Sep 1 – Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana

We were scheduled to leave mid morning for a flight to our next camp.  We sat on the plane for a while as the flight crew and camp staff unloaded a bunch of supplies that the plane brought in. 

Then it was off to our next camp.  The view from the plane went from wet and green to eventually dry and brown. 

Some interesting history on the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Pans.  A couple million years ago (to about 10,000 years ago) there was a massive, paleolake, Lake Makgadikgadi in this area.  This lake was about the size of the country of Switzerland and the guides said it was the largest inland fresh water lake that has ever existed in the world.  It was fed by the Okavango, Upper Zambezi and Cuando rivers.  And the lake emptied into a river that ran to the Indian Ocean.

Simplistically stated, scientist think that various geological events eventually separated two areas of the lake with upstream portion continuing to get water and becoming the Okavango Delta.  The downstream portion eventually dried up and left the Makgadikgadi Pans, one of the largest salt pans in the world. 

On a side note, scientists also believe that this region is the homeland of Homo Sapiens, evolving as a distinct species about 200,000 year ago. 

Our landing strip was reasonably paved but other than a small shelter it was obviously a very remote airstrip.  Then it was a bumpy drive on sandy roads to our next hotel, Leroo La Tau (Lion’s Paw).  The camp is a sister camp of Camp Okavango.

The entrance to the national park.

A fence around a nearby field. 

The ferry crossing for the river...when it has water in it.

The camp sits on the bluff above the dry riverbed of the Boteti River. 

In the late afternoon the riverbed filled with hundreds, or maybe thousands, of zebras coming to the water to drink.  There were also a number of elephants and a few wildebeests, but it was mainly zebras.  These photos are from the several days that we watched the animals gathering around the various water holes.  

There were lines of zebras coming down the hillsides on the opposite side of the river. 

There were a few elephants.

One pool had a large bloat (or herd, but we like bloat...sounds sort of poetic) of hippos...

and a small herd of impalas.

There were even a few wildebeests.

But, by far, the stars of the riverbed were the zebras.  

And in the late afternoon, with the light behind them and the dust kicking up, it was rather mystical and magical.

A wide panorama of the riverbed at the foot of our camp.

We had an evening safari that took us to one of the watering holes.  The drought is quite bad here so in order to help the wildlife survive the government has installed pumps that regularly pump ground water into the watering holes to help the animals survive.  

The drive was through an area with many beautiful and artful trees.  We decided to lots of photos of them. 

That evening, the camp choir sang to us before dinner and the staff then introduced themselves and told us about our dinner.  And interesting routine.