The Makgadikgadi Pan is a large salt pan in Northern Botswana, the largest salt flat complex in the world. Natural salt pans are flat expanses of Ground covered with Salt and other Minerals usually shining white under the Sun. The Republic of Botswana (Lefatshe la Botswana is a Landlocked nation in Southern Africa. These salt pans cover 16,000 km² (6,177. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 6 sq mi) and form the bed of an ancient lake that started evaporating 10,000 years ago. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. The area is home to one of Africa's biggest zebra populations, and usually only quad bikes are permitted on the fragile plains in single file. Makgadikgadi is technically not a single pan but many pans with sandy desert in between, but it is all counted in the area estimate. The largest individual pan is about 5,000 km² (1,930. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 5 sq mi), and it is frequently covered with water. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia on the other hand is a single salt flat of 10,582 km² (4,085. Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world's largest Salt flat at 10582 km² (4085 square miles The Republic of Bolivia (República de Bolivia) named after Simón Bolívar, is a Landlocked country in central South America. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 7 sq mi) and rarely has much water and is also claimed to be the world's largest salt pan. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile.

Commercial operations to mine salt and soda ash began in 1991. Salt is a Dietary mineral composed primarily of Sodium chloride that is essential for Animal life but toxic to most land plants Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda or soda ash), is a Sodium Salt of Carbonic acid.

The main water source is the Nata River, called Amanzinyama in Zimbabwe where it rises at Sandown about 60 km (37. See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election Sandown is a Seaside resort town and Civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England, neighbouring the town of Shanklin The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand 3 mi) from Bulawayo. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, after the capital Harare, with a population of 676000 (UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator Zimbabwe 2005 now estimated

Kubu Island, a rock island, is within the Makgadikgadi Pan. Kubu Island is a dry Granite rock Island located in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park area of Botswana.

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is a National Park in Botswana. This is a list of National parks in Botswana, Africa. Central Kalahari Game Reserve Chobe National Park The Republic of Botswana (Lefatshe la Botswana is a Landlocked nation in Southern Africa.

First crossing by car

The Makgadikgadi was first crossed in a car by the presenters of British TV show Top Gear - Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, as part of a challenge to cross Botswana in second-hand two wheel drive cars, not built to go off-road, bought for under £1500. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Top Gear is a BAFTA, multi- NTA and International Emmy Award -winning BBC Television series about motor vehicles mainly Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960 is an English broadcaster Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969 nicknamed " Hamster " is a British Presenter of Radio and Television, James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963 is a British Television presenter and award-winning Journalist. Two wheel drive or 2WD describes vehicles with a Drivetrain that allows two Wheels to receive power from the Engine simultaneously See also Pound (currency.The pound sign (" £ " or " ₤ " is the symbol for the Pound sterling —the currency of the (Clarkson had previously crossed the Makgadikgadi using a quad bike. )^[1]

All three cars made it through the Makgadikgadi, although Clarkson and May had to reduce the weight of their cars (a Lancia Beta and Mercedes-Benz 230E respectively), as heavy vehicles tend to sink through the salty surface into the mud below, by removing seats, doors, windows and other bodywork - but were still too heavy and frequently broke through the crust of the saltpan, bogging down. The Lancia Beta is a car produced by Lancia. It was the first Lancia produced by the company after it had been taken over by Fiat in 1969 The Mercedes-Benz W123 cars were produced from 1976 through 1985 Hammond's unmodified 1963 Opel Kadett happily skittered across the surface, never losing traction. The Opel Kadett is a Small family car produced by the German automaker Opel between 1937 and 1940 then from 1962 to 1992 ^[2]

References

External links

• Images from the Mkgadikgadi Pans

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