Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana
by Michael Lorentz
June in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pans is normally a time of floating dust and parched salt pans, a harsh kaleidoscope of empty browns. This vast salt pan covers an area in central Botswana the size of Switzerland. The heavy rains in early 2010 created the temporary paradise portrayed in this image, taken whilst flying high over Ntwetwe Pan in a helicopter. I was mesmerized by the constantly shifting shapes and hues, as these flamingos flecked pink over the shallow veil of water, their ephemeral form a reminder of the transient nature of this fragile land.
