Our Route through Botswana………
GENERAL
Park Fees and Tariffs
The Botswana Parks Board has recently increased the park
fees and tariffs dramatically. The new
tariff structure came into effect from 1 April 2000 and is as follows:
Park/Reserve Entry Fees (Privately Organized
Tours) per person per day (Pula)
|
|
Citizens
|
Residents
|
Non-Residents
|
18 years and over
|
10-00
|
30-00
|
120-00
|
8 –17 years
|
5-00
|
15-00
|
60-00
|
Under 8
|
Free
|
Free
|
Free
|
Park/Reserve Entry Fees (Tours through Botswana registered
and licensed tour operators, lodges and hotels) per person per day (Pula)
|
|
Citizens
|
Residents
|
Non Residents
|
18 years and over
|
10-00
|
30-00
|
70-00
|
8-17 years
|
5-00
|
15-00
|
35-00
|
Under 8
|
Free
|
Free
|
Free
|
Camping Fees per person per day (Pula)
|
|
Citizens
|
Residents
|
Non-Residents
|
18 years and over
|
5-00
|
20-00
|
30-00
|
8-17 years
|
2-50
|
10-00
|
15-00
|
Under 8
|
Free
|
Free
|
Free
|
Fees for Motor Vehicles – Private
motor vehicles under 3500kg, per day (Pula)
|
Botswana Registered – 10-00
|
Foreign Registered 50-00
|
The new tariffs represent an increase of more than double the old tariffs
and visiting the Botswana Parks has now become a very costly
business. Spending a night at the Nxai Pan or Ihaha will
now cost you 270-00 pula per person per day (120 x 2 + 30) and an additional 50
pula per day for the vehicle. Bearing
in mind that the pula is stronger than the rand, visiting the Botswana Parks
has become out of reach for most South African tourists. In addition, under the old system, if you
left the park by 10 am you did not have to pay park entrance fees for that day.
Under the new system however you have to pay park entrance fees for each day
spent in the Park irrespective of whether you arrive late in the afternoon or
leave early in the morning. Paying
heavy park entrance fees would not be such a problem if you felt that you were
getting value for your money. Unfortunately,
however, we found that the park officials, particularly at Chobe, were
unhelpful and generally disinterested. We
were for instance, not given any information about the appalling state of the
roads between the Chobe gate and Savuti. In addition, we were made to feel guilty for
interrupting the 5-odd wardens playing cards in the park offices to make
enquiries about game sightings etc. We
also found the roads in an abysmal condition (although this was largely due to
the heavy rains in the area) and the facilities at the campsites to be dirty
and in need of maintenance.
Our general impression was that the new park tariff
structure was aimed directly at milking tourists for additional revenue and it
left a rather bad taste! We had thought
that we would over night at the Nxai Pan on our way up to Chobe
as this seemed, to us, to be a perfect place to break our journey from Maun
to Kasane. However, once we discovered that a night at the Nxai Pan
was going to cost us over 600 pula (almost R1000-00) and we only arrived there
at 6pm in the evening and were planning to leave for Chobe the next
morning – it was just not worth our while and we had to cancel our night there!
A real pity, as I am sure that this will be the approach of many tourists in
our position.
Booking for the Botswana Parks
Bookings for the Botswana Parks must be done centrally
through the reservations office in Maun at the following address:
Parks and Reservations Office, Department of
Wildlife and National Parks, P O Box 20364, Maun, Tel: 66 1265 and Fax:
66 1264
We tried on more than one occasion to get through to the Maun
office but to no avail. The phone was constantly engaged. When we arrived in Maun and went to
the office the mystery of the engaged phone was revealed – the parks officials
lounge around the office and make a constant stream of personal and social
calls. We would recommend trying to book your stay in the Botswana Parks by
fax!
Unfortunately there are very few campsites in each of the
parks. At Ihaha in Chobe, for instance, there are only 8
campsites. It is therefore necessary to
book your campsites well in advance! We were lucky to find a booking at Chobe
and it was only because there had been so many cancellations due to the floods.
Park Conditions and the recent floods
Moremi
We visited Botswana in early April and when we arrived we
discovered that Moremi was closed.
The recent heavy rain had meant that the roads were in a dismal
condition and a couple of vehicles had got stuck. The Parks Board was not able to tell us when Moremi was
expected to reopen. In addition, the road between Moremi and Savuti
via the Mbabe Depression was also closed.
Savuti
We were advised that we could camp at Ihaha, which is
situated on the Chobe River and has replaced the old Serondela which
has been closed, and at Savuti. We
booked a night at Ihaha and planned to travel to Savuti,
overnight there and return the next day.
We had not bargained on the absolutely terrible condition of the roads between
Ihaha and Savuti. Traveling to Savuti
we followed the road to the Ngoma gate and then out of the park via Mabele,
Kavimba and Kachehabwe to Savuti. This road is covered in very thick sand
punctuated with corrugations and traveling along it is incredibly slow and
grinding. The trip took us most of the
day to complete. The roads surrounding Savuti
had been badly flooded and there was still a lot of water lying in puddles
on the road. In addition, the roads
were exceptionally muddy. After
spending a night at Savuti we headed back to Ihaha via Zweitse
Pan and Nogatsaa Camp. Well, if we had thought that the other route
to Savuti was bad the drive back to Ihaha was a nightmare. The road was non-existent and in many places
passed directly through the pans. Aside
from the water on the road much of the road had been washed away and there were
huge muddy dongas and potholes. At some places the track was so unused and
covered with long grass that we were sure that we had strayed off the main
route and had to navigate our way back by using our GPS. The drive of about 160 km’s took us between
8 and 9 hours to complete! The only
other vehicle we saw the whole day was a rental 4x4 that had taken on water and
had sunk in the pan! The driver and
passengers of the vehicle had been forced to abandon all their gear and their
vehicle and walk back to Savuti (a distance of about 50km’s). We later
heard that Savuti had been closed a couple of days after we had left Chobe. Our vehicle managed the trip relatively
unscathed but did suffer a bent track rod which we had to repair in Ihaha (by
heating it over a fire and banging it back in to shape) We would recommend a
careful check on conditions and all the roads in the park before attempting the
drive to Savuti. The distance
between Savuti and Ihaha is also too much to do comfortable in
one day. If you intend to travel this route we would recommend staying at least
two days at Savuti. Of course,
once Moremi has reopened the traditional route will be available again –
that is to travel to Savuti from Moremi via the Mbabe
Depression and then on to Ihaha.
OUR ROUTE
Gantsi
We crossed the border into Botswana from
Namibia at the Buitepos/Mamuno border post and headed for Gantsi
on route to Maun. The route to Gantsi
is tarred and Gantsi is about 210 km’s from the border. The only real
place to stay in Gantsi is the Kalahari Arms Hotel which is in
the center of Gantsi. The hotel
offers accommodation in rondavels from about 250 pula per person per night. Camping in the garden costs 15 pula per person. The hotel was full when we arrived so we
opted for the camping option – little did we know that the garden was nothing
more than a construction sight (the hotel is currently undergoing renovations).
We awoke to 15 or 20 builders swarming around our vehicle at 7am!however, the
Arms provides a cheap spot to over night.
It also has a restaurant that serves a decent dinner and breakfast.
Maun
From Gantsi we headed north to Maun. The route passes through D’kar and Toteng
and is tarred for a portion of the way.
We were told that the whole route should be tarred before the end of the
year. The dirt road was however in relatively good condition.
Maun is a bustling center on the edge of
the Okovango Delta. It is an anomalous combination between rural
Botswana and western culture. It is not
unusual to see a traditional dwelling with a brand new Land Cruiser outside or
to see goats crossing the main road. Maun
is the center of tourist activity for the Delta and there is a myriad of tour
operators and safari companies all offering trips into the Delta.
Places to stay
There are a variety of accommodation options in Maun,
ranging from the popular campsites to hotels. We stayed at Audi Camp
which would appear to be the most popular of the campsites and is located on
the Thamalakane River, 12 km’s outside Maun on the Shorobe
Road and route to the Moremi gate. Camping at Audi Camp costs
20-00 pula per person per night and there are rustic ablutions. There is also a restaurant which serves
breakfast, lunch and dinner, a bar and a swimming pool which is popular with
the locals in the evenings. Tented
accommodation is also available and it is also possible to rent tents, sleeping
bags, mattresses, pots, tables and camping stools. Audi Camp is also able to arrange a variety of
excursions including drive or fly-in mokoro safaris. The camp is a good option as it is safe and secure, there is good
shade and it provides a good spot to stay over before heading into the delta.
For more info email Audi Camp at audicamp@info.bw.Tel
66 0599 / 663005 Fax 660581
Other options include Crocodile Camp (sales@botswana.com Tel: 66 0265; Fax 66
0793) which is next door to Audi Camp and which was started by crocodile
hunter Bobby Wilmot. Crocodile Camp is
beautiful and shady and camping is about the same price as at Audi Camp. There are also other accommodation options
available. Another option is the Island Safari Lodge.
We also camped at the Sedia Hotel which
is much closer to Maun. Camping
in the Sedia Hotel garden costs 10-00 pula per person per night and has
great hotel-quality ablutions. Campers
also have full access to the hotel amenities including the pool and restaurant.
We left our vehicle at the Sedia Hotel when we went on our Mokoro
Safari – the hotel has 24-hour security. The hotel also arranged a free
transfer to the Maun airport for us and agreed to keep our frozen meat in their
freezer so that we could turn off our fridge.
All in all this was the best 20-00 pula we spent in our time in
Botswana. They are at Private Bag 0580,
Maun, Tel: 660177
There is also the famous Riley’s Hotel which is Maun institution and well known to
visitors worldwide. P O Box 1,Maun Tel
66 0320; Fax 66 0580.
Places to Eat
The best value is
the trendy Bull and Bush Bar and Restaurant which is situated
opposite the Maun airport and offers great pizzas and burgers. Also try the Power Station or
the restaurants at the various camps on the outskirts of town.
There
is also a Steers and a fully stocked Spar in Maun.
Our Mokoro Safari
The Okovango river is described as “the river which never
finds the sea” and it disappears into a 15 000 sq km maze of lagoons, channels
and islands. It’s the largest inland delta in the word and abounds with bird life
and other wildlife. The best way to
explore the delta is on a mokoro, a wooden dugout that is pushed along by a
guide through the shallow waters.
We chose to go on a three-day fly-in mokoro
safari in the northern Okovango delta. The
major choice to be made when booking your mokoro safari is whether you intend
to fly in to the delta or to drive. The
drive-in option is much cheaper than the fly–in safari but you are limited to
the eastern and southern parts of the delta only. The fly-in safari is more expensive but allows you to visit the
more secluded and untouched parts of the delta. The further you travel from Maun the better your chances are of
seeing game. In addition, it is also only really possible to understand the
delta when you see it from the air!
Prices
Audi Camp – 2 day/2 night fly-in mokoro
trip – US$200-00 per person. A minimum
of 4 people are required to do the trip.
The price includes your return flight to Seronga in the northern part of
the delta, your camping fees, your mokoro and Poler/Guide.
Audi Camp – Drive in mokoro safaris – 1 Day – US$60-00 per person; 2 Day US$100-00;
3 day US$130-00 per person sharing. Minimum
two people. Self catering. Eastern Delta.
The Booking Company – 3 day/3night fly-in safari – US$250-00 per
person (if there are 2 people). Prices fluctuate if there are more people or if
there is a single person on the trip. Once
again, the price includes the return flight to Seronga, camping fees, mokoro
and guide. Their email is book@info.bw ; Tel 267 660 022; Fax 267 660 037:Address:Private Bag 0198, Maun,
Botswana.
Safaris
can also be organized through Gunn’s Camp, Oddballs and Okovango Tours and Safaris
– these safaris are slightly more expensive though!
We
opted for the safari offered by the Booking Company as we were unable to find
two other people to join us for the Audi Camp safari. Although it was slightly more expensive, the Booking Company
offered a lot of additional flexibility.
We flew out to Seronga just after sunrise. The flight is approximately 45 minutes and provides the most
breathtaking views of the Delta. It is
also possible to see quite a bit of game from the air. Seronga is situated in the northern part of
the Delta Panhandle. When you land at
Seronga you are met by your local guide/poler and are transported to the poler
station where your luggage is loaded into the mokoro before you set off. The polers used by both Audi Camp and the
Booking Company are part of what is known as the Okovango Poler’s Trust. The
Trust was formed by the Seronga community in 1998 to establish a viable
Eco-tourism operation that is community based.
The Trust is owned and operated by the members themselves and currently
provides employment for over 100 people from the Seronga community.
The
trip is self-catering so you need to pack all your camping equipment (including
tents and sleeping bags) for the three days.
You also need to pack sufficient food and water for the three days. The catch is that there is a 10 kg limit for
luggage on the flight in the light aircraft and it takes some doing to pack
sufficient food and supplies for three days and to come in under 10kgs!We took
lots of Smash, rusks, powder milk, canned stew etc. Luckily, the water in the Delta is chrystal clear and can be
drunk without having to be purified. There are no showers and toilets on the
island and it is rough camping in its truest form! Our guide did however did a pit toilet for us and made sure that
we had sufficient drinking water. He
also ensured that we always had a fire going on which we could cook and boil
water.
The
first day is spent being poled out to one of the islands in the Delta where you
set up camp. The next two days are
spent exploring the delta on the mokoro or on foot. The bird life in the Delta is unbelievable and for bird watchers,
a trip into the Delta on a mokoro is an absolute must. We saw many fish eagles as well as a whole
host of other birds including the very rare Pels Fishing Owl. There is also a lot of game to be seen
including Red Letchwe and the rare Sitatunga antelope (which I might add we
didn’t see!).
On day
three you return to Seronga and spend the last night at Seronga before being
flown back to Maun the following morning.
There is a shower and toilet (although without running water) at the
Seronga campsite and it is possible to arrange a traditional meal that is
cooked by some of the local village women – ours included Bream (caught in the
delta), waterlillies, samp, butternut and cabbage. We were also served a local beer made from fish.
The
mokoro experience is absolutely idyllic and well worth it!
Other options
If you don’t want
to spend 2 or 3 days on a mokoro, another option available is for you to fly
out to one of the islands in the Southern or Eastern Delta and to camp out
there for a couple of days. From one
of the island camps you will then be able to do short half day or day trips
out into the Delta on a mokoro. Probably
the best option is Gunn’s Camp situated on the Boro River,
overlooking Chief’s Island and bordering on the Moremi
Reserve. Here you can camp at Gunn’s Bush Camp for US$15-00
per person per night. You have to fly out to Gunn’s so make sure you budget
for the price of the flight (about US$130-00 per person).You may also want
to hire your tents, cooking gear etc at Gunn’s when you get there so that
you do not exceed the 10kg weight limit for the flight. Gunn’s Bush Camp
has hot showers, flush toilets, a restaurant and bar and from here you can
hire a mokoro for about US$70-00 per day.
There is a range of luxury accommodation available at Gunn’s starting
from about US$295-00 per person per night.
Remember that if you are going to be traveling in to the area of the
Delta that forms part of the Moremi Reserve you will need to pay park entrance
fees. Contact Gunn’s at Private Bag 33,
Maun, Botswana. Tel: 267 660 023;
Fax 267 660 040; email gunnscamp@info.bw.
Oddballs also offers a range of options in relation to camping, luxury accommodation
and mokoro hire. They are at p o Box 39, Maun. Tel: 66 1154; Fax 66 0589 email
okovango@info.bw
Nata
From Maun
we traveled to Nata en route to Kasane. The road between Maun and Nata
is tarred and in good condition. There
is no petrol or diesel available between Nata and Maun
though. We had intended to over night at the Nxai Pan but due
to the punitively high cost of park entrance fees it did not make sense for us
to spend one night there so we pushed on to Nata. In Nata we stayed at the Nata
Lodge which is absolutely excellent value!
The Nata Lodge is situated 10km east of Nata and
offers camping for 26-50 per person per night.
The ablutions are currently being upgraded so are not in the best shape
but should be completed later this year.
Campers have full access to the Lodge facilities including the pool and
restaurant.
Kasane / Chobe
From Nata we headed north to Kasane – once again the road is
tarred and in good condition but there is no petrol or diesel between Nata and
Kasane – a distance of about 300km.Keep your eyes open while driving along this
route – we saw lots and lots of elephants!
Our first night was spent at the Ihaha camp, on
the banks of the Chobe River. Serondela
has been closed and a new campsite has been built at Ihaha. The campsites at Ihaha are enormous and
beautifully situated. The views of the
river are awesome. The ablution block
is situated quite far away from some of the sites and it’s quite a walk to get
there! You also don’t want to do this
walk at night as Chobe’s camps are not fenced and there are plenty of wild
animals prowling around at night. The
ablutions are very nice but are not very clean and there is no hot water –
despite the fact that it looks like there is a solar panel system. Around Ihaha and at the Chobe
River itself game can be spotted in abundance!
We saw herds and herds of elephants including some breeding herds with
tiny elephant calves. We also saw lots
of hippos, buffalo, giraffe and even the rare sable antelope. The game viewing is really amazing.
From Ihaha we traveled to Savuti
(check out all our moaning about the road above!).Once again the campsites at Savuti
are enormous and well situated – you cannot see your neighbours which is
superb. The ablutions are nice but far
from the campsites and not always clean.
We did not see as much game at Savuti as we had at Ihaha. There were lots of elephants but we had
heard that “One always sees lions at Savuti!” Not true – we did not see any.
From Savuti we traveled back to Ihaha
where we spent our third night in the park.
Some Chobe tit bits:
- The
camps are not fenced off so there are lots of wild animals in the camps at
night – especially hyenas!
- Chobe
is associated with a whole host of urban legends. Two that you will hear
over and over are the ones about the drunk student sleeping outside of his
tent who had his face munched by a hyena and the one about the woman who
tried to bath in the Chobe River and was taken by a crocodile! The
truth is there are lots of crocs, hippos, lions and hyenas around so be
careful! Don’t swim and don’t sleep out of your tent.
- You
cannot take firewood into Chobe. There is also none for sale. You
therefore have to collect your own firewood which involves driving through
the park and should you see a piece of suitable wood, stopping, avoiding
elephants and lions and putting the log on your roof! Dangerous at best.
You really do need a fire at night in Chobe to keep the animals
away.
- You
cannot venture into Chobe without a 4x4 vehicle – the roads are
pretty rough and cannot be attempted in a 2x4.
- Baboons
are a huge problem in Chobe. In fact, the old Serondela camp
has been totally overrun by baboons. On our second night in Ihaha
we were visited by a troupe of baboons who thought it was great fun to
jump on our roof rack etc. On a serious note, make sure that everything is
baboon proof before going to bed!
- Make
sure that you have a basic repair kit before entering Chobe as the
roads are pretty bad. You will have to deal with thick sand, water,
corrugations, dongas and potholes.
- We
found that our radiator got filled up with grass seeds and mud – we would
recommend that you fit a mesh netting in front of the radiator to catch as
much of the much as possible.
- Make
sure that you have a fire extinguisher on board – that works! We saw more
than one burned out car and were advised that grass seeds can get caught
near the exhaust. They apparently start smouldering and can cause the
vehicle to catch a light.
- There
is no diesel or petrol available in the Park so make sure that you are
carrying enough diesel or petrol to get you in and out (taking into
consideration your game driving).
- The maximum speed limit in the park is
40km per hour.
-
From Ihaha
we traveled back to Kasane and stayed at the Chobe Safari Lodge
in Kasane. The Lodge
provided us with a haven after our harrowing trip through Chobe. You
can camp at the Lodge for 30-00 pula per person per night. We had had enough of camping (having done it
for 22 days straight) and so we booked into a hotel room that had satellite TV,
air -conditioning, a bath, a phone and a double bed! I think that our room cost about 475-00 pula for the night but
was well worth it. The Lodge
also has a fully licensed restaurant and bar.
In Kasane
shop at Savas Superette and the Hot Bread Shop.
From Kasane
we headed to the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe
at Kazungula. We had wanted
to find a place in Kasane / Kazungula where we could
have our wheels balanced as we were still limping along following the track rod
debacle. There was nothing available in
either Kasane or Kazungula (except a dodgy Nissan
garage where we were greeted by a crotchety old geezer who was cleaning a shot
gun).In the end we had to wait until we got to Vic Falls.