Salt flats as big as a small country
The Makgadikgadi Pans are the remains of an ancient lake, now a blinding white expanse of salt flats in the north-east of Botswana. In the dry season the silence and emptiness are overwhelming, and quad-bike trips cross the pans to sleep out under the stars. Habituated meerkats can be seen up close around the edges, and ancient baobabs such as Green's Baobab and those on Kubu Island stand like landmarks. After the rains, zebra and wildebeest migrate across the grasslands of Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, and flamingos arrive.