Several thousand years ago, Lake Makgadikgadi dried up leaving behind a cluster of salt pans surrounded by Kalahari desert. The pans are now seasonal, filling only after rains when they become a haven for migrating birds, wildebeest and zebra.
Covering an area of 16,000 square kilometres, they are amongst the largest salt pans in the world. At first blush it's a bleak, featureless and hostile environment especially in the blistering heat of summer.
It was on our agenda primarily because of the resident meerkats. However the experience of the 'great nothing' has much more to commend it.
Image: The photogenic and much photographed Cobra, a long time guide at Jack's Camp. Cobra is a Sowaquai Bushman.
