Etosha Pan - Earthcache

The Etosha Pan

Formation of the Etosha Pan

In the center of Etosha National Park lies a vast salt pan surrounded by grass and thorn savannah, Mopane bushland in the west and dry forest in the northeast.

The pan developed through tectonic plate activity over 10 million years. About 16000 years ago, when ice sheets were melting across the northern hemisphere land masses, a wet climate phase in southern Africa filled Etosha Lake. Today seldom Etosha Pan is seen with even a thin sheet of water covering the salt pan. It is assumed that today's Kunene River fed the lake at that time but over time plate movements caused a change in river direction causing the lake to run dry and leave a salt pan. Now the Ekuma River is the sole source of water. Typically, little river water or sediment reaches the dry lake because water seeps into the riverbed along its 250-kilometers course, reducing discharge along the way. The meager vegetation gives the Etosha its characteristic green colouring. In particularly rainy years the Etosha pan becomes a lake approximately 10 cm in depth and becomes a breeding ground for flamingos, which arrive in thousands.

The Cache

To log this cache you need to do the following two things:

• Take a picture of you at the coordinates above and log it. It would be nice also to log your most spectacular picture(s) of the Etosha National Park.
• Answer the question: Which colour does the the sand have under your feet. Mail your answer to us.

Have a lot of fun,

road_runner & susi