Central Botswana is a land of enormous skies. In the north, the Makgadikgadi Pans fill the bed of an ancient lake, and the white crusts of Ntwetwe and Sua pans stretch to a shimmering horizon. Nxai Pan, north of the Maun to Nata road, is a grassy fossil lake with a cluster of old baobabs named after the explorer Thomas Baines. To the east lie Serowe, the Bamangwato capital and birthplace of Seretse Khama, Botswana's first president, and Palapye, a stop on the main road and railway north.
What you can do here
Zebra and wildebeest gather along the Boteti River in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park through the dry months, roughly May to October, and some camps take you out across the crust on horseback. After good rains the herds move out towards Nxai Pan, though numbers depend on how much has fallen. Kubu Island, a granite outcrop crowded with baobabs on the edge of Sua Pan, is a favourite place to camp under the stars. Near Serowe, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary runs guided drives to look for white and black rhino. East of Palapye, a guided hike up Goo-Moremi Gorge in the Tswapong Hills passes waterfalls on the way to a Cape vulture colony. In the far east, guided walks and rides cross the red sand of the Tuli Block, beyond Selibe Phikwe.
Booking on adventuro
Our guide to Central and the Makgadikgadi covers the seasons and the routes across the pans. Use the Book here tab to see live dates and prices.
