6 Days Horse Riding Safari on the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

The six-day journey combines two nights at Camp Kalahari with two nights fly camping in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans and your last night back at Camp Kalahari. You’ll explore this vast and mysterious area on horseback, just as the earliest explorers, hunters and missionaries did. There’s also the chance to get up close and personal with the habituated meerkats of the Makgadikgadi, meet the Bushmen who call the desert their home, and search for rare and elusive desert-adapted species.

Day 1: Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

Staying at Camp Kalahari

Arrival at Maun airport early, meet with our representative and road transfer to the lodge. It takes about 5 hours to drive to camp, we will stop for a break at Planet Baobab. Depending on your flight arrival, one pre-night might be required. Arrive on time for a late afternoon meet up with your host, while you are being paired with your horse and enjoy an early dinner. Camp Kalahari is on Brown Hyena Island at the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. The camp is laidback, quirky and fun and the swimming pool is the ideal spot for some siesta-splashing.

Day 2: Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

Staying at Camp Kalahari

Kick off the day with a lengthy ride through the ancient lakebed, grasslands and sand dunes. In the afternoon, the horses will have a break as you head out on a game drive to search for the desert-adapted species.

Day 3: Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Staying at Xau Xai Fly-Camp

It will take most of the day to reach Xau Xai Fly Camp by horseback. You’ll canter through mopane and acacia woodlands, stop at the famous Green’s Baobab for lunch, and search for ancient hunting tools in Gutsa Pan, before arriving at the fly camp as the sun sets. During your time at Xau Xai Fly Camp, you’ll be staying in rustic but comfortable dome tents. Each has a private bathroom with a loo and bucket shower, and there’s plenty of hot water too. Meals will be cooked over the fire, and you will experience the magic of camping in the heart of the bush.

Day 4: Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Staying at Xau Xai Fly-Camp

Today you’ll meet the Kalahari’s fascinating habituated meerkats and enjoy a bush walk to a nearby water hole to look for some of the Kalahari’s bird species. There aren’t many experiences than can beat riding a horse through Botswana’s Makgadikgadi salt pans, especially when there’s wildlife involved too. You’ll ride alongside herds of zebra, wildebeest and hartebeest, and will probably encounter an ostrich or two along the way. There may also be a chance to see the black-maned Kalahari lion, and some magnificent birds of prey. And then of course, the habituated meerkat of the Kalahari. Meeting the cheeky creatures is a special experience, and on cooler days they’ll sometimes snuggle into you for warmth.

Day 5: Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

Staying at Camp Kalahari

Ride back to Camp Kalahari exploring another area of the pans. Arrive at the camp on time for dinner and a well deserved good night sleep.

Day 6: End Of the Tour

If time permits, spend the morning in a traditional Zu/’hoasi Bushmen village. You’ll meet the community elders, before walking with the Bushmen and learning how they survive in the harsh environment. In the afternoon, it’s time to bid farewell to your horse, and begin the journey home. Road transfer back to Maun airport via Planet Baobab, or extension of your trip with a charter to the Okavango delta.