The Makgadikgadi Pan is a large salt pan in the middle of the dry savanna of northeastern Botswana. It is one of the largest salt flats in the world.

The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi, which once covered an area larger than Switzerland, but dried up several thousand years ago.

Lying southeast of the Okavango Delta and surrounded by the Kalahari desert, Makgadikgadi is technically not a single pan but many pans with sandy desert in between, the largest being the Sua (Sowa), Nwetwe and Nxai Pans.

The largest individual pan is about 1,900 sq mi (4,921.0 km2).

A dry salty clay crust most of the year, the pans are seasonally covered with water and grass, and are then a refuge for birds and animals in this very arid part of the world. The climate is hot and dry but with regular annual rains.
 
The main water source is the Nata River, called Amanzanyama in Zimbabwe, where it rises at Sandown about 37 mi (59.5 km) from Bulawayo. A smaller amount of water is supplied by the Boteti River from the Okavango delta.

Wildlife
 The Makgadikgadi Pans, when in flood during the summer, attract vast flocks of Flamingos and Pelicans as well as other waterbirds however, during the dry season this section of the Park is less rewarding.

The currently dry Boteti river, to the north, has a number of Hippo pools which attract game such as Wildebeest, Zebra and the inevitable Lions. The Zebra migration from Phuduhudu to the Khumaga area of the Park is one of the highlights of this area with large herds of Zebra filling the air with their calls.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve


  General
 This is the largest game reserve in Botswana and at almost 53,000 sq km (equivalent to Burundi and Rwanda combined) is the second biggest in the world.
Renowned for its vast and unspoilt tracts of land this reserve is the place to go if you are seeking to get away from the hustle and bustle of civilisation.

  Location
 Situated in the centre of Botswana the reserve can be accessed either from the east near Rakops, the west near Ghanzi or in the south through Khutse Game Reserve.
The reserve is split into two areas - the northern part of the reserve which is the most frequently visited part and the remote southern section of the reserve where visitors are scarce. Because of this it is only advisable to travel south of the Deception Valley area if you are in a convoy of more than two vehicles and have sufficient supplies if you get stranded.

  Wildlife
 Despite the lack of some of the larger mammals such as Elephant, Hippo and Buffalo this reserve nevertheless can be equally as rewarding as the more popular game reserves. The Kalahari is renowned for its impressive black-maned lions and the habitat of wide open pans makes this reserve one of the best places for seeing Cheetah in Botswana.