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Anouk de Sloovere
BE
Visited:
January 2023
Reviewed: Jan 23, 2023
Email Anouk de Sloovere | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Lodge was not so spectacular.
Drivers can not go of road so you don't get to see much wildlife (we didn't)
Ian
GB
Visited:
February 2017
Reviewed: Apr 4, 2017
Email Ian | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
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
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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.
France and Roger
FR
Visited:
September 2011
Reviewed: Apr 16, 2015
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
it was very dry and the water hole was nearly dry, the guide explained that the period was not good,
Remsberg.com
US
Visited:
January 2018
Reviewed: Dec 6, 2018
Email Remsberg.com | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Our safari (our first!) was more than we expected it be. Once in a lifetime adventure!
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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!
Terry Carew
Visited:
August 2010
Reviewed: Apr 5, 2015
Not a popular venue but does boast the famous "Baines' Baobabs, a must see if you visit here.
Chris
GB
Visited:
March 2008
Reviewed: Aug 2, 2012
Email Chris | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An unhindered drive into old school bush alive with vibrant tranquility and long sunset horizons.
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,
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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
kateboydell
US
Visited:
September 2007
Reviewed: Mar 17, 2012
35-50 years of age
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.
JivZ
Visited:
June 2007
Reviewed: Nov 2, 2011
Great sceneries but slighty less wildlife as the other parks