Gcwihaba is one of Botswana's few significant cave systems — about 100 kilometres north of Ghanzi near the Namibian border, it requires serious planning to visit but rewards the effort. The caverns extend for several kilometres underground, with impressive stalactite and stalagmite formations that testify to a wetter climate in the distant past. The caves are on Botswana's UNESCO World Heritage tentative list.
Getting here is a serious undertaking: the last stretch of road is a sand track that demands a well-equipped 4WD, and there are no facilities at the caves themselves. Visitors must be entirely self-sufficient with water, food, and camping equipment. The Botswana Tourism Organisation occasionally offers guided visits, but most people who make the journey are self-drive overlanders who come specifically for this experience. The effort is considerable; the payoff — a spectacular cave system in an area of Botswana seen by almost nobody — is real.