Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

One of the most magical places on earth

We drove into Makgadikgadi NP, in a hired 4x4, from the south (from Lethakane) on a spur of the moment decision, we had an extra two days to get to Maun and thus decided to take the detour. Probably one of the best decision ever made. After a small town (I think it's called Mmatshumo) the road gradually gets narrower and after reaching the salt plains it now and then was completely gone. The salt plains give a tremendous feeling of freedom, but don't wander of too far from the tracks, because your vehicle will get stuck if you crack the crust of the salt and you'll probably damage the landscape.
We camped at the campsite at Kubu Island, a rocky outcrop just east of the central grassy peninsula. Although the "island" is rather small, it's full of Baobabs, a rather strange sight if the surrounding area is only salt plains and grassland. Watching the sun set from the top of the island was beautiful, the moment the last part of the sun sinks behind the horizon, absolute darkness engulfs the plains. During the five minutes walk back to our tent we lost our way in the darkness, ending up at someone else's camping spot.
If you've got the choice, try to make it to Kubu Island on a night, or at least evening, without a moon. The night skies were some of the best of seen in Africa.

Very cool and unique experience. We loved it

There are two parts to this area - the Pans itself and the National Park. We spent a night sleeping under the stars in the Pans and it was an awesome experience (organised by Meno a Kwena Tented Camp). We also saw meerkats and no-one else. We then did a safari drive in the national park section. It has the second largest migration of zebra (after the Serengeti) which we could believe as we saw hundreds of them as well as lots of wildebeest, elephants swimming and lions very close. And we hardly saw anyone else. It was a very special place.

Our guide somehow understood how to navigate this flat, shimmery, beautiful landscape and we saw lots of bird species.

Excellent safari destination with sufficient tourism infrastructure

Let me state at this point that all the parks and reserves in Botswana are awesome. Yes, they differ in scenery and wildlife composition but their uniqueness is always nature and wildlife pure. If you got a chance to visit several parks, then just do so but choose the time of the year carefully. Because, the Makgadikgadi Pans are very treacherous during the rainy season!

In Makagadikgadi there were fewer tourists and the roads are quite sandy so a 4x4 is a necessity. The Rhino are very elusive and hardly anyone sees them, there were lots of birds and elephant, the scenery was stunning.

Loved the Meerkat encounters and Bushmen walks. Overall the scenic beauty of the huge pans was great - an otherworldly place.

In the salt pans it is mostly desert and attracts a different type of animal though not in great numbers or variety. More valuable as an eco experience, though the zebra migration is worth seeing. Nice to spend a few nights hare and then move on.

The beauty lies in nothingness.

The Makgadikgadi pans is a magical place where the beauty lies in the vast open pans where nothing goes on for a very long time. I enjoy Botswana in the December because of the rain fall and the bits of green coming out as well as the bird life. In the Makgadikgadi the bird never stop chirping because when the sun sets a different set of birds come out and the bird sounds never stop. During December there is a lot of rain thus there is a lot of wet pans which makes the driving very tricky sometimes (I almost rolled my bakkie in one instance) but the worst is driving on a wet pan is the rust, the pans contains salt and that salt goes in everywhere and there where it lies it makes rust. After you have driven the pans and admired the baobabs go to a place called "planet baobab" for some R&R (swimming, nice lunch) before going to the Makgadikgadi nature reserve. When going to the Nature Reserve go to Tree island first and spend the night there for these camps are very well looked after and there is no other camper close to you to spoil the sounds of nature. The nature reserve is loitered with elephants and what one must do drive all along the river and just relax and look around, you will be bound to see some animal life there. When exiting the reserve one can use the ferry or drive 30km up to exit the top. The fairy costs around R250 per car to cross the river. If you feel adventuristic drive thru the river (before you do this walk thru first and keep to the right). All and all this is an amazing place and one must go and enjoy the full journey that this place has to offer.