Article summary
What this article covers: The Kalahari Desert, the San people (often called the Bushmen) who have lived there for thousands of years, their legal fight to remain on ancestral land, and how to visit the region with respect.
Who this is for: Travellers planning a trip to Botswana, Namibia or South Africa, and readers curious about the Kalahari Bushmen.
Key takeaway: The Kalahari is a semi-arid sandy savanna rather than a true desert, and the San who live there are a present-day community with rights confirmed in court, not a relic of the past.
Expert insight: “People picture the Kalahari as empty sand, yet the San have names and stories for places that most maps leave blank. If you travel there, book a San guide wherever you can, because that knowledge belongs to them and the income should as well.”- Ciaran Connolly, Founder of ConnollyCove.
Quick Facts
- The Kalahari covers an estimated 930,000 square kilometres across most of Botswana, the eastern third of Namibia and the northern tip of South Africa’s Northern Cape, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- Annual rainfall ranges from roughly 110 mm in the driest south-west to more than 500 mm in parts of the north and east.
- In December 2006, Botswana’s High Court ruled that the eviction of the Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve was unlawful and unconstitutional.
The Kalahari Desert stretches across most of Botswana and into Namibia and South Africa, and it has been home to the San people since long before any written record of the region. Outsiders have long called them the Bushmen. Some San communities use that name themselves while others reject it, so this guide uses San where it can and Bushmen where it reflects how people search and speak.
ConnollyCove is an Ireland-based travel and culture platform, and the Kalahari interests us for the same reason Irish history does, because so much of it comes down to land and who is allowed to live on it. This guide covers the geography and the people first, then the court cases and what a respectful visit looks like.
Table of Contents
The Kalahari Desert Is a Semi-Arid Savanna Spread Across Three Countries
The Kalahari is better described as a semi-arid sandy savanna than a true desert, because much of it receives more rain than a desert classification allows. Britannica describes a gently rolling, sand-covered plain at least 900 metres above sea level, with chains of red dunes in the west. Rain falls mainly in summer thunderstorms and disappears quickly into the deep sand, which is why surface water in the south and centre is limited to small, scattered waterholes.
The terrain changes from one country to the next. Botswana holds the largest share, including the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, while in South Africa’s Northern Cape the red dunes grow more pronounced towards the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which crosses the border into Botswana. Eastern Namibia has camelthorn trees scattered across grassy dunes. In the south-west it merges with the far drier Namib, which features in our guide to exotic places for a bucket list, and the giant Sossusvlei dunes in our round-up of exotic destinations show how different the two deserts look. Temperatures also swing hard between day and night, and winter nights can drop to freezing, which catches out travellers who pack only for heat.
The San People Have Lived in the Kalahari for Tens of Thousands of Years
The San are the oldest known inhabitants of southern Africa, and archaeological evidence places their ancestors in the region for tens of thousands of years. For most of that time, they lived as hunter-gatherers, moving between temporary camps as water and food shifted with the seasons. Men hunted with arrows tipped with poison made from beetle larvae, while women gathered roots and wild melons, and families stored water in ostrich eggshells buried in the sand.
The San languages are known for their click consonants, and the Ju/’hoansi of north-eastern Namibia and north-western Botswana are among the most studied speakers. Several San languages now have very few speakers, which links them to the wider story of efforts to bring endangered languages back into daily use.
Very few San families now live entirely by hunting and gathering; most live in villages, farms and towns, and many combine wage work with traditional knowledge. Our overview of how indigenous communities around the world protect their land knowledge places the San alongside other groups under similar pressure.
San Rock Art and Beliefs Are Tied to Particular Places in the Kalahari
San spiritual life is rooted in specific places, and the clearest evidence is painted on rock. The Tsodilo Hills in north-western Botswana hold over 4,500 paintings within an area of about 10 square kilometres, and UNESCO lists Tsodilo as a World Heritage Site for that concentration of rock art. Local communities still treat the hills as a place of worship, and the paintings are hard to find without a guide.
Across southern Africa, San art returns again and again to the eland, an antelope with deep importance in San belief, and to scenes connected with the healing or trance dance, in which healers enter an altered state to draw sickness out of the community. Our piece on the oldest symbols humans have left on rock explains how archaeologists study marks like these without damaging them.
ConnollyCove readers who know Irish folklore will recognise the pattern. Tsodilo’s hills carry family names and origin stories, much as the creatures in our guide to Celtic mythology belong to particular lakes, hills and coastlines in Ireland, and in both traditions the story and the place are hard to separate.
The Bushmen of the Kalahari Won Their Right to the Land in Court
The Bushmen of the Kalahari won a landmark case in 2006, but the dispute did not end there. Botswana’s government moved San families out of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in evictions in 1997 and 2002, relocating them to settlements outside the reserve such as New Xade. Residents have described poverty and unemployment in those settlements.
Led by claimants including Roy Sesana, the San took the government to court in 2002. On 13 December 2006, the High Court ruled that the evictions were unlawful and unconstitutional and that the claimants had the right to live in the reserve. The government then refused to let them reopen a borehole capped during the evictions, and a High Court judge upheld that refusal in 2010.
On 27 January 2011, Botswana’s Court of Appeal reversed the 2010 decision. It ruled that the Bushmen could recommission the old borehole and sink new ones at their own expense, and called the government’s conduct towards them degrading. Diamond prospecting near and inside the reserve sharpened the argument over water throughout this period, a pattern that our article on mining heritage and its effect on local communities traces in other parts of the world.
Visiting the Kalahari Works Best in the Dry Season With a Community-Run Guide
Most travellers find the dry winter months from roughly May to October the easiest time to visit, when wildlife gathers at waterholes and tracks are firmer. The summer green season brings storms and newborn animals along with heat and harder driving.
| Season | Months | Conditions | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry winter | May to October | Warm days, cold nights, little rain | Wildlife near waterholes, easier tracks |
| Green summer | November to April | Hot days, afternoon storms | Fresh grazing, young animals, muddy pans |
International visitors usually fly into Maun in Botswana, Windhoek in Namibia or Johannesburg in South Africa. All three countries drive on the left, which suits drivers from Ireland and the UK, but deep Kalahari sand calls for a proper four-wheel drive, recovery equipment and enough fuel and water to be self-sufficient. Check current park rules and road conditions with the relevant national park authority before you set off.
For cultural experiences, choose tours run by San communities themselves, such as those in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia, where income stays with the Ju/’hoansi rather than an outside operator. Avoid anything that presents the San as a staged show. The remote Kalahari also has very dark night skies, and the ConnollyCove guide to stargazing sanctuaries around the world is a good next read if you plan to spend your nights outside.
FAQs About the Kalahari Desert
These short answers cover what travellers most often ask about the Kalahari Desert. They also deal with the San people who still call it home.
Where is the Kalahari Desert?
It covers most of Botswana, the eastern third of Namibia and the northernmost part of South Africa’s Northern Cape.
Is the Kalahari a true desert?
Not strictly, because parts of it receive more than 500 mm of rain a year and support grass and trees.
What does the word Kalahari mean?
The name is usually traced to the Setswana word kgala, meaning “the great thirst”.
Are there still Bushmen in the Kalahari?
Yes, although most now live in villages and towns rather than as full-time hunter-gatherers.
Where do the San people live today?
They live mainly in Botswana and Namibia, with smaller communities in South Africa and Angola.
When is the best time to visit the Kalahari?
May to October is the most comfortable period for wildlife viewing and driving.
