Sometimes struggling is part of the fun
Louan van Rooyen learned the hard way that if you accidentally stray off the track in Botswana, sand and mud are in your future, and sometimes you need to follow your nose instead of trusting the technology.
Are you also often asked which you prefer: sea or bush? It’s like asking someone if they prefer lamb chops on the coals or steak in a restaurant. Some questions simply don’t have answers. My wifeYolandi and I are crazy about Morrungulo in Mozambique (see Drive Out #107). Once you’ve sunk your tent pens into a lush green camp terrain right on the beach, no other destination will ever be good enough again. But then once you’ve seen and driven on the salt pans and sand roads and experienced the starry sky in Botswana, you’ll reconsider your choice of favourite destination. Botswana is in every hardcore offroader’s memory bank of driving experiences. It’s a must if you bought your 4x4 to tackle rougher terrain than the sidewalks outside your child’s school. Not only is it a stone’s throw from Pretoria, it’s also one of the few destinations in Southern Africa where you feel safe in such seclusion. If you can call lions and elephants lurking next to your camp safe.
The pans – that’s why!
Our first destination was Khama Rhino Sanctuary. On Johan Badenhorst from Voetspore’s recommendation we went past Groblersbrug and crossed the border at Stockpoort/Parrshalt, west of Groblersbrug.We weren’t even there for five minutes.You’ll drive dirt road on the Botswana side, but that’s why you went there. And it’s a good road. On the road between Palapye and Serowe we stopped to buy wood and groceries the way it was done in the old days in South Africa. There wasn’t a soul in sight at the wooden stall, only a cellphone number. I phoned and the prices were relayed to me. I then simply had to load my wood and push the money underneath a shack’s door. Now we could braai! My wife, however, was looking forward much more to our second destination because she wanted to test her brandnew Nikon D750 on Kubu Island. Just after the small town of Orapa the road swerves left to Kubu Island, and from
here it’s not long before everything and everyone around you disappears. Here you are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Only once you’ve arrived on the western shore of the Sua Pan do you realise how enormous it really is. And then you start looking forward to what lies ahead. The Makgadikgadi Pans are almost just as big as Gauteng and can be seen from space. The sky is lit up with stars and thousands of people stream here every year to photograph it. To get to Kubu is, however, easier said than done.We were there in May, a month or so after the wet season, but to find the pans dry is almost as difficult as getting a Land Rover to stop leaking oil. (Thanks for all the readers’ letters that’s bound to follow! – Jaco) Narrow escapes are unavoidable and our first one was a few kilometres before Kubu. The only confirmation of a road, except on Tracks4Africa’s GPS map, is two tracks that you can hardly call a road. And so we stumble upon deep mud tracks that swerve to the left, even if Tracks4Africa indicates the road actually goes to the right. Our only choice was to go left. And we see a few options where you can drive to the right again.We take the third option and hope that the old saying “third time lucky” will prove correct. Anything but! Not even five metres in the deep mud the Cruiser starts to slip. I realise I need to get out of here fast or else we’ll be sleeping here, and with a roar the V8 Land Cruiser pulls our Conqueror off-road trailer out of the mud.Yolandi reckons I’m exaggerating when I tell about how I could see the off-road trailer through her window as it was slipping behind the Cruiser, but I’m sticking to my story. Third gear low range with a locked rear diff lock was the winning combination that pulled us through the first of hair-raising situations. I felt like Giniel de Villiers while I was trying to control the steering wheel – that spun unceasingly – through the obstacles to keep this towing combination straight.
Where is the road?
Four mud pools later and about 200 metres after we turned off to the right, we realise the GPS’ car icon is no longer on any indicated Tracks4Africa track. How now? We were still on two clear tracks but there was no sign of another road. So we continue straight and hope that the road will turn towards Kubu. But when we see Kubu disappear on our left-hand side and the Tracks4Africa road isn’t even on the GPS screen anymore, we realise it’s time to turn around. As if once through those pools wasn’t enough, I had to now brave them a second time. The road appeared on the GPS screen and what a relief it was to again drive on Tracks4Africa’s path. Fifteen minutes later we pitched camp. How we missed the right road is still a mystery. Kubu’s night sky was everything you’d expect and more. The silence, seclusion, and salt pans that stretch like the ocean to the horizon will make everyone want to go back. Unfortunately our peace and tranquillity were cut short by a group of buffalo. Not bushveld buffalos, but the kind that lives in Gauteng and drive around in shiny bakkies with noisy sound systems. I was ashamed to call myself an Afrikaner man after everything Yolandi and I had to listen to – and we are not prudes. (My biggest fear is to end up next to these type of characters. – Jaco)
Peace amongst the baobabs
Because of our neighbours, who repeatedly walked in front of her camera to work of all the excess brandy,Yolandi couldn’t take her dream photos on Kubu. It didn’t dampen our spirits, however, because we were on our way to Baines’ Baobab. It’s about 220 km from Kubu but it can keep you busy for anything from five to seven hours. About 30 km from Kubu you reach a foot-and-mouth disease control point where you drive through a gate. Then you can choose to keep north and drive through the town of Thabatshukudu, then Sexara to connect with the A3 tar road at Zoroga. That’s the quickest way to the tar road and you miss the salt pans, but we found out at the control point that the Ntwetwe Pan was dry and we could keep west to spend the majority of our route on the pan.What an experience that was! I could drive 80km/h on Ntwetwe and the trip was smoother than that on any tar road with potholes in South Africa.
All you could see in front, behind, to the left and to the right of you was pan, pan, pan, and more pan! Everything went smoothly until right after the town of Kauxae, where the road disappeared under a dam. It wasn’t the Vaal Dam, but definitely deep enough that OUTsurance would have to come recover your bakkie if you attempted it. There was a twin track east past the dam, but this wasn’t on T4A. It was, however, our only option, and luckily 15 km later the road connected with the T4A road.
The rest of the twin-track path to Gweta was quite reasonable until it ended in a cattle kraal 5 km outside of Gweta. Sometimes you should simply rely more on instinct rather than technology. T4A’s map didn’t indicate the last five kilometres to Gweta accurately but luckily instinct got us there. After a long, tiring day on the road we thought the day’s adventures were over as we signed in at the gate of Baines’ Baobab, but little did we know what the last 25 km held in store. My boss warned me to deflate my tyres for Baines’ sand road, but what did he know? And, after all, I drive a Cruiser and he a Ford. Barely 5 km further I was reminded who was actually the boss as the Cruiser came to a standstill. I deflated all six tyres to 1.2 bar and effortlessly drove the rest of the way. At the reception area they mentioned something about the pans being wet and that we shouldn’t drive through it, but we didn’t understand what the person meant. Blindly we followed the T4A map, which lead us to the middle of the pans, to campsite number 2. After I drove over the umpteenth salt slab and the Cruiser started sinking away, I realised something was amiss. I stopped and climbed out and walked in the road. And it’s a good thing I did because 20m further I sank away kneedeep in the pans. That’s when I understood what the guy at Reception meant. What made turning around even more painful was that we could see campsite number 2 across the pan. Our accommodation was a mere kilometre from where we were and after such a tiring day we were very tempted to just push ahead. And after all, there was no alternative on T4A, so even if we did turn around, where would we go? Luckily we withstood the temptation, turned around, and discovered a road going around the pan to campsite number 2. Baines is one of the places I really want to return to. Unlike Kubu, there are animals in the reserve and you camp at an exclusive camp terrain. Nxai National Park, where Baines is situated, is five times bigger than Pilanesberg, and has (besides South Camp) only three exclusive campsites.That’s what Botswana gets right – the retention of exclusivity. It’s also here thatYolandi could finally get her star photos, with the beautiful baobabs in our campsite.
A very happy birthday
It was a privilege to wake up on 8 May, my birthday, beneath Baines’ trees. If you could spend every birthday there you wouldn’t get old! But we had to mission on to Third Bridge in Moremi. Moremi is something I can’t explain.You have to go there yourself to experience the eeriness. And if you spot a leopard here you won’t be trampled like you would at a shopping centre where Bobby van Jaarsveld is performing. On the Bodamatau Loop we followed a leopard on our own for an hour and a half. Dead Tree Island is also a must and here we came across a pair of lions mating unperturbed.T4A is also important here because even Bear Grylls will struggle to stay on track with the network of bush paths. Find out at Reception which paths are driveable and which are not.There are challenging water obstacles here with the Delta that pushes to and fro and if you get stuck there you might have to look Old Lion in the eyes for days before someone finds you.
The Makgadikgadi Pans are almost just as big as Gauteng and can be seen from space.”
Also, drive slowly and carefully. It’s so dense in certain places that you only spot the beast when you’re right on top of him. Moremi’s elephants are also not India’s play-play elephants. These Africa elephants are gracious but aggressive and they don’t care how new or shiny your vehicle is.We were chased at least twice by an elephant in Moremi. And don’t think the evenings are so peaceful that you can relax. On the last morning at Third Bridge we were woken up by the roar of a male lion 20 m from our trailer. Those who say it’s a pleasant experience are lying. But it’s a cool story to tell afterwards. And as you move further away from the roar, the shorter your prayers get. So bring your lion heart – and two extra pairs of underpants!
Not that blissful in Savuti
The Baines dirt road was just a taste of what was waiting for us on the 70 km sand road between Mababe gate and Savuti. It took us almost three hours to drive that road. If you want to attempt it with a trailer, rather drive in convoy so that there are other vehicles to help you should you need it. If you have to give way for a vehicle coming from the front, you need to know your story or you’re going to sit. The corrugation in the road makes it impossible to maintain the correct speed so that the sand doesn’t become a bother. Drive a bit too fast and you won’t have wine for the evening (unless it’s box wine). But the moment you see the mighty Savuti wetland in the east, the hard drive and heavy shaking is totally worth it. In the right season the grass is so lush that it looks like a Bonsmara farming operation will flourish here. But don’t be fooled, there are predators aplenty: jackal, leopard, lion, you name it. In one morning driving around the swamp you can spot the Big Five. And with the mighty swamp as a backdrop, this place is any wildlife photographer’s dream. Before you reach Savuti, however, make sure you watch a few episodes of André de Villiers’ Safari 4x4 to improve your sand-driving skills, because you’re going to need it here. It’s even impossible to walk to the bathroom through the thick sand – you simply sink.We actually drove there, even if it was just 50 m away. Our last night was a treat at Nata Lodge. After such a challenging bush experience it was really nice to have a luxurious bath, be served in a restaurant, and to read all the birthday wishes with the help of WiFi. Botswana will definitely see us again. Despite all the dogs and donkeys on the road it’s one of our neighbouring countries where you feel safe and can delight in nature’s splendour.