis from Seattle, WA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 4 — Louis Blythe louisjblythe, via Wikimedia Commons

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 5 — Benjamin Hollis, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 6 — Benjamin Hollis from Seattle, WA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 7 — Benjamin Hollis from Seattle, WA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 8 — Benjamin Hollis from Seattle, WA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 9 — Benjamin Hollis from Seattle, WA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 10 — Benjamin Hollis from Seattle, WA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 11 — Ryan Lansdown, via Pexels

Central Kalahari Game Reserve — photograph 12 — Francesco Ungaro, via Pexels