Page 67 - Discover Botswana 2021

salts. Over time and through evaporation these particles created a cement like surface crust, resulting in pans that are well suited to retaining water. Due to the high salt content of these depressions, they usually don’t allow for much vegetation growth apart from seasonal grass after the rains. These wide open areas, paired with artificial water points, make for exceptional game viewing.
The largest of Botswana’s salt pans are part of the Makgadikgadi basin. The highly saline soils here are toxic to most vegetation, meaning fewer large herbivores, which are replaced by smaller, well adapted creatures. For visitors, this is like stepping on to another planet, as the brilliant white surface stretches as far as the eye can see. In the marginal areas of the pans are found large forests of ancient Baobab trees.
The rocky outcrop of Lekhubu Island, and the famous Baines’ Baobabs, make for dramatic back-drops to the moon-like surface.
To add to this mix of extremes, the Kalahari is further influenced by a surge of water coming from the elevated regions of Angola via the Okavango Delta. After good summer rains the Okavango fills up with water that flows down from Angola. This spills over into the arid drylands, filling up dry river beds all the way through to the Boteti River, into Lake Xau and the Magkadikgadi Pans, triggering a unique wildlife spectacle.
A most unique and interesting phenomenon here concerns the zebra migration in the Makgadikgadi which is making a steady comeback, in spite of the constraints of human activity. Prior to the 1960s Botswana was home
Facing Page Left: Elephants are heavily reliant on water on a daily basis. A young calf slakes his thirst under the watchful eye of his Mother in Nxai Pan National Park. (Image: Sabine Stols)
Facing Page Right: Endearing Bat eared Foxes are common in the
dry Kalahari. Armed with incredible hearing and digging capabilities, they capitalize on subterranean life in the form of underground insect activity. (Image: Charl Stols)
Below: A silhouette of an Oryx against the setting sun photographed on the open plains of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. (Image: Sabine Stols)
KALAHARI
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