SimonD
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2010
- Messages
- 650
- Country Flag
After months of planning my wife and I headed off to Northern Botswana for the whole month of October. The aim was to do wildlife photography but at the same time, taste the overlanding life in the bush. It was bloody brilliant so I wanted to share some of the experiences. As this is a truck-oriented forum I will keep the write-up focused on truck related things rather than the 1000s of wildlife pics we took! The plan was to rent a Land Cruiser for the first and last weeks of the month and go with a guide during the middle two weeks to concentrate on taking pics. We ended up in a bullet-proof, go-anywhere Hilux for this bit of the journey.
For the month, we planned to cover: Western Panhandle and Tsodilo Hills by ourselves, then NG32 Santadibe concession, then onto Third Bridge and Khwai concession in Moremi, wrapping up with Savute with the guide and his truck, and finally Chobe Riverfront by ourselves. We camped 26 of the 30 nights there and had close experiences with elephant and hyena in the camp. We also quickly learnt how important routines are each evening, particularly as you do photography right up to sunset so sometimes the camp was sorted in the dark.
Both trucks we had were HZJ76R series and had front and rear diffs. These were kitted out for overlanding by David at selfdrive adventures based in Maun. Full equipment list on the website. The tyres were nothing special which initially had us worried given the thickness of the sand but actually proved to be no issue. The trucks had compressors so no big deal on that front. David was a great bloke and really flexible, twice allowing us to pick up the night before to prep the truck and so on. I’d use him again and recommend him. Each truck was a little bit different in layout [the first one was better]. I think these 76 series are capable but so have some slightly soft trimmings that aren’t really for the bundu-bashing. Apparently the aircon can be an issues with this model – leaking under the glovebox. We had one do this. Spare fuel was carried on three jerries on the roof. I didn't mind as it was diesel - the servo guys were happy to clamber up and fill them up too. Earthing comprised tapping the can - at least it wasn't petrol
. The roof-top tents were two-man and I now know why I'm happy with the bigger RTT on my truck here. It was nice however to have all four sides open while sleeping - Eezi-Awns doing what they were designed for rather than hiding from the mizzle as we have to do here.
Toyota rules Botswana. Nearly every vehicle you see outside the parks is some form of a Toyota, even many sedans. In the National Parks things were different as we saw quite a lot of Defenders being used by both safari companies and also self-drivers, and some Nissans. Most self-driving Brits seemed to hire Defenders while other nationalities had a big mix with Hilux/Nissan/Mitsubishi and a couple of HUGE Fords. Most of the rentals we saw were bakkies with RTTs and Howling Moon was an extremely popular brand. Many of the modern bakkies didn’t have such a good clearance and recovery points were sparse. We saw six or seven UK registered 4wds but all of them were Defenders – where are all the LC drivers? Saw a smattering of cool 80 and 100 series [105] LCs, a few Discos and one Range Rover in Savuti that looked a bit out of place with all that chrome. I’d not noticed how loud Defender diesels were before, but when sitting at a kill you could always tell a Defender approaching and idling. There was also a popular Landcruiser LX driving about which goes up against Defenders in the market and are selling well apparently - i think they are 79 series.
Being the dry season we were prepared [mentally] for sand driving and were initially tentative on the first encounter. However, we quickly realised the truck was fine and handled even deep sand tracks without adjusting tyre pressures down. We were stuck only once when we went into a deep sandy gully but it took only 10 minutes to clear, by hand, a lot of sand in front of the four wheels and rear diff. We then lock both diffs [which immediately engaged] and drove out of the gully. Although we didn’t go through from Savuti to Kasane in the park this time – instead we took the tar via Nata – we are convinced we could do the sand throughout Moremi in a Land Cruiser now at least in the dry season. The wet season is a different matter though as even the locals wouldn't touch big parts of the northern Botswana.
Tracks 4 Africa software was fantastic. We used it on a Garmin 60CSX on the dash, plugged into a USB slot on cigarette lighter multiple extension, and it worked a treat. We always knew where petrol was and had confidence to take tracks knowing the general, and actually nearly always specific, direction/trail to take. It was also nice to capture tracks as you did them in the parks.
In the middle weeks, the guide Grant’s Hilux proved to be a great performer. We were off-road in all of the concessions driving through and over all sorts of tough terrain and it didn’t skip a beat. Only one puncture, too, after travelling through some lead wood on the banks of Khwai River. In this leg of the journey we spent a lot of time crossing water. It was a petrol truck so no snorkel and we kept to just under bonnet height at the very deepest. Grant suggested tubed tyres as the only way to go for the most serious off-roading. Botswana has had a combination of heavy rain plus extra rain in Angola which feeds the Okavango, so a lot of places that were flooded in February are still holding water today. Grant had only last seen Savuti Channel flooded in 1980 as a child so he was gobsmacked when we visited. The marsh was filling up gradually and the Channel looks like it will run for a couple of years if the rain is right. In fact, T4A still shows a track at the bottom of Savuti Channel although I hadn’t updated the data to the October release as I was away.
The wildlife is reacting to this too – we saw over 300 elephant together there. In addition, the famous elephant-hunting pride of lions has been broken up and just before we got to Savuti, a prominent lion and lioness were killed by a coalition of five brothers that is further causing change to the predators. We saw plenty of Wild Dog too which was a highlight.
Our first camp at Nguma Island Lodge
Our first sand
The ubiquitous site in Botswana
The indestructable Hilux
Our first big water crossing with Grant. In the middle we passed a bloke on a canoe
The ground water was everywhere but the tracks were solid underneath
More water crossings
In the afternoon we'd pop down to the river and take a dip to cool off. We would canoe out to a sandbank and get out for a beer and snacks while wading. It is shallow enough in this part of the river not to worry bout crocs in the dry season. However one day this male bull elephant turned up next to the river while we were in it. Cue three crab-like figures walking the canoe back to the other sure while remaining neck deep and low so as not the antagonise the guy. A quick jump out - by this time the elephant was in the water drinking where we'd just been. We retreated to the hilux and the old boy sauntered past us.
Couple of the types of sandy tracks we were driving on
The famous third bridge in Moremi
Not just a sheep to dodge. This guy stood there and we drove right up to him in the Hilux and he didn't budge. We could have patted his trunk as we went past - never looked that closely into the eye of an African elephant without a lens before.
When dealing with the only puncture we had we were farting about with the high-life jack but the truck kept moving so out came the bottle jack. While doing this I happened to look over my shoulder and a bull elephant had wandered out behind us.
Grant noticed looking across the Savuti marsh that a truck was stuck so we stopped watching a bunch of Roan Antelope, gathered up some wood and went off to rescue them. The Dutch couple had decided that the water on the track was getting too deep so the nice grass on the side of the track may be better. Bad move given that at least the base of the tracks are solid. We turned up and saw the axles were under and it was going nowhere. We tried pulling it with a cable but no luck. We therefore set about lifting the back with out high-lift jack and wedging the logs we had procured under both rear wheels one at a time. The Nissan was hard to jack at the back and impossible at the front - the whole bumper looked like creaking up. We therefore got the shovels out and dug channels for the front wheels and put down sand mats to ensure they had something to grab. A sort of winch/snatch later and they were free. In the meantime my wife was able to fulfil a fantasy of being a game ranger and I was able to dabble in Savuti Skiing.
We saw what we'd thought was another dead elephant [we'd seen three] right next to the track on the way out of Savuti but it turned out the old guy was sleeping and sure enough he got up indignantly when we got near to him necessitated a bit of acceleration. I have put this is because it is rare to see them sleeping on the ground like this.
In Maun prepping the second truck to head off to Kasane
This is the new road being built between Kasane and Nata - the roadworks stretch on for almost 200km. Lots of trucks bombing south to South Africa on this side road which made driving a bit tricky although most were courteous......most
Our camp site in Ihaha - it was fantastic and we saw leopard in the morning about 1km from the camp
The Botswana equivalent of the Range Rover and horse float
In Maun they had a T-Shirt saying donkey capital of the world and I don't think tourists would get....until they drove any of the roads. Cows, sheep and donkeys were a constant threat and one night we had a stretch in darkness and they become a BIG threat. At least drivers put their hazards on to warn others.
An easy track in Chobe riverfront
We took this picture to cheer us up when we got back to the UK. Here's to boringly predictable weather!
The end but actually for us, definitely a beginning
For the month, we planned to cover: Western Panhandle and Tsodilo Hills by ourselves, then NG32 Santadibe concession, then onto Third Bridge and Khwai concession in Moremi, wrapping up with Savute with the guide and his truck, and finally Chobe Riverfront by ourselves. We camped 26 of the 30 nights there and had close experiences with elephant and hyena in the camp. We also quickly learnt how important routines are each evening, particularly as you do photography right up to sunset so sometimes the camp was sorted in the dark.
Both trucks we had were HZJ76R series and had front and rear diffs. These were kitted out for overlanding by David at selfdrive adventures based in Maun. Full equipment list on the website. The tyres were nothing special which initially had us worried given the thickness of the sand but actually proved to be no issue. The trucks had compressors so no big deal on that front. David was a great bloke and really flexible, twice allowing us to pick up the night before to prep the truck and so on. I’d use him again and recommend him. Each truck was a little bit different in layout [the first one was better]. I think these 76 series are capable but so have some slightly soft trimmings that aren’t really for the bundu-bashing. Apparently the aircon can be an issues with this model – leaking under the glovebox. We had one do this. Spare fuel was carried on three jerries on the roof. I didn't mind as it was diesel - the servo guys were happy to clamber up and fill them up too. Earthing comprised tapping the can - at least it wasn't petrol
. The roof-top tents were two-man and I now know why I'm happy with the bigger RTT on my truck here. It was nice however to have all four sides open while sleeping - Eezi-Awns doing what they were designed for rather than hiding from the mizzle as we have to do here. Toyota rules Botswana. Nearly every vehicle you see outside the parks is some form of a Toyota, even many sedans. In the National Parks things were different as we saw quite a lot of Defenders being used by both safari companies and also self-drivers, and some Nissans. Most self-driving Brits seemed to hire Defenders while other nationalities had a big mix with Hilux/Nissan/Mitsubishi and a couple of HUGE Fords. Most of the rentals we saw were bakkies with RTTs and Howling Moon was an extremely popular brand. Many of the modern bakkies didn’t have such a good clearance and recovery points were sparse. We saw six or seven UK registered 4wds but all of them were Defenders – where are all the LC drivers? Saw a smattering of cool 80 and 100 series [105] LCs, a few Discos and one Range Rover in Savuti that looked a bit out of place with all that chrome. I’d not noticed how loud Defender diesels were before, but when sitting at a kill you could always tell a Defender approaching and idling. There was also a popular Landcruiser LX driving about which goes up against Defenders in the market and are selling well apparently - i think they are 79 series.
Being the dry season we were prepared [mentally] for sand driving and were initially tentative on the first encounter. However, we quickly realised the truck was fine and handled even deep sand tracks without adjusting tyre pressures down. We were stuck only once when we went into a deep sandy gully but it took only 10 minutes to clear, by hand, a lot of sand in front of the four wheels and rear diff. We then lock both diffs [which immediately engaged] and drove out of the gully. Although we didn’t go through from Savuti to Kasane in the park this time – instead we took the tar via Nata – we are convinced we could do the sand throughout Moremi in a Land Cruiser now at least in the dry season. The wet season is a different matter though as even the locals wouldn't touch big parts of the northern Botswana.
Tracks 4 Africa software was fantastic. We used it on a Garmin 60CSX on the dash, plugged into a USB slot on cigarette lighter multiple extension, and it worked a treat. We always knew where petrol was and had confidence to take tracks knowing the general, and actually nearly always specific, direction/trail to take. It was also nice to capture tracks as you did them in the parks.
In the middle weeks, the guide Grant’s Hilux proved to be a great performer. We were off-road in all of the concessions driving through and over all sorts of tough terrain and it didn’t skip a beat. Only one puncture, too, after travelling through some lead wood on the banks of Khwai River. In this leg of the journey we spent a lot of time crossing water. It was a petrol truck so no snorkel and we kept to just under bonnet height at the very deepest. Grant suggested tubed tyres as the only way to go for the most serious off-roading. Botswana has had a combination of heavy rain plus extra rain in Angola which feeds the Okavango, so a lot of places that were flooded in February are still holding water today. Grant had only last seen Savuti Channel flooded in 1980 as a child so he was gobsmacked when we visited. The marsh was filling up gradually and the Channel looks like it will run for a couple of years if the rain is right. In fact, T4A still shows a track at the bottom of Savuti Channel although I hadn’t updated the data to the October release as I was away.
The wildlife is reacting to this too – we saw over 300 elephant together there. In addition, the famous elephant-hunting pride of lions has been broken up and just before we got to Savuti, a prominent lion and lioness were killed by a coalition of five brothers that is further causing change to the predators. We saw plenty of Wild Dog too which was a highlight.
Our first camp at Nguma Island Lodge
Our first sand
The ubiquitous site in Botswana
The indestructable Hilux
Our first big water crossing with Grant. In the middle we passed a bloke on a canoe
The ground water was everywhere but the tracks were solid underneath
More water crossings
In the afternoon we'd pop down to the river and take a dip to cool off. We would canoe out to a sandbank and get out for a beer and snacks while wading. It is shallow enough in this part of the river not to worry bout crocs in the dry season. However one day this male bull elephant turned up next to the river while we were in it. Cue three crab-like figures walking the canoe back to the other sure while remaining neck deep and low so as not the antagonise the guy. A quick jump out - by this time the elephant was in the water drinking where we'd just been. We retreated to the hilux and the old boy sauntered past us.
Couple of the types of sandy tracks we were driving on
The famous third bridge in Moremi
Not just a sheep to dodge. This guy stood there and we drove right up to him in the Hilux and he didn't budge. We could have patted his trunk as we went past - never looked that closely into the eye of an African elephant without a lens before.
When dealing with the only puncture we had we were farting about with the high-life jack but the truck kept moving so out came the bottle jack. While doing this I happened to look over my shoulder and a bull elephant had wandered out behind us.
Grant noticed looking across the Savuti marsh that a truck was stuck so we stopped watching a bunch of Roan Antelope, gathered up some wood and went off to rescue them. The Dutch couple had decided that the water on the track was getting too deep so the nice grass on the side of the track may be better. Bad move given that at least the base of the tracks are solid. We turned up and saw the axles were under and it was going nowhere. We tried pulling it with a cable but no luck. We therefore set about lifting the back with out high-lift jack and wedging the logs we had procured under both rear wheels one at a time. The Nissan was hard to jack at the back and impossible at the front - the whole bumper looked like creaking up. We therefore got the shovels out and dug channels for the front wheels and put down sand mats to ensure they had something to grab. A sort of winch/snatch later and they were free. In the meantime my wife was able to fulfil a fantasy of being a game ranger and I was able to dabble in Savuti Skiing.
We saw what we'd thought was another dead elephant [we'd seen three] right next to the track on the way out of Savuti but it turned out the old guy was sleeping and sure enough he got up indignantly when we got near to him necessitated a bit of acceleration. I have put this is because it is rare to see them sleeping on the ground like this.
In Maun prepping the second truck to head off to Kasane
This is the new road being built between Kasane and Nata - the roadworks stretch on for almost 200km. Lots of trucks bombing south to South Africa on this side road which made driving a bit tricky although most were courteous......most
Our camp site in Ihaha - it was fantastic and we saw leopard in the morning about 1km from the camp
The Botswana equivalent of the Range Rover and horse float
In Maun they had a T-Shirt saying donkey capital of the world and I don't think tourists would get....until they drove any of the roads. Cows, sheep and donkeys were a constant threat and one night we had a stretch in darkness and they become a BIG threat. At least drivers put their hazards on to warn others.
An easy track in Chobe riverfront
We took this picture to cheer us up when we got back to the UK. Here's to boringly predictable weather!
The end but actually for us, definitely a beginning
.
To be honest, we've been a bit in limbo since we got back because while on transit through J'burg airport, baggage handlers stole our pelicase with camera gear in it 
. I hate J'burg airport - 100% steal rate for me there and the customer service is appalling as they denied my three bags entered South Africa despite sending two of the three to me in the subsequent weeks 
. OR Tambo airport is a disgrace and the companies that run the baggage there are a disgrace. Air Botswana sent me a mail which basically said, "your bags got to J'burg and the handlers must have liked what they saw on the X-ray". Apparently there is a scam where they scan it, take off the label and put a new label on it which is then picked up by a mate. somebody told me the only way to ensure stuffed gets tracked better is to put a starter's pistol in your bag, declare it as a firearm and then they track it like a hawk. However, apparently even firearms go missing......
What a f*$£ up of an airport and the people running are at best incompetent and at worst plain crooks. Don't you believe that the firearm story helps that much - last time I flew through there with a gun, I saw the contracted security guy loading my gun onto a different plane to the one I was about to board!! I got the gun back 5 days later after complaining high and low but no compensation or even an apology and I had to drive back to Durban (4hr round trip) to collect my gun (not to mention the fact that I was technically breaking SA gun laws by neither having the gun in my physical possession nor secured in a safe at all times while in SA!)... 
or maybe you have an excellent long focus lens 
