African Wildlife Environment Issue 75 FINAL

GENERAL

Salt pans McLeod, Grahame (2019). Makgadikgadi Pans: A traveller’s guide to the salt flats of Botswana . Struik Travel & Heritage, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 19x24 cm, 256 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs, maps and sketches. ISBN 978-1- 77584 -597-3. R230

underpin the economy of the town. Interestingly, when the Great Whites fled from the depredations of the two Orcas, a smaller species of shark called the Bronze Whaler moved in and revitalised the cage- diving industry to a certain extent. I found the book to be an excellent read, bringing together the stories of people and denizens of the ocean, and how their lives are intertwined in this corner of South Africa.

Hiking for flowers

Clarke, Hugh & Corinne Merry (2019). Q uick ID Guide: Wild Flowers of the Cape Peninsula . Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 15x21 cm, 527 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs, maps and sketches. ISBN 978-1- 77584 -640-6. R130 Written with the non- specialist in mind, this

Tucked away between the perennial waterways of the Okavango Delta and the arid Kalahari to the south, are the legendary Makgadikgadi Pans. Some 12,000 square kilometres in extent, these salt flats, consisting of two large salt pans, Sowa and Ntwetwe, and a myriad smaller ones, are Botswana’s best-kept secret and one of its fastest-growing tourist attractions. This first guidebook on the pans and their environs explores this fascinating region, bringing to life in ten chapters its geology, wildlife, vegetation, climate, local economy and key destinations: Nata Bird Sanctuary, Lekhubu Island, the Boteti River, Mosu Escarpment, Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Park, and the towns and villages that fringe the pans. Full-colour maps and more than 200 photographs support the text. Additional features include advice on where to stay; sights to see and how to get there; activities on offer throughout the year; contact details; and a travel advisory. Informative, practical and user-friendly, Makgadikgadi Pans is a beautifully presented, largish-format, colourful and inspiring guide for all visitors to Botswana and the alluring salt sea of the Makgadikgadi. The ‘contact’ section is particularly useful, listing as it does a wide variety of accommodation and activities, as well as various facilities such as medical assistance, and vehicle- and puncture-repair services. This book is a must for anyone planning a visit to Botswana, or folks compiling their ‘bucket list’ of special places to visit.

guide is a must-have for flower lovers, hikers, tour guides and tourists – anyone interested in identifying the wild flowers that grace the Cape Peninsula. This handy little book covers the most remarkable and commonly seen wild flowers of Table Mountain, Silvermine and Cape Point. It was originally published as Common Wild Flowers of Table Mountain in 2007, then revised in 2013 to include the flowers of Silvermine. This new edition offers 360 (previously 208) of the region’s most remarkable and commonly seen wild flowers; clear photographs of all featured flowers and concise, informative text; flowers grouped according to colour, to help with quick ID; walking routes in the Peninsula’s famed reserves, plotted on three clear maps; and an illustrated glossary of terms. Hugh Clarke is a retired businessman who has written books on such diverse subjects as botany, marketing and labour law. His love of hiking led to a desire to identity the flowers along the way. Corinne Merry has a PhD in Theoretical Physics (!), but hiking and photography keep her busy in retirement. Most of the excellent images in the book are hers. Here, once again, we see what can be achieved by our ‘citizen scientists’, notwithstanding being ‘senior citizens’. Congratulations on a job well done!

5 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 75 (2020)