🙂 Everything about this place: Friendly staff, great camping, swimming pool and most importantly… the highlight – Ellies galore!! Top Tip: Camp next to ablutions block – the ellies walk right past you!
🙁 We couldn’t find fault with anything.
Saturday, 24 December 2022 to Monday 26 December 2022: Kasane to Elephant Sands 255Km / 3hours – 40C!
We landed in Kasane on the 24th December after an easy one hour flight from Johannesburg via Airlink where we had stayed the night before after completing our Mabua trip (which is adjacent to Kgalagadi National Park in South Africa). It was amazing tracing our route from the sky and seeing the vast pans from the air – magic – truly heightened our anticipation for this amazing trip!
We had booked our LandCruiser 4×4 vehicle through Bushlore who we have used several times before. They collected us from the airport. We chose the fully equipped Toyota Landcruiser 4×4.
They transferred us to their office via the Liquor Store so that we could stock up on Graham Beck for New Year and Cape Velvet (SA version of Baileys) for breakfast coffee … you are not able to buy these items duty free in South Africa! We then headed to the office where we did the paperwork quickly and efficiently in their office before setting off with great excitement. Almost immediately we were greeted by the fantastic wildness that is Botswana – elephants roam freely and you spot them along the motorway at regular intervals – just amazing.
We checked in at the fantastic Elephant Sands with the welcoming staff at Reception. The weaver birds were very busy!
Love the quirky bathrooms!
We were so excited to see our dear friends, the Whiteheads who had chosen a spot next to the ablution block as recommended by another You Tuber as the elephants pass right by! It was great to catch up .. Charlotte handed me a glass of dry white wine and Paul a Red and we were soon very relaxed… The elephants did indeed pass by constantly and we could hear them enjoying the waterhole from our campervans throughout the night. Such a wonderful spot. Note the ellies behind Ollie and Caits and behind Nick and us! We enjoyed a braai of steak and mash before having a relatively early night.
We were up bright and early the next morning – Christmas Day! It was so cute because we have the same photo of Caitlyn and Lucy in a tent in the New Forest when they were about 5 years old – such a special friendship. Nick made us a coffee with a splash of Cape Velvet (this would become our morning routine!) while we watched an industrious dung beetle couple avoiding ant lion traps and a diligent yellow hornbill feeding its chicks in the hollow of a tree next to us… beautiful nature all around us.
We simply love watching hornbills – they provide endless entertainment.
It was time to crack open the Graham Beck Rose and welcome Father Christmas with lots of laughter! (Love our Grumpy Old Men – great T Shirts!).
We opened our Secret Santa presents one by one and had a really good giggle and appreciated everyone’s thoughtfulness …what a very special Christmas morning. (When I bought Caitlyn’s t-shirt for Christmas I did not realise what it said – I thought it was just an innocent Ho! – Yikes! LOL!)
Please excuse my loud laughter…
We met some lovely chatty people and chilled in the pool watching elephants … I forgot to put sun screen on which was a big mistake as I got burnt to a crisp!
Simply amazing to be up close and personal with these gentle giants …
We had booked in for the exceptionally reasonably priced Christmas Buffet which was delicious…. followed by post food nap time! Our friends Charlotte and Nick manage to nap anywhere! 🙂
Whilst enjoying our meal we were joined by the most adorable banded mongoose that had been rescued – just wanted love … pure joy… as can be heard by her contended squeals!!
After our late lunch we meandered back to our campsite for sundowners with elephants walking right past us – we couldn’t get up to get cameras but just enjoyed being in such a special place. We had ellies walk past where we were sitting so close to them that we could touch them.
After our large dinner we were not very hungry but Nick cooked some BBQ ribs as a snack.
The kids had met up with the nephew of the owner of Elephant Sands and stayed on for drinkies with them after us oldies left … they had the best time and enjoyed some local shots: Zoerdoef Passionfruit Liqueur… on the way back Ollie fell over and broke his phone…and we were woken by lots of hilarity and laughter – a great end to a great Christmas Day (apart from the phone – Ollie took it very well, all things considered)!
After a wonderful Toastie Breakfast prepared by Alys we all felt fortified and ready to hit the road onwards to our next exciting destination! Oh my word! What a stay! What an unusual but memorable Christmas! We felt really sad to leave….we WILL be back.
Go Back to: Botswana
Go to: Planet Baobab
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It was a wonderful start to our holiday
Fantastic! x