ON DIRT ROADS THROUGH BOTSWANA, PT. 2
Amundsen Field Trips
February 27, 2025
Amundsen Field Trips
February 27, 2025
#3 Central Kalahari Game Reserve – @ 9.30PM
Sunrise is without a doubt one of the biggest highlights of the day. First, a red glare across the sky before a fireball appears over the savannah to expose animal tracks across the camp and vervet monkey’s kickstarting their morning routine.
The coffee simmed as we planned today’s route. We were heading into the mythical Kalahari Desert, an area of more than 900 000km² of remote wilderness. More specifically we headed North-West from Kwa Nokeng towards a small town of Rakops. Here we took advantage of one of the few fuel stops around the area to prepare ourselves to disconnect and head into the Game Reserve. After hours on paved roads, it was a relief to enter the sandy dunes.
Time and space becomes irrelevant when you enter a place like this. No service and all your necessities packed into the back of our 4×4’s. Travelling by car can often be associated with stress and discomfort, but this is another kind of travel. The fact that walking around a game reserve is strictly prohibited makes the car’s the only mean of travel to experience this vast and remarkable space.
For those of you that have just started following our journey, the concept of this tour is part of a Amundsen Sports tradition. Every spring, a small group of our employees head out on a journey to test a new collection. This year we are Field Testing our new Safari Mucks and Safari Collection. So far the new goods have impressed us all, and to build on our new category of boots, the Safari Muck is living up to our high expectations.
Our destination for tonights camp was the Sunday Pan’s of Kalahari. Dried up lakes makes for great scenery and driving, and it is remarkable to think that these roads have been covered by water just weeks ahead. As we got further into the reserve, the wildlife started to expose itself. We passed by gems, kudu’s and springbok’s. The Big Five have a tendency to move around the shadows and as the soil dries up, many of them have already moved North. For us, the journey itself is what matters, the animals will therefore become a huge bonus on top of this stunning view.
Our camp is set for the night. We haven’t seen people since we passed through the park gate 5 hours ago. Finally we are in the midst of it. What makes Botswana and these National Park’s even more unique is the ability of unfenced/unsecured camping. Here, wild animals can roam freely through our camp. It add’s a little spice for us Norwegians being used to moose and foxes moving around the dark forests of Norway, this is quite different. Tomorrow we will be heading North again, exiting Kalahari moving towards the more humid areas of Botswana, the Okavango Delta. Stay tuned and sleep tight from the Kalahari Desert.
#4 Kwai, Okavango Delta, Botswana – 11.17PM
We woke at 4:30AM by the spine tingling sound of male lions roaring. Silently we listened from the tents as they communicated across the savannah. The roar of a lion is so distinct and raw, especially as we set up camp in the middle of their territory. As the sun hit the horizon, the roars disappeared in the distance and we had just experienced a very rare and brutal alarm clock. First thing first; coffee time. The sunrise have become one of the absolute highlights of every morning, so we get up while it’s dark to prepare breakfast and coffee to enjoy the view.
Today we had a long leg ahead of us. First stint was along the border of the Kalahari Game Reserve for 90km towards Maun. Maun is one the few places in Northern Botswana to collect necessities, fuel and phone reception. With close to 50.000 inhabitants we had the pleasure of chatting with locals and part-taking in a Wednesday afternoon at the grocery store.
After fueling up on diesel and food in Maun we headed North again. Our destination for tonight was the small village of Kwai, surrounded by rivers and delta’s, apparently a hippo’s paradise!
It is remarkable how quickly we isolated ourselves from the modern society. 15 minutes outside of Maun we were in the midst of it again with deep sandy roads and wild animal experiences. Rolling into the Moremi Game Reserve, elephants and zebra’s started to emerge as the weather cooled. Cruising along towards the southern entrance I learned that only 30% of the Moremi Game Reserve is mainland. The remaining consists of river’s and delta’s, which enables a very unique composition of vegetation and animals. As the the soil dries up during the dry-season, animals from habituating in the South will migrate North and pass by the Moremi Game Reserve on their search for water.
We passed through South Gate in the late afternoon to take on the last stint of 50km towards Kwai. For us Norsemen, the sandy driving is fairly similar to driving on snow and our 4×4’s have made it easy for us this far. We cruised along to observe animals and yet another stunning sunset on the horizon. As the dark fell we reached the Kwai Bridge to cross the Kwai River. Rumbles and grunts from the hippo’s shot along the delta as we positioned our cars on top of the wooden logs. Slowly we moved across the river and into Kwai.
The village of Kwai have approx 400 citizens were the majority of them partake in their main industry of eco-tourism. This is right up our alley as the stark contrast to mass-tourism that scorches throughout Southern Africa. The Okavango Delta and surrounding areas are fragile and are treated with the highest regard of respect and concern for the wildlife. Restrictive caps on visitors enables us to have an isolated experience with the environment, and the animals are enable to chose habitats uncontested by humans.
Tomorrow morning we will go out on the delta’s in dug-out canoes, locally known as “Moroko’s”. Stay tuned!
