BOTSWANA HIGHLIGHTS MAKGADIKGADI PANS NATIONAL GAME RESERVE


Pans' people T


owards the northeast of Botswana, in an area roughly the size of Portugal, is a stark, flat and


featureless terrain which seems to stretch and stretch until it meets and fuses with the horizon. This is the Makgadikgadi. Part of the Kalahari Basin, yet unique to it, it is one of the largest salt pans in the world. For much of the year, the majority of this desolate area remains waterless and arid and therefore the large mammals are generally absent. But during years of good rains the two largest pans – Sowa and Ntwetwe – flood, attracting huge herds of zebra and wildebeest to the grassy plains. This water also brings flocks of flamingo in numbers which can run into tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands, as they use this as their breeding grounds.


DAVID LIVINGSTONE


During the time of the rains, the pans can be trans- formed into shimmering lakes giving a clear indication of the gigantic, prehistoric lake the Makgadikgadi once was. Research has shown that the Makgadikgadi is a relic of what was once one of the biggest inland lakes Africa has ever had. Africa’s most famous explorer, Dr David Livingstone,


crossed these pans in the 19th century guided by a massive baobab, Chapman’s Tree – believed to be 3,000 to 4,000 years old, and the only landmark for hundreds of miles around.


The Makgadikgadi is in fact a series of pans. No


vegetation can grow on the salty surface of the pans, but the fringes are covered with grasslands. Massive baobabs populate some fringe areas creating dramatic silhouettes in the setting sun.


STONE AGE RELICS


The Makgadikgadi Pans Game Reserve at the west- ern end of the pans incorporates the western end of Ntwetwe and meets Nxai Pan National Park. In the wet season this area can offer extremely good game viewing, particularly when large herds of zebra and wildebeest begin their migration to the Boteti region. Other species include gemsbok, eland, giraffe, spring- bok, all the predators and the rare brown hyena. Humans have inhabited areas of the pans since the Stone Age, and have adapted to geographical and climatic changes as they have occurred. Archaeologi- cal sites on the pan are rich with Early Man’s tools and the bones of the fish and animals they ate. One of the most popular destinations on the


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Makgadikgadi is Kubu Island, a rocky outcrop near the south-western shore of Sowa Pan. This crescent-shaped island is one-kilometre long and many rocks on the island are covered in fossilized guano, from water birds that once perched there. Apart from the eerie isolation of this remote


area, Kubu is rich in archaeological and historical remains. Stone Age tools and arrowheads can still be found along the shorelines of this tiny island; and a circular stone wall and stone cairns suggest that Kubu may have been part of the outer reaches of the Great Zimbabwe empire. Botswana’s first community-based conservation


Clockwise from top: A lioness stalks a herd of springbok; A handsome kudu; Baobab trees; Elephants wander away from a watering hole at dusk


project is managed and staffed by residents of the local communities around Nata and is known as the Nata bird sanctuary. Proceeds from the tourism activities in the sanctuary are shared by the com- munities for development projects. Covering an area of 250 sq kms, with both grass- lands and pans, it is an environmentally-sensitive area. When there is water in the pans, thousands of flamingos, pelicans, ducks and geese congregate. •


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Shimmering lakes, huge flocks of flamingos, massive baobab trees, migrating wildebeest and Stone Age relics make this remote and ancient land a special place to visit


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