Overlanding in Botswana | Okavango Delta Part 1

[Music] so this tour was an official Iron Man 4x4 tour um we decided to put a 10day toour it together not too long and uh take everybody into probably our favorite part of Botswana up into the uh the choir area on the edge of okavango Delta [Music] [Music] [Applause] w oh oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] hi my name is DK Smith and welcome to another episode of The Iron van Adventures currently standing at Goomy Gorge just outside of palap and we are on our way into the okavango Delta with ultimate Adventures specifically the Qui area I'm very excited to get back into the Delta but let's start with a morning walk to a beautiful waterfall this place is epic garamy Gorge is about 6 to 7 hours from Johannesburg we always opt to go through the stock Bo border post even though it's a small fraction further it saves loads of time at the border post itself I was joined on this trip by one of my mentors in storytelling Donnie FAL Donnie created a local environmental program called 50/50 which had a huge impact on environmental issues in southern Africa local guide Zuma Miki took us on a walk through the [Music] gorge yeah that one we call it a scrambling fake as you can see how those root they going to try to scramble in rock C in the Rock to go to absorb water minerals it's very very amazing look the way how those root associate with rocks very very [Music] amazing on the morning of 13 July 1980 a loud rumbling Was Heard by The Villages of gari as a big Stone fell from the gorge above it was said to be a sign that someone of great importance had passed that's the Rock that Rock we call it is first president in bana this Ro was up there at the top the time that he pass away 1980 1th of July this St just fell and make a lot of noise play the they the but they don't know what happen Spirit announ he Chief or important person has pass away that's why this we call it just an alarm or just a sign that the chief has pass [Music] away if you ever wondered how dung beetles get clean after rolling dung all day they have small mites for the job they have a tiny mice on the lake those mice are responsibility after that deal with done they become dirty they have a good SYM with they come and clean the body that's why always clean personing [Music] them if you're heading to mount palap side in Botswana I cannot recommend this place more you have to come and stay over at gumar Remi it is beautiful the last waterfall standing here it is stunning you can't believe you're in Botswana this is not something you see in Botswana it's a bit out of the way when you go to Mound but if you drive in a day across the border it's about 6 hours uh if you go through Stockport we always go through Stockport because it's just a quiet nice border post and you're in this magical place you have to come here trust me you have to come [Music] here that water is underground water long just 5 to 6 7 they just come from underground water as you can see they just follow them when they got there more than 3 km they just go again disappear ground there's not like River like them we're thinking maybe it's a fountain because they always flowing never stop you know that in our village We Believe on spiritual beliefs we believe is where they place is where they stay that's why is not allowed yeah we believe that is what I say is a blessing water people us with different ceremonies in our village normally where the vure bridge here we have 15 P we have five waterfalls but right now because it's short walk only three waterfall but that one is the most beautiful one the third one yeah we have the four de that one you book before in advance to go to see them right now because of the breeding season of the vulture you don't want people to go there and disturb the vultures but around end of January going open so that people can go and look [Music] there I thought I'd show you gum's camp we're camping under a massive marula tree you've got your own little private ablution Beautiful shower outside shower and there are small tents in different camps as well so you can have campsites without the tents and then you can get campsites with these little structured tents uh we had a wonderful time uh lots of owls lots of bush babies at night and it's very very quiet so I would highly recommend camping at gari we are on our way to K Rhino Sanctuary now and we are meeting up with a tour group and this is an official Iron Man 4x4 tour so people watching the show people that are fans of the show are joining us on tour of course with Simon and Des and Master P from Ultimate adventures and then we're heading into the Delta but for now we've got a small way to Kar Rhino Sanctuary so we're going to pack up camp and have a leisurely drive to Kar Rhino Sanctuary on this trip I'm going to be camping in the Iron Man 4x4 single King swag I'm a bit wary of it because uh in the choir area in the Delta the first hyena that's going to be right next to this tent Donnie doesn't know it but I'm going to climb in next to him and we of course have the Iron Man 4x4 Swift 1400 Rooftop tent that Donnie is camping in before we continued on our journey we had a quick dip in the pool at the gumar Remy Restaurant and deck gar Remy also has some formal accommodation available on site [Music] brown veined white butterflies were scattered everywhere along the Route they generally migrate towards the northeast of Africa during the summer and [Music] Autumn the official starting point of the tour was Kama Rhino sanctuary and we met up with the tour leaders Simon and deser Stedman and the tour guests my name is Simon Stedman and I'm the owner of ultimate Adventures so this tour was an official Iron Man 4x4 tour um we decided to put a 10-day tour together not too long and uh take everybody into probably our favorite part of batswana up into the uh the qu area on the edge of the okavango Delta I'm Des Stedman and I'm the co-owner of ultimate Adventures so this was a 10-day trip into the Delta where we explored the beautiful areas of Quai um fantastic for game viewing and then also finished every evening with a homecooked meal from our Legend Master PE you think you can run away from me you're hiding why are you not greeting me I'm just uning just uning coming I was coming but you can greet them then on each hey how are you many lucky and you good good nearly everybody's arrived so it's about time now to go for the afternoon drive go out into the reserve and look for some rhinos in 1989 a group of C residents conceived the idea of a Wildlife Reserve near s previously a traditional hunting area the residents wish to reestablish it to its earlier Splendor in 1993 the uat land board allocated the land around suran to the Kama Rhino Sanctuary trust the site was chosen due to its excellent habitat for roseris and a central location and proximity to a Botswana Defense Force Base which provides the sanctuary with 24-hour protection the park now covers approximately 8,600 hectares of Kalahari sandf S one of the largest traditional villages in Africa is the birthplace of botswana's first president the late say that it's a [Music] comma [Music] seeing White Rhino in a beautiful habitat like this is very special White Rhino can live up to 40 years weigh just over 2 tons and the length of the horn can get close to 1 M they have one cough and the gestation period is around 15 [Music] months [Music] [Music] [Music] the summer rains have started in Botswana and that gets me even more excited for the Delta The Greenery with the Kalahari sand makes for incredible Wildlife scenes there are hints of ITA that come to mind especially it TOA in the wet [Music] season the first stop of the CHP is at cararo sanctuary and uh the reason we choose that place for um starting a lot of our tours is um it's not too far across the border so it's easily accessible for a lot of people and uh it's just a nice bushy feel uh good way to start off and also you have the opportunity to see rhinos in big numbers which obviously as we all know is not in every day [Music] stting [Music] [Music] [Music] it was also great to see the presence of the Botswana Defense Force in the Park after the game drive we headed back to Camp to light the fire and get to know our new friends a bit [Music] better [Music] early morning here at Karo sanctuary and I've only seen this place on YouTube videos but it's magical seeing so many rhinos with their horns in Botswana is absolutely mind-blowing today's plan we are heading to M most of the day is going to be spent in the car but that's the thing with overlanding you spend lots of days in the car and we got to meet all the people on the official Iron Man for y4 tour and they seem like amazing people I think this is going to be a great tour but first we're going to head back into Karo Sanctuary to see if we can find some more [Music] rhinos the rainy season also brings new Offspring this is the start of the baby boom season with a lot of species [Music] magic clear skies gave us really good light to take some photos and video of the wildlife in Kar Rhino [Music] [Music] sanctuary [Music] quick question on long days of overlanding like today what do you think about it what do you do to keep yourself busy I watch de sleep and I watch Master PE sleep and uh yeah just enjoy the peace and quiet okay so so you're also a seasoned Traveler what do you do on Long roads like today I don't sit in cocher I talk GP to Russell and to Desi over the radio over the radio over the radio oh goodness we've got a talker yes but I'll behave what do you do on Long roads what she said be honest be honest be honest what do you do um I work I navigate what what do you really do as sleep oh yeah yeah slop slop in car um driving how do you mean keep myself busy yeah what do you do what do you do you think about stuff or yeah I'm almost planning the next move because I like to have a plan and if I don't have a plan there's nothing to look out for so I I plan continuous planning you're a planner yes yeah and the best thing is the next holiday cuz the one I on is probably the best as far far you're also an Overlander so on long days of overlanding how do you keep yourself busy I usually crank up the radio and caraoke solo as far as I can could you please take us a video of You karaoke in your car I'll do that I'll do that on long days of travel and you've traveled Africa quite a bit and there's nothing to do on the road what what do you keep yourself busy with metal heavy [Music] metal [Music] [Applause] so before heading into the Delta we always stop in M it's kind of the gateway to the okavanga Delta so that's where we always get our supplies ice firewood everything we need before we head into the bush um and songa camp where we stay uh we've been staying there for a few years now in our opinion it's the uh the best Camp around Mound um it's just outside of town so it's a lot quieter nice bushy feel and um yeah just a great way to start off before heading off into the [Music] Delta after a long day of driving we have finally arrived in mun at sitatunga campsite and we are heading into the okavanga Delta tomorrow in arguably one of my favorite places in Botswana qu I cannot wait to get into the Delta this campsite is beautiful beautiful ablutions big trees it is a stunning place to stay over in Mahon but tomorrow we have the aravena [Applause] Delta I think what I also enjoyed about the Tunga Camp was the night that everybody got together so when we got to camp we got to Camp quite early and we all headed to the Tin Cup which is the little restaurant at s Tunga and we all found each other around a table sitting on Muro sipping down iold beers and that's where the group actually just really got to jel and got to know each [Music] other [Music] Mr gear Mr Sir how you feeling about the okavango Delta are you excited super excited I'm uh I've only been reading about this and uh hearing about it on your channels and these kind of things so I'm super excited laa are you excited for the Delta I'm always excited for the Delta why do you love the Delta I just love CH so much especially the community um concession where we stay because there's always something happening if you don't have the beautiful sunsets on the river you have wild dogs running through camp or you have Lions walking by or leopards in Camp so yeah so much of excitement listen so you've you've been in the choir what a week or two back yes I was I was there 2 weeks back last week yeah okay yes you excited for CH my favorite place in B really yes okay me and de we the number one Le high five mini okay so all packed up here at s camp in M we're heading off to the choir Community concession to moto campsite we're going to head back through M uh fill up with fuel and firewood and then we've got about 100ks of gravel road to get to the uh campsite along the chir river I have heard that it's been graded so uh it used to be a really bad Road hopefully today it's going to be smooth sailing probably take us about 4 hours or so to get there we can set up camp do a little game drive along the quir [Music] over [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] la so once we got off the cut line we entered through a little area that we personally call dead tree island and if you see the pictures you'll understand why we call it dead tree island and the lights that time of the day was just absolutely perfect with that green grass and it really it was that moment when you are like we have arrived in ch [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to Quai we have arrived at Moto Campsite in the Quai community and just as we arrived there's a huge storm brewing at the back here so nobody got time to set up their tents we got out had a quick something to drink but now the storm is heading our way and uh we about to go out for a drive but hopefully it doesn't last too long but that's the thing about this time of the year in the Delta it's rainstorms everywhere but it's beautifully green it's absolutely epic I'm I'm in awe of this place it's magical to be here I think what makes quite special is it's a bit of a a challenge to get there the road in there is quite quite challenging although the this year it had been graded a little bit so so it's a little bit easier going but once you cross that choir over and you turn into the The Wildlife Area you just start seeing everything there's giraffe crossing the road there's just Wildlife everywhere and then when you hit that choir River it's just like [Music] paradise [Music] [Music] if I can explain the scene it's just a never ending River in front of you with fish Eagles in the trees and elephants coming across to come and get their water water for the afternoon and it's just it's constant activity even for us I mean we've been going there for 15 years now and every time we hit that quiet River it's just like magical before this trip people have been asking me is it the right time of the year for the Delta so we're here in January and I can tell you it is beautiful it's absolutely beautiful yes you do miss the big herds of elephants coming down to drink but this green Lush l landscape it is beautiful thank you so much for watching if you do like the videos please like And subscribe and share with your friends and if you would like to tour with ultimate Adventures go to ultimate adventures. TV see you next [Music] [Music] time

Channel: Ironman 4x4 Africa

Views: 23,884

Keywords: Ironman 4x4 Africa, 4x4, 4x4 Accessories, 4x4 Suspension, 4x4 Fitment, Bull bar, Snorkel, Recovery gear, Shocks

Id: TrqVwVbQReo

Length: 26min 58sec (1618 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 09 2024