If there's one thing that the beautiful Southern African nation of Botswana is famous for it's diversity - with a rich variety of wildlife species waiting to be seen and vast landscapes begging to be explored. And when it comes to those landscapes, there's nothing quite like the jaw-dropping Makgadikgadi Pans.

Home to the world's largest salt pans, the Makgadikgadi offers a unique glimpse into Botswana's ancient geological past while at the same time serving up some of the most incredible, otherworldly scenery in Africa. It's a vast place, spanning some 16,000 square kilometres of mostly desolate, flat and forboding pans dotted with moonlike rock formations and islands where giant baobab trees flourish in a harsh, arid climate.

This endless sea of salt flats is transformed in the rainy season when it's submerged beneath a metre or so of water, becoming a lush wetland for a few short months, filled to the brim with life. During the long dry season, it can be explored on quadbikes, offering a unique way of experiencing this incredible destination.

With a number of fantastic lodges and camps around the Makgadikgadi's major regions of Ntwetwe, Sowa and Nxai pans, a visit to this amazing place is easy to arrange. Whether it's to the dense, dry woodlands that make up the eastern region or the dead-flat pans in the west, no trip to the MakgadiKgadi is complete without a visit to Kubu Island - a remote granite outcrop crowned with baobabs that's also home to prehistoric artefacts and stone ruins.

You can also take in the magnificent Baines' Baobabs named after legendary African explorer Thomas Baines, who immortalised this group of seven magnificent trees in a painting he made in 1862.

One of the best ways to explore the Makgadikgadi is with San Bushmen guides, learning about this fascinating place from these amazing First People who have lived here for thousands of years. If you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to go out onto the pans at night to marvel at the incredible night sky above it. This is one of the world's best natural planetariums where you can see the Milky Way in all her glory!

Why don't you get in touch to find out more about the Makgadikgadi and what Best African Safaris can do to get you there?