Makgadikgadi Pans
Of predators and plains – Makgadikgadi, Nxai Pan and Kubu Island
These are otherworldly expanses of ancient salt flats, dotted with boulder-strewn islands and majestic Baobabs. For self-drive adventurers, this region is a place to embrace solitude. Witness surreal sunsets, palm islands on grassy flats, and in the green season, experience the spectacle of stripes as the zebra migration sweeps across the pans, drawing big cats close behind.
For game-viewing and epic landscapes, Nxai Pan National Park is a rough and ready destination in it's own right. With only two campsites and one lodge in a huge wilderness expanse, the feeling of exclusivity adds great value to the self-drive safari experience.
Across the A3 to the south, lies Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, valued more for its vast solitude and stark beauty than its wildlife, however seasonal migrations do bring impressive sightings. The surrounding grasslands host Africa’s second-largest zebra migration, joined by oryx, wildebeest, impala, and springbok. From December to March, herds gather in Nxai Pan, then move south into Makgadikgadi between June and November to graze and drink from scattered waterholes in and around the Boteti River.
Sights & Scenes
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Our Expert Opinion
A round trip including Kubu Island along with Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi National Parks can easily fill a 10-day holiday! We’d lace it with luxury en route and add some epic activities like sleeping under the stars and meeting the meerkats!
A few bucket list destinations in this region that many of our clients love, include the historical Baines Baobabs, sleeping under the stars near the beautiful Kubu Island and observing the zebra and wildebeest migration at the Boteti River. To travel less-marketed wilderness areas like these bring travelers the joy of exclusivity - fewer visitors make for quieter roads, isolation at picturesque campsites and less crowding at waterholes and game sightings.
