Khutse Game Reserve
Campsites in Khutse Game Reserve
Drive 240km through a number of interesting Kalahari villages, including the ‘gateway to the Kalahari,’ Molepolole.
The central Kalahari Game Reserve joins the reserve to the north. However, no fences separate the two. That is to say the 2 500 sq km terrain combines the rolling grasslands, river beds, fossil dunes and grassed and bare pans.
The reserve is part of an ancient river system that once filled the prehistoric Lake Makgadikgadi. Khutse’s Pans and dry river valleys are remnants of this river system.
Khutse means ‘place where you can kneel down and drink’. Officially declared a protected area in 1971 it was the second game reserve in Botswana to be established on tribal land. Moremi game Reserve in the Okavango was the first.
The pans are where wildlife often congregate during and following good rains. Game drives are focused around the pans including the Motailane, Moreswa and Molose pans. In addition water is sometimes pumped at artificial waterholes at Moreswa and Molose, to ensure good game viewing year round.
Several loops are worth driving through. The shorter drive is the northern loop around Sekhushwe and Mohurusile pans, about 24 kms from the reserve headquarters. The longer drive the Moreswa Pan, about 64 kms from the headquarters, or a 120 km loop.
Kgalagadi’s original inhabitants, the San and Bakgalagadi people live in small villages on the periphery of the reserve where traditional arts and crafts can be purchased. Arrange walks with the San at Khutse Kalahari Lodge, about 10km before the reserve entrance.
Country name | Botswana |
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