Camping in Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi, Botswana
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มี.ค. 2020
- Join me as I go camping at South Camp, Baines Baobabs and Khumaga in Botswana!
This trip would see a few firsts for me; I’m traveling to central Botswana to start doing campsite reviews outside of South Africa, I’m joined by two other TH-camrs and we’re doing this in the summer months.
A special thanks to Edward Bath Overlanding (bit.ly/3ah09HJ) and 4x4 Ventures SA (bit.ly/2NNlQFV) for joining me on this trip and sharing some incredible footage!
Link to my campsites map; getoutgo.co.za/campsites-map/
Follow me on Instagram: bit.ly/2t8FamC
Follow me on Facebook: bit.ly/2q1zJ7R
Music by Epidemic Sound: bit.ly/30beqnR
#camping #botswana #nxaipan
My first episode outside of South Africa, hopefully the first of many 😉
Well done, awesome video.
@@henkstols9326 Thanks Henk!
Very nice video - the 1st one I've discovered by you. Thanks for sharing 👍🏾
Your wonderful laid back style, is where it's truly at, have to say Get Out Go, is my most watched, not only for the great views and wildlife, but, because you supply a map, yay, gotta love that!
Thanks Renee!
@@GetOutGO ..my absolute pleasure, but for TH-cam, I would be unable to spend precious time back in my my childhood home of S.A. going to all the places I dreamed I never could. Thank you Chris.
So glad to have come across your Channel Chris! Me and my 7 year old kid enjoy watching all your videos.
Glad you guys are enjoying it!
Christoff also didn't see this one on my bucketlist epic
Classy videos guys, this is seriously helpful
Thank you, glad it was helpful!
Great to see this Christoff. I enjoy all your videos.
Thanks Michael!
Love the intro!
Excelentes tus videos, te veo desde México. Great Job. ..!!!
Muchas gracias!
Good stuff always nice to watch!
Thanks Paul!
What an amazing episode mate! So glad I could do this one with you gents🙌 all the information you will ever need when traveling in Southern Africa, thanks for all the hard work and for inspiring us to Get Out There!
Thanks Ed! This trip wouldn't have been possible without you guys. Thanks for sharing your footage as well!
Very awesome trip summary. Cant wait for your campsites review. A great adventure and looking forward to the next one.
Thanks! Next one right around the corner, can't wait!
Thanks for another inspiring trip Christoff.
Thanks Sean, much appreciated!
Amazing Episode. Those cinematic shots of the wildlife is amazing. This makes me want to get out to the bush so bad now. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!
Cheers mate! Just discovered your work and what a pleasure to watch! It feels as if I am there. I've subscribed, so keep up the good work.
Thanks Dave!
Excellent video - thank you
Thanks Ferdi!
Thanks for this video. Really enjoy your calm and chilled style, helps me enjoy the trip and relax at the same time. We stayed at south camp in Nxai Pan last year for 3 nights, and really enjoyed it. Hope to go back again in future and go look at the Baobabs too (we ran out of time last time).
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Baines is definitely the highlight of Nxai pan for me, I’d highly recommend going back to camp there!
Great review Christoff
Dankie Henry!
Great video, thanks
Thanks Ricky!
Love your channel!! Using it to plan a big 60 day trip in 2023. Quick question re camper trailers and elephants. Whats your view on safety given the option to reverse out of trouble is much more limited? Even being respectful and giving plenty of space I have been in situations where I have needed to reverse with some urgency
Thank you! Give them plenty space but yes, it's just that much more difficult with a trailer, don't have any special strategy unfortunately. Most of Nxai Pan is fairly open but you have to be more careful around Khumaga.
Good stuff, makes me want to pack my Conqueror and hit the road out to Bots.
Do it! 😉
Awesome videos.
Thank you!
Very good video, I see that for a few years the new entrance road to Nxai camp has been established, we only had the old VERY Deep Thick sand option those days, which runs parallel further down in the direction of Maun on the right hand side. 73's
Thank you! The new road has some really deep sand in some sections and bad corrugations in others as well. Wouldn't mind trying the old route as well (maybe without the trailer 😉)
The old route is still there. If you do a day visit to the Baobabs from Nxai you can return to camp on that road. Only problem is that if you meet a grumpy bull Elephant it is seriously difficult to get out of the ruts.
Nice trip
It was! 🤙
Great video and reviews Chris. We were in the same areas at the same time. See my comments on Ed's channel.
Thanks Niel! I replied there as well 😉
Blooming great channel this, love it!
On average how much fuel do you need between stops, are standard fuel tanks sufficient for such a trip (in a modern Botswana)?
cheers...
Thanks Paul! Depends where. Crossing the CKGR and Maun-Southgate-Khwai-Savuti-Kasane for instance you’re going to need either jerries or LR tanks (or both depending on what you drive)
@@GetOutGO thanks for the feedback appreciate it.
Great videos Christoff. I'm stuck at work abroad thanks to Covid-19 but hope to be home soon to finish prepping my Everest & pack for a trip to Namibia. Your vids have psyched me up for Botswana (next year) but do you have any trip videos to Namibia in your collection?
Thanks Sean! Hope you get back safely! Haven't done any Namibia videos yet, watch this space (post covid) 😉
@@GetOutGO I lived there (2000-2003) based in Windhoek working as a flight paramedic & pledged to come back by 4x4. After months of planning & building up my shares at ARB, Front Runner, Takla, Engel etc, this bloody virus came along. Would have been there now early June for 10 days. Our Autumn visit might turn out to only happen in Spring time. As soon as borders open with no 14 day quarantine, we depart.
Hopefully we get back out there soon!
Hi, welldone regarding your Camp site map. I surely like it very much. Very informative and also very professional. I nearly unsubscribed your channel, as your contribution for You Tube was very short most of the time. Maybe you could incorporate something, e.g. video scenes getting there, overview of the area, where the camp is situated, maybe about 5 min to 10 min videos. For me, the camp site is very important, but also important is the area, what do I see travelling there as well, what do I see staying there. This one, Camping in Botswana - Nxai Pan and Makgadikgadi, is just the way I prefer the videos. Great work and great report. Thanks. Keep up this good work.
Appreciate the feedback, thank you 👍
Great vid for those of us still stuck inside.
2 questions, what are you using to air up (ARB?), and what system are you using for your navigation? Its shopping time for the coming season!!!
Thanks! My air compressor is a 160l/min moto-quip (www.takealot.com/moto-quip-160l-min-air-compressor/PLID28153089) the ARB is crazy expensive. For navigation I primarily use the T4A app (tracks4africa.co.za/) on my iPad and phone and T4A maps on my garmin as backup. Have a look at my planning video; th-cam.com/video/VrQXXYcsnxI/w-d-xo.html
@@GetOutGO slowly going through ur vids thanks
Thanks for watching 👍
Wow Christoff, great video and presentation, we have subscribed to your channel. We were meant to visit all these areas in May this year and have managed to transfer our bookings to May next year, hope Covid-19 allows that. Your videos will be super helpful. Just one quick query please. what equipment do you use for your videoing, the quality is superb.
Thanks John! Definitely hope by May next year we're back to normal! I use a Canon 77D. Some of the clips were taking by Ryan on a Sony A6400 and Ed on a Canon 5D. There are also two GoPro clips.
@@GetOutGO Thanks Christo. While we are waiting to return to our Bushlapa Baobab (our permanent home) we are in Australia with our kids. We were trying to decide whether to buy a GoPro Hero 8. My wife and I both use Canon 7D MkII cameras but we have heavy lenses as we do a lot of bird photography. Due to the weight of the lenses our videos tend to be pretty jumpy particularly when handheld. We probably have to decide whether to use a lighter lens on one of the cameras or whether a Gopro Hero 8 will be better, decisions, decisions ……..
THe GoPro H8 is fine for POV driving shots (or any action shots obviously) but not great for anything else. It obviously has an extremely wide lens. For R11,500 you can get a 77D with 10-188mm and it will also work with your existing EF lenses.
@@GetOutGO Thanks for giving your time and advice, greatly appreciated
Nice content! Keep it up! Would you like to be TH-cam friends? :]
You are completely wrong about Khumaga and the Boteti - the livestock and the coming and goings of the river communities is the natural order of life established over centuries.
In case you had not realised the vast majority of Botswana Reserves or GMA's do not have boundary fences and the peripheral communities live in harmony with the wildlife. Only areas that abut onto roads or vet fences are fenced.
Thanks for commenting Brett. I would really like more discussion on this topic, hence why I mentioned it in my video. From my perspective (even compared to what I've seen in other reserves) there is no "harmony" here; complete over-grazing by livestock with zero consideration for wildlife conservation. The park fees in Bots are also expensive to say the least, what's the point of this if it isn't being used for conservation and the parks are now just a free for all?
Hi Brett, you are mistaken. There are fences that prevent animals from entering the campsite area. However, we were informed that the locals have rights to use this area as their feeding grounds based on tribal trust. The point that Chris is making and I fully agree with is that at no point does anyone mention this fact. Trust me, waking up in the morning to screeching donkeys is not what you pay for. Park fees, vehicle fees are expensive, and whilst it might be "the way" it surely isn't what travellers expect, nor really is it appreciated to be honest. A simple disclaimer is not asking for too much. The locals remove the fence to allow their animals to feed. Thank you Chris for letting people know. Brett, you surely can agree that waking up to donkeys and goats is not what you pay for
Ryan there are no fences that enclose the Khumaga Campsite, at least not as of April 2019 which was the last time I was there. All the above that you have mentioned is what is taken for granted when you travel in Botswana as it is in Kenya, Tanzania, Zim Parks etc. If one is in Kruger at Croc Bridge or even Malelane campsite you can here all the outside worlds racket, the choice is yours whether you book there or not and there is no disclaimer from SANParks about the noise either. If it is your first time then I agree it might grate but in all honesty it does not worry me in the slightest as I see it as a more natural order of life.
Communities on the edge of reserves basically self regulate and predators also play a a part in how far they will penetrate for grazing. The Makgadikgadi Pan National Park is vast with people living for centuries on the edges of the Pans, no one seems to have a problem with encountering settlements along the various routes.
@@GetOutGO Christoff the "over grazing" that you see is the result of the largest annual Zebra migration in Africa. The vast herds of these animals migrate from Nxai Pan to the Boteti, specifically around Hippo Pool as that is where the deepest pools are and they hold water far into the dry season. Huge numbers of Wildebeest and Elephants also congregate around this area as well. The regular Lion patrols down to the Boteti ensure that the livestock is not just driven into the Park and left there, they hardly ever venture more than a km inland. Another factor to consider is that the Boteti only recently started "flowing in the wet season" again, it had stopped "flowing" for over 20 years years and the river was just a scar in the landscape (much like the Linyanti). This effected land usage as communities had no way of knowing whether the river would flow again.
Given the size of the Makgadikgadi Pan National Park the little inter action that communities have on the peripheral areas, and indeed those living inside the Park, have scant effect on the larger scheme of things, hardly a free for all. The tourism model that Botswana adheres to is "low impact" and this is achieved through high fees which in turn ensures a lower number of visitors.
@@BrettEllis131256 we were informed that the villagers have been pulling the fencing down when it goes up (as stated by the reception staff), and as a result of this battle, the fencing no longer goes up. There are poles on the edge of the Boteti that confirm this. As someone who grew up in Botswana, I too am fully aware and a custom to the cultural ideologies of livestock. In the 19.5 years of being in Botswana and exploring with my dad I have seen livestock only on th fringes of major parks and the concessions. Never been to a paid park with goats and donkeys running through a campsite. As far as I am a paying customer and visitor, some now 20 years later, I felt exploited. BIG difference between noise in a camp at Kruger and livestock running through your camp. One you can control, even if by oneself, the other is just . . . Well, here to stay. Quite sad, and definitley left a bitter taste in my mouth. You will try and justify your POV, but quite honestly I am not someone that pays hard earned money for what I experienced, even if it is "the norm." Wont be back there, and I'm sure for them, another lost potential. If done correctly, this place could be a major hotspot, and to many people it still is, but for me, I will advise visitors, as Chris has done, that there are screaming donkeys in camp.