Day 1
I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to see Khutse Game Reserve for the first time. Bordering one of my favorite game reserves, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, I am super excited to spend some time here. It has been two years since I have been in the kalahari and I am glad to be back.
I am also fortunate to do this trip with my dad and two brothers. This will be the third trip that we do together and I am sure it will be just as memorable as the previous ones.
Traveling through Africa is always an adventure, except for Gauteng. The roads from Centurion to the Skilpadshek border post was great. The border crossing on the SA side took 2 minutes for all four of us. We were the only people there. On the Botswana side though, different story! Manual papers to fill out. A queue to stand in and then they change it so you go from last to first (my dad) and then queuing again to pay road taxes. Took us probably 20 minutes to get through and in terms of African travel that is not bad. I have seen worse...
The roads in Botswana ranged from average to really good. There were some potholes along the way but also a lot of places where they have been fixed already. There is still a lot of animals along the way and we had to slow down many times. But animals weren’t the biggest issue this time. As we passed through Moleploloe we were grazed by the presence of “street dancing man”. A really special person who dances in the street in front of cars causing traffic to back up a long way in both directions.
Fuel is dirt cheap compared to SA and after filling up for P8.33 a litre, we were off to the Kalahari.
The last town we passed through was Lethlakeng which left us a tough 99km to the gate. Road conditions changed from tar to gravel which was bad in places and heavily corregated so we had to stop to deflate the tyres. After an hour and thirty minutes we reached the last 5km where the road changed to a single sandy track. We knew we were finally in the real Kalahari. What an unbelievable feeling!
Checking in was simple enough and after filling up with water, we made way for our campsite. Game was in abundance in places where there were old pans and I made the comment that Khutse for me is a combination of the pans in Mabuasehebe with the same bushveld look as Central Kalahari. A spectacular place to be in and as we passed Sutswane pan, we saw them! Elephants in the Kalahari! What an unbelievable privilege to see these magnificent creatures in a place so desolate. They were covered in limestone from the drinking holes making them really look like white elephants.
Usually when we arrive at a campsite, it takes some time determining where to set up the trailer and tents for maximum shade. But this time the decision was much easier, as there was zero shade. Temperatures were now at 33 while we set up camp. We finished just in time to witness an unbelievable sunset around the camp fire. And did we have a great time around the campfire, celebrating this wonderful place with Oban little bay, before we went to bed. Today was not just another day in Africa. It was special!
Day 2
Lions roaring! There is no greater feeling than waking up to the sound of a Kalahari lion roaring on the pans. I watched as first light broke just before 6am, and listened to the king greeting the day. Seeing that we were all up at the crack of dawn, we took a game drive to the north, visiting the Khanke pans and campsites and were quite jealous of the shade some had. Making breakfast on the fire with no shade is seriously ill advised. But the brekkie buns was worth the sunburn I got...
As we sat in camp, drinking in the magnificent sunset only the kalahari can offer and taking many photos, the lion announced his presence once more. And he was close this time. We estimated for him to be no more than 300 meters away from us and every roar seemed to get louder, but we continued doing what we were doing and had a very nice dinner. He stayed in one place till early morning before heading north. What a great day in Africa.
Day 3
Moving day. Today we are moving to Moreswe 3. Breaking up camp took longer than normal. The track to get there was overgrown in many places and thick patches of sand. It is clear that many before us had a hard time to get through as we had to reduce speed to a crawl to avoid the bumps.
We stopped for picnic at Molose waterhole and what a stunning place to enjoy brunch. The campsites also looked impressive and is definitely a place I would like to go spend some time at. Arriving at Moreswe we were thrilled with the amount of shade we had and we quckly made camp. Flies was a bit of a problem, but we made plans, check out this new super hero...
As is customary for us, a late afternoon booze cruise was just the right thing to do. More magnificent sunsets entertained us while sitting around the campfire. No lions close by unfortunately
Day 4
After a peacful night sleep and a refreshing morning coffee, we drove around Moreswe pan looking for anything interesting. Game at Moreswe was far less than any other pan we were at. So we decided to check out the other campsites and accidentally drove into someone’s camp. Lucky for us that proved to be the most interesting thing of the morning as he informed us of lion tracks from the previous night leading up the hill from the waterhole. We also followed the tracks as he explained and as we got to Moreswe 1, the residents informed us that the lion walked right through their campsite and into the bush. So lions were around after all.
The rest of the day was spent leisurely in camp, making brunch, have a hot nap and a lekker bush shower we take a final afternoon game drive. Back at camp, the glorious sunset was not to be the most beautiful thing we saw. Few can say they have ever seen it, but watcing a moon rise over the Kalahari is truly a spectacular sight to behold... After a delicious pork neck curry potjie, we rounded off what was a magnificent short trip with a whisky around the fire.
Day 5
Our last day in the Kalahari. We got up long before first light to break camp, we knew it was going to be a long day in Africa. We left Moreswe at 7:15 and the track back to Khutse gate was tough going. 65km of overgrown sandy tracks with rocks every now and again. Rocks in the Kalahari, who would have thought? We only reached Khutse gate by 10:05 and left 20 minutes later on the treacherous gravel track back to Lethlakeng.
We couldn’t find a filling station to reinflate he tyres so we pushed through town to use the compressor and have a road side lunch. It was 12:00 and still a long way to go. But last night’s curry with bush bread made for excellent roadside bunny chow.
The rest of the day was just long hard driving. We reached the border at 15:30 after filling up again with the cheap petrol (and yes, the V6 has worse drinking habits than a cape flats bergie). We arrived safely back home at 19:20.
What an incredible privilege to tour Africa, to be here, to call it home. And there still are so many beautiful places to see. Stay tuned, more to come soon...
