Page 80 - Discover Botswana 2022 ONLINE

Previous pages: A curious pack of African Wild Dogs approach us in the beautiful hues of Botswana’s summer months. Light scenarios in our “green” season favor the intrepid photographer seeking colorful and contrasting images with powerful backgrounds.
Facing page right: Patterns in the sands of Makgadikgadi Pans are shaped by wind and water forming all sorts of shapes best viewed from above.
Below: The pink hues of Flamingoes, a common sight in the pans, stand out against the blues of both water and sky.
Oh to see our world in colour! That glorious reaction as reflecting light bounces off a surface, enters our eye, and transforms what we see from mere shapes and patterns into the rich tapestry of life. Yet do we know how lucky we are? As part of the old-world family of apes we are blessed amongst the beasts. Our eyes are able to see up to a million
different colours across the spectrum, far more than most other animals. When travelling to Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, one may be forgiven for assuming this to be a landscape of dull, lifeless shades. Yet I can tell you with all certainty that this ancient lakebed, over 16 000
square kms. in size, is absolutely bursting with colour.
To know this, one must understand that the Makgadikgadi system
is not just a salt flat. Rather, it is a series of salt pans interspersed with spiky grassland, colossal baobabs and a life-giving perennial river. The true beauty of this place is revealed to you time and again with that constant ebb and flow of the seasons. Just imagine, a crust of crystalised salt baking at over 50 degrees Celsius, heat waves cavorting across the surface, not a cloud in the sky. Two months later and flocks of flamingos strut through knee-deep water, the sky darkened with the underbellies of pregnant clouds. Streams of golden light, as if sent from the heavens, break through to reflect off the water.
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