Makgadikgadi Pans National Park
The Makgadikgadi Pans consist of two major basins, relics of one of the world’s largest super-lakes. The Makgadikgadi dried up thousands of years ago as a result of the continued shifting of the earth’s crust. When the lake was formed, some five to seven million years ago, its shores were the setting for the mysterious transition from ape to man.
Image supplied courtesy of Uncharted Africa
The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park includes a portion of these enormous pans, which are almost devoid of human habitation. However, the existence of villages on the periphery and in between the pans is evidence that the area has supported people as far back as the stone-age. Today the area contains large numbers of animals who migrate to grasslands in the west of the park after the rains.
Journeying into this magical land and across the desolate pans, you somehow feel its ancient mystique. The subtle hues at sunset transform Makgadikgadi into a surreal wonderland, which is unlike anywhere else. During the day the dusty pans, with whirlwinds skirting across a seemingly endless desert, offer the best way to come face to face with true isolation.
But Makgadikgadi is not always dry. The pans fill with water during the rains from mid-November and mostly retain their water into April or May. The "thirstlands" are then transformed into great sheets of water, which attract a spectacular array of waterbirds and trigger dramatic migrations of wildebeest and zebra to the pans.
During the dry winter months, the migrations move westwards to the water available in the Boteti River but many desert-adapted creatures remain resident. These include meerkats, yellow mongoose, ground squirrel, aardwolf, African wildcat, caracal, spring hare, porcupine, steenbok, kudu, jackal, honey badger, genet and very occasional lion. This is also the domain of the brown hyena, a shy and elusive creature, as well as suricates, aardvarks and small bustard species.
Birdlife is excellent, particularly in the wet season when the pans are home to a massive number of migrant waders. During the dry months, bird species include large numbers of white-backed and lappet-faced vultures, bateleurs, tawny and martial eagles, black-breasted snake eagle, lanner and red-footed falcons, gabar and pale chanting goshawks. Also, red-billed and orange river francolin, ostrich, secretary bird, guineafowl, black and red-crested korhaan, kori bustard, crowned plover, double-banded courser, spotted dikkop, all species of sandgrouse, giant eagle and pearl-spotted owls, lilac-breasted and purple rollers, large numbers of hornbill species and a huge number of LBJs, larks, cisticolas and pipits.
In the wet season, these are joined by sandpipers, ruffs, greenshank, stilts, pratincoles, wattled cranes, storks, egrets, lesser and greater flamingos, spoonbills, terns, teals, ibis, Montagu's and palid harriers, brown snake, steppe and Wahlberg's eagles, lesser and rock kestrel, swallows, swifts and martins.
|
 |
|
Central Kalahari