Botswana 2015

[Tal]

Ok....

We are a couple of friends planning a 10day trip through Botswana, about 5vehicles, all Toyota.
3Fortuners and 2hilux's

We are planning to travel in via Lobatse traveling North visiting Central Kalahari trans frontier(maybe) then further to savuti, moremi and chobe, our turn around will be Kasane travelling back via The Hunters road to Nata, Nxai pans to Martins drift.

We will be camping and be self sufficient for the duration of the trip, first estimates according to tracks for africa will be 3300km just in Botswana and we plan to stay of the beaten track for most of the trip!

Any advice about places to stay or must see points or closed roads will be greatly appreciated!

Planned dates will be around September, so still lots of time to plan!

Thank you in advance!

[subok]

For maximum enjoyment, stay in one place at least 2-3 days unless you want to spend the whole trip travelling, setting up and breaking down camp! Been there done that, enjoyed it, but almost needed a holiday to recover.

[Tal]

I agree, however we are all rigged with rooftop tents, so packing up is inevitable

[WayneSchalk]

I heard from werewolf - Johan there was an incident on hunters road with poachers. Maybe check with him in regards to safety, I would also like to do Hunters

[Tal]

Thanx, ill see what i can find out

[Bulletjie-3]

That was about 2 months ago when Chinese poachers were shot on Hunters

[Thunder02]

Just keep an eye on rain fall closer to time, Hunters can become a real nightmare, becomes a flood plane.

[Tal]

Should we plan earlier than september? We were thinking last 2weekends in September

[WayneSchalk]

September is dry. The rain starts December.

[Tal]

Nice, thats what i thought! Well make sure that we stay hydrated!

[grobbepj]

Just keep an eye on rain fall closer to time, Hunters can become a real nightmare, becomes a flood plane.

We are planning a very similar trip (just in reverse and including Vic falls) for January... Is that a bad idea with the rain in picture??

[Tal]

Im not sure! But i think the delta is flooded during summer

[WayneSchalk]

Just keep an eye on rain fall closer to time, Hunters can become a real nightmare, becomes a flood plane.

We are planning a very similar trip (just in reverse and including Vic falls) for January... Is that a bad idea with the rain in picture??

You will have to have a plan B, when you are up there go and have a look as you come in on Kazungula. December - January is wet wet wet.

[Thunder02]

Just keep an eye on rain fall closer to time, Hunters can become a real nightmare, becomes a flood plane.

We are planning a very similar trip (just in reverse and including Vic falls) for January... Is that a bad idea with the rain in picture??

You will have to have a plan B, when you are up there go and have a look as you come in on Kazungula. December - January is wet wet wet.

Correct rain season.

Hunters.jpg (80.25 KiB) Viewed 4546 times

After two days of rain.
Good fun

[grobbepj]

Just keep an eye on rain fall closer to time, Hunters can become a real nightmare, becomes a flood plane.

We are planning a very similar trip (just in reverse and including Vic falls) for January... Is that a bad idea with the rain in picture??

You will have to have a plan B, when you are up there go and have a look as you come in on Kazungula. December - January is wet wet wet.

Correct rain season.

Hunters.jpg

After two days of rain.
Good fun

Cool pic!! Ja I am still debating if this should scare us off or just make it more fun...

[Thunder02]

Just keep an eye on rain fall closer to time, Hunters can become a real nightmare, becomes a flood plane.

We are planning a very similar trip (just in reverse and including Vic falls) for January... Is that a bad idea with the rain in picture??

You will have to have a plan B, when you are up there go and have a look as you come in on Kazungula. December - January is wet wet wet.

Correct rain season.

Hunters.jpg

After two days of rain.
Good fun

Cool pic!! Ja I am still debating if this should scare us off or just make it more fun...

More fun, go for it, you always take an escape route or turn around. The tar road runs parallel to it and plenty cut lines to choose from.

[Haboob]

There was a thread on them Privatising the Hunters Road because of people going there during the rainy season & wreaking havok with the terrain/road and causing difficulties for the people with concessions in the area...
Have plans for 2016 in that area, so hope things still allowed then...

[grobbepj]

There was a thread on them Privatising the Hunters Road because of people going there during the rainy season & wreaking havok with the terrain/road and causing difficulties for the people with concessions in the area...
Have plans for 2016 in that area, so hope things still allowed then...

I will need to make up my mind soon... We are going with a tour group/ guide so was assuming he knows what he is doing.

Gettimg stuck and rely battling with the little ones and swambo will definetaly put some damper on the fun...

I assume you would sugget to rather rethink?

Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit.

[Tal]

Ons sal defnitief n plan B he vir as dit reen! Dankie vir al die kommentaar sover

[Haboob]

Pieter, I would definitely consider a plan "B" on an extended tour. The mud story is okay for a BOYS weekend out but with a kitted vehicle and kids and carpets is not an idea for a three weeks overlanding trip...

[Tal]

Hier is ons beplande trip, sal graag julle menings en voorstelle wil hoor!

We will all enter from Martins drift at 06:00 on the 18th of September
Spend the day at khama rhino sanctuary and sleep there
19/09 drive to khubu island, there is very little to see and do, so will arrive in the afternoon and leave again after breakfast
20/09 drive to Nxai pan, we will either spend the night there or at Maun, at maun we will stock up on fuel and groceries
21/09 drive to khwai river lodge,sleep there
22/09 spend the day game viewing and sight seeing in the Moremi, sleep again at Khwai, so 2nights there
23/09 travel through the savuti and chobe to chobe safari lodge
24/09 make the trip to vic falls and back, then we have to decide, leave and spend the night on Huntersroad or rest and do maybe a sunset cruize on the river... According to sources, this is a must. Well also sort out our permits for Hunters road and stock up on fuel and food
25/09 start hunters road, well spend the night on the road somewhere
26/09 finish Huntersroad, drive to elephant sands or Nata lodge
27/09 make the trip back and spend the night, either Botswana or just inside South Africa.
28/09 head home

[Aquanaut]

Hier is ons beplande trip, sal graag julle menings en voorstelle wil hoor!

We will all enter from Martins drift at 06:00 on the 18th of September
Spend the day at khama rhino sanctuary and sleep there
Stayed here one night.

19/09 drive to khubu island, there is very little to see and do, so will arrive in the afternoon and leave again after breakfast
Stayed here one night.

20/09 drive to Nxai pan, we will either spend the night there or at Maun, at maun we will stock up on fuel and groceries
We stayed at Bain's Boabab for a night and did some game viewing in the morning before we left for Maun.

21/09 drive to khwai river lodge,sleep there
Stayed at Audi Camp site for three days plus trip into Okavango on Makoros.

22/09 spend the day game viewing and sight seeing in the Moremi, sleep again at Khwai, so 2nights there

23/09 travel through the savuti and chobe to chobe safari lodge
We received advice not to waste time at Savuti as there were no animals so we went straight to Chobe.

24/09 make the trip to vic falls and back, then we have to decide, leave and spend the night on Huntersroad or rest and do maybe a sunset cruize on the river... According to sources, this is a must. Well also sort out our permits for Hunters road and stock up on fuel and food
Did the vic falls trip from Kasana, just watch out for certain operators, some do not have permits to go into Zim, so they pick you up and leave at the border post stranded. make sure that the Mini bus that picks you up takes you all the way, waits for you to finish your tour and brings you back. Too expensive to take your own car across the border.

25/09 start hunters road, well spend the night on the road somewhere
Hunters road is not that bad, except for the vet stops, and the trip actually goes quick.

26/09 finish Huntersroad, drive to elephant sands or Nata lodge
27/09 make the trip back and spend the night, either Botswana or just inside South Africa.
28/09 head home

We did a similar trip and I posted a report and photos on all our stops with gps co ordinates. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31618" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Racing snake]

Book at least one night at Third Bridge or Xakanaka in Moremi. Savuti is an absolute must. 2 nights minimum. Campsite #1 if possible. Rushing through there is a sin. It's also a very long haul from Kwaai to Kasane. No point in going that route if you're not going to stop over in Moremi and Savuti.
Lots of booking agents who can help for a fee. Much easier than trying to get BWP to answer their phones of faxes.