DURATION: FREE TO GO ON YOUR OWN
Botswana: Star of the Desert
The Makgadikgadi Pans is a vast system of salt pans in the northern Kalahari, the remains of a giant ‘superlake’ that once covered the region. The entire Makgadikgadi ecosystem is said to be the size of Portugal. When the rains come, the pans fill with water and 700,000 flamingos come to feed on shrimps; the larvae of which have lain dormant in wet clay beneath the salt crust. Zebra and wildebeest move in, the second biggest ‘great migration’ in Africa.
But in the dry season, the dusty pans form an austere lunar landscape, surrounded by the golden grasslands of the Kalahari. It looks and feels hot and tough (Makgadikgadi means ‘dry, dry’) but the Bushmen know how to live here – and they’re far from alone.
No limit
FREE OF CHARGE
Including: Self-drive and guided activity
When the rains come, the pans fill with water and 700,000 flamingos come to feed on shrimps.
