Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Parks

White Stork.

With all the rain we've been having and our reluctance to get involved in driving on untarred roads where the chances of getting stuck are non-zero, we decided that Friday we'd drive on the tarred roads  and visit the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans. These salt pans are the remains of large lakes that used to exist here. In the southwestern portion of Makgadikgadi there is still a lake, but it is much smaller than when Livingstone first saw it. Nowadays, there is a the A3 that cuts through the park area on the way from Maun to Francistown. We came to the edge of this before. This time we went all the way.

The African Elephant

On our trip to the edge of the Moremi Game Reserve, one of the splendid animals we saw was the African Elephant. I present him here for your enjoyment.

Large Moremi Wildlife

The Tsessebe Antelope, one of the uglier critters I've seen lately.

Not all the creatures we saw fit into the category of majestic or handsome. The Tsessbe Antelope is one of them. Face covered with sand from trying to ward of the flies, and just generally not a pretty face underneath.

So, let me tell you about the flies. OMG! There were places along the road where opening a window was scary. The flies were so numerous that the swifts were thickly swarming about scooping them up as fast as possible.