Makgadikgadi / Nxai Pans National Park
Enquire NowMakgadikgadi Pans National Park has the world’s largest salt pans. You can even see them from space. Visitors come here for quad biking, true silence, and views of the Earth’s curvature. In the dry season, explore Kubu Island’s ancient baobabs and enjoy some of the best stargazing in Africa. Summer rains change everything. The pans fill with water, and Africa’s largest zebra migration begins. Birders will love the flocks of flamingos and pelicans that arrive too. The park is also home to lion, cheetah, elephant, zebra, giraffe, and many antelope species.
Space is one of the major attractions of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, with wide-open salt pans which make the sky above seem endless. These salt pans are the largest in the world and can be seen from space. The three largest pans are Sowa, Nwetwe and Nxai Pans. During the dry season, few animals can survive the harsh conditions. However, with the summer rains, the landscape comes to life and becomes the site of the largest Zebra migration in Africa.
During the dry season, quad biking is a popular activity on the dry salt pans. It is said that when in the centre of the pan, devoid of life, visitors reach a point where they can naturally hear what true silence means. The pans stretch so far and are barren that visitors can see the curvature of the Earth.
Popular attractions include visiting Kubu Island with its famous baobab trees, as well as Baines Baobabs, which were noted by explores like David Livingstone. Stargazing is another extremely popular activity in the region, as the lack of human habitation means a vast array of stars are visible in the night sky.
When the salt pans fill during the wet season, they offer excellent bird watching safaris as many as ducks, geese and great white pelicans call the shallow pans home. The pans are also home to one of only two breeding populations of greater flamingos in southern Africa at Soa pan.
Among the many things to do in the Makgadikgadi National Park are safari rides, game drives, birdwatching, a tour of Gweta as well as see wildlife like eland, lions, zebras, cheetah, gemsbok, springbok, red hartebeest bushbuck, giraffes, steenbok, elephants and many more.