Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

 

The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are the lowest lying areas of Botswana and consist of two large pans, Sau and Ntwetwe and a number of smaller ones that together are about the size of Wales.

They are a residue of a once great lake that covered this area. The lake was fed by rivers that brought with them the salts leached from the catchment area. Climate changes caused the lake to evaporate leaving behind salty deposits.

The landscape is extraordinary. During the scorching, dry winter months, heat waves cause strange mirages and optical illusions and animals or landforms seem to hover above a liquid sea. In September, the herds congregate in the west in anticipation of the rains. Wildebeest, zebra, impala, gemsbok, hartebeest and kudu wait expectantly around any depressions in the pan surface that might fill with water.

The rains eventually come in December and the desert-like surface of Makgadikgadi springs to life. Geese and ducks, flamingos and pelicans all flock to the area to feed on the now rich pickings of the Nata River. The partially filled pans attract a wealth of migrant species and, during particularly wet seasons, even elephant and buffalo will come here.

With thanks to Jack's Camp for the use of images