The Magkadigkadi Salt Pans are the largest salt pans in the world. They are remnants of Botswana’s inland sea, or “superlake” which covered the majority of northern Botswana around 100,000 years ago. As Magkadigkadi was the lowest point of the ancient lake, it was the last place to dry up. This meant that all the salts and minerals contained in the water were left behind as the water evaporated, thus creating these huge beds of salt. They are so enormous that one can easily drive out on quad bikes and in a short space of time look around to see nothing but a vast sea of salt. It is also so flat that you feel that you can actually see the curvature of the earth. Occasionally you can see the mysterious “green flash” as the sun drops below the horizon. To quietly watch the sunset in this area, and listen to the silence that is interrupted only by the territorial calls of the Kalahari barking gecko, or the noisy display flight of a northern black korhaan is truly an experience that will never be forgotten. It is truly one of Botswana’s most mysterious and starkly beautiful places.
Surrounding the saltpans are open grasslands dotted with islands of palm trees. These grasslands support one of the largest migrations of zebras after the great migration in Tanzania. During the wet season the zebras are found close to the pans themselves, where they can feed on the plentiful grass and slake their thirst at one of the many temporary water holes. As things start to dry up the zebras move to the Boteti river where they are able to make use of the permanent water located in that area. It is a sensory overload to witness the huge herds come and drink from tiny natural water springs in the otherwise dry river bed.
During the wet season, huge numbers of both greater and lesser flamingos come to the Magkadigkadi to feed and breed in the shallow saline water located on the pans. Shortly after the first heavy rains of the season, generally in December, the flocks magically start to arrive. Exactly where they come from, and how they know that sufficient rain has fallen so that they can feed properly remains a mystery.
Magkadigkadi also has a human history. Trips on quad bikes out onto the pans sometimes reveal ancient tools used by San bushmen in days gone by. Arrow and axe heads, stone tools and other artifacts can be found strewn across the desert floor. Obviously these need to remain where they are, as they currently act as an outdoor museum.
People generally do not venture to the Magkadigkadi for a game experience. Rather, the vast expanses of sheer nothingness will touch a travelers soul in a far deeper way then any “Big 5” reserve. It is vast, wild, completely untamable and supremely beautiful.
Nxai Pan
Nxai Pan National Park adjoins the Magkadigkadi and is one of northern Botswana’s best kept secrets. Unlike the Magkadigkadi however, the pan itself is made up of short grass, rather than salt, although many small salt pans are dotted throughout the area. It has more consistent and plentiful game than any of the other Kalahari game reserves, largely due to a couple of pumped waterholes that provide year round water.
It has a great diversity of antelope species, and is one of the few places in Africa where you can find springbok and impala grazing side by side. Kudu are also common, as are the diminutive steenbok. During the wet season the zebra migration of the Magkadigkadi often spills over into the Nxai Pan area.
With permanent water now in the area, elephants have taken up residence in the area. Bull elephants of varying ages and sizes constitute the bulk of the Nxai Pan population, and in the dry season they can often be seen quenching their thirst at one of the waterholes.
The dry season also affords some interesting interaction between the herds of grazing animals and the predators of the area. Lions often dominate the waterholes, and are regularly found there throughout the dry season. They sit in wait for the herds to come and drink, resulting in some phenomenal interaction.
Other predators in the area include leopard and cheetah, the latter also utilizing the waterholes as places to hunt so long as the lions are somewhere else. African wild dogs have also been recorded in the park, although their wanderings often take them far from the area around the pan.
Other smaller carnivores, such as African wildcat, bat-eared fox, black backed jackal and aardwolf are also seen on a regular basis.
One of the other major attractions of Nxai Pan National Park is “Baines’ Baobabs”. It is a cluster of huge baobab trees, located on the edge of a salt pan just to the south of Nxai Pan itself. The famous explorer Thomas Baines first documented and painted these baobabs during one of his expeditions in the middle of the 19th century. His painting soon became famous and led to the area being used as an important camping sight for many other explorers.
Whilst Europeans first found these baobabs only recently, the San Bushmen have been using these trees for thousands of years to access water. The so-called bushman pots are large crevasses in the trees, which hold water from the rainy season for many months. The Bushmen actually carved small steps up some of the larger trees to access the water. These steps can still be seen today.
Located only two hours drive from Maun, Nxai Pan is one of the more easily accessible of Botswana’s parks. Yet it still remains relatively untouched and seemingly remote. It contains some spectacular scenery and has some of the northern Kalahari’s best game viewing.
