Botswana Trip: June 2021- Planet Baobab and Boteti River Camp

Tuesday 22 June and Wednesday 23 June

Lockdown Day 453 and 454

Taking the very potholed A3 from Nata you come across a large pink anteater on the side of the road.

You've arrived at Planet Baobab. This is one of the funkiest lodges in Africa, set amongst some very large Baobabs. It has very quirky lounge and dining areas with concrete furniture and the biggest lodge pool in Botswana.

We stayed in the chalets on a DBB basis. ( I called them Gogos' huts - Gogo is the African nick-name for Granny. ) 

There is also a campsite. We drove out in the evening looking for a good sunset spot over the Ntwetwe Pans. We underestimated the slow driving in the thick sand so turned back and had our GnTs at the pan in Gweta village; cows and all.

On Wednesday we drove into Nxai Pan NP to Baines' Baobabs. What a beautiful spot.

Next time we're camping in the pans we will choose Baines' over Kubu Island because there are only 3 sites here. Every day we comment on how privileged we are to travel in 2021 when we have every lodge and National Park almost to ourselves. A little further down the A3 we entered Magadigadi Pans NP. Driving alongside the Boteti River we saw so much game, especially zebra. The zebra migration here is second in size only to that in the Masai Mara.

To cross the Boteti River you have to drive onto the manual ferry and get pulled across. 150 Pula per car.

Boteti River Camp has chalets and a campsite. We opted for the DBB package. There is a cool upstairs deck with a view over the river but their bar and wine selections are very limited, probably due to so few guests at this time. It's a great accomodation option for exploring the Magadigadi Pans area.

Botswana Trip June 2021 : Mwandi View and Chobe Safari Lodge

Sunday 20 and Monday 21 June

Lockdown Day 451 and 452

Mwandi View is a cool lodge set on the Chobe Flood Plain near the Chobe Ngoma Gate.

We stayed in the self catering safari tents but they do have a campsite too. The owners are lovely and there's good WiFi so we had an afternoon of social media catch up and then sunset drinks on the deck.

On Monday we did another drive through Chobe NP. We checked into Chobe Safari Lodge for our last night in the Kasane area. It's always good to watch the sunset from the bar deck, sundowner in hand. Life is tough in Africa.

Botswana Trip June 2021 : Senyati Safari Camp, Kasane

Friday 18 and Saturday 19 June

Lockdown Day 449 and 450

Senyati Safari is a campsite and self catering camp about 10kms outside Kasane. The bar overlooks a waterhole frequented by elephants and other game from about 4pm every evening.

They have a pretty unique bunker at eye level with the water which allows for close up photography.

We stayed in chalet 3, which also has an awesome view of the waterhole.

Lulu and her staff are super friendly.

Early on Saturday we left for a morning trip into Chobe NP.

In the afternoon we did another fabulous river cruise, this time with Mr. Cherry. For sunset he took us to the rapids to see nesting Yellow billed storks with chicks on the nests.

Botswana Trip June 2021: Klippan and Elephant Sands

Wednesday 16 June and Thursday 17 June

Lockdown Day 447 and 448

On the road again. What a great feeling. With perfect timing, Denise and Natalie merged onto the N12 just as we passed by. Die Koffiekan in Modimolle is a great place to stop for lunch. Klippan Lodge situated on a farm on the Limpopo River a few kilometres from the Groblersbrug Border Post.

After a great braai and a good night's sleep we breezed through both sides of the border in no time.

We stopped in Payalape to buy SIM cards and draw cash. Elephant Sands near Nata is our favourite stop en route further North. We don't have our caravan with us on this trip so we are in the Safari tents for a change.