Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

A huge salt pan...did not view a lot of wildlife but the scenery went on forever...so beautiful.

The Makgadikgadi pans are an unearthly, perception-bending stretch of cracked gray flatness like the bottom of an evaporated ocean.

It was here where I got my first wildlife sighting. In the late afternoon I noticed two figures in the distant, quivering heat. When I raised my binoculars, I was astonished to discover these weren't a couple of wayward campers, but two gigantic, shoulder-tall maribou storks foraging along a muddy break in the pan. The sight of the huge birds moved me with a peculiar, disarming force: as if to remind me, suddenly and wholly: this is Africa!

To be seen

It was winter so that may have impacted the "beauty" a little but getting to see the nesting vulture community was awesome. The way out was very bumpy but it's the bush of Africa and I wouldn't expect, nor want, anything else.

Large variety of animals and limited amenities.

Worth going, but plan your trip carefully.

The places is beautiful, and the scenery depends so much on the season. We visited the place in late Oct, and our planned camping in the salt pans was canceled last minute due to the rain. From what I heard, the wet season is full of migratory animals. In the dry season, you can ride out in the pans on dirt bikes, which we did for a only a few minutes until the rain hit. So go there during either season, but not during the transition season or else your trip may not turn out as planned. The meerkat colony is a must see!

Stay at Planet Baobab, one of the quirkiest hotels anywhere and take an organised trip on quad bikes out onto the pan, where you will camp overnight sleeping under the stars. There is absolutely nothing there, but never has nothing been so magnificent as sunset or sunrise on this massive pan.

In the dry season, the pans are accessible, but wildlife viewing is difficult. In the wet .... be ready to dig in the mud.

Amazing scenery, feeling of complete isolation.

Beautfiful...though there is plenty of wildlife, it does not compare to the chobe nat park for example. The baobabs steal the show here anyway. Amazing trees...