Overlanding: Namibia + Botswana - Final Route

[Russ Kellermann]

Hizit Chaps,

After a year or two of just chatting about it,My dad called me yesterday to see if i'm keen to do Overland through Namibia and Botswana, in June 2016. Obviously , its a tight prep time, but we like to travel light, and with just my Dad and Mom in their DC Hilux, and Myself and Jess in my GU Patrol Pickup, i dont see any issues as we both fairly fitted in our own preferred ways.

My folks are good travellers and dont shy away from tough roads and tracks, however, no Grade 4/5 tracks for them , if you know what i mean, so please keep that in mind..

Due to recent cost hikes etc, and personal preference, we plan to Camp almost every night throughout the trip. My folks have roughly 17days and Jess and i have 17+ days, .... Obviously we wont be able to see everything, so....

Although we have visited many other african countries, we have not seen Namibia nor Bots..

I write to to invite any advice for such a trip, particularly in regard to :

1) Best Route advice
2) Special places of interest?
3) Best Camp sites?
4) Any ideas on Delta Tours?
5) Places / Things we MUST DO?
6) Any interesting "Long way round" roads or "shortcuts" that may offer a better drive?
7) Kubu in June ?
8) Best Parks for game and most interesting terrain/ roads?

Obviously i will think of more but for now i'm just eager to read of your findings , and thank you all in advance for any response no matter how small.

Cheers,
Russ and Fam.

[biggles]

Feel free to get intouch on detailed advice for Nam. Never been to Bots but did quite abit of Nam.

Hizit Chaps,

After a year or two of just chatting about it,My dad called me yesterday to see if i'm keen to do Overland through Namibia and Botswana, in June 2016. Obviously , its a tight prep time, but we like to travel light, and with just my Dad and Mom in their DC Hilux, and Myself and Jess in my GU Patrol Pickup, i dont see any issues as we both fairly fitted in our own preferred ways.

My folks are good travellers and dont shy away from tough roads and tracks, however, no Grade 4/5 tracks for them , if you know what i mean, so please keep that in mind..

Due to recent cost hikes etc, and personal preference, we plan to Camp almost every night throughout the trip. My folks have roughly 17days and Jess and i have 17+ days, .... Obviously we wont be able to see everything, so....

Although we have visited many other african countries, we have not seen Namibia nor Bots..

I write to to invite any advice for such a trip, particularly in regard to :

1) Best Route advice
2) Special places of interest?
3) Best Camp sites?
4) Any ideas on Delta Tours?
5) Places / Things we MUST DO?
6) Any interesting "Long way round" roads or "shortcuts" that may offer a better drive?
7) Kubu in June ?
8) Best Parks for game and most interesting terrain/ roads?

Obviously i will think of more but for now i'm just eager to read of your findings , and thank you all in advance for any response no matter how small.

Cheers,
Russ and Fam.

1) Best Route advice. Enter Nam at Noordower and go left toward Rosh Pinah. First night on the Orange River. We stayed at Norotshama. Nice spot. Then up the west side, Luderitz, Sousus Vlei, Walvis-Swakopmund, then either up the coast and inland at various points, first is at Swakopmund and stay at Spitzkop (my favourite camp spot) or head a bit up the coast and there are various places like Messum crater but then you miss Spitzkop. From Spitzkop or messum you can go north on to Brandberg, and twylefontien, palmwag and then in land to Etosha. That is where my advice ends. I would then do Kaprivi in to Bots. Depending on time you could always use the B1 and just head west from there to your point interest if you are time strapped.
2) Special places of interest? Fish river canyon. . Luderitz (Kolmanskop). Aus wild horses. Sousses Vlei. Walvis lagoon/ Swakopmund. Spitzkop. Brandberg (white lady and Desert Elephants). Waterberg. Etosha. Tyfewlfontein petrified forest.
3) Best Camp sites? Spitzkop
4) Any ideas on Delta Tours?
5) Places / Things we MUST DO?
6) Any interesting "Long way round" roads or "shortcuts" that may offer a better drive?
7) Kubu in June ?
8) Best Parks for game and most interesting terrain/ roads? Etosha... Erindi for the luxury feel.

[Herrie]

I hope that you will enjoy that trip!

[Tinus lotz]

Russ 17 days for those two country's is really not a lot hey.....if you wanna race form place to place but i suggest try to do one area properly like bots up noth delta kubu kasarne ect ect mabe enter via kalagadi and work your way up?

[mve100]

I would just focus on 1 country area. You might also struggle to get the nicer campsites in Botswana so close too the time. We did a trip to Namibia last year for two weeks that included Etosha, Soususvlei, Swakop. Rather do less and take your time.

In Etosha Olifantsrus was the nicest campsite for us.

Stayed in Alte Brucke in Swakop which is ok, own ablutions.

We also stayed at Tsauchab river camp which was very nice.

[Peter Connan]

I agree with Tinus. If you only have 17 days, pick one of the two, don't try to do both.

I have not been to Nam, but absolutely love Bots. From the basis of my own experience, I would say first night at Two Rivers (note, not Twee rivieren), spend a few days in the Kgalagadi making your way across to Mabuasehube (possibly a night or two at Mpayathtlwa), from there to Hukuntsi (spend one night "dry-camping" along the way, this is strictly speaking illegal but nobody seems to mind) and then on to Ghantzi.

From there into the Central Kalahari, either at Xade with a night at that campsite or if you want to spend less time there is a gate in the north-west corner. The area you want to spend time in is Deception Pan or thereabouts. From there to Moremi via Maun, or to kubu/Baynes Baobabs. The alternative is to skip the CKGR and head straight up to Maun, Moremi, Savuti, Chobe/Kasane and back perhaps via Kubu. If you do this one, perhaps a day visit to Vic Falls is in order.

My two trips to Bots have both been about 14 days each, and where both at the limit of what I consider a good balance between travelling and relaxing. The itineraries where as follows:

Trip 1:
Jhb to Palaphye (1 night) Gweta via Kubu (Kubu should be fine in June via any route unless there has been very unseasonal rain), 2 nights at Planet Baobab. From there through Maun to Mankwe Lodge (two nights with a day trip to Moremi. Kaziikini would be a better base for this). Then back down through Maun, four nights in CKGR (three at deception pan and one at Xade), one night at Ghantzi, one night near Hukuntzi, three nights at Mpayathutlwa in the Mabuasehube and then out through the nearest border post.

Trip 2:
First night wild camping on the way to Kubu (again not strictly legal), two nights at Kubu, one night at Kaziikini, three nights at Third Bridge, three nights at Savuti, three nights in the vicinity of Kasane, and one night at Palapye on the way home.

Remember that the Moremi/Delta area could be a quagmire in June, as it is almost high water then (the water here is run-off from the Angolan highlands, not local rain, and takes 4-6months to reach this area).

Which areas depend very much on what you want to see. If game (especially elephants) and birds are your thing, you have to get to the Zambezi/Kasane/Chobe areas, with Savuti a close second. If water driving is your thing, then Moremi is the place to be. If you want lion and Cheatah, you need go no further than the Kgalagadi.

If you get to Maun, try to do a scenic flight over the delta. If you get to Kasane, a sunset boat cruise is a must-do, and a day trip to Vic Falls if you haven't been there before.

Good luck with the planning, and give me a shout for specific info anytime.

[Russ Kellermann]

Guys,

Incredible replies thank you. If i had more time tonight i would reply but im at work by 3:30am tomorrow so i'll respond tomorrow eve i hope.

Please keep the advice and experiences coming.

For the record, i too explained this to my folks, that i think we should do one country, due to time,.. and although they originally wanted to do Nam, i believe, that with all the pics and ref i have sent them, that they may well just go the other way and chose bots.

However, i still want to cover all my bases and make fully informed decisions as to this trip, and weather or not we can do both , so i really do appreciate EVERYONES advice and sharing of info.

Thank you all, keep it coming.

[Russ Kellermann]

Hey chaps, so convinced my folks to extend the trip ,so looks like it should be about 25 days now, so will be able to do certain parts of bots as well. I'm absolutley frothing... cant wait.

My question is as follows: (and please be kind, i have never travelled to bots, so have never had first hand experience, if i say something silly, its literally because i am clueless but trying to maximise our experience and enjoyment)... very grateful for all advice regardless of small a detail.

1) From etosha, ... what would be the best way into Bots ?
- Caprivi ? ... if so , what route and estimated time it will take?
- Tsumkwe road ? if so, is it interesting, and can one actually enter bots there?
- Buitepos ? furthest from etosha but is it the most popular ?

Obviously Caprivi seems the most attractive, however, it is all dependant on my next question:

2) Is there a road that contours the east side of the Okavango Delta ? or only the west side ?
- We would love to end up at Maun,as we are interested in taking a flight into the delta, or by boat, to lodge for a few days. Would that mean we actually talking about Moremi now? im slightly confused...or maybe very confused... haha

- I did read that many of the camp / rest camps in the delta area offer their own mokoro trips / sunset cruises etc, is this accessible by vehicle to the camp sites or not?,

-and if so , would we get a great experience from these places, or should we bite the bullet and get a small package deal with a fly in/fly out story..?

Basically, i know most of you chaps drive in from south Bots (jhb side), so for us, we will be coming in from the north side, with my end goal being Kubu island. After which my folks will head south to Gabs and we may do another park on the west heading back to CT...

So more questions:

1)Kubu island in June ? Road condition ? accessible? chances of missing the track / getting lost / not finding it ?
2)One night camping on kubu ?
3) Worth doing Baines Baobabs ?

4) My Warn M8724 high mount winch is still under reconstruction in my garage,... so we wont have a winch with us,.. is this an issue ? obviously taking full recovery kit that i usually carry, but the only concern i had was on the pan if one of us get bogged.... thoughts?

[Tinus lotz]

Hey Russ i can only comment on the capivi part we stayed at paw paw falls was great . We went into chobe from there ....spent time in kasane you are gonna love it . Its like eating the rump and ending up with the afval after.....
The afternoon trips on the river is amasing on levels you dont understand. ....go twice or three times
The game from kasane side is very full next to the river like driving in a zoo .....you have to do it . Stay at douw place senjanti i think Piet will correct me lovely photo opportunities there alwys animals at the waterhole .you can arrange to go to Vic falls for a day from there also .
Kubu get there see the sun set see it come up and move on ....imho
Maun the only reason to stop there is the trips over the delta and supplies of course .
Iam sure you can get one from kasane to take you for a flip also
We did a very nice trip in allu boats from 3rd brige into the delta was great

[Peter Connan]

Russ, I have never actually been in Nam, but I know there are two border posts between Nam and Bots on the Caprivi.

One is on the west, near Tsodilo Hills, the other about 50km west of Kasane. I also believe the whole road through the Caprivi is now tar.

It would be possible to enter into Bots at this last border post and drive direct to Savuti and from there to Moremi. However, most of this distance is fairly soft sand, and it's quite a drive. I would certainly recommend breaking the journey at Savuti.

Also, entering the Moremi from this side effectively requires crossing the Khwai river without a bridge, and this may not be possible in June, as this is high water for the Moremi area.

Kubu in June should be easy. There are many roads, but none of them should be difficult in June.

As for Baines, never been there but it's definitely on my bucket list!