An expedition into the heart of Kalahari , Botswana. This Trans Kalahari safari takes us to the little know Khutse Game Reserve, view the fantastic wildlife of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and spectacular sunsets from Kubu Island on the Makgadikgadi Pans. Journey through the long forgotten Pandamatenga Cattle trail and see the Chobe National Park and magnificent Victoria Falls.
BOTSWANA TRANS KALAHARI
EXPEDITION
“TRANS KALAHARI” 14 days tour
CAMPING EXPEDITION
14 day small group participation camping expedition
Guaranteed from 4 participants, maximum group size: 8 participants
DEPARTS: JOHANNESBURG at 06:30am
ENDS: JOHANNESBURG at 17:00pm
Expedition Highlights:
* Mabuesehube Game Reserve
* Khutse Game Reserve - Central Kalahari
* Central Kalahari Game Reserve
* Khama Rhino Sanctuary
EXPEDITION PLAN
Day 1 - 4 JOHANNESBURG – MABUASEHUBE [wild camping Bx3, Lx4, Dx4]
(B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)
Departing Johannesburg at 06:30am we head to the remote Mabuasehube which is part of the Kalahari Transfrontier Park and situated in the east of the park. Mabuasehube covers an area of about 1800 km2. In 1992 the reserve was incorporated into the Gemsbok National Park, and in 2000 it was also integrated into the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
The unforgiving desert terrain is a mixture of typical Kgalagadi tree and shrub savanna with patches of wide-open grass savanna. This area of the Kalahari Transfrontier Park comprises a series of exceptionally large pans, which are the principal focus of the reserve. Campsites dot the various pans, and many are situated on slight promontories, with almost unimpeded outlooks, thus making for good game viewing right from your camp-side chair.
Each pan is different. The floor of Mabuasehube pan is bare clay that is rich in salts, and this attracts animals that come to lick the surface, deriving essential minerals from it. The floor of Bosobogolo pan is short, shrubby grassland, which antelope frequent to graze, accompanied, of course, by predators. During the rainy season (November until March) the pans may contain water and this is a welcome blessing for the wildlife.
All of the major predators can be seen at Mabuasehube, including the Kalahari black-maned lion, cheetah, leopard, brown hyena, bat-eared fox, lynx, and silver fox. Small mammals, like the Cape fox, aardwolf and black-footed cat can be seen at the pans in the evening.
Planned stops: 1 night en route in the area of Kuruman, 3 nights in Mabuasehube portion of the KTFP
Distance/time: 880km, ±12h00 actual driving time spread over 2 days + border crossing, mostly on tarmac but turning to gravel and then 4WD sand track as we approach the park.
Includes: Entrance fees for 3 nights in the Kalahari Transfrontier Park, game drives
Overnight: Campsite – basic facilities with rustic showers, pit latrines, shade structures
Day 5 - 7 KHUTSE GAME RESERVE [wild camping BLD]
Khutse Game Reserve, situated on the southern boundary of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The first night will be spent camping en route depending on progress made during the first day.
Khutse, meaning “the place where you kneel down to drink” is typical Kalahari landscape – rolling grasslands, dry river beds, fossil sand dunes and small water pans. Khutse has plentiful wildlife, with the desert-adapted species in abundance. These include springbok, gemsbok (oryx), giraffe, wildebeest, hartebeest & kudu. These antelope are of course preyed upon by the large lion population, leopard and cheetah.
We have 3 nights in Khutse to explore this out of the way game reserve on morning and afternoon game drives. We will camp wild in unfenced campsites where there is a very good chance of being visited by some of the nocturnal animals. We visit after the summer rains when the wildlife viewing is at its best as animals move into the area to take advantage of the lush sweet grasses that dominate the landscape.
Planned stops: 1 night en route in the area of Kang and 2 nights inside Khutse Game Reserve (Mahurushele campsite in the northern area of Khutse)
Includes: Entrance fees for 2 nights in Khutse Game Reserve, game drives
Distance/time: 500km ±9h30 actual driving time spread over 2 days, some sand track 4WD and some tarmac
Overnight: Wild camping – basic facilities with bucket shower
Day 8 - 12 CENTRAL KALAHARI GAME RESERVE [wild camping BLD]
The name ‘Kalahari” conjures up images of wide-open grassy plans, dry river beds, hardy wildlife and of course the famed black-maned Kalahari Lions. You will not be disappointed! The Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) is the largest, most remotely situated reserve in Southern Africa, and the second-largest wildlife reserve in the world, encompassing 52 800 sq kms. Nothing prepares you for the immensity of this reserve or its wild, mysterious beauty. There is an impression of unending space, and having the entire reserve to yourself.
This is why we go to the CKGR - to get away from everything. Like Khutse, we visit the CKGR after the summer rains when the wildlife viewing is at its best.
We journey through the Kalahari from south to north over a 4 day period camping wild en-route and staying in areas that offer good game viewing. The roads are sandy and heavy going, so be prepared for some long travelling days, but this is more than worthwhile because of the amazing environment that you are travelling through.
Planned stops: 1 night in western CKGR (Xade campsite or similar), 4 nights in northern CKGR (2 nights Phokoje campsite or similar, 2 nights Deception Valley or similar), 1 night Khama Rhino Sanctuary
Includes: Entrance fees for 5 nights in Central Kalahari Game Reserve, game drives
Distance/time: 380km ± 19 hours spread over 5 days, but with game viewing stops expect to spend long hours in the vehicle.
Overnight: Wild camping x5 – basic facilities with bucket shower
Day 13 KHAMA RHINO SANCTUARY [camping BLD]
We leave the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and head east to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. The Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust is a community based wildlife project established in 1992 to assist in saving the vanishing rhino, restore an area formerly teeming with wildlife to its previous natural state and provide economic benefits to the local Botswana community through tourism and the sustainable use of natural resources. This reserve situated on the Kalahari sandveld, has several natural waterholes and provides prime habitat for white rhino, zebra and wildebeest.
Planned stops: 1 night Khama Rhino Sanctuary.
Includes: Entrance fee, game drive.
Distance/time: 380km ± 7h30 actual driving time.
Overnight: Campsite - good ablution facilities with hot showers.
Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust is a key project for rhino conservation in Botswana, assisting in the management and breeding of rhino for redistribution of animals throughout Botswana. 100% Motswana staff are led by the chief warden and all profit made from this initiative goes towards the Serowe, Mabelepodi & Paje communities for development.
Day 14 JOHANNESBURG –TOUR ENDS [- Bx1 - -]
Tour ends in Johannesburg at the airport at 17:00 on day 14.
Planned stops: drive from Khama to Johannesburg airport where the tour ends
Includes: -
Distance/time: 650km ±7h00 which is all tarmac by minibus. The border is usually quite quick and with a lunch stop en-route, we expect a 9h00 transit day.
Overnight: -
Please note: The distance and travel times quoted above are an estimate only, and subject to local road conditions and photo stops!
RACK Price: 14 days tour
(subject to a minimum number of 4 clients to guarantee the departure), the price is: € 2170 pps
Single supplement: € 120 pp
Single tent supplement is applicable to the camping nights only.
Includes
* 13 nights camping
* Entrance fees as per itinerary
* Use of camping equipment (except sleeping bags & pillow)
* Transport in 4WD vehicle
* Meals as per itinerary
* Professional guide
DETAILED TOUR INFO
Why travel on a Sunway Safaris Expedition Trip.
Sunway Safaris have been running mobile camping & accommodated safaris throughout Southern Africa for the past 19 years. Our extensive knowledge and experience in African travel means that we are confident that we can safely take you to those remote and wild areas of Africa that many people dream about but who are daunted by the prospect of travelling on their own. You can rely on our knowledgeable and experienced tour leaders to take you to these out of the way places.
•Experienced African Travelers – By offering the Expedition trips to people who have travelled to Africa before, and who are aware of the sometimes very difficult travelling conditions, you will only be travelling with adventure minded travelers. The Expedition trips will be limited to a maximum of 8 people ensuring you experience Africa in a small an intimate group of like minded people.
•Sunway tour guides – group leaders are the key to any safari. On a Sunway Expedition safari you will travel with one of our most experienced guides who are confident of travelling off the beaten track. Your guide has a passion for Africa, her people and her wildlife, and they love nothing more than sharing his/her knowledge with you.
•Participation – An essential part of an Expedition trip is your participation. If the small group all pulls together and when the going gets tough, you are all there to help out. Putting up and taking down your tents is the easy part. Helping get the vehicle out of the thick sand, planning your route through thick mud, being a full participating member of the Expedition will only enhance your enjoyment of your out there African experience.
•Safety – All of our vehicles are custom built to ensure comfortable and safe touring. Each is constructed, by an authorised passenger vehicle builder, to the latest safety requirements, with a safety shell, and every seat has a lap belt. This gives you peace of mind when travelling with Sunway Safaris on the often demanding African roads.
•Responsible travel - Our commitment to sustainable & responsible tourism is reflected in our low impact travel style where all we take is photographs and all we leave is our footprints. Being an African company we have the grassroots contacts to make a real difference in the lives of the people whose lands we visit. On each itinerary in the brochure you’ll find this symbol which highlights just one of the sustainable travel initiatives that we support.
•Experience - We have more than 19 years experience planning tours throughout Southern Africa. As such, our itineraries and routes have been perfected over many years ensuring that your tour will run smoothly. We visit the highlights of Southern Africa, but ensure that you do not follow the well trodden tourist track. All of us at Sunway Safaris have extensive travel experience in Africa, and throughout the world.
•Being adventure travellers ourselves, we know how to plan trips that give you a broad experience of the countries that you will visit.
•Based in Africa - probably the most important part of a Sunway safari is that we are an African company. We live in Africa, we travel in Africa and it is our passion for this amazing continent that makes Sunway your best travel option.
Accommodation
•Camping – where possible we will stay at designated campsites in national parks, on private land and in towns. Campsite facilities are generally very good but in places can be basic. There are hot and cold showers, restaurants, washing facilities and telephones available at most of the campsites. Some camps have simple reed enclosures for showers but do have flush toilets! On other nights in expedition trips we may be forced to stay wherever we can find a campsite, this could even be an unscheduled wild camping night.
Sunway supplies all the camping equipment with the exception of your sleeping bag and pillow. The dome tents we use are 2.2 x 2.2 x 1.8 meters and putting them up or down takes only 5 minutes. Tents have built-in insect nets. We supply mattresses, which are about 5 cm thick, warm and comfortable. The camp chairs have a backrest.
•Wild camping - Wild camps have no facilities; we will need to take our own water and all equipment. Wild camping can be very enjoyable but please remember that we leave no trace of our stay and take all rubbish away with us. Toilets will be of the “dig and bury” variety and a simple bucket bush shower will be provided.
•Accommodation – there may on occasion be campsites with rooms / chalets available. Sunway has budgeted for camping night, and therefore should you wish to upgrade on arrival at the campsite, this would be for your own expense, subject to availability of rooms. Sunway would pay the cost of camping, any extra would be for your own expense. This gives you the flexibility to use accommodation as you find it, at your own budget (and depending on the weather on the day).
Transport
•Expedition vehicle – the Sunway Safaris expedition vehicle will be used for all portions of the tour. The vehicle is designed to handle all road conditions expected on the route. Depending on the group size we may tow a trailer for equipment. The vehicle has closed sides with opening glass windows. Individual seats for each client. There are a couple of long days of travelling but the vehicles have a comfortable cruising speed. The emphasis of the trip is “getting out and doing things”.
Local Payment
•A local payment is required on this safari and this will be collected by your tour leader on departure. The local payment forms part of your overall tour cost, and must be taken into consideration when booking your safari. It will be used by your tour leaders to pay for some of the operational costs incurred on safari.
Sunway prepays by bank transfer, as many of the tour costs as possible. However, in many cases, a cash payment is the only option: certain of the destinations that we visit, only accept cash. For example entry fees to most national parks, some of the campsites and also local food markets (and even some shops) are only payable in cash. In addition, each Sunway vehicle has a garage card but these are only accepted in South Africa and parts of Namibia, therefore in all other countries, fuel must be paid for in cash. Due to the remoteness of some departure points, having a local payment system enables us to manage tour funds effectively. The efficiency of this system helps keep the overall tour prices down.
For these reasons, it is necessary for Sunway to charge a local payment. It also ensures that a portion of the tour costs goes directly into the country you are visiting, thereby benefiting local communities and contributing to the conservation of the areas we visit. This is all part of Sunway Safaris’ ongoing effort to operate sustainable safaris that make a real difference.
Participation
•An essential part of your expedition is participation – from putting up your tent or packing away in the morning to helping with meal preparation and cleaning up – it’s all part of your adventure and when everyone puts in a little effort the trip will run smoothly. Your tour leader will do all the meal planning and food shopping however all participants will need to help with food preparation and washing up. At border crossings the expedition leader will need help from the participants in queuing for paperwork etc. In the unlikely event of a vehicle breakdown (such as flat tyre), or the more likely event of vehicle becoming stuck in mud or sand, everyone will need to help solve the problem and get the group out of the situation. Team spirit is part of the fun!
SOS trees project – Okavango Botswana
•For hundreds of years, the local communities in and around Botswana's Okavango Delta have used the wood of the sausage tree to craft their traditional mokoro (dugout canoes). The knowledge and skill have been passed down from generation to generation and, up until recently, has been a sustainable practice. With increasing numbers of people visiting the Delta each year, more mokoro are needed and as a direct result, more and more sausage trees are being felled and the sausage tree is sadly disappearing from the region. A traditional wooden mokoro will have to be replaced every five years, thereby placing increased pressure on the dwindling sausage tree supply.
Sunway Safaris has established a project to encourage polers in the local communities to buy replica fiberglass mokoro’s, which have a lifespan of approximately ten years, are more stable and are produced without any negative affect to the environment. As such, sponsorship for each fiberglass mokoro is needed, and a portion of the tour cost will be donated to the project, but we also will offer our clients the opportunity to contribute to this worthwhile cause. Please feel free to contact the Sunway Safaris office for more information on the SOS trees project or if you would like to make any contributions towards this project. It is something that is close to all of our hearts and we hope that it will be successful.
Recommended reading
Before you travel you might want to read any of the following books. While not specific to the Sunway tour you will join, they do provide some background understanding of the countries you will be visiting.
•#1 ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Fictional story of life in Botswana)
•Trees of the Okavango by Veronica Roodt (A reference book with traditional uses and myths)
•Okavango: Jewel of the Kalahari by Karen Ross (A comprehensive description of the Delta ecology)
•Don’t run whatever You Do by Peter Allison (A guide’s perspective of Botswana lodge life)
•Okavango: Africa's Last Eden by Frans Lanting (A coffee table book of photography)
•Newman's Birds of Southern Africa by Kenneth Newman
•Sasol Birds of Southern Africa by Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey, and W.R. Tarboton
•The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates by Richard D. Estes and Daniel Otte
•Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa (Field Guides) by Braam Van Wyk, Keith Coates Palgrav, and Piet Van Wyk
Food
•We pride ourselves on giving very good healthy meals to our clients and will provide three meals per day, except as shown in the itinerary. For those meals we will eat at local restaurants.
•The tour leaders do the shopping and meal planning for each group. He/she will always try to obtain fresh produce wherever possible. A rough idea of what these will consist of is: Breakfast - cereals or coffee and toast or the occasional fried breakfast, Lunch - cheese, cold meats, salads on bread or rolls, Dinner - braais (local barbecue), potjies (stews), stir fries etc. We use regular plates, cups and cutlery. All cooking and eating utensils will also be provided.
•We do cater for special dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian or allergies.)
•We will supply fruit squash served with breakfast and tea or coffee served with breakfast and dinner. All other beverages will be for your own expense. We will not supply bottled drinking water although it is available at many shops on tour.