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Makgadikgadi & Kalahari Travel Information MAKGADIKGADI & KALAHARI TRAVEL INFORMATION Safari Guru Pty Ltd Web: www.safari-guru.com Fishery Point Road Facebook: @SafariSpecialists or Safari-Guru Mirrabooka Instagram: guru_safarispecialists NSW, 2264 LinkedIn: deon-de-villiers-885154 Date: Monday, 12 October 2020 Email: [email protected] Property of: Safari Guru Pty Ltd Telephone: (+61) 0427 782 226 CONTENTS MAKGADIKGADI & KALAHARI OVERVIEW....................................................................................... 3 WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN THE MAKGADIKGADI............................................................................ 3 WHERE TO STAY.................................................................................................................................. 4 1. Jacks Camp...................................................................................................................................... 4 2. San Camp......................................................................................................................................... 4 3. Camp Kalahari................................................................................................................................ 4 4. Meno a Kwena................................................................................................................................ 4 5. Kalahari Plains Camp..................................................................................................................... 5 **BUSHMAN OF THE KALAHARI**................................................................................................... 5 TRAVEL PLANNING FOR MAKGADIKGADI & KALAHARI............................................................... 6 Why engage with Safari Guru Pty Ltd.............................................................................................. 7 MAKGADIKGADI & KALAHARI OVERVIEW Like nowhere else on earth! Approximately the size of Switzerland, this was once the enormous Lake Makgadikgadi which dried up thousands of years back and is now one of the most extensive salt flats on earth. It's a spectacular environment; spectacular in a harsh and sparse way, offering isolation as absolute as anywhere in Southern Africa. The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is today a protected area and is flanked on either side by the Ntwetwe Pan and the Boteti River – each with camps offering the activities, unique to Botswana and mentioned below. Makgadikgadi Pan is not in actual fact a single pan but many pans with the Kalahari Desert in between, The many pans are dotted here and there with palm tree islands, and occasional clumps of mopane woodland, umbrella acacias and grasses. The occasional thousand-year-old baobabs stand in the vast expanse. The Kalahari Desert is not, in fact, a desert, but a semi-arid savannah! The climate is hot and dry, but there are annual rains seasonally covering the salty, clay crust with water and grass, creating much-needed refuge for birds and animals from the intense Botswana sun. Leaving aside the geography lesson, what does this area offer? A safari, like no other. This is the land that time forgot, and it really does feel as if it remains much as it was thousands of years ago. WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN THE MAKGADIKGADI So why visit this remarkable place in the dry savanna of Botswana… It may seem as if there is little here. But you'd be wrong. Desert adapted animals that inhabit this area; brown hyena, oryx, black-maned Kalahari lion, and the nocturnal porcupine, bat-eared fox, aardvark, honey badger and porcupine. Plus the real bonus of meerkats, which – while well known – are only found in Southern Africa in the Kalahari desert areas. You can spend time following these cheeky endearing little fellows on foot and take time to sit with them and follow their foraging and individual interactions. A little known fact; the Makgadikgadi remarkably also offers one of Africa's most significant migrations! With the onset of the Southern Africa's summer rains in December and January; tens of thousands of zebra make their way towards the pans and congregate along the Boteti River around April. The migration offers a spectacle like no other, as the jostling and distracted often fall prey to the ever-lurking predators in tow; including lion and black- backed jackal. Another draw of this unique area is that here it is possible to meet some of the worlds oldest tribal people; the Khoisan. These people, the 'San', are regularly referred to as the Bushmen of the Kalahari have lived a hunter- gatherer style existence stemming over 70,000 years. If you are open to the experience, you may accompany them on bushman walks and see their skills first hand and learn about their lives. You may also sit with them in the evenings and engage or follow them on their trance dance, whereby the members of the community heal negative issues or sickness in the community by rhythmic dancing, hyperventilation and clapping/singing empowering a state of altered consciousness. In addition to the classic game drives that are slanted towards the different, desert-adapted animals that inhabit this area there are – depending on the camp - also various other additional activities such as quad biking across the seemingly endless salt-pans, horse riding amongst the migratory herds and sleep-outs under the star-studded skies. Many of these activities are while the pans are dry, April to October, which in the 'desert' is hot, empty and promises shimmering images above the crusted salt. Typically the areas may have been devoid of larger migratory (or non- adapted) mammals, but pumped waterholes have enabled the game viewing experience year-round. The wet season, November to April, is transformative. The desert area of the Makgadikgadi Pans becomes a time of plenty, and the dry caked salt gives way to watery grasslands bringing Africa's second-largest migration as thousands of wildebeest and zebra flood the plains. The rains and consequent grasses also bring nesting migratory birds including flamingo, which arrive like pink clouds from heaven! While the viewing may be different as indicated here the safari activities remain similar in these months although typically you'll be travelling less to see the animals and this green season is the low season in Botswana, so it's typically a more economical time to travel. There is, however, no quad biking across the pans during this time WHERE TO STAY There are some beautiful places to stay which will ultimately enhance and compliment your experience in this mesmerising area; such that it is a pure delight to take some time away from the activities on offer to simply indulge in a lazy afternoon on your deck gazing over the lunar landscape, or soaking in the pool reflecting on the safari road travelled (or the one ahead). 1. Jacks Camp An ultra-luxurious, yet surprisingly different camp. Owned by Ralph Bousfield a veteran safari guide and name after his father, Jack's Camp is now undergoing a full rebuild and refurbishment, and while Covid-19 travel restrictions have delayed its re-opening, we're sure that it'll be a stunning icon in the region on its completion. Read more about Jacks Camp... 2. San Camp Think Arabian Nights meets traditional 1940's campaign-style in this intimate romantic safari camp. Very much built in Jack's Camp style on the Ntwetwe Pan this camp is semi-permanent and only open in the dry season - mid-April to mid-October. San Camp offers a swimming pool and yoga tent and offers most of the activities listed above. 3. Camp Kalahari A family-friendly, simpler and lower-key' laidback little sister of Jack's and San Camp' with twelve en-suite menus tents set within the heart of the Kalahari as its name might indicate. Adventures abound at the lovely little camp offering the same experiences as San and Jack's with fewer frills and which touts itself as 'understated and affordable'. Camp Kalahari is open year-round and fenced for added peace of mind for families, and also offers a swimming pool. 4. Meno a Kwena A slightly more traditional style classic safari camp, perched on a hill overlooking the Boteti River. This year-round, family-friendly camp, allows you to experience the Makgadikgadi and salt pans and also see some game coming down to the river - the only source of water in the area. Meno a Kwena, which means 'teeth of the crocodile' has a floating game viewing hide and offers river excursions on the Boteti River. 5. Kalahari Plains Camp This is not in the area/s mentioned above; it is actually situated in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve south of the Makgadikgadi but in terms of overall experience and general game viewing this remote area offers much of that indicated above. This is a Wilderness Safaris traditional classic tented camp with some of Botswana's best summer game viewing, and an introduction to authentic Bushman culture. Kalahari Plains Camps is also open year-round, Kalahari Plains and their personnel love children, making this camp genuinely family-friendly. **BUSHMAN OF THE KALAHARI** They're soft-spoken and gentle, yet their rugged and worn body scars tell harrowing tales and show ageless traditions etched in a culture deeply forged in some of the worlds most inhospitable and barren of lands! They are the forgotten tribes of the Kalahari; once leading a nomadic existence, they sought shelter in small grass huts and conserved water in ostrich eggs while never knowing when the rain will once again come. Botswana is one of the worlds most popular and exclusive safari destinations. Yet, the majority of
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