Nata Lodge

Mokolwane palms shade the chalets. Nata Lodge sits 10 kilometres from Nata village on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, a junction between routes to the Okavango, Chobe, and Francistown. Twenty wooden chalets hold twin beds beneath mosquito nets, each with a freestanding ball-and-claw bathtub, air-conditioning, an outdoor shower, and a private veranda. Two family chalets add a second bedroom. Ten safari tents occupy raised wooden platforms, furnished with twin beds and en-suite bathrooms with outdoor showers. Powered and non-powered camping sites sit beneath indigenous trees with shared ablution facilities. The restaurant serves indoor and outdoor seating under the canopy; beef oxtail and beef curry appear on the à la carte menu.

Daily three-hour sunset drives in open vehicles depart for the Nata Bird Sanctuary, a 230-square-kilometre reserve protecting the northeastern slice of Sua Pan. The sanctuary was established in 1988 as Botswana's first community-based conservation project, managed jointly by four local societies. The Nata River delta feeds Sua Pan, drawing pelicans and flamingos in their thousands when water levels allow. You can see zebra, blue wildebeest, bat-eared fox, and black-backed jackal year-round. Meyer's parrots nest in the palms on the lodge grounds. A cultural village tour led by a resident visits the Kgotla meeting place and traditional homesteads built with termite-mound mortar. Sunrise breakfasts beneath baobab trees on the pans can be arranged, and canoe trips explore the Nata River when the water is high.