Things to do in Botswana

Sleep under the stars on the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan

It feels like being in a real-life planetarium, and it’s incredible – you can see the milky way and just billions of stars above you…

By Ollie Maitapiso

Guide at Leroo La Tau

In prehistoric times, the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan was one of the biggest inland lakes in the world – it’s now a huge collection of salt flats, covering more than 6,000 square miles in total. It looks like the moon, and you get the sense it just stretches on forever.

At Leroo La Tau we’ve been offering daytrips here for a while, taking guests to the Nxai Pans, located around a four-hour drive from the lodge. But we wanted to offer a different experience, so over lockdown we started working on setting up a sleepout for guests wanting to stay in the middle of it. The experience is offered free for anyone staying three nights or more in the dry season (July to the end of October) and we take people out in groups of up to six, although it can also be booked privately.

It’s located around a five to six-hour drive from the lodge, so we leave straight after breakfast, stopping for lunch on the way and arriving late afternoon. For an extra charge, 30-minute helicopter transfers are also available, which take guests over the pans to see these vast, glittering landscapes from above.

On arrival, there are bedrolls laid out and a toilet – and then it’s just a huge stretch of white. We cook a traditional bush dinner, which is served round an open fire with drinks as we watch the sun set over the pans, which is spectacular. Then when it gets dark, the stars come out. There’s no light pollution here so it feels like being in a real-life planetarium, and it’s incredible – you can see the milky way and just billions of stars above you, so bright you feel like you could almost touch them.

In the morning, we serve a continental breakfast before making the journey back across the pans to the lodge, sharing stories from the experience.

It does get cold, so we tell guests to bring plenty of layers! But it’s well worth it. The best thing about it is the silence of it all – there’s nobody else for miles around, and you get a real sense of the vastness of these sprawling pans. That’s a great feeling, and I feel extremely lucky to be able to guide here.

Available in these itineraries…

Itinerary

Botswana Conservation and Community
by Dagmar Marrocco

Length9 Days

Price range£6,095 - £8,595pp

Alfred & Ollie Maitapiso

Ollie grew up in the village of Xaxaba in the Okavango Delta and began his career as a trainee poler in 1999, taking guests out on mokoro trips. He started guiding in 2004 and joined Camp Xakanaxa in the Moremi Game Reserve in 2007, before moving to Leroo La Tau in 2014.

Plan your holiday withAlfred&

Your journey will start with one of our UK team – someone like Louise, who's travelled extensively in Botswana. They’ll shape your ideas into the trip of a lifetime. But they won't do it alone. They'll draw on the expertise of our contacts on the ground, connecting you to the people who'll make your holiday one you'll always remember - the rangers who'll ensure you'll spot the best wildlife in Chobe, the village chiefs who'll give you an insight into local life and the helicopter pilots who can land you on an island in the Delta never visited by humans before.

Louise Dean

Africa Expert for Alfred&

When it comes to Africa, Louise is well versed. She’s flown into an empty Namibian beach to eat lunch on the aircraft wing, experienced Tanzania’s Great Wildebeest migration and listened to stories of the Anglo-Zulu War on the battlefields where it happened over a centennial ago. While she’s witnessed vast, incredible game including the last two northern white rhinos, it’s the people who she finds most inspiring; the native Maasai women whose lives are deeply rooted within the Olare Motorogi Conservancy and the local guides - resilient, highly knowledgeable, and ever smiling.
Harrison Mangwegape

Guide at Camp Xakanaxa

Harry was born in the Botswanan village of Thamaga, near capital Gaborone. He loved wildlife growing up and trained at the Okavango Guiding School in Maun to pursue his passion. He started working as a guide at Desert & Delta’s Savute Safari Lodge in 2010 and later joined Leroo La Tau in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, before moving to Camp Xakanaxa.
Keitumetse 'KT' Mogale

Guide at Camp Okavango

Keitumetse has been guiding for 12 years. He grew up in the village of Mogotho in the Okavango Delta and began his career as a tracker. He now leads walking safaris and game drives at Camp Okavango and enjoys sharing his stories with guests from all over the world.
Florence Kagiso

Senior Guide at Chobe Game Lodge

Florence grew up in a farming family in the Okavango Delta and has been a guide at Chobe Game Lodge for 17 years. When she joined in 2004, she was the first female guide at the camp - she now mentors a team of 17 women. Her work was recognised in National Geographic Traveller’s recent Reader Awards 2021, where she won The Innovator award.
Andrew Baker

Founder and Managing Director of Helicopter Horizons

Andrew grew up in Zimbabwe before moving to the US to train as a pilot. Botswana had always held a place in his heart, so he began his aviation career as a fixed wing pilot in the Okavango Delta. He founded Helicopter Horizons in 2004, offering photographic flights - without doors - for organisations such as the BBC and National Geographic. The company now offer scenic flights for tourists in the Okavango Delta, Linyanti region and the Makgadikgadi Pans, as well as transfers between safari camps.
Ollie Maitapiso

Guide at Leroo La Tau

Ollie grew up in the village of Xaxaba in the Okavango Delta and began his career as a trainee poler in 1999, taking guests out on mokoro trips. He started guiding in 2004 and joined Camp Xakanaxa in the Moremi Game Reserve in 2007, before moving to Leroo La Tau in 2014.