Mabuasehube NP - Day 5

A soggy Mabua gate

The rain started about 2am and was still going steadily when the alarm went off at 5am. Wi the this much rain around our expectations to see cats was extremely low so our plan was just to head to the gate and get home as early as possible.

Mabusehube NP - Day 4

A campsite full of wildflowers

A good nights sleep with no roaring heard, and we were out again at 5.30am. Straight to the waterhole but there was no sign of the lions. After the storm of last evening, it would be understandable if they had run a mile. We checked the old scout camp where the youngsters had come from last time but also no tracks to be seen. 

Mabuasehube NP - Day 3

A great lion sighting

The jackals had been howling all night so we packed up and headed to the water on the pan in case something had been around. No cats, so we turned around and went back via our campsite to head to Mpayathutlwa. And there, just outside our campsite we spotted lion tracks. They’d walked straight past our camp sometime in the night with us none the wiser. The tracks were headed in the same direction we were - towards Mpayathutlwa. 

Mabuasehube NP - Day 2

Meerkats were a nice surprise

A 5am start gave us time to work out closing the roof tent. It’s largely like the old one but the rooftent cover is a real problem. On the road by 5.30, we made our way around Mabuasehube pan but there was no sign of anything. No spoor, no sound. So we headed to Mpayathutlwa pan after our round, the next pan about 8km away. 

Mabuasehube NP - Day 1

Sunset in Mabuasehube

We like to get up and get going as soon as possible when traveling to a destination but 2025 has started slowly. Normally we pack the night before but the thunderstorm that hit Gaborone on New Year’s Eve evening stopped us from getting anything done, so we had to pack first thing in the morning.

New Years in Mabua

Wildflowers in the Kgalagadi

The first night of 2025 would be spent in the bush. We were headed to Mabuasehube on New Year’s Day to spend 4 nights in the Kgalagadi. We were off to a rocky start though when a noise from the car first thing on New Year’s Eve sent Dru scurrying off to the mechanic with the hope that they could take a look.  Luckily they were able to diagnose and fix the problem, even though they weren’t even supposed to be open. 

Khutse GR - Day 3

An empty waterhole and more clouds on the way

Our luck had completely deserted us in Khutse. Another bust of a morning drive with nothing but the honey badger that we’d seen the previous day, too far away to photograph. The waterhole was empty bar one eland and 2 gemsbok which all ran before we were even 200m away from them.

Khutse GR - Day 2

Storms all around us

It was a dark and stormy night… 

The storm must have started around midnight when we were asleep and it sat on top of us for about 2 hours. It was vicious with lightning lighting up the sky and the thunder reverberating through the tent. And plenty of rain hammering the front of the tent it was a pretty scary experience hoping that lightning wouldn’t hit us. 

Khutse GR - Day 1

A week after elections and it was inauguration time for the new president. After over five decades in power, there is a new government in place and that needs to be celebrated. Which meant a public holiday on Friday for the inauguration.

Nxai Pan NP - Day 5

One of the baobabs in Nxai Pan

With a long 11 hour drive ahead of us we didn’t want to waste any time, so it was up at the usual 5am and we were out of the campsite just after 5.30am. Not checking out the waterholes - just straight out. The 35 km drive to the main A3 road was largely uneventful although we did see a few gemsbok which we hadn’t caught in the park. And there were more giraffe as well, probably due to there being some nice green acacia trees for them to feed on. 

Nxai Pan NP - Day 4

Baines' baobabs

This is more of the Nxai Pan we were expecting. Not much happening and no sign of cats. The main waterhole was devoid of animals bar a jackal trying to grab a last morsel of meat from the 3 day old carcass. It seemed like a hyena had been there in the night as well as half the skull had been crunched through - plenty of animals had been fed thanks to this kudu.

Nxai Pan NP - Day 3

Time to eat

We didn’t think that the lions would be at the waterhole by morning so we were stunned to drive up and find out that not only were they still there but they had been joined by 3 other lionesses!

Nxai Pan NP - Day 2

Lion at sunset

Despite our early start, we were the last of the 3 campers to be out the campsite and off on the morning drive. There was no question where anyone was going - straight to the waterhole. And we were not disappointed - the 2 lionesses were still at their kudu kill but they were having it for breakfast. We quickly positioned ourselves and started shooting. The lions gave us plenty to photograph, from gnawing at the carcass to pulling it over to get better access.

Nxai Pan NP - Day 1

Arriving at South Gate

Up at 5am and gone by 6am, it would be a long drive to Nxai Pan from Gaborone; about 11 hours according to Google.

Considering many people would have taken Friday off to make it a 5 day long weekend, the road between Gaborone and Palapye - easily Botswana’s busiest road - was surprisingly quiet.

Elections in Nxai Pan

Ready for Nxai Pan

Botswana announced that their elections would be held on 30 October, which would be a public holiday with the following day also being declared a holiday. These holidays would fall on a Wednesday and Thursday so it was a no-brainer for us to take Friday off to have a 5 day long weekend. 

Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana

Slow moving channel, typical of the Delta 

The Okavango Delta is one of natures wonder where the river runs inland and disappears in to an inland Delta. The 'swamps' as it's known to the locals consists of a massive inland delta consisting of islands and the legendary Moremi Game Reserve, forming one of the last remaining wildlife heavens on earth. 

Moremi GR - Day 8

Baboons grooming is just plain amusing

Multiple lions had roared all night and we decided to change our plans and see if we could catch them. That meant getting up a bit later so that there was light when we started our drive - not a major inconvenience.

Moremi GR - Day 7

African Jacana

A 6am start and we were out before anyone else in the dark in the hopes of catching something on the road but it was not to be. The floodplain was devoid of cats; the only spoor we could fine was hyena but even they were hiding from us.

Moremi GR - Day 6

Best way to end the day is an open fire braai 

With the plan to get into Moremi as early as possible, we were up at 5am to try to get out of Magotho by 5.30am.  A quick stop on the way to the toilet gave us a sighting that we hadn’t seen in 20 years - a springhare! 

Moremi GR - Day 5

Sometimes campsites are really quiet at night, like there are no night creature around. This was not one of them.  Two honey badgers were fiddling around in our campsite, knocking over our basin of water and then trying to find any scraps in the fire.