BOTSWANA The Ultimate African Adventure Ep1.

[Music] for many africa is a once-in-a-lifetime destination for the adventurers a self-drive safari led to experience the true spirit of africa with the freedom to explore and discover all of its wonders at your own pace [Music] botswana has some of the last great untouched wildernesses in southern africa [Music] with vast expanses of diverse terrain and thriving wildlife like no other on earth a botswana south drive safari is undoubtedly the ultimate african adventure it's got amazing camping it's got incredible wildlife and it's got amazing driving experiences and this is the ultimate african adventure [Music] so first day of our trip really this is the takata on a 4x4 track too looking forward to it [Music] [Music] [Music] we haven't crossed the limpopo into botswana in more than a year thanks to the covert 19 pandemic we're keen to visit some old favorites as well as a few new spots as we take you with us on our adventure this adventure would consist of 23 days see us drive 3000 kilometers and visit nine different camps the route is a mix between tar and gravel roads thick sandy single sand tracks and lots of mud as well as water crossings in the rainy season always keep travel times in mind as a lot of it is slow going tracks for africa usually provides the best indication of travel times [Music] the next day into the okavango delta through chobi national park and then back down to kubu island the ultimate african adventure [Music] ed what are the plans bud the plans off we left janisberg at around hop up and we're on the way to matamba bushcam to meet up with chris how was the drive my man did you enjoy that fog yeah the milk was next level but it's just broken through but the sun's just broken through the mist and the sunrise is absolutely amazing hey man botswana here we come we've starved in botswana for a year but we're going back looking forward to it yeah mate uh just good to see the echo 5 ready and she's looking good with that eye camber on top mate but look like they're ready to go and what better place to go just can't wait to cross that limpopo river mate it's gonna be one of those trips i reckon yep [Music] how are you doing what good thank you yourself yeah can't complain how are you doing chris you are man that was your first night out yes are you doing chalets from now on [Music] [Music] we've just gone through martin's drift we're here at guano king just fill that with fuel we have something to drink there and now we're on our way to carmaranez actually conway we should be there just after one it's a great time can't wait to see those right now i think that's got to be one of the easiest water crossings actually been through here at martin's drift they've read the cover test we paid for the vehicles stamped the passport guano king stopped on a bit of fuel a little supplies from the shops around two hours to calm a rhino sanctuary looking forward to getting the tent set up having a couple of cold ones heading down to my limber pan let's go our first stop is at comma rhino sanctuary a two and a half hour drive from the border comma is a popular stopover to and from the central and northern botswana aside from a few potholes on the first stretch of road from the border it's an easy drive to come we had grandma rhino sanctuary so it's usually our first stop over which means we're officially in botona wow we're here we're here we're here we made it in botswana absolutely magic [Music] we're only staying at comma for one evening so we'll show you around a bit more on our way back karma is a community managed wildlife sanctuary it's the best place to see rhinos in botswana [Music] so [Music] we hit the track to malemapan a favorite spot of ours as the sun begins to set komarina sanctuary has significantly contributed to the survival of rhinos in the southern africa helping to increase populations and protect both black and white rhinos along with over 30 other wildlife species you see that there dude that's a perfect photo [Applause] [Music] we're here at malema pan it's always an amazing spot to come down to and have a look at especially when it's sunset it's fantastic we've got three rhino pulling in now and yeah we just out of our vehicles again we still don't know if we should be out of our vehicles and we're sticking close to our vehicles and enjoying the sunset magic moments always great to be in botswana and yeah it's just absolutely amazing [Music] so we're out here at the malema pan here at kamarana sanctuary tomorrow we head to campsite on the edge of makharikari pans national park now the last time we were there we didn't have a fantastic experience we have livestock running through camp everything was horridly overgrazed but tomorrow we go back there the boteti is in flood can't wait to go back to kumar tomorrow right now we're going to head back to camp have a couple of cold ones put some meat on the braai and have a fantastic night here at kamaran sanchi [Music] ah [Music] morning how did you sleep i slept okay but i've got a headache this morning [Music] [Music] chris where are we going today how far is the drive um it's about four and a half hours drive so not too bad i'm actually quite looking forward to see what it looks like with the bottetian float hopefully there's no livestock right so we've woken up here at a very cold and windy karma rhino sanctuary fantastic night sleep all packed up and now we're gonna head to the botteti river to komacha stop in le lakani for some fuel and i cannot wait to see the botti river in flood [Music] just had a shower at coma just filled up the water tanks in the trailer and we are now heading towards the karma rhino sanctuary gate where we'll get some wood for tonight's fire it's a bit of an overcast day today and we were excited to to carry on the adventure [Music] it's a four-hour drive from komarina sanctuary to our next stop tomaha camp in the maharikari national park [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is a town that has developed as a result of mining i believe they do diamond mining here from little kane all the way to arapa there's a little nando's that's at the end of the town that we love to just pop in and grab a burger and keep us going just filling up here in les lakani and whilst we go to amazing remote destinations on trips like these we do love a bit of luxury so check at this how was the drive chris yeah it's uh it's okay the roads are actually not bad right where are we now we have leslie connie uh stopping for a quick nando's burger you're keen for a burger we're gonna take a little bit of luxury into our own hands here at little we're gonna have a nando's burger on the way to starving here [Music] so we're at hernandez here in little kanye we stopped here on the way to ckgr last year from kalahari and we had an amazing burger so we're getting another one [Music] yeah see it's about 161 kilometers apparently uh according to tracks for africa and we should be there at about half past three you excited chris yeah i'm quite excited uh like i said the last time the campsite for me was a little so-so with all the livestock in camp now with the river in flow uh hopefully that space is on the other side of the river so hopefully we've got to camp to ourselves and how does the potential change during the different seasons i mean it's obviously a big contrast between the dry months and the wet months like we are here now yeah so the potato river actually flows off of the mountain river i forget the name of that river but in the past the paterti river actually used to be a river that never dried up so it changes now um some years it can be a totally dry river and other years obviously with good rains it can it can be a very full river having that river in man you're talking again how friendly have people been eh yeah it's been very nice it's refreshing obviously we've got 20 people in south africa but botswana has always taken everything to a different level [Music] so [Music] as we approach the pateti river it's soon apparent that we won't be driving through it the komacha gate is just the other side of the botti and then the campsite's also not too far away so look how beautiful it looks with all the water lilies though yeah so it's 150 pull-up per vehicle to use the ferry and obviously we're going to do it twice because we have to come back tomorrow so that's 300 cooler each [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] the ferry also known as a pont in southern africa is operated by a nearby lodge and is pulled across the river by hand using a strap [Music] the ferry can carry one vehicle and trailer at a time on the other side of the ferry is the komacha entrance to the national park [Music] wow [Music] [Music] two as we're only staying here for one evening we're keen to head out for a late afternoon game drive along the petite the predominant feature of this particular portion of the park is the pateti river and the wildlife that surrounds it we're only staying here for one evening which in retrospect we would recommend at least a two night stay [Music] have a look at that scene absolutely amazing we're here at hippo pools enjoying the sunset we've had some amazing sightings here before unfortunately we haven't had a lot of time today to drive around but we just had some of the most amazing scenes in africa unfold in front of us we're going to enjoy this and then head back to camp [Music] we're just here at hippo pools and there's a lion roaring right up on top of the hill there hopefully they come down to drink [Music] chris how far you reckon that lion is away i think it's just over the ridge 500 meters a kilometer [Music] ryan yo what's on the menu tonight man [Music] tonight we're doing a bright pack and we have some steak we have some lacquer lamb chops and we have some force maybe thrown with a couple of millis one or two and that's it nothing special simple simple simple and elegant but my torch is not bright enough so i'm maximizing [Music] because [Music] the next morning we're at the ferry again on our way to the murami on our way to southgate we would stop in the bustling town of maroon the gateway to the okavango delta here we would be filling up all of our tanks with fuel and water as well as picking up our meat and fresh supplies we would recommend that you pre-order your meat and have it vacuum packed before heading into maureen chobi [Music] campsite uh just looks magical but yeah absolutely great trip thus far day two in it now we're on day three heading to mount where we stop off at delta meat delhi and pick up meat riley is to stock up on fuel fill up all the jerry cans above and then onwards to the wildlife department where we've got to obviously pay for park fees vehicle entry fees and can't wait to get to south gate camp mcqueen campsite [Music] okay you want to grab a man [Music] [Music] we're on our way to southgate but there's a bit of a snag [Music] the drive to southgate is mostly gravel and takes around two hours [Music] we're in the wild two alleys i don't know if you can see them magic absolutely magic if you want to test your gear and make sure it's reliable up in africa just come to the murami it's next level where are we my man we are almost in mirami the most amazing place we're in the murami we're almost in the mourinho but basically in the morning now the roadside ticket the hard thai pressures don't yes don't help tomorrow we can let down in a bit of a rush that's why we haven't let down tyre pressures yet but let's get to south gate so [Music] you know what the situation is tomorrow we have to go back to mound because yesterday was workers day which was sunday today's monday so that extended over to monday which means we couldn't pay park fees so now we've got to go back to mount tomorrow and the condition of the road i don't know if you've seen it but yeah that's a two and two and a half hour drive chris what are the solutions to this draw enough cash to pay for your passport yeah it's either a case of door enough cash to pay for your park fees or you have to keep the public holidays into account as well which but we did but then they extended and i extended it obviously to the mondays so yeah [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] snag aside we still have a great first evening at southgate oh [Music] [Music] [Music] it took us two hours to get three vehicles [Music] stuff [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] next morning caesar's driving back to mountain to pay the park fees and to get some wood that's what's amazing about the mourinho it's just so many elephants i'm worried about the big ones because when the little one screams then the big one is a problem [Music] [Music] we highly recommend buying wood from local vendors on the side of the road the wood's great and you're supporting the local community [Music] so we are traveling shotgun in all its land cruiser lc200 and i'm just waiting for my peanuts and coke because as i said to ed it feels like we're in an aeroplane yeah he's got a fanta grape in he's got a phantom grab i'll settle on a phantom grip and chris has been feeding me bananas so uh he's in the front i'm in the back and we we we're just enjoying it today looking forward to getting back to the maraemi southgate campsite mcqueen number five hopefully the campsite is all in order as we left it this morning and it's taken us about what four hours we spent like an hour and a half maybe two hours in mount because all the atms were full of people so we had to wait long to draw cash tell us who did we meet at the wildlife department we met kekko he's the same guy as from naipan he was working at the naipan pura guru gate to enter maharaja national park we were there last year january on our trip and he recognized us and we recognized him so it was awesome to see him and yeah people in botswana are very friendly here it's been an overall pleasant experience i had a very very pleasant incident yesterday when a petrol attendant made a mistake and overcharged me with 600 pula which i didn't realize and he proceeded to catch a taxi to find us and to tell me that they've overcharged me and must come back to get changed so that's just amazing that you still find that in today's day and age [Music] [Applause] [Music] although southgate is usually used only as a stopover for most it is still a beautiful area with great bird life just a note that the ablutions at southgate could use some work and there is a generator at the staff village next to the campsite [Music] so [Music] so what a day it's been uh the adventure has truly begun we spent today just relaxing around campsite we're sitting up now we've just made the fire we're listening to the calls of the wild in the murami game reserve it does get much better than this and to be honest i can now feel that the trip is beginning to become less rushed and more about enjoyment [Music] movement it's very early in the morning and we had hyenas calling the whole night and seriously seriously close by they were very very close and the bush chorus here at south camp is amazing it's a bit marred by the generator they're running the village there oh yeah it's been awesome and we've only been here effectively for one afternoon because other times we've been driving to mount but today we're getting to the murimi proper and i don't know where my spoon is let's see if ryan uh ryan's jack the spoon is well unused and abused in the sky i've got a watch for everything around the campsite no one hears no it was half past four they were going off proper there was two of them [Music] i'm looking forward to this cup of coffee and somewhere in this echo i've got rust somewhere there we go these squirrels in this campsite are next level you leave one door opening they're on your dash they're eating the rusks inside your car they trying to get the dried mango out of the packet i left the back of the trailer open they try to get my potatoes iron ones in your canopy right now all right there's a squirrel in your canopy shop there's a squirrel in your canopy bruh yeah there's all three of us is at the coffee shop [Music] had four days this is day five jeez you're having a seizure [Music] [Applause] [Music] hmm so gents what are the plans um we drive to kauai northgate which is what about 38 kilometers from here chris have you been i haven't been to either choir or cerritos i'm actually looking forward to that quite a bit um been to southgate and you've been you've been to my campsite before yeah tell us what are we in for i've been there about three times and um different times a year obviously but it's my favorite place i promise you the campsite is wild proper proper wild so you can expect a game coming through bird life similar to this what i like about the north gate campsite unfortunately i do have to pay the park fees because he's staying inside the park yeah but they've got good ablutions uh well certainly the last time i was it was good ablutions they come in clean they come and take the ashes away you know it's one of those iconic moments crossing the north gate that bridge across the river i mean you see so many overlanders around the world that have come here to do that yeah today we're doing it yeah absolutely the only people camping at southgate yeah absolutely yeah we've just been magic yeah it's been awesome we've enjoyed it here we're taking the scenic route through the reserve a two-hour drive we've heard numerous reports of deep water in the murami so we're not sure what to expect [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] we are on our way now to kauai northgate and it's a 38 kilometer drive tracks for africa is saying it'll take us an hour to get there and we are driving through these really massive muppani forest and they're beautiful very very lovely to be driving as the sun rises [Music] we arrive at choir with no water obstacles along the way only great scenery and wildlife we're pleasantly surprised with quiet campsites and some friendly locals to greet us these are some amazing unfenced campsites they are truly wild [Music] absolutely fantastic we've been here 10 minutes we've just trying to choose a campsite to make sure we've got enough space we parked up alongside the ablutions and lo and behold two massive bull elephants walked if i say three meters from the trailers and the cars well that's just what happened right now and these standing here underneath these massive acacia trees just grazing so peaceful so placid this is this is fantastic this is this is the adventure this is you know where that brilliant one was coming from [Music] the roads are fairly well interconnected uh you just got to be careful for elephants as they use those as chronographs [Music] pretty nice campsite every site as i mentioned has a braai a barbecue and a fire pit bin and water which is quite convenient the ablutions are really great we've had some so-so ablutions but props to skl is on really good condition hot water is provided by solar water boilers what you've got to remember with those is you only get water up hot water up to the evening in the morning it's going to be cold you'll notice there's some barbed wire to stop the elephants from tampering with it as well it's a very pleasant drive we drove from southgate mcqueen to kwai camp quite a leisurely drive we at campsite number one uh the campsites are really nice they i think quite dispersed the ablutions compared to what we've seen thus far is spectacular uh we've had lots of elephants um i've been told by some people here that there are lots of lions and hennas as well so looking forward to that it was a lot of shuffling to get everything sorted we had elephants stopping us from getting into certain campsites so this place is always delivered continues to deliver and now we're gonna head out for a game drive along the choir river it does not get any better than this we head out for our first afternoon game drive we soon find that a number of roads are impossible due to the high water levels we're forced to stick to the main track so [Music] [Music] yes [Music] [Music] it's not long before we're rewarded with our first game sighting though three lionesses taking it easy in the late afternoon light [Music] women [Music] [Music] in the next episode join us as we head into the savuti drive the long road to chobi and take the long road down to kubu island [Music] bush is alive absolutely alive and just really happy to be a mate [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] this is over landing escape we'll see you in toby a big thank you to our product sponsors for this trip flexo power south africa lacey tackler products while dark 4x4 and tracks for africa

Channel: Overlanding Escape

Views: 241,670

Rating: 4.8606229 out of 5

Keywords: overlanding africa, overlanding escape, overlanding adventure, overlanding south africa, overlanding travel, overlandingescape, Matamba Bush Camp, 4x4overlanding, offroad adventure, overlanding destinations, botswana safari, botswana overlanding, africa safari, botswana wild, wildlife botswana, botswana, botswana overlanding adventure, edward bath overlanding, youtube south africa, botswana self drive, 4x4ventures southafrica, get out go, Khwai River, Chobe National Park

Id: eZvpa-V-JWw

Length: 49min 54sec (2994 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 03 2021