Nxai Pan National Park

Lodge was not so spectacular.
Drivers can not go of road so you don't get to see much wildlife (we didn't)

Arriving at the Nxai Pan gate, we were greeted by another track masquerading as a river and informed that we could only be admitted at our own risk. This was a no-brainer as our camp was already set up in there and there was no alternative. As it was getting fairly late, we did a short game drive and repaired to camp for dinner and bed.

Next morning all was well and we set off to see what Nxai Pan had to offer. It was to turn out to be a day mainly consisting of bird sightings, apart from hundreds of Zebras, which was the reason we were there anyway. They were even more plentiful than the Oryx had been in Central Kalahari and our guide estimated we saw between three and five thousand in Nxai Pan. However, the vast amount of rain and the affect it had on the vegetation meant the Zebras didn’t need to migrate so far as in most years. Had it been a normal year he estimated we would have seen three to four times that number.

My first impression of Nxai Pan was how big and open the area is, although only a fraction of the area covered by Central Kalahari. It is classic Cheetah territory and that was what I was hoping to see. I didn’t have to wait long on our second day and we found a female with two young cubs, probably about nine months old. We spent best part of an hour with them as they slowly moved around their range and the cubs played happily with each other, before they moved into cover and we left them.

Next up was another herd (dazzle) of Zebras, and another brief Cheetah sighting, but much of the day was spent looking for Lions. After lunch, we were successful, even witnessing a (distant) mating session. There was a torrential thunderstorm later on in the afternoon, but once this moved through we had another Cheetah sighting, which turned out to be the brother of the female we had seen in the morning.

That brought us to the end of our two full days in Nxai Pan and just left us with a game drive to the gate next morning. We had been trying, unsuccessfully, to photograph a European Bee-eater since we arrived, but every time our guide killed the engine, the bird would fly. Finally we were successful as we found one in an Acacia bush and it didn’t move. Also added a Bradfield’s Hornbill to our list as it posed beautifully beside the track.

My overall impression of Nxai Pan is somewhat mixed. Certainly we saw exactly what we went there for, so we have no complaints on that score. But there are vast areas of the reserve that are inaccessible due to the no off-roading policy. I understand the reasons for this policy and agree with it, but it only works if there are adequate roads to use and that is where Nxai Pan suffers.

it was very dry and the water hole was nearly dry, the guide explained that the period was not good,

timing matters

Our safari (our first!) was more than we expected it be. Once in a lifetime adventure!

Nxai Pan was our first stop on our two week mobile tent safari. Took the better part of a day to drive from Maun with our first stop being Thomas Baines Baobas. Wow! Breathtaking. When we were told the legend that the trees were thrown to Earth below, we could understand why! Since we were there in winter, the leaves were gone and the branches look like the roots. We stayed 2 nights in Nxai Pan and we were treated to our very first view of 2 magnificent male lions lounging in the sun. Still my very favorite memory of the trip. Of course, other wildlife is abundant and hundreds of bird species. Our weather was perfect; cold in the mornings but beautiful and comfortably warm by 10am. Our guide was Alwyn Myburgh of Yambo Safaris. Very knowledgable guide & tracker. His crew was outstanding! The food was out of this world.......better than anything I could ever cook at home and they were cooking on a open fire. Seriously.....fresh bread daily and chocolate mousse? Alwyn had arranged for everything we would ever need during our two weeks in Botswana. I would love to go back and take the family some day. What a special trip!

Not a popular venue but does boast the famous "Baines' Baobabs, a must see if you visit here.

An unhindered drive into old school bush alive with vibrant tranquility and long sunset horizons.

I drove in unguided with a 4x4 with the complete feeling of discovery and calmness as a privileged part of nature in Nxai Pan. Once inside, there is really nothing beyond the ablution block in the camp to signify man's comforts and trespass upon the wild. Respect for the environment means a novel observational experience like you might have seen 50 years ago, in that there are no tarred roads or fences around hutted camps.
As a photographer, you have unique accessibility to clear fields of view, especially by the water holes, where a sensible proximity to elephants is possible. This increases the feeling of being part of nature and builds a great sense of regard. The open areas allowed me to track a Lion walking for more than a mile and get an awesome sequence of shots.
The camp ground is literally a space for tents and vehicles, with the provision of a water supply and toilet/shower facilities. Walking amongst the trees there reveals many other often overlooked species, particularly birds and insects, heightened with the exciting reality that you are in wild country without a perimeter to keep animals out.
This part of Botswana really does offer some fantastic sunset scenes with long shadows and deep colours as the dust dances in the air.
A thoroughly recommendable trip with a difference, impossible to match in South Africa.

In winter the elephants leave for the Makgadigadi Pans. Slightly dissapointed, but the Bain's Baobabs are beautiful

I don't remember Nxai Pan as well as the other locations we camped in, but I recall thinking this was the place most decimated by elephants, so it had a bit of a blasted feel. But the wildlife and wilderness feel were still off the charts.

Great sceneries but slighty less wildlife as the other parks