Kalahari Desert Kalahari Desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, parts of Namibia and regions of South Africa. "Kalahari" is derived from the Tswana word "Kgala", meaning "the great thirst", or "Kgalagadi", meaning "a waterless place"; the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent surface water. Drainage of the desert is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the
Kalahari Desert San live in huts built from local materials—the frame is made of branches, and the roof is thatched with long grass. Most of their hunting and gathering techniques replicate our pre-historic tribes. Their mythology includes legends of a god Chikara, protecting them from starvation and death by sacrificing his own life by being hunted in the form of a deer and other wild game they hunt for food. Bux is the enemy of Chikara and is in the form of snakes which are found in considerable numbers in the Kalaharian desert region. Bantu-speaking Tswana, Kgalagadi, and Herero and a small