Visit Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari, Botswana

The Makgadikgadi Pans is a place like none other. Mile upon mile of shimmering white salt pan stretches endlessly to the horizon.

Around the fringes, coarse grasses blow in the wind, ancient baobabs reach to the sky and vultures soar on the thermals. There are prehistoric beaches, Stone Age ruins and salty whirlwinds spinning over cracked earth.

Wildlife of the Makgadikgadi Pans

The pans are the relics of Africa's 'super-lake' that covered the Kalahari several million years ago and are littered with the fossils of the changing ecosystems that followed. Nowadays, the wildlife is both hardy and highly nomadic. Meerkats, mongooses, brown hyena, aardvark and aardwolf are present all year round. Secretary birds, ostrich and korhaans step through the grass and bateleurs soar overhead. When the rains arrive a dramatic change takes place. Pink clouds of flamingo come to feed, vast herds of zebra and wildebeest are found on the savannah and the sound of frogs fills the air.

Camps of the Makgadikgadi Pans

There are two small camps in the Makgadikgadi, and whether you stay in the dry or rainy season they both offer a unique Makgadikgadi experience. You will have the opportunity to quad-bike across a salt pan with a kikoi on your head, lie on the desert floor looking for shooting stars and watch the Earth's shadow grow as the sun sets. A stay on the Makgadikgadi is always an experience you never forget.