Eco Travel Africa – Mabuasehube Moments
Mabuasehube Transfrontier Park in Botswana is one of my favourite places for Eco travel Africa.
On the road again.
Private unfenced camps, unexpected visitors in the form of lion or hyena, blessed peace and quiet makes any eco travel Africa trip to Mabua a memorable experience.
We decided to stay in one camp for the duration of our trip. The only camp available for a lengthy stay was Mpaya Reserve Camp. My travel companions had their doubts, but I was adamant.
One tree, no water, no facilities what so ever.
Water for our shower was collected each day at Scout Camp nearby. We managed to shower with less than 25 litres of water a day between the five of us. By standing in a bowl to catch the water, we could have a luxurious hot bush shower courtesy of Johan’s Kariba ingenious eco travel Africa shower.
To compensate for the lack of shade trees, Dennis erected his “African Tree” What an amazing invention. It allows a free flow of air and even rustles like a tree as the wind blows through it.
These are Eco travel Africa do’s and dont’s for responsible camping.
After setting up our camp our first duty was to collect bits of toilet paper that carpeted the campsite. Obviously very few visitors to Mpaya Reserve Camp took the trouble to research pooping in the bush! (By the way here are some excellent videos on YouTube about the subject.) Every morning Dennis dug a fresh toilet pit at the camp perimeter. The used toilet paper was collected in a bag, which we disposed of by burning.
Despite some negative comments on the internet, I realized that the Reserve Camp has one of the better views over the pan. Our bed in the trailer looked out directly over the Mpaya waterhole. From there we enjoyed an early morning lie-in while still observing the comings and goings at the waterhole.
Meeting unexpected visitors is why we travel to places like Mabuasehube.
The waterhole is about 500 meters from our campsite. Whenever we spotted something interesting, we jumped in the Landy and within minutes had a closeup look at lion, hyena, springbok and any variety of birds.
We left our camp only to fetch water and had one game drive to Letsoalaga pan. On our return from Letsoalaga, our fellow campers told us that a lioness walked right past the camp while we were gone.
We saw the Brownie every day, and on one occasion he visited while we were having supper. Very calmly he walked into our camp, gave us a look as if saying “What are you doing here” and ambled off into the night.
The entire night we could hear the lions in and around our campsite
During the day we were visited by the small creatures of Mpaya. Hornbills, crows, white-tailed and slender mongoose and red-billed spurfowl, were regular visitors on this unforgettable eco travel Africa experience. The hornbills made a real nuisance of themselves, even grabbing food off our plates. Obviously, they associate humans with a free lunch.
Great article to read about feeding wild animals.
On our last night at Mpaya we planned an early morning getaway. Not to be! The entire night we heard the lions in and around our campsite. It was a bleary-eyed group of travellers that eventually dared to leave the safety of their tents.Lion tracks crisscrossed our campsite. With one eye on the bush, we managed to pack up camp in record time.
Once again Mabuasehube lived up to its reputation. We will be back.
If, like us, you are a fellow eco-minded traveler and keen to explore the potential eco travel Africa, please feel free to contact us for advice and suggestions. Safe Travels
Tags: 4x4 offroad travel, eco camping, Eco community, eco travel, eco travel AfricaRecommend News
