{"id":623,"date":"2018-05-12T04:19:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-12T11:19:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-07-11T10:28:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-11T17:28:50","slug":"nxai-pan-and-baobab-sunsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/nxai-pan-and-baobab-sunsets\/","title":{"rendered":"Nxai Pan and Baobab Sunsets"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the morning we departed for Nxai Pan, starting with a morning game drive along the river.\u00a0 There were large herds of zebra along the river, apparently migrating west from the pans this time of year.\u00a0 After our deviation along the riverbank as far north as we could go we took the road north out of Makgadikgadi to Nxai Pan.\u00a0 It was a corrugated sand track.\u00a0 There is something about corrugated sand that offends me, I guess I feel like it should either be sandy or corrugated but both at the same time is annoying.\u00a0 The undulations seemed to have a frequency that exactly matched the wheel base of the land cruiser, resulting in a suspension torturing bouncing oscillation.\u00a0 We persevered, when you get just the right speed it works out okay.<\/p>\n

After exiting the gate there is a short stretch of tarmac and then a left into Nxai Pan.\u00a0 The road into Nxai Pan main park area is not good.\u00a0 It\u2019s widened to three tracks wide in most places, with people looking for fresh sand that isn\u2019t heavily corrugated, but this has failed to find any improvement.\u00a0 So for most of the 30+ kilometers in to the park we suffered along the corrugations, though not too bad I suppose in the end.<\/p>\n

The watering hole just before the gate was full of elephant, so we had a great introduction to Nxai Pan watching a group of bulls playing in the watering hole. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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After checking in at the gate we saw there is a small but well stocked \u201ctuck shop\u201d at the gate selling beer, snacks and a few other sundries, impressive for such a small store.\u00a0 We were running short on beer, as we\u2019d showed up before the bottle shops were open in Rakops, so we picked up two very expensive six packs.\u00a0 The do have a corner on the market I suppose.<\/p>\n

We started by checking out our campsite, No. 2, at South Camp. It was perfectly fine, but again we realized how spoiled we were in the CKGR with wide open spaces all alone, whereas this campground we were still in semi-close proximity to our neighbors. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The ablutions (note: toilet\/showers\/restrooms are referred to as ablutions, at least at camp sites anyway) were the same as at Khumaga, probably because they are run by the same 3rd party, but with one significant difference.\u00a0 It seems elephant are a problem here, because the ablution block is fortified like a P.O.W. camp.\u00a0 It has a chain link fence, electrified, surrounded, on both sides of the fence by a more than two meters wide swath of rebar spikes in concrete, so that elephants can\u2019t step close to the fence.\u00a0 There was a narrow path, maybe eight inches wide, for people to walk between the spikes to the gate.\u00a0 Don\u2019t trip! \u00a0<\/p>\n

Things is a good reminder of an important issue with elephants and wild game in general.\u00a0 We are prone to romanticizing them, and though they do deserve all of our appreciation and more, I think we should all also appreciate the difficulty that lies in living near these great animals and the clash when they collide with humans.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-2\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-3\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"IMG_5634\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

When you see what it takes to protect something as simple as an ablution block, think of what it takes to protect a farm, or your home.\u00a0 Also around the park were numerous useless cement block signs because they were knocked over.\u00a0 I wonder how often the park staff righted those blocks before giving up? \u00a0<\/p>\n

When checking into the park we saw a compensation sheet for locals, compensation for livestock lost to lion kills, for pula\/hectare of crops lost to elephant damage.\u00a0 Seeing this and the fortifications around some areas certainly gives us a moment of pause to consider the confrontation between wild animals and man.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what the solutions are, and with Botswana having a relatively low population density I imagine it is less of a problem here than in some other places. \u00a0<\/p>\n

I did read about a project where farmers had bee hives spaced around the perimeter of their fields.\u00a0 Apparently elephants hate bees (a funny image) and would avoid those crops, and the farmers would also end up with honey to use or sell.\u00a0 Of course there is a scalability problem, and perhaps the elephants would eventually overcome their fear, but I thought it was an interesting idea.<\/p>\n

Nxai Pan was beautiful, similar the smaller pans in the CKGR<\/a>, but larger.\u00a0 We heard lions that night in South Camp, but no sightings of cats that night or the morning after.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t see a lot of other people here, maybe 6 other vehicles that were camped in South Camp and a couple safari company vehicles. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The roads in Nxai Pan were decent in places, but it must have been very wet earlier in the season as you could see a lot of deeply rutted sections in the road.\u00a0 In many of the places people had driven along side these for a clear path, widening the road.\u00a0 Then those must have become rutted and they would drive again wider still, resulting in a maze of rutted tracks 50\u2019 wide.\u00a0 I wonder at the ecological impact of this and if there is a better way?\u00a0 It\u2019s also curious that we didn\u2019t see this elsewhere in our admittedly limited explorations, so why here?\u00a0 I did notice that the safari operators use very large old international trucks instead of the standard land cruiser or land rover vehicles, perhaps those heavier vehicles are part of the problem?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-9\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-10\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-11\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-12\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-5\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-6\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-4\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-13\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Nxai-8\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

When we provisioned in Gabaronne we had assumed that we would be able to re-provision between the CKGR and the Makgadikdadi.\u00a0 We had stretched our stores longer than we thought, and so had not made much effort to shop before coming here. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Now provisions were running low and so dinner was getting weird.\u00a0 Then Jenny said \u201cWhat if we had broccoli and I made french fries?\u201d\u00a0 I responded with a long silence, as I took a moment to appreciate Jenny.\u00a0 I love broccoli.\u00a0 I love French fries, and it has never occurred to me that we could make them on their own.\u00a0 She took this silence as disapproval, and started to change tack, but I quickly assured her that would be fantastic.\u00a0 So we had broccoli and French fries for dinner and heard the call of lions again, and again appreciated our situation. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Baine’s Baobabs<\/h4>\n

After a night at South Camp we had reserved a night at Baine\u2019s Baobabs<\/a> site No. 1.\u00a0 This is something like 30km south east, along side a salt pan.\u00a0 At the gate they told us that camp No. 1 was inaccessible and that we were being reassigned to No. 2. \u00a0<\/p>\n

After the turnoff towards Baine\u2019s from the main road the terrain changes quickly and widens out in to broad savannah.\u00a0 We saw elephants, orxy, impala and zebra, but not in much density, presumably due to minimal water. \u00a0<\/p>\n

There are two approach roads to Baine\u2019s, and at they gate they had told us which one to take, but in the slew of instructions provided we forgot that one, and foolishly didn\u2019t write it down.\u00a0 We took the southern road, but after we arrived at the pan we sort of started to think that we were supposed to take the northern road.\u00a0 Our route took us across the pan in a few stretches, and this is very soon after the wet season so the pan surface is mostly not drivable. \u00a0<\/p>\n

This is not a pan like those encountered in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.\u00a0 Those are meadows, fertile with grass for grazing animals.\u00a0 This is a salt pan.\u00a0 At the edges there was a dry crust, and but we walked out into the middle and it quickly becomes muddy, and you can see where a few people had tried to drive off the track and started immediately to dig deep ruts with their tires. \u00a0<\/p>\n

We weighed driving back and taking the northern road, but what we had traveled so far hadn\u2019t been in great condition and I didn\u2019t really want to drive it again.\u00a0 It did appear that others had driven here, and we planned to stick to their tracks and proceed cautiously.\u00a0 So we crept along and proceeded with no problems. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In a few sections that looked concerning I put it in low range and was ready to either gun it to maintain momentum or back out quickly.\u00a0 Jenny walked a few sections and used a steel rod (from our tent rain fly) to probe the surface. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In the end we made in with no problems, and perhaps we were being overly cautious, but getting stuck and waiting for rescue in the pans seemed like it would be awful. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Baine\u2019s Baobabs is really impressive. Sometimes referred to as a Tree Island, as clumps of baobabs occur elsewhere, or clumps of trees along an open pan.\u00a0 Here four very mighty trees and several smaller ones, standing along the edge of the salt pan.\u00a0 The contrast is so stark and impressive it is hard to describe.\u00a0 For me a baobab tree always evokes a sensation of respect, wisdom, patience, but these were massive, the largest I have seen, and their mightiness and their grandeur was overwhelming.\u00a0 We sat and took in their presence.\u00a0 Thinking about how long they have stood here and being able to share a few moments of their perhaps 1,000 years in this spot was a great privilege. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking in the pan near the trees you could see a few elephant tracks in the mud of the pan.\u00a0 They had struck out into the pan, but then when the mud became too deep you could see they took a wide arc and circled back.\u00a0 I wonder why they go into the pan?\u00a0 Are they attracted to the salt, or where they headed to the island across the pan and had to turn back? \u00a0<\/p>\n

After taking in the trees for a while we decided to check out our campsite.\u00a0 It\u2019s about a 20 minute drive along the edge of the pan to get to camp No. 2, and 10 more minutes to No. 3.<\/p>\n

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Campsite No. 2 is fantastic.\u00a0 At first I had been slightly disappointed that we were camping \u201cso far\u201d from the Baine\u2019s Baobabs.\u00a0 But this site is situated between two large baobabs, with a long drop toilet and bucket shower stall (BYO water) about 50 meters off to the side.\u00a0 This was another fantastic solitary campsite, no one around anywhere and we were really appreciating it. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t much evidence of wildlife in the area, so we spent a slow afternoon in camp making lunch and hanging around camp enjoying the trees and the setting.\u00a0 We returned to Baine\u2019s Baobabs in the afternoon to hang around for sunset.\u00a0 A couple vehicles and a safari group came and went, but much to our surprise no one stayed longer than 30 minutes and we had the trees all to ourselves most of the time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

After sunset we returned to camp and enjoyed pasta and roasted vegetables for dinner.\u00a0 There had been some cloud cover, but with perfect timing the clouds cleared at sunset and we had a wonderful view of the milky way and the stars and we again marveled at how fortunate we are to be here in this place.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the morning we departed for Nxai Pan, starting with a morning game drive along the river.\u00a0 There were large herds of zebra along the river, apparently migrating west from the pans this time of year.\u00a0 After our deviation along the riverbank as far north as we could go we took the road north out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[93,55],"tags":[72,56,24,73],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-botswana","category-travelogues","tag-baobab","tag-botswana","tag-national-park","tag-nxai-pan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Nxai-9.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbRTYJ-a3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2306,"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions\/2306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuckinlowgear.com\/staging\/1919\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}