17 - The Magic of Makgadikgadi with Dr Sallie Burrough

Send us Fan MailDr Sallie Burrough knows the Makgadikgadi from the inside out by soil samples and mud. She  is Trapnell Fellow of African Environments at the University of Oxford, a Quaternary Scientist, National Geographic Explorer and leading expert on the prehistory of southern African saltpans. In this episode she shares why the pans matter academically, what makes them noteworthy and how their time scale is so vast it is hard to comprehend.The pans have been highlighted by many of my interviews and it was special to be able to share this place that has come up frequently with someone who knows it intimately despite not living in Botswana or visiting often.Please note that when Dr Burrough mentions looking for spear heads that these are ancient artefacts and their removal is illegal and not supported by Dr Burrough or this podcast. We both hope that this episode inspires to look more closely for signs of the lives lived in these places before you but ask that you please leave the sites as you found them as part of this very special place.Music track credits: Tafi Maradi Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/