Botswana Botswana Daniel’s route 2024: Is dry season a better time?

[xelas]

Whoever finds the familiarity of the title, yes, I have used the one @Peter Connan used for his (ours) trip report from 2018. Mainly because for me, this trip was kind of a continuation from that previous one. And because it was a second visit to Botswana for me (and for Daniel). And because we have to start it twice.

 

Some history first; already back in 2018, Daniel @DanielBme commented about dry season months being much more favourable for self-driving adventures, and while mobile camping is a comfortable way to explore Botswana it is not the same personal hands-on experience as is the self-driving and camping one. Although back in 2018 I have no real "need" to return to Botswana, 3 years later, upon being contacted by Daniel with an idea of sharing a trip together, my aversion quickly melted away, and a year later I have expressed my commitment to join him. Daniel did all the heavy lifting of preparing, planning and booking the 16 days trip, and we should start end of August 2023. We should but we did not, due to some last minute complications (which Daniel might want to share, or not).

 

Anyway, a year later the trip finally materialised. This is the main/Botswana part of the itinerary:

 

28/Aug - flight to Maun, overnight Audi Camp

29/Aug - transfer to Third Bridge campsite in Moremi GR, 3 nights

01/Sep - transfer to Maghoto Campsite, Khwai Concession, 3 nights

04/Sep - transfer to Savuti Campsite, Chobe NP, 3 nights

07/Sep - transfer to Ihaha Campsite, Chobe NP, 2 nights

09/Sep - transfer to Senyati Safari Camp, 1 night

10/Sep - transfer to Nata Lodge, 1 night

11/Sep - transfer to Nxai Pan South Campsite, 1 night

12/Sep - transfer to Maun

 

The vehicle, a Toyota Hilux 2.8 6D automatic with 2 classic roof top tents was supplied by Bushlore in Maun. All the bookings were done through Botswana Footprints. 

 

We have covered 2000 km and consumed 300 l of diesel; the average consumption was high but most of the tracks were deep sand. On the bright side (and in stark contrast with my 2018 trip) we have had only 1 water crossing and zero mud holes to navigate! Not a drop of rain, and we have hardly see a cloud in first 10 days. The countryside was dry ... and dusty, a very different sight to what I have experienced in April of 2018, or what I am seeing in many trip reports posted on Safaritalk. Saying that, photography was not the most important part of this trip, at least not for me. That surely reflects in the (lower) quality of the photos that will be presented. The gear used was Nikon D7200 with either 300f/4+TC14 or 70-200f/4+TC17 for wildlife, and an iPhone 12 for landscapes and rest. 

 

 

 

 

[JayRon]

Looking forward to this report  

[xelas]

28/Aug - Maun

 

 

Our flight with Airlink from JNB to Maun was short, 90 minutes in duration. The weather was sunny and the sky was clear but what I have seen below was one vast expanse of dusty nothing. 

 

 

Maun is often referred to as the "tourism capital" and "the gate to the Okavango". In reality it is quite a small town with no real centre, yet safari tourism is its main source of income. There are many lodges and mobile camping providers, and rental car companies in the town. As small as the town is also its airport; Airlink, Air Botswana and Air Namibia links it to the neighbouring countries. But last June, Ethiopian Airlines has opened a direct flight from Addis Ababa to Maun. Sadly it was too late for me, as using this flight would save me the hassle and costs of providing the South African visa. On the upside, flying via JNB gave me the chance to meet our dear friends Peter and Sonja! And to have one excellent day of birding with Peter (the results of which will be posted in Big Year).

 

 

 

 

Daniel decided to use Bushlore as our transportation supplier. A wise choice as Bushlore is a reputable company, and the roads in Botswana (or should I say the tracks?) do require the use of a reliable vehicle with good tires. The vehicle of choice of most companies is a Toyota Hilux, well known to me from my self-driving trips to Namibia. The vehicle was equipped with two roof top tents (after all, we have met in Botswana for the first time in person), a fridge (too small) and all other utensils needed for a worry-free camping excursions. From home I have brought a non-sticking (teflon) frying pan and a sharp knife. Both were not supplied by Bushlore. Our vehicle has double fuel tanks, 80l + 80 l. The problem with dual tanks is that fuel gauge only shows the quantity of the main tank, and starts to operate when the second tank is empty. That makes driver a bit nervous, since supplying with extra fuel on our itinerary was limited (or better non existing) between Maun and Kasane. We did rent two jerry cans, and have used the fuel from both when in Savuti.

 

Speaking of fuel, the average consumption was 15 l / 100 km. Yet we have had a few long distance drives on tar road, thus actual consumption on soft sand tracks was closer to 18 l / 100 km. Most of the time we have driven in 4H, only when in Savusti, and exiting Savuti (a special story to come!) we used 4L. 

 

The hand over procedure was meticulous and as expected, quite long; I think we needed 2 hours to finally drove the vehicle out of Bushlore depot. As extra equipment we have rented an electric inverter (12V to 220V for charging camera batteries) and a SAT phone for any unwanted emergency. We could do without both; there were two 12V outlets and 1 USB outlet in the cabin. More importantly, we did not have any medical emergency during the trip. Daniel had his phone on roaming but once inside the wilderness, the mobile signal also vanished.

 

There are no shops once we left Maun (apart of Tuck Shop in some camps) therefore we have had to buy all food and other provisions in Maun. Woolworths and Checkers at Mall of Maun is where we got majority of items, and for meat we have used BeefBoys Food Market. As Daniel has been elected as the cook of the trip, it was his duty to prepare the grocery list, and whoever is familiar with my "rice&wurstel" approach knows that this was a wise decision . 

 

Once these essentials were taken care of, our destination for overnight stop was Audi Camp. This has a great location alongside the Thamalakane River (which was only a fraction of the size it was in April 2018), a nice campsite and a great restaurant. We have splurged on having each a private tent! With a nice dinner and a signature African sunset we have ended our first day in Botswana.

 

 

 

Edited September 26 by xelas

[xelas]

29/Aug - 31/Aug - Third Bridge Campsite, Moremi GR

 

 

Early up on Thursday, and after a breakfast that will be our staple breakfast thru the journey, we have started our first leg of driving towards South Gate entrance of the Moremi Game Reserve. The almost 100 km long road is tarred initially but soon enough it turns into a very soft sand road. After trying to force our way for a while, it was time to stop and to deflate the tires down to 1.5 bar. From now on, and until we have reached the tar 9 days later, the 4H driveline was engaged permanently.

 

 

 

 

 

Three hours till South Gate entrance and another 2 hours till Third Bridge. Both First Bridge and Second Bridge were dry, and our approach to Third Bridge somehow took us away from the bridge itself, so no bridge crossing that day. Wildlife sightings were rare and sporadic, not a very good sign.

 

Our allocated campsite was #3. However, Botswana Footprints informed Daniel that we are overbooked, and gave us the fix tent; actually two fix tents as the one allocated (Hippo) has a double bed and we were vocal about needing a two separate beds. After some commotion (i.e. reallocating guests for one ten to another) a second tent (Lion) was free to use. This trip started on a luxury basis!

 

 

 

While all that reallocations were in progress, Daniel prepared our very first lunch/dinner. Not much but a couple of cold beers before early bed time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Breakfast looks good and I'm sure it will get even better from there.  Looking forward to it all.

[Peter Connan]

A nice start to the trip!

[xelas]

4 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

A nice start to the trip!

 

A true nice start to the trip was the evening braai at @Peter Connan home!

[xelas]

After one day of flying, one day of braaing, one day of supplying and one day of driving, finally the day of the first game drive arrived! Up early to catch the spectacular sunrise, and the tasty breakfast.

 

 

 

 

Our target for the morning drive was to follow the Mboma Island route. And soon after we have left the camp, Daniel spotted, well, a spotted creature crossing the track ahead. A leopard!! Within the first 30 minutes of our very first game drive in Botswana!! How lucky are we?! 

 

 

 

 

Only upon inspecting the photos back home I have realised why the cat was not in the best mood to pose for us. Somebody has seriously chewed his (her?) tail. The cat disappeared in the bush never to show to us again. 

 

Driving through soft sand track was not at all that demanding, only the wildlife was sparse to find. Birds were there, yet we have stopped only for bigger ones. African Fish Eagle was a regular sight all along our itinerary.

 

 

 

 

The sun climbed up and the light became harsh. The yellow/beige colour dominated over the green, and no white clouds on the sky to help the landscape photographer. At least there were elephants which became the most photographed animal specie of the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

While part of the track was in the open, most of it meanders through some dense thicket; the sound of dry branches scratching the side of the vehicle startled us at the beginning but eventually we have stopped noticing it. A driver can only avoid some but surely not all of the branches out there, with the only purpose to inflict a deep scratch on the doors of rented car. The fast forward and to calm potential future drivers in that environment: the vehicle only had a basic insurance and there were no damages noted at the drop-off time.

 

 

Edited September 28 by xelas

[xelas]

Around midday we have returned to the campsite. While Daniel has prepared the brunch, I took some time to go chasing for the birds. After all, there is the Big Year waiting. To my positive surprise, there were some nice birds posing around. 

 

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

 

Hartlaub's Babbler

 

Meyer's Parrot

 

Bennett's Woodpecker

 

and one very friendly Yellow-billed Hornbill.

 

 

The afternoon drive took us towards Xakanaxa and Paradise Pools. We have almost got lost trying to find "the" pool but eventually we have stopped for this group of elephants. The trunk of the baby elephant looks weird to me, but I am no ellie expert. Maybe one of the readers could tell us more?

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back we have finally found and crossed the famous Third Bridge; using it must be a much more scenic event when the water is high.

 

 

 

 

At the campsite again, and our first (after several years) work on the roof top tents, under the watchful eye of an Red-billed Spurfowl chick. 

 

 

[Geoff]

@xelasIt looks like the baby elephant has lost most of its trunk. Maybe a crocodile or perhaps a snare.

 

Some nice bird pics. Excellent fish eagle bif.

[xelas]

@Geoffthanks for the explanation. And thanks for your encouraging words about photos.

[xelas]

The main event of our second full day in Moremi GR was a mokoro trip from Mboma Boat station. In a hindsight, and as an advice to future visitors, we would be better off by hiring a boat instead of a mokoro. Yes, a ride in a mokoro has its own thrill, and if on an open lake it might get you closer to wildlife on the shore. Yet here, the mokoro is floating in a narrow channel lined with high reed, and visibility was limited to the sky. Anyway, it was a refreshing two hours on the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving back toward the Third Bridge Campsite we have encountered mostly elephants, but also more of the colourful birds. Among best sighting was an obliging couple of Carmine Bee-eaters, a lifer for me. The other two birds are  Crimson-breasted Gonolek (Shrike) and Little Bee-eater.

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

In the afternoon we have returned toward Xakanaxa using a different track. We have hoped to encounter Wild Dogs, no luck here (or at any other location). We have spent some time with hippos at one of the many Hippo Pool sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at camp, we were told by the camp manager that we need to move from site #3 to site #5. OK, no problem for us. However, even before we were ready to open the tents, a group of 4 vehicles arrived at our site, in a bit of a bullying approach. Out came their leader, a tall guy from Poland, telling us that this is their site since his group is always using this site. As coming from Balkans, I am hard to swallow any similar bullshit, and after exchanging a couple of lines in English, and a few local words, a camp manager emerges asking us to move back to #3. I told him that we are willing to move again, but only to a fix tent otherwise we keep this spot! It was a bluff of course ... but it worked. Obviously what on paper is a solidly booked camp in reality is about 1/3 empty, and our third night at Third Bridge was spent in a luxury of a tent named Kudu .

 

 

 

We have heard about hyenas in the camp, and have seen one on the first night. Tonight a young one came even closer and gave me an opportunity to test the HighISO of D7200 camera. At ISO 12800 original RAW files are useless but once processed through Topaz PhotoAI software, I am happy to show them to the Safaritalk's critical audience.

 

 

 

[Atravelynn]

NIce job negotiating your campsite and tent.

Red-billed Spurfowl chick--ungainly, but cute, nice find.  Cute young hyena as well!

Beautiful Bennett's Woodpecker and the Meyer's Parrot looks like it is showing of a colorful petticoat!

 

[xelas]

01/Sep - 03/Sep - Magotho Community Trust Campsite, Khwai Community Concession

 

 

After a comfortable sleep and a filling breakfast prepared by Daniel, our next destination was one that I was very much looking forward to revisit: the Khwai River. 

 

 

Driving towards North Gate was uneventful, with only a couple of photo opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After about 3 hours of driving slowly our first longer stop was at Dombo Hippo Pool. It is a pool of a substantial size, and obviously a popular stopover destination. There were hippos and elephants but I was more interested into birds.

 

African Spoonbill

 

African Jacana

 

Blue Waxbill

 

This is a general look of the pool; in green season the water area must be a lot larger.

 

 

Eventually we have reached the North Gate, signed out of Moremi Game Reserve and crossed the famous river Khwai. The bridge over the river would fit the famous bridge in Thailand more appropriately than the one Zvezda and I have seen. The other river is also much wider so not really a proper comparison.

 

 

 

[xelas]

Khwai Community Concession also named as Khwai Community Trust is covering the area between Khwai River and Mbudi River, bordering on Moremi GR and Chobe NP. The village of Khwai is a short distance from North Gate and from the bridge, and is not a place to stop as we could not locate no shops, and not even a gas station there. 

 

The original idea was to drive along the Khwai river, as our campsite was on the opposite side of the area, close to the Chobe NP. However, initially we have missed the turn off, and once we got back, the first bridge to cross just looked a bit too risky; and on the map there more crossings were signed. As we had no idea how deep these crossings are, we have returned to the main road using the longer but safer (and faster) Transit Road.

 

 

 

 

 

Once at the campsite, it took us a while to find out where the reception is. I should really took more photos, as the minuscule sign was really only visible once driving away from the small shack where the reception is. 

 

Our voucher says "campsite #4" but the camp manager allocated to us #5. It was just a place under some trees (see photos) with no braai or wood burning area (very important to Daniel). We did not argue with his decision since our primary goal was to get some extra fuel, and he was the man that could arrange it for us. He indeed produced 3 jerry cans with 60 litres of diesel, and we bought them all, making him a happy seller (at double the price). However, also we were happy buyers as the nearest gas station is in Maun! Why extra fuel as we have had 2 of our own jerry cans?! Because with the double tank system it is quite difficult to follow the actual consumption until the spare tank is empty. And we did not paid enough attention at the pick up to remember if our tanks are 80+60 or 60+80 or 80+80 (on return we were told they are 80+80!). As the actual consumption on deep soft sand can be anywhere between 15 and 20 l per 100 km it was a minor investment to buy that extra fuel, and to keep our minds at ease.

 

 

 

 

Once we have filled our tanks, it was time to explore the campsite. Once a small place with 7-8 campsites, now these stretches along the river to the left and to the right of the original location. And to our surprise, we have also found campsite #4! Just about 50 meters away, and much nicer layout, with braai and everything! We have just moved over, as the manager has departed to Maun (to fill up his stash of diesel fuel), and we have had the voucher anyway, if someone other would claim the site. Actually, on the second day a vehicle has approached, and the driver asked me about the #4 and in return, I've told him that yes, this is the site and sorry, we have the voucher (as he did also, apparently). But obviously he was a seasoned camper, and decided to look for another site without much arguing. Must be that was not his first rodeo with African booking system.

 

 

 

[Geoff]

@xelasThat's a unique & interesting oxpeckers on giraffe image.

[xelas]

7 hours ago, Geoff said:

@xelasThat's a unique & interesting oxpeckers on giraffe image.

 

These were Yellow-billed Oxpeckers; some folks says they do a good job while others says they are just bloodsuckers.

[pedro maia]

Looks like a great trip Alex, I will be following along.

[michael-ibk]

Great start Alex, and congrats on getting a Leopard straight away. And cool you finally saw Carmines! Countryside looks very dry indeed, conditions must be really tough for wildlife. 

[xelas]

Next 2 days we have spent cruising up and down along the Khwai River. The Magotho Campsite is positioned on the far side of the concession, and on the "wrong" side of the river. Why wrong? Because there was only one crossing across the Khwai river that looked like it was in use (photo in the previous post), and as we have not seen anyone using it, we were "stuck", not being brave enough to use it.

 

But the river itself was full of wildlife so all was good! A first batch of photos are of main species that lives in or around the river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The number of big bird species was surprisingly high, with a few rare examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course a few smaller but no less interesting ones.

 

 

 

 

 I have had a target bird here (Lesser Jacana) but have failed to find it. 

 

[xelas]

Some other mammals keept company to hippos and elephants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With that many elephants, finding a different angle was not complicated at all. Getting a good result is a different task altogether.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel's target were cats. There should be lions on "our" side of the river, we have searched for them without any success. Actually, they were on the other side, and on returning home from our last drive of the day, we have encountered a group of vehicles ... and of course there was a cat somewhere. Far away, and not moving, but a lion it was! Taken from across the river, heavy crop.

 

 

 

Before the lion encounter, we have also met a group of South African drivers, who were kind enough to show us how easy (their words not mine) was crossing the river at that location. The knowledge we have put to good use on the next day.

[xelas]

On the second full day at Maghoto, we have forded the river to the other side, to explore more of the Khwai Concession. There were quite many vehicles, mostly self-drivers, already on "our" side of the river, on the other side the game/lodge/mobile camps vehicles just added to the number. From one aspect that is good; you can ask the driver is there is any interesting sight out there. The not so good aspect is that these pro drivers used a bit vague language to describe where to go. Like "drive 5 km till the green table, then turn right, and after 50 meters there is a leopard under the bush". Sounds clear enough to you?! Yeah, but his English and my English are often not on the same wavelength, and "5 km" or "50 m" are not always exactly, well, exact. Back to the story, we did find the green table, but did not find the leopard. 

 

As pointers, vultures are much better. returning from the not-to-be leopard sight we saw a large number of vultures circling above what only could be a kill. And indeed it was a hippo carcass there, with hyenas and vultures trying to get as much of it as possible. No lions around, unfortunately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were more hyenas near the river, cooling off their full stomachs.

 

 

 

 

For the rest of the day, we have crisscrossed the area in hope to find that lions pride that was reportedly been somewhere there, no luck. What we have seen were more of the same from day 1, and a few new birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will end the Khwai segment of our trip as I have started it, with an elephant in the river. For me, it was a great location, green, running river, birds et all. But a lack of lions for Daniel. As our lottery lady says: "... and to others, more luck next time."

 

 

Edited October 1 by xelas

[TonyQ]

You had some great sightings @xelas

[xelas]

56 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

You had some great sightings @xelas

They are not great but good yes. And more followed.