Our debris does not form part of the ecosystem.
We have visited Mabuasehube, Botswana previously, however, when our friends, Heinrich and Wendy, invited us again to join them, we said yes.
That meant cancelling our pre-planned holiday to Thailand, and instead of sipping the cocktails in the sparkling pool, we were to test our endurance for the January heat in Kalahari.
Our route was planned via Bray border post, overnight at Cornwall farm, 6 nights at Mabuasehube, then take the Nossob track to Kgalagadi and drive down to Rooiputs.
By the time we sat in our camp chairs at Mpayathutlwa camp in Mabua, drinking in the scenery together with ice-cold gin and tonic, the tension of urban living had lifted from our shoulders.
This Camp is famous for its resident pride of lions who apparently like the campsites as much as campers do, and some have developed a peculiar fetish for car tyres. Indeed the lions were waiting for us. Either vocal or visible in the close distance during our stay. At the next-door campsite, the lions occupied the A-frame most of the day and using the camp chair as a urinal. There they “owned” the camp during the heat of the day while the campers were either driving around or forced to drive around because of the lions.
We saw notably fewer antelopes compared to our previous trip in March 2014. Most likely the harsh heat and lack of rain had driven animals to migrate to less hostile grounds. However it is not the number of animals that make an enjoyable game viewing, but often the small things like blooming desert lilies popped out from the bare sand.
Sustainable tourism
There are not many wild and natural places left, let’s cherish them.
The next three days we stayed at Lesholoago no2 campsite. It had all the camp “luxuries” (water and ablution ) and in my opinion one of the best views over the pan. The flat horizon over the pan made a 180 degree stretch of the sky into a magnificent sunset tableau. Distant rain clouds painted the sky in hues of pinks and purples with streaks of rain appearing red. Every sunset is different, and I have seen many spectacular ones, yet I feel this one would have been priceless if on the art gallery wall.
As expected, the days were boiling hot, with + 36 degrees at 6 in the evening. The best way to prevent heatstroke was to hibernate under a shady spot, depleting our stock of liquid refreshments. During our stay, we encountered quite a few uneaten carcasses of Gemsbok who probably have died from the drought.
At the Lesholoago campsite, we were expecting to meet the tyre fetish Lion as encountered during our previous visit. However, Lions were replaced with a gang of Hyenas; raiding our campsite every night in search of takeaways. Of cause, we left out of their reach, but in the morning we found a massive bag of wood dragged into the bushes and our car tyres tasted, – out of revenge (maybe). Swarms of termite nymphs appeared in the evenings for their suicide mission. It was fascinating to see the nymphs fly under the camp light, wiggling off their wings and join to move in a clockwise motion. The merry-go-round wheel got bigger and bigger, and BIGGER on the sand as millions of them joined in. By the morning the campsite ground looked like a termite nymph mortuary. It was the most bizarre activity. I am yet to find an explanation for it.
The next day a deep sandy road was waiting for us on our way to Nossob, – a challenge that we have been looking forward to. Beautiful terrain with changing vegetation and bouncy dunes.
To sum up, our Mabua to Nossob trip was a leisurely holiday. We had a great time without any let-downs from our cars or other possible mishaps. The only disappointing and annoying factor was finding cigarette-buts and other confetti such as cut cable ties; tins and beer caps at the campsites. My husband with our friends and I are regular 4×4 travellers and have noticed that lately, these findings become more prevalent.
It takes just a common sense, that beer cans will not burn to ash in the fire and ain’t going to disintegrate into the sand. More appalling was a discovery at the Matopi no2 wilderness campsite, – in the centre of the campground stood a hundred years old tree, a magnificent beauty ravaged by selfish campers for firewood. I cannot comprehend why would anyone go for 4×4 camping in the wilderness who does not respect nature and promote conservation. I hope that people would come to realise that we do not own nature and our debris does not form part of the ecosystem. https://ecoexploreafrica.com/what-is-ecotourism/
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
Central Kalahari Part ONE and Part TWO (click only to take you there).
Later that afternoon we decided to investigate a loop that we had not been on previously.
Imagine our surprise when we found the four young males from the previous day sprawled out next to the road.
A young male decided that the Coopers on Johan’s vehicle were the coolest things he has seen in a long time! Trotting around, he was eyeing out the wheels with concentration.
Wendy spotted a fifth lion coming towards us across the pan. To witness the reaction of the males was amazing. They started to gambol around the pan like kittens. It was a female, and we watched in amazement as she first crouched in submission and soon they were greeting each other like old friends. After a session of greetings and lion standard pleasantries, the female got up and headed for the waterhole.
What a privilege to witness this. I again realised why we visit these remote places on our eco tours in Africa .
We followed the lions to the waterhole as Johan and Annica got engrossed in preparing a delicious meal of duck and cherry pie. If you should think that they are camp food magicians you are quite right. Camp food will never be the same again after travelling with the Van Rensburgs.
We packed up camp early the next morning and set off for Sunday pan for our last three days in the park. Along the route, we came across a fantastic spectacle on our eco tours in Africa. Bushes that a few days ago looked utterly lifeless were now covered in white blooming flowers. The rain of two days ago had worked its magic.
A while later we came across a flock of vultures at a kill. It was further from the roadside and we were not able to see what the ‘kill was but it must have been large as there were at least 40 – 50 vultures squabbling over the carcass.
Great was our surprise when we spotted a wild dog skulking around, no doubt hoping to scavenge a few scraps. It was odd though to see a loner of a wild dog.
We arrived at our Sunday Pan campsite late afternoon and after setting up the camp, we soaked in peaceful nature, until it was time to start supper. On the menu were Kassler chops served with plums and potato bake.
Next day on our eco tours in Africa we were up early for a game drive. At the Sunday Pan waterhole, we found three lions. A beautiful male and female and a very thin emaciated female. She looked as if on deaths door.We decided to go and look for the leopard of Leopard Pan, but all we found was a stream of vehicles. It was just before the Easter weekend, and we were glad that for a past week and a half we had the park to ourselves.
With no leopard found, we headed back to camp to chill for the rest of the day.
Supper was grilled deboned leg of lamb, sweet potatoes and potbread followed by grilled peaches with cinnamon custard and ice cream. We rolled into bed by 21:00.
Psalm 76. Where there is peace, He is there.
At night it started to rain heavily, and we awoke to dark skies and a sodden campsite. We attempted went for a game drive, but the heavy rain forced us back to the campsite. The day was spent reading and sleeping to the tumbling sound of water.
At 5 am we were up to pack our trailers with camp-gear and head for home. Enough has been said on the forum about the chaos after the rain, so I am not going to bore you with another rain and mud story. What I can say is that we left CKGR just in time. It took us only five and a half hours to drive the 107 km from our camp to the tar road. From later reports on our eco tours in Africa, I gather that we came off lightly.
Wendy and I can’t ever adequately express the gratitude in our hearts for amazing friends and an awesome God who made it possible for us to experience the Central Kalahari.
We will be back!
Adventure 4×4 offroad travel to Central Kalahari, Botswana.
If you missed the part ONE, here is the link.
After setting up camp, Wendy and I decided to drive to Piper Pan. Scarcely 300 meters from our campsite we found a pride of lions right next to the road. It is moments like this that makes this place so unique. Four females and four cubs were sprawled out under the smallest piece of shrub shade.
We looked around for males but could not spot them and decided to drive on to the waterhole as we realised that they were not going anywhere till late afternoon.
Piper Pan waterhole is an absolute delight.
Eventually, the heat drove us back to camp where we relaxed until late afternoon. After a refreshing shower, we decided to go and check up on the lionesses again. They were still in the same spot although more active than earlier in the day. We were convinced that there must be males somewhere in the vicinity and scanned the surrounding bushes up and down the road. Then we saw them, two beautiful Black-maned Kalahari lions in the prime of life, and they were heading towards us. Wendy grabbed the radio and called Johan and Annica who were still at the campsite. By the time they joined us the males were quite close to us.
Slowly, in no hurry, the first male ambled towards the females. Close to us he lay down and surveyed the scene. Then the second male decided to join him.
Rumbling stomachs eventually dictated that we return back to the campsite for another gastronomical delight. It is quite an eerie feeling to prepare the supper knowing ten lions are lying only a couple of hundred meters away from us.
I must admit that as it got darker, the distance to the longdrop seemed to have increased!
We were in bed by nine only to be woken by the lions roaring. It sounded as if they were right outside our tents. Then a little striped mouse decided that there must be all sorts of delicacies inside the trailer. Up and down the tent it scampered looking for a hole. Mercifully a spotted eagle owl decided that our tent was an excellent vantage point and the mouse realised that maybe he should look elsewhere for a meal.
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise and the promise of another day filled with excitement. After breakfast, we drove to the waterhole to look out for the lions, but they were out of sight. Leaving the waterhole, we took a drive around Piper Pan and came across four young male lions. Although it was still early, the lions were already in sleep mode. We waited patiently for maybe a move for a photo if not an action but eventually returned to the campsite.
On the way, we spotted one of the big males lying under a tree no more than 100m from our campsite. The big question was, where were the other nine? Johan and I started to build an oxtail potjie. The potjie and the cooks shared an excellent Malbec from Wellington while Annica prepared a mozzarella, tomato and basil salad, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic reduction. Absolutely delicious. Both, the food and wine.
Late in the evening, when Johan and Annica returned from a shower, they were convinced they heard the lions VERY close. Of course, the close proximity of 10 lions had nothing to do with my decision to rather having a foot bath in the comfort of our trailer tent.
Psalm 92: “We proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.”
We drove to Piper2 to see what the campsite was like and maybe spot “our” lions. And decided unanimously that Piper1 is by far the better campsite. Wendy spotted a flock of sandgrouse heading for the waterhole, and we set off hoping to see them drinking. Luckily we arrived at the waterhole just in time to witness the show. Hundreds of Burchell’s sandgrouse flocked around the waterhole, flying in to rush into the water for a few seconds before flying back to their chicks.
By 11:30 the temperature was in the high 30’s, but we could see a storm brewing. By lunchtime a storm of note hit us. We were literally hanging onto the tent poles and got thoroughly soaked within seconds. Mercifully the storm did not last long but cooled the weather down. But little did we realise that this was only a small taste of what was to come.
The waterhole drew us like a magnet, and it was not long before Wendy and I were back there observing the constant coming and goings of birds and animals.
Large flocks of guineafowl started running around, making an almighty racket. We then saw the cause of all the consternation. Two Lanner falcons were trying to catch themselves a meal, but the guineafowl was too big to bring down. Four jackals decided to join in, and for a while, it was utter pandemonium. The combined aerial and ground attack sent the birds fluttering into whatever shelter they could find. Soon every bush was festooned with a flock of chattering – complaining fowls.
… follow the story to Part THREE
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