SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023: DAY 50 — SA/BOTSWANA
Giving Way to Donkeys, Cattle and Horses on the Trans-Kalahari Highway
Driving through Botswana
There are no fences, cattle herders or animal crossings. The road cuts straight through the country without a single turn for more than 500 kilometers.
I woke up this morning to the sounds of the birds singing in the trees. It was such a peaceful morning, our camp by the lake, idyllic. Few clouds were in the sky and the wind was calm.
Just a few minutes later I was back on the water paddling fast and floating across the dam. I enjoyed the exercise and quiet time in the morning knowing we'd spend the rest of the day sitting in the car.
Our little car guard was a bit sleepy this morning as she had been running around last night back and forth. Yes, we do always make friends with the dogs. Stray or not, they come to us.
Just after breakfast, we were back on the road. Just a few kilometers and we crossed into Botswana. The border was easy and the crossing quick and uncomplicated.
We were now driving on the Trans-Kalahari Highway. A road that appears to be drawn with a ruler. No turns and twists. All the way straight. But busy with animals.
Donkeys, horses, cattle, sheep and goats. In that order and then backward again. They're all roaming free and without a herder. These animals feed on the grass next to the road or stand in the middle forcing you to slow down or even stop.
You're allowed to drive 120 kph but that is rather fast when an animal all of a sudden just steps onto the road.
We didn’t have any destinations or places in mind we wanted to visit in Botswana on this journey and just planned on two days driving through from South Africa into Namibia.
We picked a town on the map where we calculated we should be getting into around 5 pm and just before that this massive raincloud was building up next to us.
When we arrived in this town in the middle of nowhere, we quickly found the campsite located behind the rest stop but had to hear something we certainly didn’t expect.
While we had seen on this trip a few camps being closed due to season, we never pre-booked a single night but not once had a place fully booked.
It's wet season. That's the low season in Africa. Nobody wants to travel when one can experience rain every day or all day long. But us.
Guess what?
Yes, when David walked into reception, he was told they were fully booked and can't take us.
They're lying. There's nobody. Not one car.
But what should we do? We turned around and checked the only other guesthouses but none of them offered camping. The next town or available campsite was hundreds of kilometers away and it was late, we drove far and were tired.
But before giving up, I decided to try one more time. We returned to the said campsite and this time I got out and walked to reception just to be told they are fully booked.
I looked astonished and mumbled something about it being weird as we see no cars when the receptionist explained they were expecting a big group. She wasn’t overly friendly or making any sign of being helpful.
I asked if there wasn't an option of us staying somewhere in a corner of the camp, we'd be quiet and just want a safe place for the night. This was when the cleaning lady, who was standing in the corner stepped in, said something to the receptionist and took me then into the property to talk to the owner in person.
This guy didn't even hesitate for a moment when I described our problem and let us happily stay on his property. I tell you what, I was more than relieved.
Having watched the rain cloud approaching fast, we now quickly parked the car and set up the tent. We didn’t bother with the gazebo and decided the tent would give us enough protection for the probably very short rain shower.
You can see in the screenshots below how quickly the weather changes here. I had placed the GoPro outside for about half an hour. The sky changed from dark to rainy and back to sunshine.
And just as we were sitting in our chairs relaxing, behind me a rainbow was building. A double rainbow upon closer inspection.
The evening was perfect. The sky cleared up with the rain cloud slowly moving away into the distance. The moon was rising as the sun set.
This is part five of our roadtrip. Watch the full video of our tour through South Africa and Botswana down below:
We’re currently touring southern Africa and if you’d like to follow, go through this list of stories from our road trip:
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