Botswana is basically a flat and a rolling kind of a plateau region. From geography of Botswana,it is evident that the Kalahari Desert lies on the south western part of the country.

The geography of Botswana also provides information that the Limpopo River is an important river basin and also a vital land feature of Botswana. Botswana is the 45th largest country after Ukraine. The size of Botswana can be compared with the size of Madagascar and it is slightly smaller in size than Texas in the southern part of the United States.

The total geographical extension of Botswana is around 600.370 square kilometer. The Kalahari Desert occupies a 70% part of the country. The Okavango Delta lies in the northwestern part of Botswana and it is regarded as the world’s largest inland delta. Another geographical feature of Botswana is the Makgadikgadi pan; a large salt pan that is located in the northern part of the country.

Botswana is a landlocked country, located in the southern part of Africa. Out of the total area, 585,000 square kilometers is covered by land. The total length of the land boundaries is around 4,013 kilometers. The maximum concentration of population is found in the eastern part of Botswana. Botswana experiences a semi-arid climate with hot summers and warm winters. The lowest part of Botswana is found at the juncture of Shashe and Limpopo rivers at a height of 513 meters, and at the same time the highest point is at Tsodilo Hills at a height of 1489 meters.

Flora of Botswana

The tourists find it ecstatic to watch the huge display of Botswana Flora in many places of Botswana. Few of the varieties of Botswana flora that delight the tourists, include Mopane, Camel Thorn, Marula. The flora of Botswana needs no rich soil quality or delicate harvesting. The roots of these trees find the required nutrition from the available poorly-drained soils of Botswana. This rich display of Botswana helps largely in the promotion of tourism in the country. Thousands of tourists turn out every year in Botswana to see the varieties of Botswana flora.

Mopane tree gives birth to the Mopane worm that draws huge sum of money for the Government of Botswana by exporting it to other countries. The leaves of this tree changes color. The captivating features of the Botswana flora are the myriad colors and shapes of leaves, fruits and stem of the trees. A few of them bear butterfly-shaped leaves, while some bear fruits resembling small golf balls.

The colors of these fruits are very attractive as well. The leaves of Marula trees are colored gray and green but to the wonder of the tourists, they turn pale yellow within a few weeks. Few of the Botswana trees like Mopane, Camel Thorn display their leaves in most part of the year. But in the case of Marula, the leaves can be found only in spring and summer.

Botswana Location

The Botswana location is at the southern part of the continent of Africa and is a land locked country. The total area of Botswana is about 600,370 square kilometers. Exploration of Botswana location in the exotic continent of Africa will bring forth nuances of the country. Botswana Africa is bordered by Zimbabwe in the north eastern side, Namibia in the western side, South Africa in the southeast and southern side and Zambia in the northern side. The coordinates of Botswana are 22° South latitude to 24° East longitude. The capital of Botswana is Gaborone.

The semi arid climate of Botswana experiences hot summers and warm winters. Rainfall is experienced during the summer season but the rainfall in the country is very erratic. Botswana consists almost wholly of a large, level, subtropical upland. Hills can be seen in the eastern part of Botswana. Kalahari Desert is also a special feature of the location of Botswana.

Botswana Wild Life

Botswana Wild Life attracts large number of tourists every year to this beautiful country. Botswana has a huge reserve of Botswana wild life. The statistical inputs put forward by the Government of Botswana, claim that there are 164 kinds of mammals, 550 types of birds, 157 kinds of reptiles and 80 species of fish found in the country. Innumerable types of insects are also found all over Botswana. For the proper sights of the tourists and for the preservation of the wild life of Botswana, 17% of Botswana has been reserved under protected areas while another 20% has been reserved as wildlife management areas.

The animals in Botswana include:

Botswana is a paradise for the bird watchers. The birds are mostly found near the Chobe River or in the Okavango Delta.

Some species of birds in Botswana include:

Crocodiles, python, cape cobra and many other species of reptiles are found on the banks of the rivers in Botswana.

Botswana wild life safari tours are organized on behalf of the Government of Botswana for adventure lover tourists. Thousands of tourists from different corners of the world avail these tours and enjoy the view of rare specimens of fauna.

Marula

The Marula trees are grown in abundance on the hard soil of Botswana. The tourists can enjoy the sight of the Marula trees mostly in the Okavango Delta. The general height of the Marula trees is between 15 to 20 meters. The Marula consists of a single stem with a widely spread bark. The distinctive feature of the bark is its gray color with spots and patches. The flakes on the bark are shaped like discs. The branches of Marula on the top part of the trees are very heavy and they point towards the sky.

The leaves create a beauty for the Marula trees. The Marula leaves are colored with a compound mixture of gray and green. But such a gray-green color can be found only in the earlier days of its growth. Gradually with the passage of time, the Marula leaves turn to pale yellow color. The leaves are arranged in a spiral order. But tourists should visit Botswana in spring or summer to enjoy the beauty of the leaves of Marula trees. For most of the year, the Marula tree is bare, without leaves.

The other distinguishing feature of Marula is its fruits. They can also be seen only in the summer. The Marula fruits look like golf balls. In its youth, the Marula fruits are green but gradually become butter-yellow. The tourists find the Marula trees with fruits and leaves quite exhilarating in the summer season.