Nxai Pan

Nxai Pan Camp is the only permanent camp inside Nxai Pan National Park, part of the broader Makgadikgadi Salt Pan network in Botswana's Central District. The camp holds nine tented units, each with its veranda oriented toward a permanent waterhole — the kind that draws elephants coated white with pan dust through the dry season, and brings Kalahari black-maned lions and other predators in behind them.

During the rainy season, zebras move to Nxai Pan in large numbers to drop their young. By distance, this is the furthest mammal migration in southern Africa. The pan also supports springbok, wildebeest, giraffe, bat-eared foxes, and varied birdlife.

Game drives run in custom Toyota vehicles with no more than six guests, led by a professional ranger and a tracker working as a pair. Game walks are available, as are San Bushman cultural walks conducted near camp at a slow pace, focused on how the San people read and lived off the land. A day trip to the Baines Baobabs — seven ancient trees that the artist Thomas Baines painted in 1862, in the south of the park — includes a picnic lunch on site.

The eight standard tents each have indoor and outdoor showers, a fan, mosquito nets, and a deck facing the water. The family tent adds a separate twin bedroom and suits children from six years. A swimming pool, open-air lounge, and thatched dining area and bar make up the communal space. Laundry and airport transfers are included, and the camp has internet access.