September Kgalagadi and Mabua trip report

[Mike Nel]

A trip in the making for more than 18 months finally happened. And what a trip it was. Weeks of packing, working out menu’s and more packing, and we finally hit the road on the 3rd of September.

First stop was Matjiesfontein at the Lord Milner Hotel for coffee and a breakfast. Freezing cold.

Second stop was Sutherland where we deflated tires, bought meat and wors for the night, and had a brunch and a beer.

Third stop for the day was in Williston for a quick beer before we drove off to our final destination for the night.

Verneukpan. That was our stop for the night. Wow. It’s all I can say. They do have ablutions which are in very good condition.
Fire was lit and the Lamb tjops and Boerewors soon went on the fire. Again. What a beautiful spot to start our trip off with.

Soon to bed, because the next day would be another long day behind the wheel.

[Mike Nel]

4th of Septemeber. We leave Verneukpan early to go to Nossob.
We decided to stay at Molopo Lodge for the night. Big mistake this would turn out to be.
Pork tjops, Boerewors, Greek salad and braai broodjies was for dinner.
We had a bright idea to go to the bar at the lodge for a night cap. 01h00 we somehow managed to find our way back to bed.
Breakfast the next morning looked like this:
Eggs, bacon, toast, and a very nice minced liver bowl. Coffee and Bloody Mary’s

And off to Nossob we finally go

[Mike Nel]

We made it into the Kgalagadi without issues. Might as well have left the paperwork for the Botswana side at home. They didn’t even look.
Within the first hour we spotted:

Now the trip is really off to a good start.

Dinner for the night would be home made Kudu burger with fresh Slap chips.

Our second day at Nossob we went for a short drive and within 10mins from camp, we got this:

Our day was made. Back to camp to crack a beer.

Dinner for tonight was Bontebok braai pie which I made a few days before our departure, slap chips again and a mushroom sauce to round off the meal.

Off to bed early because tomorrow we’re off to Mabua

[Mike Nel]

Off to Matopi we go. Roads were very bad. We could not go any faster than 35km per hour. It was really bad. And to make matters worse, we saw smoke on the horizon.

About 40km into a 105km journey we feared we might have to turn back. Mabua was on fire

We proceeded with caution and managed to get to Matopi without issues. Camp was made.
Dinner was deboned leg of lamb, greek salad and butter/garlic baby potatoes.

Did anyone say Jagermeister?

[Mike Nel]

The next 3 nights we would spend at Khiding. Not the most beautiful camp. In fact. I don’t rate it at all. It’s the only camp where you cannot see Khiding pan.

The pit toilets were horrible. People left their rubbish bags in the bins provided ( crap idea to have bins in these campsites), where the crows and jackals proceeded to rip them open and leave a mess everywhere. People should take their shit out with them.

We never saw anyone from Botswana parks come around to check papers or even to clean the bins. I don’t have high hopes for Mabua if it stays the same.

Dinner for first night was freshly made pizzas. Yes. Pizza

[Mike Nel]

Second day at Khiding we drove to all the Campsites in Mabua. Mapaya is definitely the one where you want to stay. Beautiful. It’s got water at camp and people staying there said they had Lion and Leopard come into camp every night of their stay.

Mabuasehube, Lesholoago and Monamodi camps I would also easily stay at. It does mention that they are watering holes for animals but the holes are dry. I think Botswana turned off the water over there. Mapaya was the only watering hole we could see.

The entrance gate on the Botswana was wide open and very dirty. Trash everywhere. Office doors wide open with nobody in sight. Lions could walk out the park without being noticed.
Africa right?

Dinner tonight started at 12pm already because it was Lamb staanrib with freshly baked Ciabatta.

[Mike Nel]

Last day at Khiding we drove to Maya. It’s only a 11km drive. Today was going to be special.

We didn’t need to see anything else

Dinner tonight was whole deboned chicken, broccolini’s and egg plant. Everything made on the fire.

[Mike Nel]

Last day in Mabua. We were meant to stay at Mosomane but as we approached we saw smoke towards Nossob. We decided to push through to Nossob and not take a chance with the fires in the area.

Oh. I managed to snap 3 roofrack brackets on this day. My roof rack and tent I had to strap to the vehicle. 1300kms of this still lay ahead of me. Did I also mention the roads were bad?

We drove on and the fires were getting worse. We drove through places where the flames were within touching distance.

We were turned away at Nossob because the were fully booked. They were overflowing in fact because they had all the people from Polentswa there as well. Polentswa is no more. It got burnt to the ground.

The road to Tweerivieren which we drove only 5 days earlier, which looked so beautiful, was now black. Lots of damage.

But. With the bad, comes the good. When rains come, the veld will be in very good condition.

We managed to find a spot at Kgalagadi lodge in the campsite.
Dinner tonight was Beef fillet medallions, sweet potato, and a small salad.

[Mike Nel]

The next day we unfortunately had to head back to Cape Town.

Just some random info regarding the roads to Mabua. We also did the northern 4x4 only, one directional road. They are bad. Really bad. If you are in a hurry, rather don’t drive on them.

If you do not like scratches on your car, do not drive on them.

I tow a Bushlapa Ratel. I would certainly not recommend anyone to tow their caravans on these roads. There will be damage. A trailer I would definitely tow.

Would I do this trip again? Hell yes. May 2022 already booked

[CornellMans]

Brilliant report, thanks for sharing.

[AndreasR]

Nice trip and report Mike. Sounds like you had the usual adventures of a classic overlanding trip. Vehicle, equipment failure (Broken roof rack), nature showing who is boss with fires and the need to rearrange accommodation. All taken in your stride without complaints, not like some other muppet who posted on FB that he was in Khutse when fires started and then wanted a refund because he had to cut his trip short.

It is always such a pity to arrive at camp only to come across the previous occupants rubbish strewn all over the place. Authorities should insist on seeing you leave the park with your own rubbish in your vehicle but that would take responsible staff and this is Africa.

Glad to see you didn’t run out of dop!

[Mike Nel]

Firstly. Thanks Cornel

Secondly. Andreas yes. If you overland and want to complain, then rather stay home. Things can and will go wrong at some stage. It might not be your next trip, but at some stage of your life, something will go wrong. Just ask Martin.

If you want to visit Mabua, I suggest you go soon. It looks like Botswana isn't interested at all and that is a shame. If it continues like this, I will look like a small forgotten town with crap all over the place. I somehow wish that SA could take over the park entirely. ( Did I just say that?) Booking would be easier and the Park would be far better run.

But, it was a fantastic trip nonetheless. Certainly a must

[AndreasR]

Many people love it but I got to say that Mabua has never been high on my bucket list.

Sites double booked, other people’s rubbish left lying around or buried shallow waiting for animals to dig it up leaving you to clean up.

My biggest gripe is the habituation of animals especially the cats. I don’t think it will be fun if lions visit every evening and you have to get in your tent at 18h00.

[Mad Manny]

Awesome well written report.
Can't believe you guys took a Pizza oven with, very Cape Townian of you.
My only critique is that you guys eat too much salad, tad effiminate...
I trust you guys had decent coffee ...

[Mike Nel]

We brushed our teeth with beer.