Things to do in Makgadikgadi Pans
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Makgadikgadi Pans
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, the pan season: hard crust, quads and sleep-outs, San Camp open, and the herds concentrated on the Boteti.
The turn: first storms, pans soften, sleep-outs close, and the herds start moving from the Boteti to the fresh grass.
Wet season: migration on the pans grasslands, Nxai Pan game at its peak, and flamingos in good years, with mud closing pan driving.
The drying shoulder and value sweet spot: green grass, herds drifting back, San Camp reopening, and rates below peak.
What's on
- Zebra and Wildebeest Migration on the Pans Grasslands Roughly December to March, following the rains
Herds move from the Boteti onto the fresh pans and Nxai grasslands to graze and foal through the wet season.
- Flamingo and Pelican Breeding at Nata Sanctuary and Sua Pan In good wet years, roughly January to April
Flamingos and pelicans in the thousands on the flooded pans as the water holds and slowly dries.
- Boteti River Herd Concentration Roughly May to October
The migration herds, elephant and resident game concentrate on the Boteti, the only reliable dry season water.
- Pan Sleep-Out Season Roughly June to October, dry season only
Beds set on the dry crust of Ntwetwe Pan, run from the concession camps and Planet Baobab.
- Botswana Day 30 September
National independence day, a public holiday that tightens domestic travel and road lodge availability in peak season.
Best things to do in Makgadikgadi Pans
Ntwetwe Pan
The western great pan, a vast white crust fringed by grassland, palm islands and baobabs, entered from Gweta.
Sua Pan
The eastern great pan, fed by the Nata River, holding flamingo congregations on its flooded surface in good wet years.
Habituated Meerkat Colony, Makgadikgadi Pans
Habituated meerkats emerge at dawn around visitors seated quietly at the burrows, the signature encounter of the pans.
Chapman's Baobab
The historic monument baobab that fell in 2016, visited now as a fallen giant and a landmark of the old trade routes.
Green's Baobab
A huge living historic baobab near Gweta carrying old carved names from the 19th century hunter trade routes.
San Guided Walk, Makgadikgadi Pans
A slow walk with Zu/hoasi San guides reading tracks, plants and small fauna in country most visitors see as empty.
Gweta Village
The gateway village walked with a resident guide, taking in the kgotla, school, hospital and shops.
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
Boteti River game drives from Khumaga, with dry season herds, elephant and predators along the park's western river.
Where to stay in Makgadikgadi Pans
Ntwetwe Pan concession
fully inclusive pans safari, meerkats, quads and sleep-outs
A private concession on the pan edge holding the three sister camps, with the activities run from camp.
Gweta
budget, self drive and backpacker pans trips
The gateway village on the tar A3, with huts, camping, a shebeen bar and guided pans activities bought separately.
Nata
wet season birds and the eastern pans
The eastern road base by the Nata Bird Sanctuary, the cheapest flamingo base in Botswana in a good wet year.
Boteti River, Khumaga side
dry season game and the herd concentration
Lodges and the park campsite on the river that forms the western boundary of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.
Nxai Pan National Park
green season grassland game and the Baines' Baobabs
One lodge inside the park and mobile safaris, a separate northern cluster rather than a side stop.
Kubu Island, Sua Pan
equipped self drivers on expedition
A community campsite on a sacred granite island in the pan, carrying everything in and out by 4x4.
Think twice about
- The pan surface itself in the wet season
Wet crust hides liquid mud that bogs vehicles to the axles and scars a breeding surface. If the pan is wet, do not drive on it.
- Solo self driving onto the pans or to Kubu Island
No landmarks, braiding tracks, fading signal and no fuel or water. Go guided, in convoy, or with satellite communication.
- The A3 and park tracks after dark
Zebra, antelope and livestock on unlit roads, with help hours away. Plan every road leg to end in daylight.
- Kubu Island and sanctuary tracks after heavy rain
The island can be cut off by water and mud, and sanctuary and park tracks can become impassable for days.
Best restaurants in Makgadikgadi Pans
Jack's Camp Dining
The camp table at Jack's Camp, fine safari cooking in the mess pavilion, included in the rate and for guests only.
San Camp Dining
San Camp's white tented mess, light inventive cooking with a reputation beyond the camp's size, guests only.
Camp Kalahari Dining
Hearty communal safari cooking around a shared table at Camp Kalahari, included in the rate, guests only.
Leroo La Tau Restaurant
Lodge dining on decks above the Boteti, with boma dinners on the cliff top, mainly for resident guests.
Planet Baobab Shebeen Bar and Restaurant
The shebeen style bar and mess at Planet Baobab, grills and bar food open to campers and passing travellers.
Gweta Lodge Restaurant
The village lodge restaurant in Gweta, breakfast, lunch and dinner for guests and A3 travellers, with a boma outside.
Nata Lodge Restaurant
A 50 seat restaurant and patio at Nata Lodge, buffet breakfasts, a la carte dinners and a Saturday braai in season.
Outdoor things to do in Makgadikgadi Pans
Quad Biking and Pan Sleep-Out
Guided quad bikes onto the dry crust, then a night in a bed on the pan under a sky with no light pollution.
Kubu Island
A granite island of baobabs, stone walls and cairns in Sua Pan, a national monument reached by 4x4 expedition.
Nata Bird Sanctuary
Community sanctuary on the Sua Pan edge, holding breeding flamingos and pelicans after good wet season rains.
Nxai Pan National Park
Fossil lakebed grassland park north of the A3, at its game viewing best in the wet and green months.
Baines' Baobabs
Seven huge baobabs on a pan island, painted by Thomas Baines in 1862 and almost unchanged since.
Zebra and Wildebeest Migration
Tens of thousands of zebra and wildebeest move onto the pans grasslands with the rains and back to the Boteti as it dries.
Boteti River
The dry season water that pulls the herds, elephant and resident game to the park's western river in dense concentrations.
Horse Riding on the Pans
Guided rides for competent riders across grassland and pan edge from the concession camps, up to multi day expeditions.
Best hotels in Makgadikgadi Pans
Jack's Camp
The famous luxury camp on the edge of Ntwetwe Pan, in 1940s safari style, with the deepest pans guiding in Botswana.
San Camp
White tents on the shore of Ntwetwe Pan, pared back and quiet, open only in the dry season, with famed food.
Camp Kalahari
The relaxed, fenced sister camp in the same concession, running the full pans activity set at a third of Jack's price.
Leroo La Tau
Cliff top chalets above the Boteti River, with a riverbank hide and the dry season migration in front of the lodge.
Nxai Pan Camp
The only lodge inside Nxai Pan National Park, by a waterhole in the fossil pan grasslands, run by Kwando Safaris.
Meno a Kwena Tented Camp
Old style tented camp on the Boteti west bank, with a floating hide and atmosphere ahead of polish, at mid range rates.
Planet Baobab
Painted Kalanga huts among huge baobabs at Gweta, the budget and backpacker pole of the pans, with the full activity programme.
Planet Baobab Campsite
Shady camping pitches under the baobabs at Planet Baobab, with the pool, bar and paid activities of the camp.
Is Makgadikgadi Pans expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | BWP 1,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | BWP 4,500 a person |
| Splurge | BWP 42,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Habituated Meerkat Colony, Makgadikgadi Pans: weeks ahead
- San Guided Walk, Makgadikgadi Pans: weeks ahead
- Makgadikgadi Pans National Park: weeks ahead
- Quad Biking and Pan Sleep-Out: months ahead
- Kubu Island: months ahead
- Nxai Pan National Park: weeks ahead
- Horse Riding on the Pans: months ahead
- Jack's Camp: months ahead
- Book concession camps, Nxai Pan Camp and Leroo La Tau months ahead for June to October.
- Book park campsites and the Kubu Island community campsite well ahead in the dry season, through the park operator and the Gaing O Community Trust.
- Confirm park and sanctuary fees, the Khumaga ferry and track conditions in the week of travel, from the lodge or trust.
Is Makgadikgadi Pans safe?
- Petty crime and crimes of opportunity occur in Botswana; use caution when walking or driving at night, and plan for remote areas where help is hours away.
- Never drive after dark off the tar road, and avoid it on the A3, where game and livestock stand on unlit roads.
- The nearest real hospitals are in Maun and Francistown, hours away. Carry medical evacuation insurance covering remote Botswana.
- A wet pan bogs a vehicle in metres and there is no recovery nearby. Turn back while turning back is easy.
Makgadikgadi Pans travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Itineraries selling Chapman's Baobab as a living tree. It fell on 7 January 2016 and is visited as a fallen giant.
- Flamingos promised for dry season dates, and quad biking offered on a wet pan. Both are seasonally impossible.
- A Makgadikgadi day trip from Maun sold as the pans experience, when it is six hours of driving for an hour at the edge.
Getting around Makgadikgadi Pans: public transport and more
- The bases sit on the tar A3 between Maun and Nata. There is no public transport onto the pans, into the parks or to any camp off the tar.
- Carry all your water and fuel for the return leg before starting the outward one. There is no fuel or drinking water on the pans.
- Travel on the pans with a guide, in convoy, or with a satellite phone or locator, and leave your route and return time with your lodge.
Who Makgadikgadi Pans suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Makgadikgadi Pans your trip
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