Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Location: Map

Area: 12,000 sq km

 

Description of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park or a game reserve covers one of the largest salt flats in the World. It is situated in the North- east Botswana, surrounded by the Kalahari desert, and covers an area of 12 000 square kilometers. The best time to visit Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is during rainy season. Dry season turns this nature reserve in an arid and dry desert. Most of animals move out of region and the place pretty empty. However all this changes with the arrival of rains. Rivers swell, grass begin to bloom and two large pans, Sowa and Ntwetwe, draws thousands of birds and animals. Hordes of wildebeest antelope and zebras cover the grasslands. Hundreds of thousands of pink flamingos settle here. The movement of their flocks in the air is truly breath taking and well worth a visit.

 

Located at an altitude of about 900 meters above sea level. Most of the depression is occupied by the salt lakes Soa and Ntvetve, which turn into salt marshes in the dry season. McGadikgadi - one of the largest salt lakes on Earth, ranks first in the world in potash reserves. In the hollow is the Okavango River Delta.

Once there was a large lake in the hollow, covering an area of ​​more than 80,000 km² and having a depth of 30 meters. Such rivers as Okavango, Zambezi, Quando flowed into the lake. It began to dry out about 10,000 years ago.

McGadikgadi has a national park.