Sua Pan

The Sua Pan or Sowa Pan is a large natural topographic depression within the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana. It is located near the village of Sowa, whose name means salt in the language of the San.^[1][2] The Sua salt pan is one of three large pans within the Makgadikgadi, the other two being Nxai Pan and Nwetwe Pan.^[3]

The Sua Pan was first described to the European world by David Livingstone, pursuant to his explorations in this region.^[4] Significant archaeological recoveries have been made within the Nwetwe Pan, featuring stone-age tools from peoples who lived in this area when a large year-round lake occupied the Sua and Nwetwe Pans.

Currently, Sua Pan is a seasonal lake; it fills with water during the Summer rainy season and retains water until April or May.^[5] Among the more successful wildlife conservation projects in Botswana was the community-initiated Nata Bird Sanctuary in the northeast of this area. It opened in 1993 and was awarded that year the "Tourism for Tomorrow Award" for the Southern Hemisphere.^[6] It is supported by members of four nearby villages, who have helped make it a success.

Sua Pan is also the site of a sodium carbonate (soda ash) mining operation.

One of the tributaries of the Sua Pan is the Mosetse River. The village of Mosetse is named for it and lies along the river.

See also

• Mosope River
• Semowane River

References

• David Livingstone (1868) Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa: Including a Sketch of Sixteen Years' Residence in the Interior of Africa, Harper Publishers.
• C.Michael Hogan (2008) Makgadikgadi, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham
• Bryan Robert Davies and Keith F. Walker (1986), The Ecology of River Systems, Springer, 733 pages, ISBN 90-6193-540-7, ISBN 978-90-6193-540-7.

Footnotes

1. Sowa Pan. Botswana Tourism Board.
2. Murphy, Alan (2007). Southern Africa (4th ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-74059-745-6. OCLC 156530975.
3. B.R. Davies, 1986
4. D. Livingstone, 1868
5. http://makgadikgadi-pans.botswana.co.za/makgadikgadi-pans-climate.html
6. Chris McIntyre (2010). Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 387–. ISBN 978-1-84162-308-5. Retrieved 12 April 2011.

Coordinates: 20°45′S 25°57′E / 20.75°S 25.95°E