SOUTH AFRICA

The Kalahari Desert, the fourth desert in the world by extension (about 520,000 sq km), situated on both sides of the Tropic of Capricorn, is a semi-arid desert that stretches over a plateau at a height varying between 850 and 1,200 m, in the territories of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. For thousands of years, the Kalahari is the territory of the San (Bushmen) people of hunter-gatherers who live in close symbiosis with the inhospitable environment that surrounds them, they found their livelihood in the desert with a thorough knowledge of environment, the use of hunting techniques (poisoned arrows) and collection at the very effective and respect for nature hostile environment in which they live. In the Kalahari are established several nature reserves, including the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the Khutse Game Reserve and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, is a park that includes extensive regions of the Kalahari Desert in south-western Botswana and north-western South Africa, the park was established by the union of Gemsbok National Park in Botswana and Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa. The total area of the park is approximately 38,000 sq km, with about 28,400 sq km in Botswana and 9600 sq km in South Africa. The South African side of the park is inserted between the two river beds, often dried, of the Nossob and Auob Rivers, the three main base camp of the park are in South Africa at Twee Rivieren, the central offices of the park; in Mata-Mata that is on the border with Namibia, 2.5 hours drive from Twee Rivieren; and Nossob at around 3.5 hours drive from Twee Rivieren. The name of the park, Kalahari, is a word in Tswana language, from which also comes the word Kalahari, which means "the great thirst." The park offers majestic landscapes with the typical desert red sand dunes dotted with vegetation and presents a wide variety of animals including oryx (gemsbok), gazelle (springbok), giraffes, suricates and antelopes (eland and wildebeest); among the predators are famous the Kalahari lion, as well as hyenas, jackals, leopards and cheetah. Very varies is the presence of birds, including numerous raptors (over 50 species surveyed), reptiles and rodents are also abundant. In the park there are numerous plant species mostly grass and acacia trees.

Climate: The region climate is typical of an arid area, during the austral summer, between October and April, the average maximum temperatures reaching and sometimes exceeding 40°C, this is the rainy season, but enough scarce (between 150 mm and 250 mm per year), but that arise under form of strong thunderstorms. During the winter, between June and August, the highest average temperatures vary between 26°C and 30°C; The nights, however, are particularly cold with minimum temperatures below zero, during this season the air is very dry and skies are particularly clear as a result of absolute lack of rain, the winter season is also the best period to see the animals, which often are concentrated in the remaining pools in the dry rivers beds.

Tshane (Botswana)	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Avg. Max. (°C)	41	39	37	34	30	26	27	30	35	38	39	41	35
Avg. Min. (°C)	14	14	11	6	1	-2	-3	-2	2	6	10	13	6
Avg. Precip. (mm)	20	40	40	30	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	160
Rainy days (>= 1 mm)						0	0	0	0	0	0

Upington (South Africa)	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Avg. Max. (°C)	36	34	32	28	24	21	21	23	27	30	33	35	29
Avg. Min. (°C))	20	20	18	13	8	5	4	6	9	13	16	19	13
Avg. Precip. (mm)	24	35	37	26	10	4	2	4	4	9	17	17	189
Rainy days (>= 1 mm)	4	6	6	5	2	2	1	1	2	3	3	4	37

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Kalahari Desert, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Trail 4x4 between Leeuwdril and Houmoed, Kalahari Desert, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Auob River, Kalahari Desert, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

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