Makgadikgadi Pans

The Makgadikgadi Pans are the remnants of an ancient super-lake that once covered most of northern Botswana. Today, two vast salt pans — Ntwetwe and Sua — stretch across 12,000 square kilometres of flat, blindingly white nothingness that becomes a surreal, otherworldly landscape during the dry season.

During the rains from November to April, the pans transform dramatically. Shallow water attracts flamingos in their thousands, and one of Africa's least-known great migrations takes place as 25,000 zebra and accompanying wildebeest move between the Boteti River and the grasslands surrounding the pans.

The area is also famous for its habituated meerkat colonies — spending a morning watching these charismatic sentinels emerge from their burrows at sunrise, using you as a lookout post, is one of Botswana's most delightful wildlife encounters. San Bushmen guides offer walks across the pans, sharing ancient knowledge of tracking, plant medicine, and survival in one of Earth's harshest environments.