The sun sets in silence over the pan. A lone zebra flicks its tail and lowers its head to graze. In the distance, hippos grunt from a reed-choked pool, and a pied crow calls into the stillness. This is Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, one of the most ancient, elemental and mesmerising places in Botswana.
Set at the edge of the largest salt flat complex in Africa, Makgadikgadi is more than a park—it’s a living record of a prehistoric lake that once stretched across Botswana. Today, it’s a land of contrasts: flooded river margins and blinding white pans, mopane woodland and elephant corridors, solitude and sudden life.
It’s also a place of movement. Thousands of zebra and wildebeest pass through here each year in Africa’s second-largest terrestrial migration. Their route follows the Boteti River, a reawakened lifeline that drains the Okavango’s overflow and cuts across the park’s western edge.
In late May, we explored the park’s riverside wilderness and followed the tracks of both animals and explorers—including Livingstone himself.
A Land Born of Water and Time
Geologically, the Makgadikgadi basin is a giant. Around five million years ago, this entire region was covered by Lake Makgadikgadi, a vast inland sea larger than present-day Switzerland. Over time, the lake evaporated, leaving behind a quilt of salt flats, clay pans and fossilised shorelines that still shape the landscape today.
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park covers a western portion of this ancient lakebed and is flanked to the east by the Ntwetwe and Sua pans—expanses of shimmering white that stretch to the horizon.
Beneath the surface are Kalahari sands, layered over older clays and marine sediments. These soils influence which grasses grow, which trees survive, and where animals move. Water comes from above and from far away—carried by the Okavango Delta, through the Panhandle, and eventually down to the Boteti River, which runs along the park’s western boundary.
This connection to the Delta makes Makgadikgadi an important hydrological outlet. In years of high flood, the Boteti flows strong. In dry years, it can disappear into the sand.
The Great Zebra Migration
Every year, the pans turn green with rain—and the herds come. Zebra and wildebeest, in their thousands, move across this landscape in a seasonal search for food and water. This is the second-largest land migration in Africa, after the Serengeti, yet it remains almost unknown outside of safari circles.
From December to March, the animals gather on the nutrient-rich grasses of the eastern pans. When the rains stop and the pans begin to dry, they move west, toward the permanent water of the Boteti. Their route passes through woodlands, salt flats and open savannah—making it one of the most scenic migrations on the continent.
By May and June, many of the animals are concentrated around the river—drawn to its pools, reeds, and occasional floodplains. Predators follow. Lions, spotted hyenas, and leopards all take advantage of the congestion. We saw the aftermath of a zebra kill just below a cliff bank—a reminder that this is a place of both beauty and danger.
The migration corridor is protected in part by the Makgadikgadi–Nxai Pan Conservation Initiative, which aims to maintain open space between national parks and limit fencing that could block historic wildlife routes.
Along the Boteti – Hippos and Heritage
On the western edge of the park, the Boteti River flows—sometimes gently, sometimes not at all. When full, it offers one of the only permanent water sources in the region and supports a range of wildlife: hippos, elephants, buffalo, waterbuck, and countless birds.
We spent time at the Hippo Pools, where the river bends into a quiet backwater shaded by acacia and leadwood. True to their name, the pools were occupied. Hippos shifted and snorted in the shallows. Pied kingfishers hovered overhead. Monitor lizards skulked in the reedbeds. The air felt thick with age—like nothing had changed for centuries.
And in many ways, it hasn’t. In 1851, David Livingstone passed through this region along the Boteti River, guided by local BaTawana and BaYei peoples. His journey was part exploration, part survival, and his path through the floodplain still forms part of local lore.
Today, that same river supports eco-tourism operations, community lodges, and guiding outfits who know its twists and turns by heart.
Wildlife Sightings and Wild Silences in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
While Makgadikgadi doesn’t have the dense game concentrations of the Delta or Chobe, what it offers is space, surprise and quiet drama.
On our drives, we encountered:
- Zebra herds numbering in the hundreds, streaming across the plain
- Elephants kicking up dust as they approached the river
- Small herds of giraffe, browsing from acacia trees near the escarpment
- Lions resting under mopane shade, bellies full and flies buzzing
- Wildebeest, impala, and steenbok, always alert
- Black-backed jackals trailing the herds, alert for the weak
Birdlife was varied and excellent, especially near water:
- Kori bustards strutting like judges across the pans
- Glossy ibis, sacred ibis, and spoonbills foraging together
- Secretary birds stalking snakes in the open
- Yellow-billed kites and bateleurs soaring on thermals
- At dawn, the haunting call of African fish eagles
This is a place for those who appreciate the ebb and flow of nature, rather than wall-to-wall game. Some days are quiet, others overwhelming. All are etched with light and stillness.
Where to Stay in and Around Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park’s western fringe along the Boteti is where most camps and lodges are based, offering access to water year-round and excellent game viewing.
Notable options include:
- Meno a Kwena (Natural Selection) – Overlooking the Boteti River, this stylish camp offers riverfront wildlife, floating hides, and cultural experiences with local San trackers.
- Leroo La Tau (Desert & Delta) – A luxury lodge perched on the cliffs above the river, offering panoramic views and exceptional dry-season wildlife encounters.
- Boteti River Camp – A more rustic and affordable option outside the park, with good guiding and access to both Makgadikgadi and Khumaga Gate.
- Camping at Khumaga – Inside the park, with wild bush settings and frequent elephant and zebra visits. Basic facilities but high adventure.
Mobile safaris also pass through Makgadikgadi as part of multi-park itineraries, combining this dryland experience with wetland adventures in the Delta.
Footsteps of the Past
One of the most moving aspects of visiting Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is the sense of deep time. The salt pans themselves are ancient, their surfaces rippled by wind and the tracks of animals moving across them for millennia.
But it’s also a place where human footsteps still echo. San peoples lived in and around these pans long before the arrival of cattle, and their knowledge of waterholes, seasons, and stars still informs modern guiding. Artefacts—stone tools, broken pots—can still be found along old water channels and dune ridges, especially after rains.
Many guides in this area are from the local BaSarwa or Bayei communities, and their stories—about ancestors walking to the river, tracking game through wind-blown grass, or watching for birds to find water—are every bit as vivid as the wildlife itself.
When to Visit Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
The best time to visit Makgadikgadi Pans National Park depends on what you want to see.
- December to March – Green season, when the pans fill and zebra gather in the east. Excellent for the migration and birds, but some areas may be inaccessible due to rain.
- May to July – Cool, dry season. Animals move to the Boteti River. River camps are ideal for game viewing and dramatic light.
- August to October – Hot, dry, and dusty—but game viewing peaks along the river, and predator action intensifies.
- November – Transition month. First rains bring new life, but roads can be unpredictable.
If you want solitude and landscape photography, the shoulder seasons offer magic with fewer visitors.
Final Thoughts – The Silence Between the Footsteps
Makgadikgadi is not a place of noise and motion. It’s a place of pause. Of reflection. Of long light and open land and waiting—for the rains, the zebra, the lions, the stars.
It’s where silence is part of the soundtrack. Where the curve of a fossil shoreline and the crackle of salt underfoot speak louder than engines or chatter.
To visit here is to feel small in the best way. To remember that the Earth moves slowly, but always forward. To follow the zebra, the hippos, the stories of Livingstone and local trackers. To sit by the river and watch the herds go by.
In Makgadikgadi, you don’t just see Africa—you feel its pulse, old and true.