Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Safari, Botswana 2017
For the first time in over 50 years, I would travel and enjoy a vacation with my brother Graham, and sister Lorraine, plus my cousin Rodney and his wife Barbara, who all live in South Africa. This Self-Drive Safari, planned months in advance, turned out to be one of our best adventures ever! Nothing but sand roads, bush, wild animals, remote camp sites and zero outside communication. We were truly out in the boon docks and oh my, it was absolutely fantastic and so much fun.
The Bushlore rental Toyota 4×4 vehicles were our transportation, accommodation, kitchen and pantry. Each vehicle had a 12-volt Refrigerator, and the fold-up tent on the top of the truck kept us safe, literally, from the roaming lions at night! We couldn’t see the Lion’s while it was dark, however, when we woke up in the morning, we saw the massive footprints in the sand at the bottom of the ladder! There were more exciting and crazy events that happened along the way, as well as a few occasions where there we a few hiccups, but that’s life out in the bush. We trust you will enjoy the ride along with us.
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park map below illustrates our route beginning on the righthand side in the Mabuasehube Area, and Khiding KT-KH1-02 campsite for the 1st night, then KT-KH1-01campsite for the 2nd night. During these 2 days, we looped around exploring Malatso, Mabuasehube Pan, Leshologe Pan and Mpayathutlwa Pan areas. Next, we headed south to the blue 4×4 dirt road, past Bosobagolo Pan, then west to Matopi KT-MOT-01. Unfortunately, someone else was camping there so we backtracked east to the Matopi KT-MAT-02 camping for our 3rd night. Continuing west from Matopi, first to Nossob to fill up with fuel & ice, then north up to Polentswa KT-POL-03 campsite for our 4th night. It was on this stretch of road between Matopi 1 and Nossob, we had stopped for a lunch break along the way. I reversed into a shaded spot off the road to make room for the other three vehicles. When it was time to continue, I buried my Toyota in the soft sand attempting to get back onto the road. Oh boy, if it wasn’t for Rodney’s Land Rover, we would have been in trouble! After that ordeal and several kilometers down the road, we encountered a steep sand dune that had three forks to choose from, in order to traverse and continue on to Nossob. This took at least an hour, with multiple attempts, reversing back up the road, and making a run to accent to the summit and down the other side. Talk about an experience and how to drive in really soft sand! Sesatswe Camp KT-SES-01 was our next destination for our 5th night, traveling on the awesome 4×4 road and seeing Lions just 100 yards from the camp, then stopping at Lang Rambuka Pan, Tweeling Rambuka Pan, and Kaole Pan, to admire and photograph the wildlife and landscape. The following morning, it was a short drive with plenty of wildlife, to KAA Camping for our 6th and 7th nights. This would be our final campsite for the two days, and it was here that we had Lions in our campsite, and at night, the male would roar and call, as lions do to communicate. It seemed as though it was under the vehicles, but we couldn’t see anything in the dark. That was until the following morning when we saw the massive paw-prints in the soft sand next to the vehicles! So our final exploring before heading home, we traversed the loop (in orange, top left of the map) to Sizatswe and Swartpan 1, then backtrack to Kaa, seeing wildlife and taking more pictures. Follow the eight of us on this memorable, once in a lifetime, Self-Drive Safari.
The Photo Galleries below are photos we all took, are in chronological order, and by Clicking on a photo in the gallery will open it up to a full size.
September 5-6: The safari began at our hotel in Johannesburg after picking up our hired/rented 4×4’s , then drove out to meet up with Rodney and Barbra in the small town of Kurman, at a B&B for the night where we enjoyed greetings and a traditional Afrikaans dinner. The next morning, we had breakfast and were on the road and headed to the Springbokpan Guest House to spend the night, located a few miles south of the Mc Carthys Rest Border Post, to truly begin our Safari. The following morning after a hearty breakfast and discussing our convoy plan, we departed Springbokpan Guest House and headed north to the Mc Carthys Rest Border Control for passport and vehicle inspections, then up to the small town of Tshabong, which would be the last fuel stop before entering the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park gate at Mabuasehube. Less than a mile out of Tshabong, the paved roads ended, and the long, straight sand and dirt track roads began, leading our convoyed north up to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park gate to check in with our park permits. Once cleared, we drove the relatively short distance to our first camping site, Khiding KT-KH1-02. We set up camp for the first time, figuring out how to open up the tents on top of the vehicles, inflate the air mattress, inspect the ablution enclosures (if there were any at all) that consisted of a long drop toilet, and a wooden screen for a shower that we could hang our shower bag, then sit and enjoy a cold beer and Braai/BBQ, and of coarse, much chatter and laughter discussing the day’s activities before retiring for the night.
September 5-6 Gallery: Johannesburg, Springbokpan Guest House, Mc Carthys Rest Border, Tshabong, Park Entrance at Mabuasehube , and Khiding KT-KH1-01.
September 7: We spent two days at Khiding Camping sites explored the surrounding area, our first night was KT-KH1-02 and the second night at KT-KH1-01. The first morning, being in the park at Khiding had an exhilarating freedom feeling to it. We were literally out in the African Wild with beautiful weather, not a cloud in the sky, and not another soul in sight. It was MAGIC! Having had an awesome Braai/BBQ and Barbara’s phenomenal boondocking skills serving up unbelievable side dishes, we were off to a great start to this Safari. After coffee and breakfast, we broke down camp and headed out to explore the Mabuasehube Area for wildlife, before heading south, and then west, to Matopi 2 Camping site.
September 8: The 2nd morning in Khiding, we enjoyed coffee & breakfast, broke down camp and headed down toward Motopi Camping. This would be a break for 1 night to break up the longest distance we would travel in one day, Motopi to Nossob, then up to Polentswa. There was just one hickup though. Our reservations had us reserved at Motopi 1 campsite, but upon arrival, someone else had set up camp. One of us had a refrigerator problem I believe a blown fuse, which we repaired at this campsite. Following that repair, we decided to backtrack to Motopi 2, where we set up camp for the night and enjoyed a great braai.
September 8, Gallery: Khiding Camping, to Matopi 02 Campsite
September 9: This day would be the longest, single days driving for the entire safari. Motopi KT-MOT-02 to Nossob Rest Camp for diesel and a few supplies before or next camp site in Polentswa. It would also be the most challenging, driving 160 km or 100 miles, taking 8 1/2 hours to do so. Why so long you ask? This bi-directional road (most roads in the park are one-way, and on one occasion, I almost had a head-on collision with a vehicle coming from the opposite direction) had really soft sand tracks, very few places to pull over for a break, and one particular sand dune that took us several attempts to navigate over and down the back side. At our lunch break, yours truly would bury my Toyota up to its axles in the soft sand after pulling off the two tracks and parking in a shaded spot for our lunch break. That took us at least 45 minutes to finally have Rodney pull me out with his Land Rover. I can’t imagine what I would have done without that Land Rover! I mentioned the tricky sand dune ( 25°20’28.00″ – 20°59’52.00″E) we had to ascend. This sand dune did not look like it would present a challenge, but that assumption was wrong and ended up costing us almost an hour of attempting to take a run, as fast as we could, up one the three forks, then reverse back down several times, before finally reaching the summit on the fourth attempt, before dropping down the back side of the dune , and continue the remaining stretch to Nossob Rest Camp. Once we had reached Nossob and taken care of necessities, the “Highway” from Nossob to Polentswa was great. We encountered a pack of Lion lazing around in a shaded area of their den where there were 3 cubs actually on the road. That was awesome to see. Once we reached Polentswa KT-POL-02 campsite, we set up camp, listened lions calling off in the distance,. It was a great camping location that provided an awesome sunset photograph composition, which was followed by a braai, a few cold beers before retiring for the night.
September 9 Gallery: Motopi via Nossob, to Polentswa
September 10: Polentswa and Sizatswe: On this fine day, we would see our largest variety, and the most wildlife in a single day. It started off with an amazing sunrise during breakfast, then we packed up camp and headed back towards Nossob as the sun was rising above the tree tops to witness fantastic sightings of lion (see the lion in the sunrise photo below) on the move that followed a dry pan, in amongst Wildebeest, Black-backed Jackal, Impala and Gemsbok. While on the road, we came across a large male that was casually walking up the road toward us. Stopped so as not to disturb his concentration, he approached the vehicles then literally walk in front of them. We could see he had recently fed on a kill as he was covered in blood, providing Barbara and Rodney a picture perfect photo opportunity, literally a few feet away! Once that excitement was over, we did a U-turn, and drove north to the Polentaswa Pan Water Hole for a second look. Again, this water hole was simply amazing, so much activity, had us parked there for hours observing the behaviors of the different wildlife that patiently took turns to have a drink of water. The wildlife included several Birds, Wildebeest, Impala, Black-backed Jackal, and even a rare sighting of a single Black Hyena. Time to move, and from the eastern side of the park in Polentswa, we would head northwest on a 4×4 road 98 km or 61 miles past Lang Rambuka Pan, Tweeling Rhambuca Pan, and Kaole Pan before our next Sesatswe Pan Camping KT-SES-01 for a night. As we headed out past our campsite, just a few hundred yards up the road, we encountered a couple of male lion lying down under a tree. So close to our camp! This stretch of road was quite a bit different than what we had experienced up to this point in the safari. There was quite a bit of elevation change in the beginning that provided great views and photo ops of the desert down below, plus three pans, one of which, we crossed at its narrowest section before reaching Sesatswe. This remote camp did not have ablution facilities so to improvise, we used a shovel in the soft sand for one thing, and found a tree tall enough to hang our shower bags from so we could take a shower, and hope an inquisitive animal didn’t come and chase us away butt naked for the other! The day ended as usual with a braai and enjoying a beer as the sun fell below the horizon.
September 10 Gallery: Polentswa to Sizatswe Pan
September 11: Sizatswi to Kaa. We were treated to yet another spectacular African Sunrise before making breakfast and breaking down camp for the shortest distance between camps yet. It was an enjoyable drive with a burnt section (possibly caused by lightning) where visibility was quite good due to the lack of vegetation. We did encounter wildlife closer to Kaa. Once we checked in with the Park officials at the Kaa Gate and asked where they suggested we could find wildlife, we first checked out the campsites. With Rodney and Barbara’s experience, we dropped off tables and chairs to claim our wanted sites. Wanting to explore the new area, we headed south on the Polen-Trail road for 3.1 miles until we found what would be another fantastic water hole to observe wildlife. We sat there the remainder of the afternoon and took in the sights and behavior of the wildlife. Bateleur, White-backed Vulture, Black-winged Kite, Warthog. Then it was back to the campsite to prepare for another wonderful braai, download photos from the cameras, enjoy the sun going down, then a great dinner before calling it a day.
September 11 Gallery:
September 12: Our sleep, in our rooftop tents was interrupted last night by a male Lion calling very loudly, like he was very close. I opened our tent widow but was not able to see him. When we came down late that morning we were shocked to see these massive footprints in the sand right next to our vehicles. The footprints were almost as wide as a tire track. See the photos below. Following breakfast, the conversation was the Lion roaring, and we wondered, would we see this dude? We packed up our things, leaving the tables and chairs to save our sites and decided to drive back down to the water hole and see what was there early in the morning. Well, as our convoy had traveled just 2.2 km/1.4 miles, jackpot! there was this huge male Lion crossing the road in front of us. Was it the same guy who kept us awake all night? We will never know, but if I was a betting man, I’d say it was him. As we were frozen in our tracks in disbelief, he strolled into the bush, maybe 20 yards away on our side, and began to mark his territory on a tree by scratching his claws down the trunk bark. Geez, what a show. Then he calmly stood up, walked around the tree, stood there for a few seconds, looked back at us, then walked off into the bush never to be seen again. Now that’s what I call lucky, being at the right place at the right time! From there, it was just 2 miles to the Polen-Trail water hole and (un-named) Pan to witness another show of wildlife, only this time, there were large numbers of Gemsbok to watch, along with the birds we saw the previous afternoon, as well a Secretary Bird that went on about its business, drinking, taking flight during a few strong gusts of wind that kicked up a bunch of dust. Graham’s sequential shots taken with his D500 are amazing because there are very few photographs of Secretary Birds in flight. Well done brother! After lunch, we convoyed to see what was on the eastern side of the Kaa Camp, a few miles along the Kaa Wilderness Trail headed towards Sizatswe Pan. At a dried up pan we drove onto, and around we saw Ground Squirrel at their den entrance. Then it was time to head back to camp before our curfew and organize our camp again for the last time. Barbara pulled out all the stops and made us all an incredible selection of side-dishes for our last braai together. Those side-dishes included pancakes with cinnamon and sugar, crumpets, curry eggs and grated cheese. With all of our remaining braai meat, that was THE BEST camping meal I’ve ever had, and I’m certain, everyone else would agree with me! To top it all off, we were blessed with yet another picture perfect sunset that I couldn’t resist taking photos of that moment. And to end it off, a photograph of the 8 of us, was a moment I will never forget and cherish for the rest of my life.
September 12 Gallery: Kaa Camping to Swatpan 1 & 2 Water Holes loop and back
September 13: Our final day of this wonderful safari experience. Following breakfast and coffee, it was time to pack up our belongings and gear into our vehicles, fold up the tents, and take a few final pictures to remember this amazing part of Southern Africa with my brother and sister. It only took 50-years to finally do it! The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in Botswana is an absolutely amazing place, and I can’t thank my nephew Bruce enough for putting our itinerary together for us, and making the recommendations to rent these vehicles, to make it one of the best experiences in my life.
We would exit the Kaa Gate then head southeast through Zutshwe, then Kayne, and down to the town of Kang, and the Kang Ultra Stop hotel for the night before heading back to South Africa. Thank you: Rodney and Barbara, Brian and Lolly, Graham and Anthoula, for this Grandiose Safari experience together.
September 13 Gallery: Our last day. Pack up at Kaa Camp site and head to Kang Ultra Stop Hotel
We trust you have enjoyed navigating Botswana’s Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park with us on our wonderful Self-drive Safari. If you can, we highly recommend you consider adding this to your bucket list, it’s worth every penny. Ken & Gail, Graham & Anthoula, Brian & Lolly, and Rodney & Barbra.