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May 25th – June 12th

Baines’ Baobabs

I’d arrived at Baines’ Baobabs, an impressive stand of huge baobab trees “discovered” by Thomas Baines in the 1800s. These lie within the Nxai Pan National Park at the edge of a salt pan. There are three campsites in the area, each with its own baobab or two and each a kilometer or more from the nearest neighbor. This makes for a very exclusive camping experience. Jenny and I visited here in 2018 and loved it.

When I checked in at the gate they told me that my booking for Baines’ No. 2 was already occupied, but happily Baines’ No. 1 was available, my original preference. I enjoyed a very atmospheric night at Baines’ No. 1, perched at the edge of the salt pan with dark skies and the bright glittering smear of the milky way overhead. 

From Baines’ I made my way to my next stop, the Makgadigadi Pans National Park Tree Island Campsite. I entered the park from the north entrance and immediately encountered deep sand. With the tire pressure dropped I made my way to the Boteti riverfront for a brief game drive before diving east into the heart of the Kalahari. 

To my surprise the Makgadigadi’s famous Zebra migration seemed to beunderway. I found thousands of zebras at the river. Normally this peaks, I think, in May. I suppose this year’s good rains had allowed the zebras to delay their migration from the pans to the river. 

The Tree Island Campsite is far from the normal game viewing area, a long drive down a sandy track to a lonely patch of shade trees that occupy a modest rise at the edge of the Makgadigadi salt pans. 

The drive was far more interesting than I imagined. I saw elephant, giraffe, oryx, wildebeest and zebras. The initial stretch is dense scrub, not all that special, but it gives way to sparse trees and eventually to beautiful grassy plaines. 

Tree island campsite has three sites adjacent to each other. One site was occupied, but luckily the best site, No. 1, was available, lying at the edge of the trees adjacent to the pan. It is a lonely spot out here, but that is the magic of it. Reportedly when the zebras are in the area (the same ones now occupying the Boteti river some 40 km to the west) lions take up residence in the shade of these tress. Wouldn’t they be interesting to share this camp with?

From Tree Island Campsite I made my way out of the park to the east. My former impression is that there isn’t much going on in the Makgadigadi away from the Boteti riverfront, by I found the drive to be very scenic and enjoyable. 

When I’d checked in they’d told me that the eastern gate to the park, Xirexara, was closed. But it was the direction I wanted to explore and I figured if I couldn’t leave by that gate I’d backtrack and exit out the northeast gate at Makkolwane. 

Just before arriving at Xirexara I found a pan full of wildebeest and zebra, very scenic and nobody for miles and miles and miles. The Xirexara gate appears as all the other gates, with staff structures and an impressive thatched roof structure over the road, but all was abandoned. The eastern edge of the park is unfenced, presumably to allow wildlife to freely migrate. There was also no gate across the road, so I just drove out of the park without checking out like you usually would at the other gates.

Immediately to the south is the CT11 private tourist concession, no entry allowed. I spent the rest of the day navigating rarely driven tracks that occasionally faded to nothing, finding myself feeling very alone in the bush. I’d backtrack and try again, and by the end of the day I’d managed to visit the impressive Green’s Baobab and finally washed up at the Planet Baobab campsite near Gweta.

I spent two nights here, getting ready to head for Kubu Island. The Gweta Fuel station had fuel, not always the case, and this topped me off so I could roam unhindered by fuel endurance concerns. 

How to get to Kubu was in question. The easiest route to Kubu from the south, near Orapa, far from here. The other route is from Nata, a long drive from here on potholed tar, followed by a stretch of road that goes along the edge of the very enormous Sua Pan. This route was just more driving. 

My final option was a road that goes more or less directly from Gweta to Kubu, across the Ntwetwe Pan (many pans make up the Makgadigadi Salt Pans, but Sua and Ntwetwe are the largest). This direct route looked the most interesting, least traveled and but most risky. Risky because the road crosses the surface of the pan in parts, and if the pan hasn’t fully dried from the rains the seemingly hard surface will collapse, swallowing the vehicle in a mire of mud. Not something I wanted to experience, particularly alone. 

I asked around to everyone I could and was told to err on the side of caution and take the Nata route, but I was told this all by people who hadn’t actually traveled the Gweta route this season. A lone report from a week previously said people had made the drive and it had been scary in a few sections.

This to me meant that it was doable, and had likely dried more in the intervening time. In chatting with my camp neighbors at Planet Baobab they agreed to follow me by a day. If I got into real trouble they’d come across me and help me out. If the road was good I’d text them from the sat phone so they’d know the status of the route.

With this plan made I set out for Kubu. From Gweta made the turn into the sandy tracks at Gweta. Not far along I met a guided safari car coming out of the bush. The guide told me the road was good all the way, “You cannot get stuck, if you stay on the road.” 

On the GPS there is a single track heading almost the full 100 kilometers to Kubu. Instead I found a maze of tracks. I was met with dozens of wyes, each a decision to be made and none of which followed the road on the GPS. I took my best guess at each, trying to follow the fresh tracks of the safari car that had come out or the largest track.

Along the way the branch of a mopane tree slapped the passenger side mirror and the glass popped out of the mirror. I had to stop the car and walk back on the track for some time to find it. I reinstalled it but it was now loose, and the second time it was slapped out I drove over it and shattered the glass. No more passenger mirror. Over the next few days this was surprisingly more inconvenient than you’d think, particularly as I was alone. 

The remainder of the drive to Kubu was fantastic. Mopane forest and sandy tracks gave way to a narrow patch of relatively green land at the edge of the pan. Here was a cattle station of sorts, taking advantage of a lake that wasn’t on any map. In fact the road as mapped went right through the lake, so I followed faint bush tracks around it.

This first 40 kilometers of the road had been a maze, but after leaving cattle station I was back on the GPS track and heading out across Ntwetwe Pan. It was a stunning drive, rolling through grassy plaines, through mopane bush and across the immense wide salt pans. Driving on the pans is a lot of fun.

Arriving at Kubu Island felt like victory. I could find no staff, so I just wandered around and picked a campsite, one of a dozen loosely scattered around the southwest quadrant of the island. Through the afternoon more travelers trickled in until the campsite was about ¾ full.

Kubu Island is a unique place. The Makgadigadi Salt Pans are toward the eastern edge of the Kalahari, and for the most part are very flat. The landscape alternates from salt pan to thin mopane forest to grass plains depending on where you are, but the elevation changes little. Kubu (which if I’m not mistaken means “Island” in the local Setswana language. So really we’re saying “Island Island”) is an island of rock in this desert, about one kilometer long and half a kilometer wide, boasting a hefty stand of baobabs scattered across it. The island is dry most of the year, though the pans do fill with water in the rainy season.

Normally baobabs trees are fairly rare, standing alone here and there across Botswana, but Kubu has the right conditions to support dozens and dozens of these wonderful and impressive trees. The island lies at the edge of the pan, and standing among the baobabs and looking out across the salt pan is surreal. An environment so unique to my experience that it was easy to spend two nights here wandering around and appreciating the place.

I love their bark. It is as wrinkled and cracked as the supple leather of an old boot, the roots look like a nest of eels at times. Other times the leather looks like melted wax.

I sent my text message via the sat phone to Dave and Lauren, who I’d met at Planet Baobab. They followed the next day and we enjoyed beers around the fire. During the rest of my time there it felt fantastic to stretch my legs and wander all over the island, photographing the trees and the stars and enjoying sunsets and sunrises. I couldn’t wait to come here with Jenny.

After two nights I headed back to Maun, making the drive back via the same scenic Gweta road. This drive began with the car not starting. All the way out here at Kubu I can tell you it was a little disconcerting. It was the battery, purchased new only eight months ago. I managed to jump start myself off the auxiliary battery, but only just, as it apparently doesn’t deliver the same cold cranking amps. The problem was the heavy load of the glow plugs would drop the battery voltage enough that the auxiliary battery didn’t have enough oomph to start the Cruiser. I solved this by just starting right away, not waiting for the glow plug light on the dash to go out. 

I assumed that after I’d driven a while the battery would be charged, but half way back to the tar, very much in the middle of nowhere, the car wouldn’t start again. I managed to jump myself again.

In Maun I went straight to Midas and bought a new start battery and an aftermarket mirror to replace the one I’d lost. The mirror broke immediately upon installation. Top tip: don’t buy non Toyota parts. Fortunately Toyota Maun had the right mirror in stock, for literally TEN TIMES the price of the aftermarket one, but with the key feature that it didn’t shatter immediately when installed. 

Aliboats also made the repair on the canopy. They didn’t have time to take the canopy off entirely, which would be the proper way to repair this, however their TIG welding was top quality and I was much more optimistic about it than the first repair.

After these logistics bouncing around Maun it was almost time to rendezvous with Jenny. Her flight was laying over in Cape Town, so we hatched a plan to visit our friends there. I stored the car in Maun, at Audi Camp, hopped on a flight.

It was fantastic to be back together again. Traveling alone in Africa had been a fulfilling experience, engaging and rewarding, but not really fun. Not in the same way as it is when traveling with Jenny anyway. 

A week in Cape Town with friends was also wonderful, and we lucked out on the weather, getting a week of summer in the dead of winter. I won’t dwell on Cape Town, other than to say it is a stunningly beautiful city. Not in the way that, say, Paris is, for Cape Town has many slums, townships and problems. Its geography though, the ocean, with the city strewn around the base of rugged mountains is stunningly beautiful, even many a poor township still has a million dollar view.  

Our friends plied us with delicious food and wine and we enjoyed touristing around town, visiting Cape Point, wine tasting, going to markets and wandering along the wonderful beaches of their suburb in Kommetjie. 

Even in these comfortable and scenic surrounds we began to long for the bush. Jenny in particular, who had been away from the Cruiser for a full month by the time our plane landed in Maun.

The Nitty Gritty

Baines’ Baobabs

Any campsite at Baines’ is a good one. If I had to rank them in order of preference I’d say 1, 2, 3, with No. 2 being almost as good as one. No. 1 has a view of Baines’ Baobab’s themselves across the pan, but is less likely to be accessible if it has recently rained. No. 2 has two baobabs and is bigger, might be better for a group. All three sites have a basic long drop and bucket shower, BYOW (bring your own water). Other campers have reported mice or bee infestations, though I had neither. 

The road into Nxai Pan National Park is interminable, kilometers of deep sand and corrugations, but it is worth it, but drop your tire pressures at the gate. Once you make the turn to Baines’ it’s good.

Makgadigadi Pans National Park

Khumaga is the campsite near the Khumaga gate and adjacent to the Boteti river. A fine enough spot, but expensive. We enjoyed it on our 2018 visit.

Tree Island – Site No. 1 is the best. It has good shade, a bit of a view of the pan, and a sunset view. Ablutions are basic, long drop and bucket shower, bring your own water.

Njuca Hills isn’t as good as Tree Island. Officially there are two sites here (I think?) but I saw at least one reserve (overflow)site and one extra un-numbered site. Site No. 2 is the best of the bunch, westward facing. All of the Njuca sites seemed a little shabbier than Tree Island.

Kubu Island

Reservations are possible (book here), but to confirm a reservation you need to pay ahead, only possible by bank transfer. As far as I can tell you can’t reserve a specific campsite, only that they will save you one. I don’t think reservations are necessary here unless you want to visit during school holidays. 

Site No. 6 has the best view of the pan, but no shade. The awning was invaluable. Several of the other sites are good too. The second night I was there only three sites were full, and (spoiler alert) Jenny and I went back for two more nights and it was almost empty. 

Camp staff will walk around in the evening to take payment and issue a receipt. You can just drive up, pick a spot and they’ll show up in due course. We tried to go to the camp office to register and pay midday, and they just told to pick a spot and the mobile officer will come when they’re ready.