Safari Luxury: Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana Safari Trips & Tours

The Makgadikgadi Pans are the remains of an ancient super lake, and their surface glistens with salt. Some of the largest salt pans are found outside the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park boundaries. These include Ntwetwe Pan and Sowa Pan. Sowa is renowned for its rainy season Flamingo population and abundance of other water birds, which can be seen from the Nata Bird Sanctuary in the north of Sowa Pan.

The rainy season attracts a spectacular array of water birds and dramatic migrations of Wildebeest and Zebra. The rains usually begin in November and end in about March. The pans can retain water until April or May. The area is transformed as grasses sprout and the salt pans fill with algae soup. Large breeding flocks of Flamingo congregate here.

When to visit

The best time to visit the area for game viewing is from April to November when great numbers of Antelope, Wildebeest and Zebra move from the south-east pans towards the Boteti River in the west, where rain is expected to fall in November.

Highlights of the Makgadikgadi include a famous group of baobabs called Baines Baobabs which stand as sentinels in this flat landscape. After the rains birdlife is spectacular and flocks of flamingos in their thousands descend upon the pans. Bushmen interactions where you learn how to survive in this desolate landscape are also truly memorable experiences.

Despite being a desert, Makgadikgadi Pans activities are exciting and include game drives and amazing star-gazing experiences, where you discover the wonders of the cosmos. A quad-biking expedition, where you speed across the salt crust of the pans for an age, and seem to get nowhere provides one of the greatest thrills of a Makgadikgadi holiday.

The Bushmen of Botswana, also known as The San people, have inhabited the Kalahari for thousands of years. They have adapted to life in this desolate landscape. A highlight of any Botswana safari is learning about their way of life. Let them teach you their strategies for survival.