When is the best time to visit the Makgadikgadi?

It depends on what you want to see. From about May to October the pans are dry and hard, which is the time for quad biking and a trip out to Kubu Island, while zebra gather along the Boteti River. From about December to March the rains bring the zebra and wildebeest onto the grasslands, and flamingos may arrive on Sowa Pan. The rains vary from year to year, so these timings shift.

How long should I spend on the pans?

Two or three nights is ideal. That gives you a morning with the meerkats, a day out on the pans and a drive in Nxai Pan or Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. If you're self-driving between Maun and Nata, one night still lets you see Baines' Baobabs, but you'll miss the sleep-outs and walks that most people come for.

What is quad biking on the pans like?

You ride in a line behind a guide across the flat, cracked crust, with nothing but white salt ahead of you. Trips run only in the dry season, when the surface is hard enough to take the bikes, and they often end with a sunset stop or a night sleeping out on the pan. Guides set a pace to suit the group, and most trips don't ask for previous experience.

Is the Tuli Block worth adding to a trip?

If you'd like a quieter, rockier landscape, yes. The private reserves along the Limpopo offer guided walks as well as night drives, which aren't allowed in the national parks, and the elephant herds there can be large, though sightings vary. Most visitors fly into the airstrip there or drive in from South Africa, so it works well at the start or end of a trip through Johannesburg.

Things to do in Central & Makgadikgadi

Resumen

The Makgadikgadi pans are the dry bed of an ancient lake, and today Ntwetwe and Sowa pans form a white crust that runs to the horizon. In the dry season, from about May to October, the surface is hard enough for quad biking and nights sleeping out under the stars. When the rains arrive, usually from about December, the grass comes back and thousands of zebra and wildebeest move onto the plains.

The pans and national parks

Central is Botswana's largest district, stretching east from the Boteti River to Zimbabwe and South Africa. Makgadikgadi Pans National Park follows the Boteti, where zebra gather to drink in the dry months. Nxai Pan National Park, just north, holds the ancient trees of Baines' Baobabs. Habituated meerkats live on the edges of Ntwetwe Pan, and on cool mornings they often stand up to warm themselves a few metres from you. Camps here also run walks with San guides. Kubu Island, a granite outcrop studded with baobabs on Sowa Pan, is reachable by 4x4 only when the pan is dry. Sowa Town grew up around the pan's soda ash and salt works, and after good rains the Nata Bird Sanctuary further north can fill with flamingos.

Serowe and the Tuli Block

East of the pans, the community-run Khama Rhino Sanctuary lies about 25 km north of Serowe, and game drives there often find white rhino grazing in the open. The Tuli Block, where Botswana meets South Africa and Zimbabwe, is a strip of private reserves with sandstone ridges and huge trees along the Limpopo. Night drives are allowed on this private land, and horse riding safaris suit experienced riders. Selibe Phikwe, a town built for its copper and nickel mine, is the main stop on the road east.

Getting there and how long to stay

Most visitors drive east from Maun on the Nata road, with the park gates and pan camps a few hours away. Two or three nights is enough for most people. After heavy rain some tracks turn to thick mud, so a guided trip is easiest in the wet months. The pans pair well with the Okavango to the west.

Things to do in Central & Makgadikgadi

The pans and national parks

Serowe and the Tuli Block

Getting there and how long to stay

Booking on adventuro

The pans and national parks

Serowe and the Tuli Block

Getting there and how long to stay

Booking on adventuro