It is said that the origins of all mankind come from the ancient Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana. Indeed, Makgadikgadi Pan safaris to this extraordinary region are profoundly moving – and it’s all in our guide to safaris in Botswana. Makgadikgadi Pan is one of the flattest places on earth. Explore Jack’s Camp and Uncharted Africa safaris in the true wilderness of remote Botswana.
It is said that thousands of years ago the Pan was a lake bigger than Switzerland. The great Makgadikgadi Pan is not one pan but many pans with sandy desert strewn between – the Sua, Ntwetwe, and Nxai Pans. Modern Homo sapiens first began to evolve in this region some 200,000 years ago, when it was a massive, remarkably fertile area of lakes, rivers, marshes, woodlands and grasslands. It was easier for people to live there and to evolve, along with their animal neighbors.
Maybe this is why so many travelers are innately drawn to experience the pans every season. When it rains, soft green grasses emerge, attracting impressive herds of antelope and zebra, followed by predators like lions, leopards, cheetahs, jackals, and reptiles.
Makgadikgadi covers more than 16,000 square km and it is said that the original ancient Lake Makgadikgadi spread up to 80, 000 square km – in the dry Kalahari Basin, only briefly wet when it rains.
With Voyage2Africa, you too can experience the open Pans as part of a Botswana safari to the Okavango Delta and Kalahari combined!
