By: Henrick Rahr, Colorado College
The Makgadikgadi Pans were formed from a vast ancient lake, one of the largest the African continent’s ever seen. The lake was formed by the convergence of many rivers from the north, including the Okavango River. Around five million years ago, due to some tectonic shifts, the lake began to dry up as the rivers were redirected elsewhere. After a long period of time, the dried up lake left behind large amounts of salt and endless pans filled with grasslands. Today, these pans get partially filled up with water from the wet season’s rain and then dry up annually during the dry season, leaving more salt deposits. The area is filled with a sea of different species of grasses and connects massive migratory corridors from the north in the Delta to the grasslands in the pan. Slowly, vegetation will creep into these pans and they’ll eventually turn into more wooded areas, but today, it remains a sea of grass.
We drove to Makgadikgadi from the city of Maun to reach our destination: “Tree Island”. This campsite was hidden in a cluster of trees that provides shade and green vegetation even throughout the dry season. After driving many hours in the flattest land you could imagine, we could make out the island from very far away (a few miles). When we arrived, we could see a small lake right next to the island no more than two feet deep at its deepest part. This was one of many such seasonal lakes that form during the wet season and provide good pans for migratory birds such as flamingos! We explored the lake and enjoyed the scenery; the bugs were unbearable and the shade limited, but the evening views astonishing.
My favorite moment while on this trip was an evening I had at camp while the others were enjoying a sunset by the lake. The sun was soon to crest over the flat horizon and the green grass endless from the view on top of the car. I sat there looking out when I spotted two large elephants slowly making their way in my direction. Dix and SB, two of my instructors, were enjoying the view and decided to join me on top of the car. Eventually, these two elephants were on the edge of camp and began eating the remaining vegetation on the island. We watched the elephants, who were no more than 55 feet away, and observed their behavior. From our observation, both were in musth (a period of high reproductive hormone secretion). They sat there for a long time eating away as the evening slowly turned into night, the sun cresting over the flat landscape and the stars illuminating the skies. I stayed on top of the car with Dix as the others met up with us at camp and we sat speaking about his life and his previous research experiences. In that moment, I felt that it was the most memorable of experiences I’d had since being here, not just for the elephants, but for the evening conversation with someone who lives across the world. This moment not only motivated me to come back, but it gave me inspiration to continue to travel as much as I can to meet more incredible people with entirely different life experiences… and to see more sunsets.