Desert Special! Nxai, Makgadikgadi Pans and Kalahari Safari

This Safari starts in Maun on the morning of the 1st November – we suggest you arrive the day before and overnight at The Old Bridge or Thamalakane River Lodge or similiar. We collect you around 9am and we drive 136km on the tar road to the Nxai Pan gate at the main road, where we check in and let our tyres down for the sandy road ahead. On arrival at Nxai Pan, after filling our water, we proceed about 8km to our private camp site, where we have lunch as the staff set up our camp.We will spend 3 nights here, the Waterhole will be the main focus of attention here, the only water for many kilometres around giving us stunning sunset photographic opportunities. We will have game drives and spend time at the waterhole watching the numerous animal comings and goings – and hopefully Eagles and Vultures will come to drink as well as numerous other bird species. On one day we will take a picnic lunch to Baines Baobabs, a special place worth seeing! On the 4th of November our camp gets packed up as we have our early morning game drive, we return for bacon and egg sandwiches and after hooking up trailer drive back out of Nxai Pan and after a short distance on the tar road turn into Makgadikgadi Pans NP. Here we drive an hour and a half to Khumaga where we set up in the Public Camp site, above the flowing Boteti River. We stay here for a further 3 nights and will explore this interesting area extensively. The Boteti River was dry for 18 years but started flowing again 5 years ago. The water attracts 1,000’s of Zebra as well as numerous water birds, birds of prey and many animals. Although you feel really in the wild here the proximity of the village means that we get cell phone reception here, strange being in the bush! After 3 nights we again pack up and cross the Boteti River by ferry and carry on from Khumaga Village down the tar road to Rakops – where we stop for diesel and wood. We then drive 45km on a reasonable sand road to Matswiri Gate, entrance to the CKGR (Central Kalahari Game Reserve). After checking in here we proceed another 45km to Deception Valley where we set up camp in an undeveloped operators site nearby. We will have 3 more nights here and depending on game activity, extensively cover the area between Sunday Pan and Letiahau water hole. The rain will be due to start any time now cloud formations can be stunning, the Kalahari skies will humble you! I have been in the Kalahari for the first thunderstorm of the year and it was amazing – I am hoping we will be so lucky. On the 10th November we return to Maun – if you are continuing the trip with us you will overnight at The Old Bridge Backpackers or Thamalakane River Lodge.