Makgadikgadi Pans National Park:

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park was declared a game reserve in 1970, but in December 1992 it was enlarged and declared a national park. Today it comprises 4 900 square kilometers. The whole reserve was once submerged beneath the ancient lake Makgadikgadi.

The valley in which the Boteti River is situated once formed the "neck" of the original hourglass shape of the ancient lake Makgadikgadi. The Boteti River today forms the western boundary of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.

About one fifth of the reserve comprises saltpans and the rest consists mainly of rolling grassland, which yields very nutritious and desirable grasses. These grasslands attract thousands of animals each year between October and April. Apart from the pans area and the grassland, there is the Boteti River with its thick sand and lush riverine vegetation.

Although the Boteti only occasionally flows to capacity, there are usually perennial pools in this river that attract waterbuck, bushbuck and have resident hippos. These diverse habitat types (namely: riverine woodland, scrubland, pure grassland, and saltpans) make the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park unique.