Makgadikgadi Pans, the Boteti River (1)

This may seem a strange inclusion, for the Boteti is a river that seldom has water in it - at least for its full lenght.

It is an overflow from the Okavango Delta and draws its water from the Thamalakane, which flows past Maun.

A low earthen embankment at the Boteti/Nhabe/Thamalakane junction was designed to divide the flow.

The Okavango's flood does not reach Maun until July or August, and it takes many more months for the water to make its way down the Boteti.

When the river is dry, as it mostly is these days, it offers wonderful opportunities for exploration.

There are beautiful acacia woodlands along its bank, cliffs of calcrete to investigate, birds in remarkable profusion and, for the photographer, innumerable attractive rural scenes.

Nearer to villages there's a maze of tracks leading everywhere; further out, you make your own.

Be cautioned, though: the sand can make for slow, heavy driving.

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Nxai Pan (2)

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About 15 km to the east of the old entrance, inside the park, is a large, unnamed pan complex.
Kgama-Kgama Pan lies a further 9 km to the northeast.
The pans themselves are the only parts of the park to which there is ready access.
A road map is sometimes displayed at the entrance gate,


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At certain times of the year - December to early April, if rains have fallen - game can be prolific and the viewing spectacular and most rewarding.
The area is a breeding ground for herds of gemsbok, zebra, wildebeest, springbok and eland, and is one of the few places in Botswana where impala and springbok occur together.


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In the south of the National Park is another complex of pans, the largest of which is Kudiakam.
On a site overlooking this pan is a group of very large baobab trees, a picture of which was painted by the artist Thomas Baines in 1862.
Photographs taken in recent years show scarcely any discernible changes.


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These trees are known today as Baines' Baobabs (but are also referred to as the Seven Sisters and the Sleeping Sisters) and provide a very popular camping spot.
Here there are three informal, undeveloped campsites, each accomodating a maximum of 12 persons and three vehicles.
Bring your own water.
Game scouts do visit the trees at Baines' Baobabs and may ask you for your permit.


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Nxai Pan (1)

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A four-wheel-drive vehicle is necessary to get to this sanctuary; although there is a new entrance on the main road and, at last, after decades, the road to the old entrance has been upgraded, a 4x4 is still recommended.


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The area covered by Nxai Pan section of the Makgadikgadi - Nxai Pan National Park  now extends southwards to include Baines' Baobabs as well as the Kudiakam Pan, and links up directly with the Mkgadikgadi Grasslands to the south.

It is set on the northern fringe of the Mkgadikgadi basin, and includes Nxai Pan itself, part of an ancient lake bed.


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There is the manned entrance gate.
A fee is charged for vehicles and passengers, and advance booking and payment is required.
There are no facilities other than two campsites with ablution blocks, although there is usually a reliable water supply.
Visitors must be entirely self-sufficient.
Game scouts will direct you to the campsites, both of which are within 10 km of the gate.


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Makgadikgadi Grasslands, Khumaga Campsite

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On the east (or left) bank of the Boteti River, opposite a village called Khumaga, game scouts have established s second camp, and nearby, under a group of shady acacias in a large sandy area overlooking the river, a public campsite has been built.
Here, with luck, you will find cold showers and flush toilets.
There is an adjacent stand-pipe that delivers fresh waters and a convenient pit for dumping rubbish.


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A new, medium-priced Safari Lodge, Leroo-La Tau, has made its appearance in the area, on the same side of the river, under the trees; booking is, however, necessary.
The Khumaga Campsite itself is remarkable for its position in the ecotone between riverine woodland and the grasslands of Makgadikgadi.


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The bird life here is prolific and the scenery most unusual, for the Boteti is a river flowing to nowhere: its waters simply soak away into the sand.
In recent years, however, it has not always flowed, and it's wise to check before hand, with the Department of Wildlife, that there is water there at all and, if there is, whether it is possible to cross the river.

The occasional groups of palm trees that can be seen in the Makgadikgadi section of the Makgadikgadi - Nxai Pan National Park have grown from seeds in the dung of elephants coming down from the north.

Visitors must be self-sufficient in food and fuel, and must bring firewood, which is singularly scarce at Njuca, although supplies may be available at the Khumaga Campsite.


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Makgadikgadi Grasslands, Njuca Campsite

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Two localities in the Game Reserve are particularly worth visiting, as they both make memorable campsites.
One is Njuca Hills; the other is Khumaga on the Boteti River.


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Njuca is an ancient dune of especially large proportions.
A track leads up to two good campsite, each with magnificent views and each equipped with basic toilets.

To spend a couple of evenings at one of these sites is to simple the real magic of the Kalahari.
One can watch the endless grasslands turn to gold and listen to the call of barking geckoes as the sun takes its leave of another day, while, at one of the sites, a resident mongoose noses through your belongings for cheese, which it has come to adore.


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The dominant tree on Njuca is Albizia anthelmintica, the worm-cure albizia, a species rarely occurring in South Africa but common on the watershed in Namibia and in Zimbabwe.
Its bark is known from Namibia to Somalia and Ethiopia as an anthelminthic (cure for worms).


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Makgadikgadi Grasslands (2)

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However, the area itself has a simple beauty.
The rolling grasslands seem endless.
Early-morning mirages build clear and distant "mountain ranges", which dissipate as the sun edges higher.


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Over the centuries, shallow depressions in the plain have accumulated deep deposits of clay and detritus and, in these reservoirs of richer soil, trees have taken root so the plain is dotted with widely separated islands of vegetation.

If you are prepared to sit quietly for an hour or so on one of them , you'll soon be accepted by the fauna and can enjoy the rare privilege of watching the wildlife go about its daily business, undisturbed and at close quarters.


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Makgadikgadi Grasslands (1)

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This part of the Reserve is a vast 3.900 kmq of mostly unfenced, open plain and bush country to the south of the main Francistown-Maun Road, about halfway between the two centres.

It is informally serviced by a series of tracks mapped on the Notice boards at the north and northwest entrances, but otherwise is not signposted.



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A four-wheel-drive vehicle is not necessary during most of the year, but is becoming increasingly advisable.
From November or December, after the first rains, to about May, innumerable game will be encountered, including large herds of zebra, springbok and wildebeest that seem to stretch from horizon to horizon.
Each also draws in its wake lion and other predators.


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