Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

• Boteti riverfront and hippo pools

  The western boundary of the park and the reason the herds come. The steep, wooded banks and the width of the sandy bed show how big the river once was, and a few pools hold water all year.

  Chris McIntyre, Botswana (Bradt Travel Guides), online edition, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
• Khumaga ferry

  A pontoon that carries one vehicle at a time across the Boteti from Khumaga village to the park gate when the river is flowing. In dry years people simply drive across the bed.

  Ostrich Trails, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park (updated 2 July 2025)
• Njuca Hills

  A low fossil dune, no more than about 20 metres high, in the middle of the park. In country this flat that is enough for a wide view over the grasslands.

  Chris McIntyre, Botswana (Bradt Travel Guides), online edition, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park campsites
• Ntwetwe Pan edge

  The park takes in one corner of Ntwetwe Pan, broken into many small pans. This is the salt in the park's name.

  Chris McIntyre, Botswana (Bradt Travel Guides), online edition, Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
• Chapman's Baobab (outside the park)

  South of Gweta, not in the national park. It was about 25 metres round, served as a beacon for travellers crossing the pans, and passing traders left letters in it and carved their names on the trunk. The tree fell on 7 January 2016.

  Wikipedia, Gweta
• Baines' Baobabs (Nxai Pan National Park)

  North of the Maun to Nata road in the neighbouring park, the cluster of very old baobabs named after Thomas Baines, who first described them for Western botany.

  Wikipedia, Nxai Pan National Park

• Only about a fifth of the park is salt pan. The rest is grassland on Kalahari sand, with low fossil dunes that mark old shorelines of the lake. source
• NASA's Terra satellite photographed the pans on 10 June 2018. NASA puts the whole Makgadikgadi system at roughly 30,000 square kilometres and calls it one of only two places in southern Africa where flamingos breed. source
• The Boteti stopped reaching Leroo La Tau, the lodge on the park's western boundary, in 1988 and did not flow past it again until 2009. A small pod of hippos sat out those two decades in the last waterholes. source
• Several ostrich hens lay in one nest, which can hold more than 30 eggs. The dark male sits at night and the drab female by day. source
• The Boteti nearly dried up again in 2016. The water came back on 19 August, and a group of elephants arrived to drink as it did. source
• The lower Boteti was channelled below Rakops to feed Mopipi Dam, which supplies the diamond mines around Orapa. The diversion left many people along the river short of fresh water. source

Checked 12 October 2026.

• likelyBurchell's zebraAlong the Boteti River on the western edge in the dry months, out on the eastern grasslands after rain. On the river from about June, at their thickest September to November. They leave when the rains come in December or Januarysource
• likelyBlue wildebeestWith the zebra herds, on the Boteti in the dry season and the eastern grasslands in the wet. Same pattern as the zebrasource
• likelyElephantThe Boteti riverbed and the woodland on its banks. Mostly bulls, which moved back in once the river flowed again after its 20 dry years. Fewer when the river is lowsource
• likelyHippoThe permanent pools in the Boteti near Khumaga. A pod sat out the river's dry years in these poolssource
• likelyGreater kuduThe woodland along the Boteti, where kudu, bushbuck and grey duiker live all yearsource
• likelySpringbokAround the pans and open grassland in the east of the parksource
• likelyOstrichCommon on the eastern grasslands, and often visible from the Nata to Maun roadsource
• possibleGiraffeSmall numbers in the woodland along the riversource
• possibleGemsbok (oryx)Eastern grasslands and pan edges. Some join the dry-season move to the Botetisource
• possibleLionThey follow the herds, so the Boteti in the dry season is the best bet. They sometimes walk through the campsites. Most often seen while the herds are on the river, September to Novembersource
• possibleFlamingos and pelicansOn the park's pans when they hold water. Summer, and only after good rainsource
• rareLeopardLives all year in the thick bush along the Botetisource
• rareCheetahCould turn up wherever there are springbok, which are commonest around the panssource
• rareBrown hyenaThe park's eastern side and the pan fringes. It hunts and scavenges at night, so few visitors see onesource

Likelihood is for a normal visit of two or three days, from the sources linked. Nothing is guaranteed in the wild.

Malaria

The park is in Boteti, one of the districts where the CDC says malaria is transmitted and recommends prescription antimalarials (atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine or tafenoquine). See a travel clinic before you leave, and cover up and use repellent from dusk. source

Malaria after heavy rain

Risk follows the rain. The WHO reported more than 2,300 confirmed cases and 8 deaths across Botswana by the end of May 2025 after unusually heavy rainfall, and named Boteti among the hardest-hit districts. Take the tablets seriously in and just after a wet summer. source

Unfenced camps

None of the campsites is fenced. The operator's rules at Khumaga are to stay inside the campground, keep children with you at all times and never feed or disturb an animal. Walking in the park is not allowed. source

Staying in the vehicle

Park regulations forbid walking, and you may only get out along a track where you have a clear view around you, no dangerous animal is within 100 metres, and you stay within 25 metres of the vehicle. Gates are open 06:00 to 18:30 from April to September and 05:30 to 19:00 from October to March, and the limit is 40 km/h. Swimming is banned too. source

Remoteness

The east of the park is a long way from help. A couple who broke down at Njuca Hills told the Bradt guide's author they were not found until the third morning, and then only by chance. Carry spare water and food for a wait like that. source

Pan surfaces and grass

A pan that looks dry is often a thin crust over deep wet clay. Stay on the existing tracks and steer clear of dark patches, which mean damp ground. In tall grass, seeds block the radiator and dry stalks pack in under the car near the exhaust, so fit netting in front of the radiator, check underneath and carry a fire extinguisher. source

• There is no fuel in the park. Fill up in Maun or Nata, and allow for fuel economy 15 to 20 per cent worse than usual in the sand, which is thickest near Khumaga gate and on the tracks between the river and the east. one source
• Khumaga's tap water comes from a borehole and is not for drinking or cooking. Tree Island has no water at all. Bring everything you will drink. several sources
• At Khumaga the river decides how you cross. When the bed is dry you drive over, and when it flows a pontoon ferry takes one car at a time. If the level suits neither, it is about 80 km round by tar to Phuduhudu Gate, so ask locally before you commit to that side. several sources
• Khumaga is booked through SKL and Tree Island through DWNP, and you still pay park fees on top, at the gate if you have not paid ahead. Book early. Tracks4Africa says up to a year ahead for Botswana's park camps. one source
• Elephants walk through and around Khumaga camp, and hippos leave tracks there overnight. Give them room and stay close to your vehicle after dark. one source

Checked 12 October 2026. Conditions change, so confirm with the park or venue before you go.