Makgadikgadi Pans - Cate Holidays

Everyone knows about the Great Migration in the Serengeti, but not many people talk about Botswana’s migration. But every year, thousands of zebra and wildebeest make their way from the wetlands of the north to the pans to seek fresh grass, marking the second-biggest zebra migration in Africa.

Leroo La Tau is based right in front of the Boteti River, so you will get to see all this wildlife grazing outside the lodge from around May to November, as well as the predators that follow. When the water is high enough,  motorised boat trips on the Boteti River are offered so you can witness all of the action. See zebras and elephants coming to drink, as well as other game such as impalas, kudus and giraffes. Being on the river gives you a unique perspective of the area.

The main activity here revolves around game drives. Enjoy morning and afternoon drives in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, which sits just across the river and attracts lots of wildlife. You may see lions, elephants, giraffes, hyenas, bushbucks, kudus and more roaming the grassland and scrubland – sometimes you might even spot a leopard or cheetah. On the afternoon trips, you will stop for snacks and sundowners as the sun sets over the Boteti River, painting the sky and river red.

In prehistoric times, the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan was one of the biggest inland lakes in the world – it’s now a huge collection of salt flats, covering more than 6,000 square miles in total. It looks like the moon, and you get the sense it just stretches on forever. A very special experience is to sleep out on the pans. The best thing about this experience is the silence of it all – there’s nobody else for miles around, and you get a real sense of the vastness of these sprawling pans.

Leroo La Tau have been offering daytrips here for a while, taking guests to the Nxai Pans, located around a four-hour drive from the lodge. A very special experience is to sleep out on the pans. The experience is offered free for anyone staying three nights or more in the dry season (July to the end of October) and you will be taken out in groups of up to six, although it can also be booked privately.

The sleep out is located around a five to six-hour drive from the lodge, so you will leave straight after breakfast, stopping for lunch on the way and arriving late afternoon. For an extra charge, 30-minute helicopter transfers are also available, which take guests over the pans to see these vast, glittering landscapes from above. On arrival, there are bedrolls laid out and a toilet – and then it’s just a huge stretch of white. A traditional bush dinner is prepared and served round an open fire with drinks as you watch the sun set over the pans. Then, when it gets dark, the stars come out. There’s no light pollution here so it feels like being in a real-life planetarium.

In the morning, you will be served a continental breakfast before making the journey back across the pans to the lodge, sharing stories from the experience. It does get cold, so bring plenty of layers.