Top Ten Southern Africa Off-the-Beaten-Path Adventures

If you have at least two weeks, hire a 4x4 and blast off into southern Africa's most remote country: the bigger-than-Switzerland Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Aha and Tsodilo Hills. This is rugged driving on some of the toughest tracks in Africa; you have to know what you're doing in a 4x4. You have to carry all fuel and supplies, and if you get stuck, well, suffice to say it's best to go in a convoy of two vehicles. Highlights of this once-in-a-lifetime trip include the desert lions of Deception Pan, the Bushmen communities at Molapo and Xai-Xai (where you can go out with the hunters), the stalactite-filled caves of Drotsky's Caverns, and the ancient rock paintings of the Tsodilos. When you emerge at Shakawe at the northern edge of the Okavango Delta, you'll have completely forgotten what civilization looks like.