Sunrise at the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana. The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is one of Botswanas lesser known tourist attractions. Theres not much to see there for the normal type of tourists, just as theres not much to see for the disinterested or the unknowing, in the Salar de Uyuni of Bolivia. However, if you have an adventurers heart beating inside of you, the very mention of the Makgadikgadi Pans, the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert of Botswana, will make your heart beat faster. Just to drive into the Massive salt pans alone is an adventure in itself. The powdery salt on the surface provides near zero traction, and just below the surface salt the material is like quicksand, making driving extremely difficult. But once you are inside, and camping out in the open where there is nothingness as far as the eye can see, the feeling is indescribable. The silence is deafening. Sunsets and sunrises are spectacular. And the feeling of isolation and being completely away from the rest of the world simply cannot be experienced elsewhere. Covering an area of more than 16,000 sq km, the Makgadikgadi Pan is not a single pan as its name suggests, but many pans interrupted by sandy desert in between. When the temperature drops at night, we’d build a campfire, boil water for coffee, and sit around trading stories while nibbling on potato crisps. When sleepy, we’d sometimes drag our camp beds in the open, lie back and count shooting stars to lull us to sleep. That’s how life should be lived and not wasted in front of a TV set. The second photo are my friends from Singapore, Larry and Daisy, savouring some never to be forgotten moments, watching the sun sink slowly below the horizon in the Makgadikgadi pan. The sky is first a golden yellow, then crimson, then Indigo, until violet consumes the senses, and everything turns blue black, preparing the stage for the next act - the twinkling of diamonds on a carpet of black, on a stage as far as the eye can see. By then I am already flat on my camp bed, out in the open, panning my eyes skywards, in my hotel of a thousand stars, counting not sheep but shooting stars to fall blissfully asleep. Oh, if only you could share the glow in my heart as I realize, how utterly insignificant we all are in the overall scheme of things. Yet humankind is so arrogant and cruel. And it is only humankind that murders out of anger, of lust, of hate and avarice. Animals kill only for food. When you travel to these magical places, you always return home refreshed, and forever changed by the experience. I just cannot understand why anybody would prefer St Petersburg, or Shanghai or even Paris as destinations to spend their childrens inheritance.... The third photo is Big Jack, a giant Baobab Tree growing for the last 1300 years in a spot just outside the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan in the arid savanna in Northeastern Botswana. The diameter of its trunk is more than 12 meters, and some are known to have diameters of up to 16 meters. It took 15 of us, joining hands before we could encircle Big Jack. The Boabab is quite common in the drier parts of Central and Eastern Africa. Ive also seen Baobabs in the Arabian Peninsula, India, Florida and in Australia where its called a bottle tree. The Baobab is called the Tree of Life. It can provide food and water. Old and mature Baobabs are often hollow inside, providing shelter and living space for humans and animals. In Africa, Ive seen huge Baobabs, hollowed out and used as bars, barns and storage places. The leaves can be used for medicines and flavouring for food. The fruit can be eaten and is called monkey bread. Its Vitamin C content is more than that of oranges, and calcium content higher than in cows milk. The tree can store thousands of litres of water in its cork-like bark, which can be tapped in dry periods. Fibre from the bark can woven into cloth and rope. With so many uses, its no wonder the Baobab is often called the Tree of Life. Radio carbon dating has shown than some Baobabs are more than 2000 years old. Big Jack is a national heirloom of Botswana, standing as a sentinel at one of the entry points into the Makgadikgadi Pan. Radio Carbon dating has shown that Big Jack is at least 1300 years old. When are YOU going to meet Big Jack? And when we left the sand and the salt of the Makgadikgadi Pan, we proceeded on towards the Okavango Delta, a very large inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough in the central part of the Kalahari Desert. All the water reaching the Delta is ultimately evaporated and does not flow into any sea or ocean. Needless to say, driving in mud and meter deep water, is a challenge not for the faint hearted. But thats another story....
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:26:41 +0000
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