BOTSWANA 2024 BY NEIL AND GERALD
October is a popular time to tour Botswana. Being the end of the dry season, bush is sparce which makes for good game viewing. This year, we were fortunate to see many wildlife during our trip.
Another side of touring in Botswana during October is the heat. October is known as the Suicide month with temperatures reaching 40C and above on a daily basis. Without any cloud cover, we experienced the Kalahari at its hottest and driest than its been in many years. A state of disaster was introduced in Botswana in October due to the ongoing drought.
We had a convoy of seven vehicles for the trip and were able to move along fairly quickly through our travels. The size of our group was ideal for game spotting and socializing around the campfire at night with lots of war stories each evening. Things that members of the group did or did not do never went unnoticed which made the “Straf Dop” court session a lot of fun. Brandy and ginger biscuits was the preferred sentence for the deserving recipients.
Our first night was at Khama Rhino Sanctuary, just outside Serowe. Serowe is the home of the Rhino in Botswana where they are bred under tight security before being released into the wilds once they reach the right size and age. Everyone got to see the Rhino on their game drive before nightfall and our first braai as a group together. More importantly, Serowe is also the home to one of Halfway Toyota’s Botswana dealerships.
Next up was on to Khubu Island, a sacred rocky outcrop in the middle of the huge Magadigadi Pans. The Magadigadi was once a massive big lake fed by the flood waters, coming down from Angola in the north. Over time, the earth tectonic plates shifted causing rivers to flow in different directions and the lake dried up. The pans do still receive water in the years where there is good rainfall. The area becomes a treacherous place to drive across and may even become a no-go area until it dries up. Driving across those vast open pans is really special and something that is not often experienced elsewhere.
After one night at Khubu it was on to Mau in the North where we could stock up before heading out North for six days into the reserves. The Okavango delta forms a large part of Moremi game reserve where we spent the first three nights on the edge of the delta at Xakanaxa camp. Moremi is a really special place where one get to experience nature at its best. There are no fences and the game are free to roam through the campsite, which they do, especially the elephants. Remembering that we are guests in their area, bearing in mind that they are wild animals to be treated with respect, we were privileged to have them in such close quarters to us.
From Moremi it was on to Chobe National Park in the North to Savuti Camp. We were lucky to camp in the wild without fences or boundaries. Like Moremi, we were very fortunate to see a vast variety of game at close quarters. Lions were spotted every day and on one day in particular we saw three different prides, one was a pride of 11 which included seven cubs. Savuti camp is currently a dry camp, with the Savuti channel which was a strong flowing river flowing through the camp, having dried up many years ago.
Because it was the dry season and in a period of drought, the conditions made the soft sand roads very difficult to navigate in many places. Most definitely the worst that we have seen it in years. Our 4x4’s worked hard as we rocked and rolled in 4 wheel drive over the many kilometers' deep ruts and grooves. Needless to say, there were a few recoveries done with the snatch strap on occasions. Lowering tyre pressures was essential for the soft sand and then of course the right amount of momentum to keep you going. The dust was another factor, it was really thick in places and difficult to see the vehicles in front and behind you.
But that’s what travelling in Africa is all about and just why we love the location so much, absolutely no desire to live anywhere else. Roll on 2025.
