Our Botswana adventure starts here ! Skilpadshek Border Post to Bokspits.
We explore and Overland Botswana
We left South Africa with great expectations to explore and overland Botswana. Aiming to visit every part of Botswana we ended up traversing Botswana for 59 days.
We crossed the border just after 5 pm at the Skilpadshek RSA border gate and the Pioneer Gate on Botswana side. It was a speedy transference, and the whole border crossing took us a mere 15 minutes which included going to the toilet, changing currency and buying Botswana cell phone sim cards, a new record for our books. Click here for more information about the different Border Post.
When you cross the country’s border, we recommend that you buy a sim card from any of the three main cell phone service providers in Botswana: Mascom, Orange or Be Mobile.
Remember to buy airtime and data as well, this will keep the cost of dialling a local number low, and you will not get a surprise invoice when arriving back in your home country. Botswana’s cell phone networks are great, and you can expect 3 G network coverage in every town you travel through some even as far as 10 km from the town centre. Take note that sim cards are much cheaper when bought in a town.
Arriving in Botswana on 18 July 2019 we had no established course of action on how to explore and overland Botswana, which is maybe not such a good idea for you, but since we did not have a fixed schedule, we could just wing it until we found some guidance.
We decided to drive along the A1 national road in search of a campsite for the evening and quickly realised that it was not a good idea to drive at night because many animals are roaming free. After a couple of kilometres and no luck we decided to turn back. Taking the A 2 (Trans Kalahari Road) direction Kanye, where we found a most pleasant place to set up camp, with hot and cold showers, flush toilets and even a swimming pool.
Our intent to have supper at the lodge was shattered because the kitchen was already closed for the evening. We had no choice but to drive back to Kanye in search of food. Luckily for us, Motse Lodge is a mere 4 km outside of Kanye. This short round trip turned out to be a most brilliant plan and we found a Deboneer’s pizzeria and bought a delightful pizza.
After a good nights’ sleep, we drove back to Kanye the following morning where, much to our delight, we learned that the town had all the shops we required for stocking up on supplies. We refuelled, bought groceries, refilled the LP gas and got a few things from the pharmacy. After a short and quick shopping spree, we were back on the A 2 heading direction Tsabong.
Driving on the A2 - Jwaneng and Werda
The distance to travel between Kanye and Tshabong is only 435 km and the road conditions are overall excellent, but it is a prolonged drive due to the speed restrictions of these roads. You must adhere to the speed limit at all times, be warned there are traffic police along all of these roads.
We stopped for a lunch break just outside of Jwaneng at a picnic area next to the road, devouring our leftover pizza. If you are planning on visiting Jwaneng diamond mine, you must arrange for a permit in advance.
After finishing our lunch, Maggie decided to take a quick stroll just around the corner and stumbled across the Sir Seretse Khama Commemorative Monument. She took a couple of photos and it was time to continue our journey. We kept on the A2 and then made a turn onto the A20 at Sekoma in search of accommodation.
At last, we found accommodation close to Werda at Cornwall Safari Lodge. We had to turn off the A20 and follow a gravel road for approximately 25km to reach the lodge, where we set up camp for the night in there bushcamp.
When crossing the border at Hereford/ Bray it is a good stopover since they are situated just about 35km from the border post. Cornwall Safari Lodge is on a working cattle farm and the owners are your host. The lodge offers a variety of accommodation and is a beautiful place to spend some time. Whenever you stay a night, we would highly recommend that you indulge in a supper prepared by Heather, she is an excellent cook and the food was exquisite.
We left from Cornwall Safari Lodge well-rested and kept on the A20 towards Tsabong. Arriving early at Tsabong we had enough time to set up proper camp and decided to stay for a couple of days since I had to do some of my studies and Jason had to do some DIY projects on the Hilux (see our youtube videos). At Tsabong Eco Camel Park, you can expect to encounter many camels in the campsites because they roam freely. You will be able to take part in a guided educational tour about camels and even have the opportunity to try some camel milk.
At some point during our stay, we send some pictures to friends and they asked us if we were sure that we are in Botswana. The campsites in Tsabong Eco-tourism Camel Park are really spacious, and every campsite has its own ablution with a hot shower, powered by solar and flush toilets. Other accommodation is also on offer at the park.
In the town of Tsabong, you can refuel, do grocery shopping, and even buy some clothes at the local shopping centre. You might even be lucky enough to see police officials patrolling the town on the back of a camel. Sefelanas became our supermarket of choice in Botswana they are well priced and sell a sweet bread roll called “patatas”. Batches are baked daily and sell out quickly. We also tried some “madumphis” a round ball of dough deep-fried in sizzling oil with a sweet taste.
While staying in the camel park we eventually decided to do a little bit of planning, and the excellent tourist information booklets at the park helped allot.
Trans Molopo Highway - Bokspits
With our next destination pinpointed it was time to continue our overland journey, we were now making headway to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park advancing on the very scenic B211, also known as the Trans Molopo Highway. This highway stretches along the border between Botswana and South Africa following the Molopo river, and it has been officially opened on 8th September 2010.
Remarkable landscapes are your constant companion and dramatically changes from arid landscapes to bushveld to red sand dunes. It is a lonely road, and we encountered only three other vehicles on the entire span of the Trans Molopo Highway. Conversation can sometimes get a bit stale when the journey gets long and for this reason, we bought ourselves each a set of Bose wireless earphones and we could either listen to audio books or music. Lost in our world for a moment while admiring the scenery. The highway had been well-planned and there are regular rest stops next to the road, there is even one section of the highway that had been engineered for the purpose of being an emergency landing airstrip.
At the end of the Trans Molopo Highway, you will come to Bokspits a town at the tip end south of Botswana, take time to admire the dunes and to support the local trading store, where you can restock on some basic supplies and refuel.
Remember to keep in mind that it might not always be possible to buy diesel at the fuel station, but petrol does not seem to be a problem. When you turn left at the intersection, you will head towards the Gemsbok and Bokspits border post, if you turn right, well then you take the gravel road less travelled towards the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, we decided on the road less travelled.
Please follow our journey and read about our stay in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in our next blog post.
