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Makgadikgadi Camp was established on Hyena Island in 1997. A real bush camp, it offers the essence of Africa, with comfortable twin-bedded cottage tents secluded among palms and acacias. For extra comfort, all our tents have en-suite bathrooms and there is a dip pool for refuge from the midday heat.

Our traditionally built mess, with its thatched roof and open fireplace, provides the perfect ambience for relaxation at the end of the day. Around the flickering fire the day’s events are recounted, while your host conjures up the spirit of Africa. Legends of the bush gently unfold, punctuated by calls of the wild from the surrounding Makgadikgadi Pans.

An early breakfast precedes your day’s exploration of the pans. In the evening your hosts invite you to join them at an elegant table for a three course dinner, combining international cuisine with the best of African fare. Wines and aperitifs are served by our courteous and well-trained staff.

Makgadikgadi Pans

Ntwetwe Pan and Sua Pan, together with numerous smaller pans, form the Makgadikgadi Pans system. The pans are the remnants of the once-great Lake Makgadikgadi: 80,000 square kilometres in extent, and up to 30 metres deep, this was the largest inland sea in Africa.

In the wet season, this vast area of salt pans interspersed with low-lying grass islands is the destination of herds of migrating zebra. It has an unspoilt beauty unlike that of any other part of Botswana. For those willing to explore this land of hidden fascination, the rewards are unforgettable.

Kubu Island

Resting in the southern tip of Sua Pan, this small rocky outcrop was once an island in the great Lake Makgadikgadi. Stunted baobab trees and the ruins of unexplained stone walls lend a mystical aspect: Kubu Island has a magic that touches every visitor.

Central Kalahari Game Reserve
The largest game reserve in the world, the Central Kalahari encompasses some of the hottest and most inhospitable areas in Botswana. In this seemingly limitless expanse of scrub desert and pans, you will encounter animals and plants that are specially adapted to survive in such harsh conditions.

Nxai Pans and Baines’ Baobabs
Nxai Pan lies to the north of the Makgadikgadi Pans area, on the migration route of the great herds: a wide, grass-covered pan dotted with umbrella thorn trees. With its bountiful wildlife, the area provides excellent game viewing opportunities.

Just to the east of Kudiakam Pan, and south of Nxai Pan, is an impressive group of baobab trees, standing on the pioneers’ route to the swamps of the Okavango Delta. First painted by Thomas Baines, and inscribed with his name on 22nd May 1862, the trees are known as Baines’ Baobabs.

Desert Mobile Safaris
In addition to our regular excursions to explore the Makgadikgadi Pans, by prior arangement we can arrange longer expeditions into the Kalahari Desert. For the intrepid visitor we offer the prospect of profound engagement with the uncompromising beauty of the Kalahari. On this six night camping safari you will traverse the Makgadikgadi Pans, visit enigmatic Kubu Island; and enter the largest conservation area in Africa - the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Deception Pan, Xaka, Piper Pans, Molapo, and many nameless places. The safari transcends any organised cultural experience. You will gain a direct insight into the subtle ecology of the apparently pitiless and unchanging desert. Perhaps you may even come to empathise with the "first people" who lived in the Kalahari - insignificant in the infinite thirstland, yet happily and marvellously alive.

This is the essential Kalahari. And few people are better qualified to guide your desert odyssey than your host, Reinhold Sumerauer. He is an Honorary Game Warden of Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks, who has spent eight years working with local people to conserve this captivating land.


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