Day 15
Chill out in camp in Etosha as we both needed a break from the constant driving. Minor checks and repairs to car, some work emails etc
Day 16
Big driving day from Etosha eastern gate to Ngepi campsite on the banks of the Kavango river, just as it diverts south into Botswana to form the world famous Okavango Delta.
We arrived in camp late: just before sunset. I would have liked to have been here earlier to enjoy the river view more. The campsite is lovely: a riverside pitch, and loads of character to the site.
The shower blocks are pretty funky: open-air with reed privacy screens and jungle plants growing around you. For those of you old enough to remember, it feels like the Aztec Zone on the Crystal Maze. There are Hippos in the river in front of us, grunting loudly and flicking turds around as is their way. Another top campsite in Namibia!
We sat around the campfire drinking Vodka & tonic, chatting and listening to the wildlife. There was plenty going on. Hippos all night, although none came through camp. We also heard loud trumpeting Elephants, far off in the distance.
This camp is sat opposite the Buffalo Core area, adjacent to the Mahango Core area of Bwabwata National Park. It’s a transit region for animals crossing from Zambia, Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Day 17 – Along the Caprivi strip
The temperature dropped fairly cold again last night, although it didn’t drop as low or as quickly as in Etosha. Suma got spooned across the tent again.
We awoke early to a noisy chorus of birdsong. This area is a birders paradise.
The week ahead will see us going deeper into this lush region of rivers, swamps and abundant wildlife. I expect we will be paying a lot more than £20 per night when we reach Botswana!
We drive around the Buffalo Core area in the morning (£10 entry, also covers Kwando core area, which we didn’t see but would be spectacular).
We saw: Elephant, Buffalo, Kudu, Impala, a tiny antelope species yet to be identified, vervet and warthog. Also for the first time ever, Sable Antelope.
Leaving the Buffalo Core area, I forgot to close the side door on the rear canopy, so we lost some stuff and had to backtrack 20 miles to retrieve it. We found the expensive MSR cookset at the roadside but lost some plastic cups. Could have been a lot worse!
It was around 180 km of straight fairly boring driving on tar roads to our next stop along the Caprivi strip. Mostly thin forest, with a diversity of tree species we just don’t see in Europe. There were a lot of traditional villages either side of the road; very neat circular huts precisely made from wood & thatch, enclosed by a wooden fence to keep the wildlife out.
We paid 250 NAD (£10) for a campsite in Mudumu game reserve on the banks of the Kwando river. Weaving our way through sand tracks to our remote riverside pitch, there were many signs of Elephants.
When we arrived at the first campsite there were 2 families of Elephants out in the river in front of us. It was stunning. Wilderness at its best.
There were no toilets, washing or shower facilities though. Suma didn’t like how remote it was and how vulnerable we were to wildlife. She put her foot down, I sulked and we drove to find another campsite.
We found Livingstone campsite about half an hour down the road, just outside Nkasa Rupara NP. It’s more expensive at £37 per night for the pitch. There are proper toilets & showers etc, the pitches are enormous and secluded.
It is still unfenced, and still in a wildlife area so you can’t piss about walking off into the bush at night or go for a morning jog (not like I would).
The camp is in the Linyati swamp area, a stones throw from the famous Chobe / Savuti area of Botswana. It’s dry right now, so no swamp.
So far, it’s quiet: I saw some baboons and warthog earlier out on the dry plains but we will see what the evening brings. We heard distant Lions roaring.
Day 18 – Crossing to Botswana
Today was border crossing to Botswana at Ngoma Bridge. It was really easy, we were through in 45 minutes. It would have been a lot longer if we hadn’t have just got in front of a coach load of Tunisian tourists. Unusually there were no ATM’s, SIM card sellers or currency exchange at the border.
At the first fuel station we topped up the tank. Their card machine wasn’t working but they accepted USD. The only rub was the tragic exchange rate: we paid $80 USD for 40 liters of diesel.
We needed money, phone SIMs and food so we had to head to Kasane, 50km away in the wrong direction for us. Unlike Namibian supermarkets, there were no hoards of beggars hassling us outside. Botswana is quite a rich country.
We looked in at the Chobe Safari Lodge, but they had no available camp pitches. It was heaving with high-end tourists. After almost 3 weeks of living feral, being surrounded by 5 star luxury felt wrong, so I happily drove off to the next campsite.
It was pretty nice. Everything in Botswana so far has been twice the price of the Namibian equivalent. So far it hasn’t been twice as good, but we will see what the next few days bring.
The campsite owner told us that our planned ‘4 hour sand track amble’ to Khwai was more like a 9 hour grueller, and that the Savuti campsite at the halfway point would be fully booked. People visiting Botswana usually have to book campsites at least 12-18 months in advance. Booking ahead doesn’t fit with our travel style.
Our plan had changed: we were to head to Khwai the long way round via Nata & Maun.
The campsite owner advised us to do a river drive down towards Kasane – the region is in the middle of a drought so the game has all been forced north onto the banks of the Chobe River.
Day 19 – Chobe NP & Ihaha camp
We took the camp owners advice and had a fantastic morning game drive through Chobe NP, exploring along the riverbank and the sandy hinterland tracks.
There’s loads of game around: all the usual suspects. There are lions here but we couldn’t find them.
At lunchtime we stopped in at Ihaha camp along the river bank, on the off-chance that they had a camp pitch available for the night. Result! They did. We just had to drive down to the pitch to make sure it was up to the princesses high standards.
This camp is unfenced and next to the river in an area with lots of game, including several lion prides. We chatted to a South African chap a few pitches down from ours, who assured Suma that everything would be fine, provided you follow the normal fairly basic common-sense night-time rules: don’t wander off, drive to the toilets, and close your feckin tent. Hearing advice from a such a knowledgeable & seasoned traveller helped put Sumas mind at rest. Ihaha has a reputation for thievery from Namibians crossing over the river, so we will be locking up all our shit.
Our Afrikaaner friend also gave us some great advice about Savuti and Khwai as he had just been there a few days previously. He said the sites will likely be booked, but just turn up anyway. People booking so far in advance often change their minds and dont cancel, leaving lots of emptying pitches at otherwise fully booked sites. They have spare pitches that they leave for emergencies, so they will always find room for you if you ask nicely.
And so the sand road route to Khwai is back on. So far I’m really liking driving on sand. It’s usually nice and soft, not corrugated but rutted, and you need some power to get through it.
So here we are sitting looking out over the dry plains, with several large herds of buffalo snoozing and grazing the plains opposite. Also in the far distance is a huge herd of Zebra. The views are great. We were told there were lions passing through last night and this morning, and I can see a single set of lion prints in the sand running through our pitch.
We were treated to a stunning sunset. The 2 large herds of Buffalo merged together, there’s an Elephant about 150m away, various birds and a few baboons mooching around. It’s very peaceful & quiet. Time to start the fire and kick back with a vodka & tonic.
Another fantastic camp spot. Ihaha is blessed with both stunning views and abundant wildlife.
Day 20 – Savuti Camp Chobe NP
Big long sand drive today. We left Ihaha early and headed to Kasane to stock up and contact family. Josh turned 13 today but we didn’t get in range of a phone mast in time to wish him happy birthday before he went to school.
After stocking up we headed back along the slow boring road from Kasane to Ngoma again, then turned towards the dirt road south west towards Maun: almost 300km of rutted sand roads lay ahead, with a stop off halfway in Savuti Camp planned. We were stocked up with 180 litres of diesel again.
The sand road was fine. It was quite rutted and had some hard corrugations, with some softer parts that needed 2nd gear and plenty of throttle to get through. I only had to put it in low range once when I went past a turn off and got a bit crossed up in the sand ruts.
We hadn’t booked a camp in Savuti, at the Northern Goha gate we were told that the camp was fully booked (as expected). They also mentioned that if we asked nicely they may let us stay on one of their reserve pitches.
We arrived in camp around 2pm, and the friendly staff were good enough to let us stay on one of the reserve pitches. It was close to the ablutions block, built like a WW2 bunker to keep the elephants from destroying everything in their search for water.
The pitch was large and sandy. In the UK we would build 10 houses on land this size.
After a quick drink and rest we headed back out for an afternoon game drive. There was plenty of action at the waterhole, which we kept circling back towards after exploring some sand loop tracks.
Suma kept disturbing the waterhole quietness by loudly giggling at a Buffalo with the largest testes ever.
The camp gates close at sundown so we headed back with enough time for a shower before it got dark. Being unfenced and near a waterhole meant we had to stay close to the tent again. Although we felt less vulnerable on the reserve pitch as it was right in the centre of camp.
We heard Lions and Elephant all through the evening, the sound coming from the direction of the nearby waterhole.
Day 21 – Savuti to Khwai
We agreed a price of $50 USD with a guide to sit in our car and try to lead us to either the Marsh Pride or the Northern Pride. Both prides are made famous by regular appearances on Discovery Channel.
We drove around for 4 1/2 hours but unfortunately didn’t see any Lions. The scenery was lovely, and we saw plenty of other animals.
We dropped our guide back at Savuti camp and headed south towards Mababe gate on the Marsh Road. This is not drivable in the wet season but is fine in the dry – baked hard rutted grey trails.
It was a very long day driving today, all the miles were either sand or dirt: deeply rutted, twisty and very pleasant for most of it. There was no wildlife in the 60km from Savuti south as there is no water. Approaching Mabebe gate the wildlife density increased as there was a waterhole nearby.
We checked the Garmin and Magoltho camp came up. I recognised the name from some YouTube videos I had watched, so we set course for there, only 13km away. We were both pretty worn out after 7 hours of constant off-road driving, so the last stretch felt a bit arduous. The gravel road section was in terrible shape. And the last push to camp was like a full on sand trail game drive going further into the bush: elephants blocking the way, deep sand etc.
We eventually came across the campsite, it was spread out over a large area and it took a while to find reception. It is a community camp, where we have found if you substitute the word ‘community’ for ‘shit toilets’, you’ll have a better idea of what to expect.
Again, since we hadn’t booked in advance, and it was getting close to sunset, I turned on the charm to see if they would let us stay for the night.
It turns out that being polite to people in Botswana can curry many a favour.
Despite the shit toilets and cold showers (which Suma strongly disapproved of) the camp is one of a kind, and if you can blag a pitch here it is so worth it.
On our pitch there were a family of elephants munching the perimeter trees when we arrived. They ignored us as we cooked tea (veggies for Suma and a peasant/student meal for me: noodles & corned beef).
We were told lions had been spotted along the riverbank, heading in our direction. We neither saw nor heard them for the rest of the evening, although we made sure the camp fire was impressively big: there were a couple of part-burnt huge logs which we finished off. There were plenty of Zebra hanging around all evening.
We saw a very impressive full moon rise just after sunset. It was spectacular.
