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Home -> Reviews & Tips -> Trip Reviews -> 2001 Safari
BOTSWANA SAFARI 2001
Monday 30th July
Palapye - Letlhakane - Rakops - Maun
Left Palapye at 11:30 a few hours
behind schedule. Our original plan was to get to Moremi Game Reserve and camp at
South Gate, but we hadn't long recovered from the flu so decided to go just as far
as Maun. We reached Maun just before 7pm and found Audi Camp. David and Phil set
up the campsite while I went back into Maun to get fuel - 173 litres at P2.22 a litre!
We then had dinner in the restaurant - very nice meal, and nice location, to be recommended.
Distance
travelled: 635km
Tuesday 31st July
Maun - Third Bridge - Xakanaxa
Left Maun at 8:30 and travelled the 95 km to Moremi Gate, mostly on gravel. Giraffe
and impala on the way. Paid park fees and after a bit of breakfast at the gate, left
for Xakanaxa. 
On the way we stopped at 3rd Bridge and Magwexhlana Pools. There was
a lot of water in the delta and some roads were quite tricky, especially near Xakanaxa.
The scenery was beautiful, with tall trees and lagoons. We reached Xakanaxa in the
afternoon, seeing elephant, zebra, lechwe, warthog, giraffe, crocodiles and other
game on the way.
At Xakanaxa we set up the campsite and went for a shower, the ablution block was
clean, a nice change from the last time we were in Moremi. Dinner was boerewors stew
with rice. Heard hyaena at sunset in the distance. Later in the evening, a wildlife
truck pulled up - 3 wardens got out and told us they were out setting traps for a
rogue leopard which had been destroying into tents at a private campsite not far
away. Just to let us know.....! A hyaena appeared round the side of the truck but
ran off when we went to investigate. Slept well - no leopard!
Distance travelled:
150km
Wednesday 1st August
Xakanaxa - Khwai
It was 9 o'clock by the time we left Xaxanaxa
for our next destination - Savuti in the Chobe National Park, 200km away, via Khwai
in north eastern Moremi. We had been told we couldn't use the direct road to Khwai
as it was underwater - so we were delayed. We arrived at Khwai and liked it so much
we decided to see if we could camp there and risk arriving a day late at Savuti.
We were granted permission eventually by the warden at the gate and set up our campsite
in a beautiful spot by the river Khwai. Almost immediately monkeys appeared, clambering
over the truck just metres from us. After collecting firewood we cooked a meal of
braaied meat, rice and stir-fried cabbage.
A game drive in the afternoon produced a great variety of wildlife - elephants, giraffe,
wildebeest, zebra, tssessebe, impala, wildcat and to our delight, a leopard (unfortunately
it was too far away to photograph). We then drove on to a lovely area called Dombo
Hippo Pools. We stayed there for about 45 minutes, watching the 18 hippo we counted
from the hide, then we went back to camp. We arrived to discover that we hadn't packed
all our food away in the truck and monkeys had got into a container and emptied packets
of custard powder everywhere! We cooked soup for tea and with the wonderful sounds
of hippo, monkeys, hyaena, owls and other wildlife surrouding us.
Distance travelled:
105km
Thursday 2nd August
Khwai - Savuti
Left Khwai rather reluctantly at around 10am for
Savuti. Bought cool drinks in Khwai village - picturesque village with a popultion
of about 300 people - many of whom make their living from selling thatch to the lodges
in the area. The road followed the river and we saw quite a lot of hippo etc. We
then
crossed the notrious area Maghwikwe sand ridge, where the 4 wheel drive was
put to good use. Shortly after crossing the ridge, we stopped to check if the equipment
in the back had survived the battering it had got so far and discovered the floor
of the loading bay was wet with a mixture of petrol and water. After emptying everything
out and found that one of the jerry cans in the crate was leaking. We emptied it
into the tank and secured the other 5 jerry cans. We then re-packed everything and
got off again - an hour wasted!
We arrived at the brand new Mababe gate to the Chobe National Park midday and waited
40 minutes before someone appeared! All we had to do in the end was to sign in!
It
was beginning to rain by the time we reached Savuti, and there were black clouds
on the horizon. We saw elephant, jackal, mongeese, wildebeest and other game - at
one point we came within less than 2 metres from an elephant when we had to turn
onto a track near to where he was feeding. David and Phil set up camp while
I went
out in the truck to collect firewood. When I got back to camp, we made a fire and
lit the gas and paraffin lamps. Then the wind suddenly got up, and blew the lamps
out. It started to rain more heavily, and we made a hasty decision to take the tent
down and abandon all thoughts of cooking! We bunged the wet tent and everything else
into the back of the truck, and grabbed a bit of food to eat in the cab.
We were visited
several times in the night by hyaena, the last time he made off with one of our saucepans
which we retrieved the next morning. Just before dawn we heard lions roaring somewhere
in the campground.
Distance travelled: 125km
Friday 3rd August
Savuti - Kachikau - Kasane
As soon as it was light we drove off to
look for the lions we had heard. We followed some tracks for a while but didn't find
them. Later on we came across two tour vehicles, they had seen a lion pride but they
had retreated into the bush.
Back at the campsite we disinfected everything the hyaena had got its teeth into and had a shower in the impressive new elephant-proof ablution block. After paying for the previous day (they were busy when we arrived), we set off for the north of Chobe, planning to try to get into Ihaha, the campsite we should have stayed in the night before.
After leaving the park we drove along the Chobe Forest Reserve cutline (which is
also used as a firebreak) - it was slightly longer than using the direct road but
a lot quicker as the track was new and the sand hadn't yet become churned up. We
joined the main road again just before Kachikau, and arrived at the Ngoma gate at
4 o'clock. The park warden was very arrogant and officious, and the fact that I had
failed to stop because the barrier was up made things worse. He wouldn't let us go
through because we didn't have a booking for that day, so we had to take the transit
road to Kasane, 70km away and camped at Chobe Safari Lodge. We had an excellent buffet
braai at the lodge, a nice rest from cooking and we had ran out of fresh meat and
vegetables anyway!
Distance travelled: 190km
Saturday 4th August
Chobe river front - Kasane - Nata
We decided to wake up early and
go into the park in the morning as we hadn't camped there as planned the night before.
We got in at 6:00 and spent 4 hours along the Chobe riverfront. We had breakfast
at 10 o'clock at Ihaha. Saw 11 lions on the way back crossing the water, also kudu,
serval, impala, baboon, warthog, bushbuck and elephant of course.
The Hilux had started to develop a cranking noise in the engine and the exhuast had been blowing badly since the last day and when we got back to Kasane we discovered there was hardly any exhaust left! We had planned to leave for Nata straight after we got out of the park but we had to find a garage, the only one open being at Kazungula on the Zimbabwean border. The mechanic there agreed to fix it, and after 2 hours we were off to Nata, arriving at 8:15. We filled up with petrol and drove to Nata Lodge where we set up the tent and cooked a meal of tuna, pasta and green beans.
On Sunday we went to Francistown to attend church meetings, getting back to Nata
in the evening, ready to embark on the second stage of the trip.
Distance travelled
Saturday/Sunday: 800km