The Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana

They are the dried bed of an ancient super-lake, once the size of Switzerland, that covered much of northern Botswana until it evaporated around ten thousand years ago. Today they form one of the largest salt-pan systems on earth, dominated by the vast Ntwetwe and Sua pans.

It depends on what you want. The dry season (May–October) is ideal for salt-pan sleep-outs, quad-biking and meerkats. The green season (December–April) brings the zebra migration, predators and flamingos. Both are superb but very different.

Yes. In the dry season, camps run quad-bike sleep-outs where guests spend the night on bedrolls in the open on the salt pans, beneath one of the darkest skies on earth. It is a signature Makgadikgadi experience.

Yes. Long-running habituation means the meerkat colonies are entirely relaxed around people, going about their morning routine within arm's reach — and occasionally using a still guest as a lookout post. They are wild, not tame, but wholly unbothered by visitors.

The Makgadikgadi–Nxai Pan zebra migration is the second-largest terrestrial migration in Africa. From December the herds move onto the green grasslands to foal, followed by lion, cheetah and hyena — a dramatic green-season spectacle.

After good summer rains, Sua Pan can host tens of thousands of greater and lesser flamingos, one of southern Africa's key breeding sites. Numbers vary year to year with rainfall, so flamingos are a green-season bonus rather than a guarantee.

Most travellers fly in by light aircraft from Maun or Kasane to the camps' airstrips, often combining the pans with the Okavango Delta. The northern pan edge around Gweta is also reachable by road.

Kubu Island is a granite outcrop on Sua Pan crowned with ancient baobabs and ringed by fossil beaches — a national monument rich in San legend, reached across the dry pan by quad bike or 4x4 in the dry season.

Yes. Camp Kalahari in particular is family-friendly, and meerkat visits and San walks delight all ages. Quad-bike sleep-outs and some activities have age guidelines, so check with individual camps.

Two to three nights allow time for meerkats, a sleep-out or migration drives, and a San walk. The Makgadikgadi combines beautifully with the Okavango Delta and Chobe on a Botswana circuit.