While Namibia is more famous for being the home of the Namib Desert, it must be remembered that much of eastern and southern Namibia is covered by another - the Kalahari Desert. The Kalahari is not a true desert as it receives too much rain, but it is actually a fossil desert. So do not expect to find the tall sand dunes associated with Sossusvlei, the landscape is more one of golden grass and small red dunes.

The Kalahari Desert - or Kgalagadi, as it is known in Botswana – stretches across 7 countries – Botswana, Zambia, the Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It's coverage in Namibia is called a ‘desert' principally because it's porous, sandy soils cannot retain surface water, but in some areas annual rainfall can be as high as 250mm, which accounts for the luxuriant grass cover during good years

Unlike the Sahara, The Kalahari Desert is covered with trees and ephemeral rivers and fossil watercourses. Most of the southern segment is taken up with camelthorn, red ebony and other acacias, and towards the centre silver terminalia and shrubs are common. Farther north, where the climate is wetter, the acacia gives way to bush savannah and dry woodland of kiaat (also known as Transvaal Teak) Zambezi teak (also called mkusi or Rhodesian Teak) wild seringa (formerly Rhodesian Ash) manketti, shiwi and other magnificent timber species. Large numbers of Tamboti trees grow in the Grootfontein area

But the Kalahari's true lure lies in it's eerie silence and solitude, both in the sparsely grassed plains and open spaces, also home to huge numbers of game and other animals. Due to variability in rainfall and generally arid conditions, the Kalahari has a small, but scattered population. In Namibia and South Africa, there are large ranches, which can be from 20,000 to 40,000ha in size. These raise mostly sheep and ostrich, and in Botswana, although there are some private ranches, the land is mainly used on a communal basis, with the inhabitants raising goats and cattle. If you are wanting to visit Botswana you may want to consider looking at car hire in Botswana

The best known of the Kalahari's inhabitants are the San Bushmen, numbering only a few thousand and squeezed into inhospitable pieces of land, where they are often exploited as cheap farm labour. The term 'Bushmen' is best know referring to nomadic hunter-gather people, also called 'Basarwa', (in Botswana) and 'San' (in Namibia and South Africa.) The word San means 'foragers' and in modern times, (unfairly) conjure up negative connotations of backwardness, low esteem, alcoholism and even banditry

But the Bushmen are a proud people, and are keen to demonstrate their origins and knowledge of living in the bushveld. They still retain some specific cultural and linguistic characteristics such as the very interesting and unique 'click' language, and listening to is a wonderful experience in itself. Five types of click sounds are known to exist, with a certain 'sucking action of the tongue' being responsible for the noise. Each has a different position of the tongue, and combined with the way the air is released, results in different sounds.

The Bushmen are the remnants of Southern Africa's original inhabitants who occupied the whole sub-continent, long before black and white settlers invaded their territories and forced them to the margins. As proof of the fact that they occupied extensive territory, there are the superb ‘Bushman' rock paintings that are found in great numbers in caves and rock shelters all over southern Africa. In Namibia, excellent examples of Bushman rock art can be found in the Damaraland region. If you are wanting to visit Botswana, you may want to consider looking at car hire in Botswana

Although there is no national park in the areas of Namibia covered by the Kalahari, there are several recommended lodges and guest farms which allow visitors to explore this desert area.