Botswana 2022/23: Moremi – Third Bridge

Moremi Game Reserve is in northern Botswana, in the Okavango Delta, which becomes a lush animal habitat during seasonal floods. Dugout canoes are used to navigate past birdlife, hippos and crocodiles on waterways like the Xakanaxa Lagoon. On land, wildlife includes lions, leopards and rhinos. Safari camps are common, with several dotted around large Chief's Island and the forested Mopane Tongue Peninsula.At the third bridge from the southern entrance to the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana, you can find a campsite with the fitting name Third Bridge Campsite. The facilities at this campsite are well-maintained and the sanitary facilities were renewed a few years ago. The camping pitches are very spacious here, which means you can enjoy the surroundings in complete peace and privacy. At this campsite, you are truly amongst the wildlife. There are no fences, which means wild animals can walk right by your tent. During the day, there are baboons to look out for. In the evening, there is a good chance of seeing hyenas in the camp. Other animals such as elephants and hippos are also regularly seen at the campsite. A small store at Third Bridge offers wood for the campfire and can provide a few basic needs. There is no power or Wi-Fi at Third Bridge Campsite.

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Botswana 2022/23: Maun – Island Safari Lodge & Mokoro Trip

Maun is a town on the Thamalakane River in northern Botswana. It's the jumping-off point for the vast inland Okavango Delta, which becomes a lush wildlife habitat during the seasonal floods. In the delta, safari camps dot the Moremi Game Reserve, which is home to hippos, lions and rhinos. Island Safari Lodge is located on the banks of the River, and is a cool and welcoming oasis in the heart of Maun. Shaded under a huge canopy of large trees, the lodge overlooks the river and floodplain beyond. From here you can explore the famed Okavango Delta by mokoro, a traditional dugout canoe. Glide past the islands that dot the delta and the surrounding channels for a unique experience that sets you amongst nature.

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Botswana 2022/23: Nxai Pan & Baines Baobab

Nxai Pan National Park is a national park in north-eastern Botswana, consisting of Nxai Pan, which is one of the Makgadikgadi Pan salt flats and adjoins Makgadikgadi Pans National Park on its northern border. The biggest draw to Nxai Pan National Park are the zebras that migrate by the thousands to the area – the second largest land animal migration in Southern Africa. Baines Baobab is an extraordinary place with large Baobab trees sitting on the edge of an extensive salt which was painted by explorer Thomas Baines in 1862 and still looks almost exactly the same, even down to the fallen tree! ... simply spectacular.

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Botswana 2022/23: Planet Baobab & Meerkats!

Follow the road pointed out by the giant aardvark and you’ll discover the intriguingly named Planet Baobab… This is the Baobab Capital of the World, where the average age of each tree is more than 4000 years, and the boundless lunar landscape of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are the size of Switzerland ... this quirky and welcoming place has the largest swimming pool in the Kalahari, serves great food and offers an oasis in the wilderness... you can sleep on the Pan and meet the Meerkats up close and personal - do not hesitate - just visit this place - it is AWESOME!

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Botswana 2022/23: Elephant Sands

Placed in the middle of nowhere in the Botswanas bush, this amazing natural waterhole attracts elephants throughout the day for water, swimming and chilling... the Bushlodge and Campsite is located 53Km north of Nata on the main road to Kasane and offers 20 en-suite tents and 8 en-suite chalets as well as ample space for campers with an ablution block. There is a restaurant serving decent food and a big swimming pool with bar ... you can laze in the water while listening to the rumble and odd trumpet as the elephants come and go and squabble for their turn to drink... a MUST do on any trip in Botswana!

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SA: Kgalagadi -2022, December – Mabuasehube

Mabuasehube Reserve (a part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park) has some of the most remote Kalahari camping in Botswana. There are very few sites available so they tend to book up far in advance. There are seven camps in Mabuasehube, each with two to four individual sites, totaling just 17 campsites in the entire Mabuasehube reserve. If you’re looking for solitude, you’ve come to the right place. The camps are named for the pan they sit next to (except for Entrance Gate.) There are no fences and the animals roam freely ... we had a resident leopard and brown hyena in Mpaya No. 1 and a honeymoon lion couple strolled though in the morning... AMAZING.

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SA: Kgalagadi – 2022, December – Polentswa

Polentswa is a lovely quiet camp with only three campsites. They each have their own pit toilet and shower cubicle. Polentswa has no water. If you plan to camp there and are fortunate enough to get a spot, because you have to book well in advance, you would need to bring your own. Camping in an unfenced camp means you have to be on high alert for predators. The nearby Polentswa waterhole simply teams with wildlife. This is the Kalahari at its best!

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SA: Kalahari Meerkat Sanctuary

Kalahari Trails, better known as the Meerkat sanctuary, is home to one of the Kalahari’s best-known animals, suricates. Kalahari Trails Meerkat Sanctuary is 3500ha in size, nestled right in the heart of the red Kalahari dune fields, just 35km before the entrance to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP). This unique piece of heaven offers visitor experiences where you can get closer to nature and possibly interact with the Meerkats like no other place in the Kalahari.

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SA: Augrabies Falls

Augrabies Falls National Park is a national park located around the Augrabies Falls, about 120km west of Upington. It was established in 1966. The Augrabies Falls National Park covers an area of 820 km² and stretches along the Orange River. The area is very arid. The waterfall is about 60 metres high and is awe-inspiring when the river is in flood. The gorge below the falls averages about 240 m deep and runs for 18 kilometres. The gorge provides an impressive example of erosion into a granitic basement. The original Khoikhoi people named the waterfall Ankoerebis, meaning the "place of big noises". The Trekboers who later settled in the area derived the name Augrabies. There are many deposits of alluvial diamonds along the Orange River and legend has it that the biggest cache of diamonds in the world lies in the swirl-hole eroded into the granite at the foot of the waterfall by the thundering waters. On the menu of plant species is the enigmatic Quiver tree or Kokerboom (Aloe dichotoma). Traditionally, the Khoisan hunters made their quivers from this tree which dates back thousands of years and which produces vivd yellow flowers in May and June. The Augrabies Falls National Park offers an ancient landscape that will take you back in time to the world of the first hunter-gatherers.

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SA: Strandloper – Langebaan

To us, local is lekker. Local food, local staff, local taste – all on an a scale of international proportions. We welcome guests from far and wide. From Boksburg to Bangkok, from Cape Town to Cairo, we’re here to make sure you enjoy the ultimate in good, old-fashioned, down-to-earth, West Coast awesomeness. You’ll find us to be a tight-knit family who love what we do. Whether it’s building fires, turning grids, baking breads or simply making you feel right at home, we’re into fun, sun, surf and everything that goes with it. We’ve been meeting, greeting and bringing our guests memorable moments since ‘pa fell off the bus’ (which in South Africa is a great way of saying we’ve been doing what we do for a very, very long time). Some of our staff (like Marie) have devoted almost their entire working lives to us. All have been born and raised in the region. We treat them with love and respect because that’s just the way we are.

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