Cities and regions／Botswana
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Nxai Pan National Park

Nxai Pan National Park combines a large salt pan with land-based safari. Rain can turn the pans into grassland and pools, shaping wildlife sightings; the landscape changes markedly between seasons.

Open white horizon of the Makgadikgadi salt pans with distant acacias.
Photo by Castell Source: Wikimedia Commons Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
The place

What makes it special

  • Pans that can become grassy, with water collecting in smaller depressions during the rains.
  • Land-based safari, with wildlife visibility dependent on rainfall and migration.
  • Baines’ Baobabs, a group of seven baobabs near the park access.
Nxai Pan National Park
Photo by Ralf Ellerich Source: Wikimedia Commons Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0
Baines’ Baobabs beside Kudiakam Pan in the Nxai Pan area.
Photo by Fabio Achilli from Milano, Italy Source: Wikimedia Commons Licence: CC BY 2.0
Travel atlas

Articles in Nxai Pan National Park

Guides to this place

1 article

Nxai Pan National Park

journal.travel Editorial

Guides to this place

1 related guides

Open white horizon of the Makgadikgadi salt pans with distant acacias.

Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan: Choosing Rain, Wildlife or the Scale of the Salt Flats

In the Makgadikgadi complex, the decisive choice is not accommodation but the state of the water. Nxai Pan, Nata and the Boteti plains follow different rhythms.

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Information in context

Sources and references

This profile summarises our destination guides. Their research sources and the geographical reference are listed below.

Profile updated: 27/09/2026