The Jurgen's Xplorer Xploits Trip through Botswana

As prize winners of a competition run by Jurgen's South Africa and SA Caravan Magazine, last week we went off to Botswana to enjoy a week travelling around the Magadigadi Pans and the Central Kalahari Game reserve. We were also loaned a Toyota Fortuner to use to tow an Xplorer Caravan we received from the Factory for the week.

What an amazing experience.

Nossob Rest Camp

Nossob Rest Camp is situated on the banks of the dry Nossob River which forms the Eastern South African boundary of the Park with Botswana, even though the park extends well into Botswana beyond this point. This section of the Park is famous for its incredible predator sightings in the tree and savannah covered bush land.

Another common aspect of this region is the seasonal movement of large game such as blue wildebeest, springbok, eland and red hartebeest. Two more of the park’s more prominent species, which are often found running around the camps, are the Ground Squirrel and occasionally the Meerkat. You will have an excellent chance of seeing cheetah, leopard, brown and spotted hyena and the definitive black-manned lion in this area.

Nossob Camp and its surrounds exhibit a blend of bird species typical of the other camps, and have the added attraction of a wide variety of raptor species.

The camp has a reception, predator information centre, shop and fuel facilities. Electricity is provided by a generator 18 hrs per day. There is no phone reception available at the camp so for those visitors looking for a break away from the modern day and cell phones, this is the place to visit.

Nossob offers visitors to the Kgalagadi 2 Guesthouses, a range of different size cottages and camping sites to suit a variety of needs and budgets

Mata Mata Rest Camp

Mata Mata Rest Camp is situated on the banks of the Auob River on the western boundary of the Park. The camp lies on the border of Namibia and is surrounded by thorny Kalahari dune bushveld.

One of the animals often found in this area is the giraffe, as they are well adapted to these arid conditions, plus they feed off the trees found in this region.

The camp has the basic facilities for a satellite camp with a reception, shop and fuel facilities.

Mata-Mata is 2½ hours drive from Twee Rivieren.

Within the camp, the visitor will find laundry tubs in the camping area so that they can catch up on their washing. The shop sells basic supplies to provide a support base for the tourist which include commodities like meat, milk, cheese, eggs, bread, wine and beer.

At the bottom left corner of the camping site is a hide where you can sit and view the animals coming down to drink.

The camp offers accommodation in the form of family chalets, two-bed chalets and 3 park homes, apart from the camping site which is a favourite amongst the self drive visitors.

The Mata Mata Border has been opened, but only bona fide tourists to the Park can use the access facility between South Africa and Namibia. Tourists are required to stay over for two nights in one or more of the overnight facilities of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Tourists from Namibia may make use of the new entrance to Kgalagadi, as a day or overnight visitor access point without checking in with the border officials at Twee Rivieren as long as they return to Namibia. If, however, a tourist leaves the Park to go in to South Africa or Botswana they will have to go to the passport control at Twee Rivieren.

Twee Rivieren Rest Camp

Twee Rivieren Rest Camp is the main camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and administrative headquarters for the area. The camp lies at the Southern most point of the park on the dry Nossob riverbed. Until recently visitors to the park had to travel the 59kms of poor dirt road from the Tar road from Upington to the main gate at Twee Rivieren. This has recently been tarred and has made access to the park a completely different story.

Twee Rivieren offers Family Lodges, 2 and 4 bed Chalets and camping facilities. There is a fuel station, shop with basic supplies, restaurant and information centre. The most fulfilling aspect of this park is going on game drives to view the nature and wildlife in this barren yet beautiful area. There is a swimming pool at the camp. There are laundry machines down at the Camp site
Distances here are quite vast so making sure you have enough time to reach your destination is critical, especially if you allow for possible breakdowns etc..

Upington to Twee Rivieren = 265kms
Twee Rivieren to Nossob Camp = 162 kms or 3,5 hours
Twee Rivieren to Mata Mata Camp = 117kms or 2,5 hours

Gate times in the Park are strictly adhered to.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is found in the North Western portion of South Africa on the border with Namibia. The park was an amalgamation of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa (proclaimed in 1931) and the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park comprises an area of over 3,6 million hectares – one of very few conservation areas of this magnitude left in the world.

This is an area of red dunes and scrub which disappear into the distance, and where herds of gemsbok, springbok, and blue wildebeest who follow the rains, stay near to water sources and feed off the grasslands. Under shady camel thorn trees you will often find huge black-mane lions resting up during the heat of the day. The dunes make for perfect vantage points for leopard, cheetah and many raptors that follow the 2 dry river watercourses of the Auob & Nossob. This area is a photographer’s paradise, especially for the avid birder when it comes to the variety of raptors found there.

The Kgalagadi is not very car friendly due to the sandy conditions and corrugations that form on the roads. The Park does make every effort to maintain these roads requesting visitors to reduce their tyre air pressures so as to make their ride more pleasant.

There are 3 main camps in the Park, namely Twee Rivieren (main camp), Nossob and Mata Mata. These 3 camps provide most of the basic essentials like a small shop, fuel with resident rangers and staff. There are two border posts open allowing visitors to travel onwards into Botswana (via Twee Rivieren) and Namibia (via Mata Mata). There are restaurant facilities at Twee Rivieren only.

Fairly recently the park built 6 Wilderness Camps which are in remote parts of the park. For some of these camps a 4x4 vehicle is required to reach them. These camps are very small offering no facilities apart from the tents, log cabins or dune chalets that have been built there. So the visitor has to be self sufficient bringing in their own food and drink. A resident ranger is found at all these camps.

Kalahari - Namibia

The Southern and Eastern parts of Namibia are covered by the Kalahari Desert. It is in fact a fossil desert rather a desert in the true sense of the word. This area does get some rainfall, up to 250 mm has been recorded in some areas in the past, and the landscape is a mixture of golden grass and small red dunes – this vast landscape often being referred to as the Kgalagadi.

It spreads into Botswana and the north western section of South Africa north of the Orange River. In good years where they experience above average rainfall, this desert blooms into a sea of long grass that waives in the wind. With this comes the game and wildlife.

Due to the inconsistency of the rainfall and the generally arid conditions, this area is sparely populated, with the local inhabitants, the “Bushmen” being found in small pockets raising their goats and cattle. In Namibia this area is called the Karas region, where some farms are located where cattle and ostrich are raised. There are a few Game farms and guest farms which have developed over recent years, allowing the tourist the opportunity to explore the area.

The Nama word “Karas” stands for “Quiver Tree” which is also the plant symbol for this south east region of Namibia. Karas abounds in natural riches and beauty, including the very sought-after minerals including the world’s largest reserves of alluvial diamonds

Fairly recently the governments of South Africa and Botswana formed the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Wildlife National Park as a means of protecting and preserving this stark and beautiful area. In later blogs I will post articles on this National Park.