Kalahari Desert activities within the reserve. Botswana Namibia South Africa 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,
Desert pupfish finished spawning, she will flee in a "panicky" style with the male in pursuit. This chase lasts for about 5 minutes before the male swims to the bottom and both fish begin foraging. "C. macularius" are euryhaline and eurythermal, tolerating temperatures between approximately 4º and 45 °C and salinities ranging from 0 to 70 parts per thousand, exceeding the tolerances of virtually all other freshwater fish. The desert pupfish can also survive dissolved-oxygen concentrations as low as 0.13 ppm. The desert pupfish has been noted to be more abundant in environments with high vegetative cover, pH and salinity, and low