The name Makgadikgadi means "vast, lifeless land” and for those who prefer solitude and silence this is paradise as even during the high season people are scarce.

One of the most dramatic landscape changes can be seen in the Makgadikgadi an area that is arid, dry and flat. During and after a good rainy season when the empty salt pans are filled with crystal clear blue water begins attracting wildlife.

Zebra and wildebeest appear on the grassy plains along with spectacular numbers of flamingos that flock to the Sowa and Nata Sanctuary. The rainwater and the seasonal rivers like the Nata, Tutume, Semowane and Mosetse rivers from the east and the Okavango via the Boteti river in the west transform this lifeless area into an attractive and enthralling place to visit.

TThe wet season provides many opportunities for good safaris as large herds of zebra and wildebeest start migrating towards the Boteti region. The other species spotted could be eland, kudu, hartebeest, bushbuck, giraffe, steenbok, gemsbok, duiker, springbok, elephant, rare brown hyena, lion and cheetah.

The bird life is also exceptional with large numbers of sandpipers, stilts, wattled cranes, egrets, terns, ibis, harriers, pranticoles, swallows, swifts and martins, flocking to the water during wet months while vultures, bateleur, tawny eagles, lanner, goshawks, francolins, korhaans, ploversm dikkop, owls, rollers, giant eagles, hornbills, larks and pipits can be seen in the dry season.

There are archeological sites on the pans housing tools from the Stone Age and bones of animals and fish that man ate indicating the presence of man in the area for thousands of years. In recent years, Dr. David Livingstone crossed the pans in the 19th century using a huge and massive baobab tree called the Chapman's tree as a landmark.d