Botswana is semi-arid, due to the short rain season. However, the relatively high altitude of the country and its continental situation gives it a subtropical climate.
The cuisine of Botswana is unique but also shares some characteristics with other cuisines of Southern Africa. Examples of Setswana food include pap, samp, vetkoek, and mopane worms. A food unique to Botswana is seswaa, heavily salted mashed-up meat.
Situated in the heart of the Kalahari Desert, northern Botswana nevertheless has some of the most fascinating rivers on the planet. There are rivers that spill into the desert sands far from any ocean, and others that flow from other rivers only to peter out in the sands of the Kalahari, and all are part of the legendary wilderness of northern Botswana.