Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

The wet season (Dec-Apr) is the best time to visit Makgadikgadi Pans as the most game will be in the park, though the roads might be muddy in places. You also won’t be able to reach the edge of the large salt pan itself because the tracks will be flooded.

In dry season you will be able to see the vast, empty salt pan in the southeast of the park, and animals will congregate around the Boteti River on the parks western boundary. At this time of year, the river is full of water from the Angolan Highlands, but the surrounding landscape is bone dry.

When the seasons change, around April and November, it can lead to the best of both worlds, with dry tracks and high concentrations of game.

There are two main sections of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, each with its own character.

The Boteti River on the western edge has a high concentration of game, especially in the dry season when the pools here are some of the only water in the park. Seeing the animals involves driving along the riverbed, or the banks when the river is in flood, to the north of the campsite. It can involve some slightly tricky driving heading up and down the riverbanks.

The Boteti River section is the busiest place in the park and contains Khumaga Campsite. On the opposite bank, outside the park, are a few lodges and their guests also visit this section of the park. There are often also cows in the riverbed, since there are villages just outside the park, so it can feel less like a wilderness than elsewhere.

Away from the river to the east, the concentration of game decreases and so does the number of people. The only place to stay here is Tree Island campsite which has three sites. However, the zebras can be found here during their migration from the pans in the east of the park to the Boteti River in the west. Predators can be found tailing the herds. The scenery is unique, with grassy plains surrounding salty white pans, strangely dotted with tall date palms.

Gate Opening Hours

Gate hours of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park are 06:00-18:30 Apr-Sep, 05:30-19:00 Oct-Mar. Make sure you’re back in your campsite outside these hours.

We spent one night in the park, camping at Tree Island campsite. On our first day we drove into the park via the northeastern Mokolwane Gate. The ranger on duty here told us that if we headed south we could see the zebra migration. We drove for quite a while and eventually found the zebra, thousands of them surrounding the white pans. However, the ranger informed us we must return the same way because the tracks ahead were still flooded, so we returned to the Mokolwane Gate.

We then headed to Tree Island, our campsite, where we camped in Site 1 with lovely views over a small pan. The following day we headed north and west to the Boteti River section of the park, having a late breakfast near the river. We then drove up and down the river for a few hours, before finally heading north to leave the park via Phuphudu Gate and head onto Nxai Pans National Park just opposite.

Animals we Saw in the Park

I enjoyed seeing the zebras and the remote east of the park. We had the campsite to ourselves and knew nobody else was within tens of kilometres of us, it was wonderful. The landscape by the zebras was unique – it was funny to see the date palm trees. Apparently they grew from seeds dropped by Arabian traders centuries ago.

We didn’t see much game in the east apart from the zebras, though we heard lions roaring during the night. As we approached the Boteti River, the density of game increased and we saw many antelope in the partially wet riverbed along with loads of birds.

As ever, we could have spent another night in the park at Khumaga Campsite but felt we saw a good amount of the park spending only one night. I definitely preferred the atmosphere at Tree Island to Khumaga Campsite, but if you are mainly interested in animals, staying by the Boteti River will be more rewarding.

Makgadikgadi Pans from Maun or Nxai

Phuphudu Gate is the obvious entrance to use if you’re coming from Maun or Nxai. It’s just south of the A3 highway. Once inside the park, it’s 25 km to Boteti River and a further 5 km to Khumaga Campsite. The turnoff to the east and Tree Island campsite is just by the campsite, while Khumaga Gate is a few kilometres further on.

Makgadikgadi Pans from Rakops & A30

If you’re coming from the south via Rakops, the CKGR or Orapa, you have two options. The first, shortest and most exciting is to cross the Boteti River to reach the Khumaga Gate. In dry season the river is bone dry and you can drive across. When the river is in full flood there is a ferry that will take you across. However, sometimes there’s too much water to drive across but too little for the ferry to work. If so, you must drive 80 km around on tar to reach Phuphudu Gate.

Coming from the east you have two options to enter the park. If you’re only interested in visiting the game-rich Boteti River section of the park, it’s quickest to enter via Phuphudu Gate. If, however, you want to experience the remote east of the park, possibly find the zebras, or camp at Tree Island Campsite, enter via Mokolwane Gate. This gate is not visible from the A3, though it is signed and the track is big and obvious. If you take the direct route, it’s about 75 km to Khamaga Campsite and Boteti River over a mix of hard and thick sandy tracks.

We drove 275 km in the park over one afternoon and one morning, camping at Tree Island. We filled up in Nata beforehand (110 km away on tar), visited Nxai Pans the next day and eventually refuelled in Maun (128 km away on tar). The tracks are sandy so expect fuel efficiency within the park to be low (15-20% below normal, or even worse if pulling).

The sandiest tracks in the park were between the east and Boteti River. There were some undulations and thick sand, which could cause trouble for those with trailers. Near the Khumaga entrance gate there is also some thick sand. By the river there can be a bit of up and down the river banks – leave your trailer at camp.

Campsites in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

There are two campsites within Makgadikgadi Pans, both with different vibes. There used to be a two-site campsite called Njuca Hills but it is now closed (2021). There is a large price difference between the two campsites, with Tree Island still managed by DWNP and BWP30 per person, while Khumaga is P100 for locals and increases to $50 per person for internationals.

Khumaga Campsite is in the busier, Boteti River section of the park. It’s a developed campsite with proper ablutions, though still unfenced, and there are ten sites all quite close to each other.

Tree Island has three wilderness sites in the eastern plains. It’s wonderfully remote, camping amongst the only trees in an otherwise flat expanse. There isn’t loads of game here, though we did see gemsbok, springbok, zebras and many birds on the pans which were full of water when we visited (mid-April). We also saw a very distant elephant and heard lions roaring during the night.