16 Days Botswana / Vic Falls JHB – JHB 4 X 4 Safaris

Botswana is southern Africa’s largest and most authentic wilderness. This is a land of great contrasts. More than 70% of the country is covered by the vast and waterless Kalahari Desert, while to the north-west the Okavango River, born in Angola, flows east into the arid sands of the Kalahari Desert, spreading into a myriad of about 15,000 square kilometres of crystal clear water channels, rivers and lagoons, and creating what is known as one of the world’s last great wilderness areas, the Okavango Delta, the water eventually disappears beneath the ardent sands of the desert.

Day 1: Wednesday 8/11/2006 - We set off at about midday having completed all the introductions of the group of travellers 12 in all from Germany, and a crew of 4 – our German interpreter, a young college graduate just out of university having completed her degree in Eco-Tourism, an experienced cook, a Botswana guide and tour leader/truck driver. Our first night is in Yellow Wood Game Lodge, in the Waterberg, a short 4 hour trip up the road. A chance for our travellers to get acclimatised and a peaceful nights rest the journey ahead is exhausting and the jet lag takes its toll.

Khama Rhino Sanctuary - Camp

Day 2: Next morning up for an early breakfast, we set off and cross the border mid morning and after changing Pula (the local currency} we head of to Palapye and onto Serule, Khama Rhino Sanctuary is our first on introduction to wildlife, a reserve set aside by Ian Khama, Vice-President of Botswana, son of the founder of Botswana, who set aside some 4,300 hectares of land around the Serowe waterhole, about 25kms north of Serule. White Rhinoceros’ were transported into this reserve in order to protect their numbers against the ravages of poaching. The reserve carries a lot of plains game, including zebra, giraffe, gnu, Oryx, springbok and impala, but no predators. The tourists enjoy an open vehicle game drive during they take their first photo’s of rhino’s and the many antelope species. They return after sunset for their first night in the wilderness. Our first night of camping and life on safari. During the game drive the camp is all set up for them, tents are erected and dinner is prepared with fully prepared lamp lit tables and chairs ready for dinner. On their return the guest are allocated their tents which are fully equipped with stretchers, inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags and towels, all of which they will keep for the length of the trip in kitbags which stored separately in a trailer, which are specially designed with various compartments to include all the additional equipment needed for the safari such as the kitchen.

Central Kalahari - Camp

Day 3 & 4: Up early the next morning, to an early breakfast and our first attempt at moving camp, we do it all in good time and are on our way to the Central Kalahari by 08h30. This is the largest of all Botswana’s game reserves, our first encounter with the soft sands of the Kalahari. After some seven hours of travel, with rising temperatures we cross Deception Valley, located in the north-eastern sector of the land, and reach our camp by mid-afternoon. We all set up camp for two nights, and go for our first game drive, the kitchen staff remain to prepare the evening meal.

This is an opportunity to see the magnificent lions of the Kalahari with their black-flowing mains, and they did not disappoint, and we were to see lions on every game drive and an abundance of plains game, especially Oryx and Springbok which are in abundance in this part of Africa.

Bushman

Varying from sand dunes with many species of trees and shrubs in the north, to flat bushveld the central area, the reserve is more heavily wooded in the south, with mopane forests to the south and east. The people known as the Bushman have been resident in and around this area for thousands of years. Nomadic hunter gatherers, their lifestyles have gradually changed with the times and they now live in settlements, which are situated within the southern half of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

In this desolate area, water has to be treated like gold, all the water we have in the Kalahari we have to bring in ourselves, the shower system is so setup to allow you to shower with half a bucket of water.

We spend two nights in this wilderness, a desolate place like this where the Bushman believe that once visited a part of our spirit will remain there and roam free with the animals forever.

Day 5 & 6: After 2 nights in the Central Kalahari we pack up camp and head for Maun, thename is derived from theSan word ‘maung’, meaning ‘the place of short reeds’. The village began its life in 1915 as the tribal capital of the Botswana people, and its reputation quickly grew as a rough and ready place for local cattle ranchers and professional hunters with a Wild West atmosphere.

The day in Maun is designed to give our passengers the ‘mokoro’ride in the Okavango Delta and a walking safari on the islands, whilst we stock up for the next 4 nights in Moremi and Savuti.

Moremi Game Reserve

Day 7: We pack up early and head for Moremi. The Moremi Game Reserve is one of the most spectacular and beautiful parks in southern Africa. It covers more than 4,500 sq. kilometres of grassy flood plains in the north-eastern corner of the Okavango Delta. Apart from the savannah, the terrain includes winding waterways with banks of reeds, palm-covered islands, thick forests and lush, Lilly-covered lagoons where hippos languish in the heat of the day.

Here there is an abundance of wildlife including the big 5 along with cheetahs and wild- dogs that spend their days hunting in the open grassland. We spent our first night at Third Bridge. After our early morning game drive we decided to move camp higher up in the delta to Kwai. The sand roads when transferring from one camp to the next can be very soft especially in the midday sun, this was the one and only time that we really had to stop and dig ourselves out of the sand but for 50 metres we were home and dry.

Day 8 & 9: Kwai which is higher up in the Delta were there is considerably more waterways and better viewing of the cats especially leopards. Beautiful leopards were sighted allowing for some great photo’s, here their is plenty of wildlife including hippos very close to the camp. Rain was threatening for a couple of days, we had our first thunderstorm that afternoon before supper, so we erected the dining tent and supper was served as per usual, the rain had already gone Unfortunately, at breakfast and lunch we were molested by a troop of monkeys that continuously stole bread and fruit and whatever else they could get to. We did get some very good game sightings, especially hippos and crocodiles.

In the Delta the heat was not so intense and that made it a lot more comfortable for our guests from Europe, it’s a matter of acclimatising to the African summer.

Day 10: After breakfast we headed north to the Mababe depression and enter Chobe National Park at the Mababe gate, we were now enroute to our new campsite at Savuti. Chobe is the second largest national park in Botswana; it covers 10,566 sq.kilometers and can be divided into 4 parts. The first is the Chobe River and floodplain and teak forest, next is the Savuti Marsh in the west about 50 kilometres north of the Mababe Gate, then the Linyanti Swamps in the north-west and finally the hot dry hinterland in-between.

This is the reserve famous for its enormous elephant population that are so-called destroying the ecology because of over-population. Botswana hosts in excess of 100,000 elephants and is home to a quarter of the world’s elephant population. It is here that the Savuti lions prey on the elephant population.

Day 11: After we pack up camp and through the Chobe Forest Reserve onto our overnight camp at alongside the Chobe River very near to Kasane. We arrived early with the intention of setting up camp and for a sunset cruise on the Chobe River. We had no sooner completed lunch when the heavens opened and for a good hour it just rained in torrents and washed out the cruise. As a result of the rain we treated ourselves that evening to a very smart buffet dinner in the Chobe Safari Lodge.

Day 12 & 13: The day dawned and we rose at a more leisurely hour, game drives were over and after breakfast we crossed the border into Zimbabwe and headed for Vic Falls. The sun was shining again and the temperatures were rising once again and the journey took us through the Matsetsi reserve, it is not a long crossing and we were at our hotel before lunch. No more camping for 2 nights, with all meals prepared by the hotel, all enjoyed the break from camping. For the activities, apart from the Vic Falls spectacular which is an awesome sight, the helicopter rides and the micro light flights over the Falls are popular. Some did the rafting, but nobody did the bungee jumping. What did appear to be the most enjoyed was the elephant safari, it was very well organised and well put together. On the off day the staff packed out all the camping equipment to dry and clean it in the sun. It was a chance to wash all the sleeping bags and towels and clean out the fridges. It was like new once again.

Day 14: After breakfast, we leave Vic Falls and head back to Botswana, after crossing the border we do some shopping in Kasane for the return journey and head south to our overnight stop at Nata. On arrival we undertook our last game drive to the Nata Bird Sanctuary to see the enormous flocks of flamingos and pelicans, when there is water in the pan this is a birding paradise. Camp is setup for the last time, whilst most guests paid the difference and preferred to stay in the lodge for the night; we prepared our last evening meal around the camp fire and enjoyed our final night under the stars.

Day 15: Breakfast in camp for the last time after clearing up and packing all the kitchen utensils for the last time we head through Francistown and Palapye for Martins Drift and cross the border at the Limpopo River, for our last night of the tour at a very nice lodge at Laphalele(Ellisrus).

Day 16: We pack-up and leave at a more reasonable time giving everyone a chance at a reasonable nights rest prior to the long flight back to Europe. Our return to OR Tambo passes without any hitch. We enjoy a lunch in the restaurant over the highway where we say all our last farewells before dropping off at the airport. The 16 days have come and gone in such a hurry it’s often difficult to keep track. Our guest depart tired, having had a trip of a life-time, all had never camped before, some will never camp again, but there were those that will return to continue the adventure.