What it is
Around 52,000 km2 of sand, scrub and fossil river valleys, of which Deception Valley is the best known. Very few roads, almost no permanent water and one of the largest protected areas in Africa. It can feel completely empty, because it often is.
Why go
It turns the usual rule on its head. When the rains come, the valleys grow sweet grass, springbok, oryx and wildebeest move in, and the black-maned Kalahari lion follow them. Cheetah hunt well in the open country. Outside those months you drive a long way between animals.
When to go
December to April, after rain. That is the opposite of the advice for the rest of Botswana and it is correct here. Wet-season access needs a 4×4 that can handle soft wet sand and a proper recovery kit. Winter is cold, below freezing at dawn, and very quiet in every sense. Not a first safari.
Most people stay 2-3 nights.