On his two journeys to Lake Ngami, the 19th century missionary-explorer David Livingstone came this way with William Cotton Oswell.
They found the sand so heavy and the trees so thick that they abandoned most of their wagons and went on only lightly equipped.
It is perhaps as well to realise, while one drives through the country west of Makgadikgadi, that, for the whole way on your right (north or east) lies the Boteti River.
It's not always easy to recognize it as a river, but even in relatively recent times - early in the 20th century and certainly in the 19th - it flowed regularly here, and the southern end, between Xhumo and Mopipi, was a wetland full of birds and aquatic creatures.
It's hard to believe that now !
It is nearly 30 years since the Boteti has reached Mopipi, which has done only three times since 1963.
In fact, the large, dry pan (Mopipi) you see immediately to the south of the village was modified so that water could be pumped in from the Boteti, turning it into a huge reservoir.
From there, it was pumped the 50-add kilometres to Orapa Diamond Mine.
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