#4: Lake Makgadikgadi and the Illusion of Inland Water
Here, the truth is more interesting than a simple “fake lake” story. Southern Africa really did once hold a vast ancient lake in the region now associated with the Makgadikgadi salt pans of Botswana. What later observers encountered, however, was not a permanent inland sea but a broad, bright, seasonal landscape where salt flats and shallow water could play tricks on the eye. From a distance, reflective pans can suggest water where there is little or none.
