Nata Lodge sits about 10 km south of Nata on the A3, straight off the tar, in mokolwane palm and marula woodland near the north-eastern edge of Sua Pan. It exists because of where it is: Nata is the junction where the Maun road meets the Francistown–Kasane road, and almost every long Botswana drive passes through it.
Quick facts
- Area
- Makgadikgadi and Nata
- Property type
- Safari Lodge
- Setting
- Off the A3, 10 km south of Nata near the edge of Sua Pan
- Nearest park or reserve
- Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
Chalets, tents and camping
Twenty-two thatched chalets on stilts, en-suite and air-conditioned with private balconies, plus ten en-suite Meru-style safari tents on wooden decks. Family chalets and one mobility-accessible chalet are available. A campsite with hot and cold showers runs alongside.
Facilities at Nata Lodge
A swimming pool, an à la carte restaurant and bar, a curio shop, Wi-Fi, laundry and — unusually and usefully — a fuel station on site. Excursions run to the Nata Bird Sanctuary and onto the salt pans, and quad biking is offered.
Location and access
Directly off the tar A3, roughly 180 km north of Francistown, on the right-hand side. All vehicles, no 4×4 required. Tracks4Africa also records a landing strip.
Why the A3 stop matters more than it sounds
Botswana’s distances are long and its road network is thin. Maun to Kasane is around 600 km; Maun to Francistown is around 500. Both run through Nata, and both are more than most people want to drive in a day, especially with a border or a park gate at the end.
A fuel station on the property is the detail that turns this from a nice lodge into a useful one. Our self-drive guide covers the fuel intervals on these routes, which are longer than European or American drivers expect.
The pans are the reason to stay two nights
Most people stop here for one night and drive on. If you can spare a second, the Nata Bird Sanctuary at the edge of Sua Pan holds flamingo in numbers in wet years, and the pan itself is one of the strangest landscapes in southern Africa.
Whether the flamingos are there depends entirely on whether the pan has water, which depends on the rains. We cannot tell you in advance, and neither can anyone else — our Makgadikgadi guide explains the pattern.
Who it suits
This is the standard breakpoint on the A3 between Maun and Kasane, or Maun and Francistown, and a considerably better one than the alternatives.
- Anyone driving between Maun, Kasane and Francistown, which is nearly every self-drive itinerary in Botswana.
- Self-drivers who need fuel, since the station is on the property.
- Birders in a wet year, for the Nata Bird Sanctuary at the edge of Sua Pan.
It suits you less as a destination in its own right. This is a staging post that happens to be pleasant, not a safari camp.
Check availability
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