Magical Kalahari

For a long time we have talked about taking a holiday, still hoping we could go to Europe and Kenia but as time goes on we realize borders will stay closed for a while yet. More and more we think borders of Botswana will stay closed for the rest of the year. We didn't take a holiday (only some long weekends) since March so we decided to do a holiday in Botswana, a staycation, there are worse destinations in the world. We make many plans and possible tours, reality is that we have been everywhere in Botswana. Until we realize, why not go to our favorite place in Botswana, The Central Kalahari, Piper Pan. In normal times this place is booked out at least a year in advance. We call the reservations office and off-course it's still available. A week later we leave Maun for our trip.

The Central Kalahari (CKGR) is one of the biggest nature reserves in the world, occupying 10% of Botswana established in 1961. It's nearly double the size of Belgium. It's a flat dessert with bush and grasses covering low sand dunes. There are four old fossilized rivers that meander through the reserve making it a combination of open plains and sand dunes. There are no natural water resources but some man made water sources. The game is outstanding.

We leave Maun early on Sunday morning with a car full of our camping equipment, food, diesel, water and wood for cooking for 7 days . In the Kalahari there is nothing so you need to take everything with you. It's a good way to learn to consume less water, we always use around 15 liter for cooking, washing and showering. The wood we use for cooking and cosiness of the fire. We are well equipped for camping so we have a lot of stuff with us. Why not make yourself comfortable if you can.

The first 75 km goes over the tar road and from Makalabedi (village east of Maun) we start driving off road to the south, direction CKGR. The first part is a 90km straight sandy track. There is a manned gate where we register and enter the Kalahari, the first 40 km is over dunes until we reach the first open plain, called Deception Valley. Always a magical moment when you cross the last dune and see the plains opening up in front of you. From here it's another 100km to Piper Pan through the old river valley and in between crossing sand dunes. 

We see lots of general game on the way and a cheetah. 30km before our destination in a deep sandy track I feel we loose all power on the car. I try to push our vehicle in a lower gear but no improvement. After some meters we see that one of our tires has bursted, completely gone. We are stuck in the deep sand with
a flat tyre, not the best combination. We start unloading the car and looking for our tools to change the tyre. Quickly we realize that our wheel spanner does not fit on our wheel nuts. The wheel spanner came with the car, it's our first flat tyre since we bought the car and we never tested it, who does that anyway?

Without a wheel spanner there is no chance of getting the wheel off. Stranded in the deep red Kalahari sand with thick bushes around us, there is no way we can stay here. We know the area and after 1,5km there is a road crossing where the surface is hard so we decide to drive to that place on the rim. It takes more than 1 hour to reach the spot. I walk behind the car, both plowing through the sand. Driving towards Deception Valley we only saw 1 car (Dan,

someone we know from Maun). While chatting to Dan on the way in we told him how magical Piper Pan is so we hope he will come there otherwise we will be stuck for a while. We can easily and comfortably survive for 12 days. Both of us are relaxed and we realize that it is what it is and if you can't change the situation, accept it and make the best of your new reality. We know that when we don't show up next week in Maun, friends will start looking for us. We enjoy a relaxed evening with a good glass of wine and are flabbergasted by the stars showing above us from horizon to horizon. We fall asleep peacefully. The moon lightens the night sky ... magical.

In the early morning I wake up from a sound of a truck, is this wishful dreaming? The sound gets louder and louder so I wake up Katrijn who is fast asleep. We see a landrover coming closer and there is Dan together with Dennis, hooray! They are very surprised to see us standing there and first thought we just didn't reach our destination in time. As they drive a landrover their wheel spanner also does not fit our wheel nuts but Dan has a big toolbox with him and lots of different spanners, the men make a plan while Katrijn makes coffee. It takes a wile but we manage to change the tyre, hooray again! We pack up and continue our drive to our destination, Piper Pan a day later than planned. 

Piper Pan consist of 3 big open pans (plains) surrounded by dunes. The grazing is great so it attracts a lot of animals followed by predators. There is a man made waterhol, animals stay here the whole year. On arrival at Piper Pan it feels magical, here you are far away from the world, no corona, no network, no news. Just nothing apart from being surrounded by beautiful nature. We check out the waterhole and bam, a beautiful male lion resting in the shade of a low bush, magic again. The Kalahari lions are so beautiful and big. Different from other lions you see in Africa. 

We drive on to our campsite. It's a big word for a tree you can camp under. There is a long-drop toilet(hole in the ground) and a bucket shower (bucket with shower head mounted on), both in round wooden open air cubicles. In the area are 2 campgrounds, the other one is 6km away and nobody there. From our camp spot we have a beautiful view over the pan with grazing springboks, oryx, wildebeest, ...  and many birds. We asked Dan and Dennis to come for lunch and during lunch we convince them to stay overnight. They left their tent and equipment in Deception Valley but we make a plan like you always do in Africa. Lovely evening around the fire ... magic again.

The whole night we hear lions roaring... magic... and in the morning we find lions at 250 meters from our campsite. Around lunch Dan and Dennis drive back. We see in total 3 cars in 7 days. No tourist here, thank you covid-19! The last 4 days we see nobody. In the morning we go for a game drive, returning back to camp to eat and relax in the heat of the day. And again in the late afternoon on a gamedrive. We see so much game, many lions, bat eared foxes, jackals, honey-badger, a group of 30 ostriches, oryx, wildebeest, springboks,... the sunset and sunrise are breathtaking. We can add 2 birds we never saw before to our long list and a Cape Cobra (highly dangerous and venomous). Every night we hear lions roaring around us, the jackals howling,... We enjoy the magic and just living in the moment.

After 5 days we pack up and drive very slowly to Deception Valley, not taking any risks as we have no spare tyre. On the way we see 2 beautiful cheetahs, a mother with her male sub adult cub. They relax in the shade until they see a group of springbok in the distance. Excited and hungry they decide to try approaching them. The slowly walk to the thick bushes and through the edge getting closer and closer to them. A giraffe notices the cheetah and start approaching them which alerts the springboks. So gone chance for the cheetah to catch a meal. Magic again! We see more game and cheetah on the way. Our last night we enjoy a lekker braai and after a good nights rest we drive slowly back to Maun. Both happy we make it without another flat tyre. Arriving home we are greeted a warm welcome by our domestic wildlife ... 

MAGICAL moments just happen on earth and there where you are if you are open to it!