Within this massive Game Reserve and as a result of the diversity of habitats, healthy game populations move seasonally between dune and valley depending on the season. During the summer months though (November through to end April) the northern part of the CKGR, where Kalahari Plains Camp is situated, offers some of the best wildlife viewing in Botswana. The abundance of herbivores and their prey is perfectly complemented with lush green landscapes, floral displays and beautiful skies. At this time of year these verdant flatlands are alive with aggregations of gemsbok, springbok and blue wildebeest. As a result of these aggregations on the fossil riverbeds, predator concentrations are also high.

At other times, the Kalahari is more typically a desert-type system: warm and dry. Game viewing remains productive and moves into the vegetated dunal belt and pan systems surrounding the valleys – a series of ecologically placed waterholes further ensuring that game viewing remains interesting.

The big game includes the sensational black-maned Kalahari lion, as well as one of the highest concentrations of cheetah in southern Africa, leopard, brown hyaena and even caracal. Small predators include meerkats (suricates), Cape fox, honey badger, black-backed jackal and a myriad of mongoose species. General game viewing is fantastic and this is a premium desert game location year round. General herbivores species easily seen are oryx (gemsbok), springbok, red hartebeest, grey duiker and steenbok.

After sunset the Kalahari is alive with the sounds of roaring lions, White-faced Scops-Owls and the garrulous calls of barking geckos. The avifauna in the reserve is equally diverse with over 220 species recorded to date. There are significant healthy populations of regionally threatened species like Kori Bustard and Lappet-faced Vulture, but birders will enjoy the opportunity to see a variety of arid-west endemic species such as Burchell’s Sandgrouse, Grey-backed Sparrowlark, Kalahari Scrub-Robin and African Wren-Warbler. The vivid colours of birds such as Crimson-breasted Shrike and Violet-eared Waxbill provide a startling contrast to the sometimes stark surroundings.