wild camp – Clancy Abroad

Kukonje Island to wild camp on unused road

I camped for two nights on Kukonje Island. Someone drove past the first morning early at around 7:30am. The sign on the side of their bakkie said something about conservation, but anyway I never saw them again. The other camper that was nearby moved out later in the morning leaving just me.

I attempted to fix the intermittent problem of the engine not starting. So I pulled the fusible links apart and filed clean connections. It got hot in the afternoon, probably got to 36C. I had a shower in the evening using my hot water supply in the roof water heater, and I had to add colder water to it , it was so warm. When the sun set, a warm wind sprung up, it was way to hot to sit inside the camper. I sat outside until about 9pm, and even then it was about 29C.

In the morning when I got up it was about 20C. I have to wait until I get enough sunlight on the solar panels before I can turn on the starlink. My two AGM batteries, now nearly 7 years old are just not much good any more. I packed up and headed out. It was back the way I came 10km across the pan until I turn south. I noticed just as I got to the pan tracks of someone who had driven maybe 10m off the main track, and had got terribly bogged. I met a car coming the other way crossing the pan.

I turned south towards Makobelo, about 50km away. At Makobelo I stopped at the small supermarket looking for something to boost my supplies, but there really wasn’t much. I then turned south again towards Mmashoro. It was about 70km, along what Tracks4Africa said was just a track, but actually was a pretty good road. I stopped for lunch part way along under a track that ran under some powerlines. I pulled out onto the bitumen A14 at Mmashoro. About 30km down the road I was going to stay in a wild camp that I had found in 2019, and stayed twice. I had added it to iOverlander, and a few people had used it since. The road going in however had got more overgrown, lots of bashing the sides of the camper.

Maybe I have fixed the intermittent starting problem, it’s worked OK all day. Maybe all the Strange things I did like rocking the car in 4th gear and banging the starter motor with a hammer were a total waste of time?

Leaving from the high point of Kukonje island

Someone who drove 10 m off the main track and got bogged

Camelthorn to wild camp on Boteti River to Baines Boababs

Camelthorn was a great campsite. After trying to fix my intermittent starting problem, the engine would not start when I tried to leave. I try various things including hitting the starter motor with a hammer. Eventually it starts but I cannot figure out what the problem is. I suspect a solenoid problem in the starter motor, but I am not sure. I drove the six kilometers of sandy road out of Camelthorn. I stopped at the bitumen road, and pumped up my tyres a bit. I was headed to a wild camp on the Boteti River which looked pretty good on iOverlander. I eventually got there, but figured I had approached it by the wrong road. The Boteti River has been dry for a few years, so it didn’t look very inviting. I tried another iOverlander wild camp further on, and I did find that, but there was a guy with a truck digging up sand out of the river bed. I crossed over the dry river to the other side. I found a campsite, which wasn’t really very good. It was early to stop, but too late to head to Nxai Pans, so I stayed. It was a hot but uneventful night. I don’t think it dropped below 20C. The days are getting warmer 35C at least.

Next day, Saturday, I got going early at 7:30am. Again I had starting problems, but I got it going. I crossed back over the riverbed and worked my way up the bank along a track until I rejoined the road that paralleled the B300. I could have taken the road back to the village,but the map showed it continued for a few km eventually meeting the B300. I decided to follow the road,I should have turned back to the village.The road got narrower and more overgrown as I went further along. About 40 minutes later after scrapping along lots of bushes, I rejoined the B300. Then it was about 4km to the A3 the main road from Maun to Nata.

50km along the A3 I got to the entrance gate for Nxai Pan. I talked to a very helpful lady at the Xomae office. Despite my complete lack of preparation, I managed to get two nights camping, one at Baines Boababs and the other at Nxai Pans south camp. It’s not cheap, with the park fees and campsite fees it’s about $A100 a night. However when I rode the Mawson trail, I avoided staying in the only caravan park in Clare. That was because that caravan park, the Big4 charged $A75 per night for a tent site (I have recently heard that now demand a two night minimum). So $A100 to stay at Baines Boababs seems cheap.

It was a sandy road in. I lowered my tyre pressures twice. I got to Baines Boababs rising out of the Nxai Pan. It’s a smaller version of Kubu island. The Boababs, which are more than 1,000 years old look magnificent. It was a 4km drive across the pan to campsite number 3 , my campsite with its own Boabab.

At Camelthorn they were growing prickly pear for their fruit

Camped in the dry riverbed of the Boteti

Powerline wild camp to Camelthorn Farmstay

The wild camp next to the powerlines was good. Quiet, a few cow bells, no people. I got going and drove the 10km back to Rakops. I arrived at the ATM. Joy! There was a queue. So I joined the queue (I think I was person number 6). I got out the maximum I could withdraw twice. The max withdrawal was about $A300. So equipped with all this cash I headed to another of the supermarkets. The first one has almost nothing. The second one was better stocked, and I bought some apples (I had run out a while back). I wanted some potatoes,but they only sold them in 10kg bags, so it was too much for me. I tried the hardware for some disposable gloves (greasing and oil changes) but didn’t see any. I contacted Camelthorn to see if I could get a campsite, and they got back to me to confirm. It was about 90km to Camelthorn. The last 6km was a sandy track, and I had to stop and lower the tyre pressures a bit.

So I arrived at Camelthorn, great campsite.They have a viewing deck that looks over a waterhole in the river that I went down to look at. There was close to 100 zebras, more than I had ever seen in a group.Plus there were a couple of Elephants, a couple of Hippos, some wildebeests , and a lone antelope.

I went back in the evening. There was a floodlight, and I could dimly make out an elephant and some zebra, but not much else.

I did some washing.Its been two weeks since I have had enough water to do clothes washing. The best of all was the shower. I had spent two weeks using a solar shower bag with 4 litres of water in it, it was great to have unlimited water.

The zebra and more from the viewing platform

Letiahau 06 to Powerline wild camp

No lions overnight. I finally figured out how to film overnight with the GoPro outside the camper,but nothing turned up. I got going early, leaving at 7:15am, it was a fair drive to the gate.

I remembered from doing this drive years ago, that this bit of the CKGR is not difficult to drive. Its mostly through pans, and not very sandy. I made pretty good time, having a couple of people pass me coming towards me. I eventually met up with an enormous Isuzu camper.It was twice the height of Clancy. I thought it was a Unimog truck, but no. I stopped to talk to them, and told them where I had come from. They asked about the sandy tracks, but I told them there is no way they would fit in the narrow tracks to Khutse.

I made it to the CKGR gate at Matswere. I paid the bigfoot lady with my rapidly dwindling amount of cash for the two campsites (bigfoot only take cash, no credit card) The I went to pay my fees for the park. They at least take credit card. However multiple attempts with multiple cards, and the machine didn’t work. So in the end (because I didn’t have enough Pula) I paid him Rand, which I had plenty of.

So onwards down the rough road to Rakops. I got to Rakops and the first thing I went to was the ATM – not working – dead. I had tried two ATMs in Letlhagkeng, both not working. I had paid so much Pula cash to people who wouldn’t take card I had used it almost all up. I was down to about $A20 in Pula. I tried a couple of places in town who said they did cash out, but they didn’t. I said about the non functioning ATM at one place and he said it was a power cut, but he didn’t know when the power would be back on.

So I decided I would spend my last Pula on a campsite about 6km out of town. I got through the first gate but was stopped at the second. 20 minutes of pressing the intercom and blowing my horn got me no response. So I gave up and tried the ATM again in Rakops – still not working. I decided I needed to hang around town, so I backtracked 10km towards the CKGR on the rough track to a wild camp on iOverlander next to some power lines. Seems OK, no lions only cows.

Oryx along the road, there were lots, multiple times.

Ostriches as well, try are so much taller than Emus

The massive Iveco, about twice the height of Clancy

Camped at the wild camp next to the powerlines

South of Khutse gate to south of Khutse gate

This is going to be another blog post of boring electrical problems. I set off from my campsite south of Khutse gate and immediately noticed the alternator light on. I pulled over and cleaned the connections, but I had no luck, it seemed the alternator had burned out. I decided to head south about 10km to the next town to get phone service where I rang an alternator supplier in Gaborone to see if they had my alternator. They promised to ring back, so I started to head south thinking I would have to go to Gaborone the capital of Botswana, about 180km away.

The Gaborone alternator supplier rang me back a couple of hours later, no good they didn’t have it. I got to Lethakeng about 80km south of where I had camped, and tried an auto parts supplier there. Still no-one had it. Then I decided I would try the biggest Landcruiser parts supplier in South Africa N1 4×4 to see if they had it. They didn’t but they probably could get it in, but they wouldn’t ship it out of South Africa. So I had to decide whether to give up and head back to South Africa, or try something else.

I decided I might be able to connect the cranking battery to the solar panels on the roof to charge it. I had a spare solar charge controller, so I set it all up temporarily and it worked. I was getting about 7amps charge into the cranking battery as well as running my fridge and other gear. I decided it would do. So I made it a bit more permanent and headed back north to my original campsite. I will try a couple more other things tomorrow morning, but if I get started OK I will continue north to Khutse Game Reserve.

Temp charge controller connected to the cranking battery

Sunset back at the same campsite by the side of the road south of Khutse gate

Kameel South Africa to south of Khakhea Botswana

I woke up to a slightly colder morning in Kameel. Not as cold as icy Joberg, but cooler than the night before. I got packed up and ready to go by 8:30am. Its 200km to Bray border crossing and its only open until 4pm in the afternoon. Its also not a very good road, so I don’t have a lot of time to play with. I have previously got to Bray at 3pm.

I drove up to the NWK co-op to get some diesel, and buy some contact adhesive so I can fix some more things. After driving back to Patrick at Kameel B&B because I had forgotten to give him the toilet key, I was on my way. I stopped at Stella briefly. Then headed out on the R377 towards Bray. The only village of any size is Piet Plessis and there is not much there.

I got to Bray about 2:30pm. It was an easy crossing, with the single Policeman writing down rego details and an engine number. Then it was over to Botswana. Botswana is such an easy country to enter and leave. I paid 390 pula road tax (about $A40) and got my passport stamped and I was on the way. I wanted to get a Mascom Sim card at the local general store, but they were closed because it was saturday afternoon.

I headed along the road to Werda, which I know from expeience is a terrible corrugated road. I turned north about 2km along to take a much smaller track that headed north to Khakhea. I saw a antelope (Kudu?) pretty early on. Then later a baboon sitting on a fence post. Donkeys, cattle and more antelopes. Then at the cut-line I was intending to camp on I found a broken down couple of utes (bakkies). They had a flat tyre and needed a tubeless tyre repair kit. Amongst the heaps of stuff I carry I had exactly the right thing. I dug out the repair kit, and they quickly fixed their tyre, and were on their way.

I turned left down the cut-line about a km and turned off into the scrub just before sunset and made camp.

the first sign mentioning Bray about 70km out

Border crossing success, stopped under a tree in Bray Botswana (its 30C)

Tablet running tracks 4 Africa, USB fan (no aircon) and garmin GPS

The locals who had a flat tyre, that I helped with a tyre repair kit.

Mokolodi Backpackers to the Tropic of Capricorn wild camp

I headed off from Mokolodi into Gaberone. It had been quite a few years, in fact 9 years, since I had last been in Gaberone. As in lots of Botswana, it has grown immensely. I stopped at the first large shopping centre and got some things, including some lighter shoes, I am sick of driving in boots. I then drove to the northern end of Gaberone to a Builders store to see if I could get some aluminum angle to replace some that I had lost in the damage to the storage box. However no luck, they didn’t have the right size. I also visited a Super Spar supermarket in an adjoining large shopping centre, for even more supplies.

Then I headed north, along the A1, about 160km, turning off at the marker for the Tropic of Capricorn. It was then 12km in to a track running along a powerline, and then a track running off that to another iOverlander suggested wild camp. There are not a lot of camping options on the A1 heading north.

Negotiating the traffic through Gaberone

A roadside stop for lunch next to the A1 highway

Camped in my wild camp 12km in from the A1 highway

Wild camp North of Kokotsha to wild camp east of Ralekgetho

The night was cool. The fibreglass from my repairs had mostly dried, but the temperature was not ideal. However it was strong enough to hold up without anything in it. I got going and stopped a few kms down the road for breakfast. Then it was about 50km up the highway until Sekoma. Thats where I met up with the main highway the A2. I decided to stop near a fuel stop to ring up Mascom to get my sim card registered. However they told me to go to a post office. The nearest one was Jwaneng about 80km away.

I got to Jwaneng, found the Post Office, but there was a big queue. I asked the security guard if there was a Mascom shop, and there was. Asking someone else I eventually found it. So I sat in the queue and got someone to help me register my sim. However she couldn’t do it either. She said the IT support people were out for lunch. So I went to pick n pay, got some bananas and went back to Mascom at 2pm. She tried again, and again couldn’t get me registered. After more than an hour including multiple phone calls, she eventually got my sim registered and I was back on the internet.

I continued heading east and stopped at a wild camp suggested on iOverlander near an old quarry. Old quarries make good wild camps. I set up camp and proceeded to apply more fibreglass to repair the box.

It was quiet peaceful night, albeit cold.

Camped at the wild camp in an old quarry

Kameel South Africa to wild camp North of Kokotsha, Botswana

Two nights stay in Kameel. I walked up to the NW co-op store to get some more bits and pieces. I added outside lights and checked a few more things. Patrick provided his customary loaf of freshly baked bread.

I left Tuesday morning for the 205km drive to Bray the border crossing to Botswana. Bray is out of the way, but its small size and remoteness mean I have less hassles crossing the border. I drove first to Stella, then headed north-west. The road was pretty good at the start. About 100km in, it deteriorated down to a single sandy track, but still was not too difficult. I passed two trucks and six cars, so it wasn’t exactly busy.

I got to the border, to be slightly surprised there were two police there. Last crossing there was no-one but the immigration person. The police looked at the vehicle, but were mostly interested in whether I had any “drinks”. I didn’t have any drinks, but I have had on previous border crossings, so I must remember to be more organised next time. I eventually felt sorry for them and gave them 100Rand to buy “drinks”.

I met a woman at the border who worked at the medical centre and was just crossing the border into Botswana to get fuel. She did it sometimes as often as once a week.

I got to the Botswana side and got my road tax and passport stamped. I applied what I had learnt from a guide at a previous Botswana border crossing. When they ask how long you are going to be in Botswana tell them much longer than you intend to be. if something goes wrong and you need to stay in Botswana longer, it is very difficult and time consuming to get an extension.

I got a Mascom sim at the general store on the Botswana side. They used a special scanner to scan my passport to register my sim, but it failed after three attempts. So I headed off with no internet towards Werda. The road from the border to Werda is fairly corrugated. I stopped once, but when I got to Werda I kept going hoping to make a wild camp on a cutline about 50km north. I turned off at the cutline, which is a sort of boundary firebreak between districts. I drove about a kilometre along the cutline until I met another cutline heading north, and I went up that. I stopped to have a look at the surrounding scrub when I suddenly found that part of the camper had broken. The rear box had separated from the camper and was hanging on by only one side. I knew I would have to be doing some fibreglass repairs that night. I pulled of the cutline into the scrub and made camp.

I emptied the box, and it seemed like I had not lost any equipment. I suspect I had driven at least 50km with this break. I used two jacks to jack the box back in line, then proceeded to fibreglass it back together. It took me a couple of hours sanding and applying glass tape and epoxy in the dark. I hoped it would be enough to hold the box in place, so that I could fibreglass it more next day. I knew it wouldn’t hold any weight initially.

It was a quiet night after that. Just the sound of cattle wandering past, and occasional cars on the highway a km away.

The road from Stella to Bray in South Africa

I never noticed it in my side mirror it was too low

Camped at sunset getting to work on fixing things

Jacking up the box ready to fibreglass it back in place

Thorn Tree Safaris Zambia to Johannesburg South Africa

I left Karen at Livingstone airport, and drove back into Livingstone, and then headed south. I got to the Zambian border, with the fixers trying to stop me at the beginning of the bridge at Kazungula. Over the bridge, into the combined border crossing on the Botswana side. It was about 15 minutes, paid my bridge toll to the Botswana customs, and had my vehicle checked, then I was out to Kazungula. I went to the supermarket, then headed south towards Nata.

I saw an elephant and baby not far south, and a few giraffes. However it was all pretty dry compared to when I had travelled south a bit more than a year ago. At the wild camp, which I had camped at a year ago, 200km down the road, I stopped about 30 minutes before sunset.

I had a quiet night, but even though I was 500m from the Nata road, I could still hear the traffic.

Next morning I got going about 7:30am. I stopped at Nata for more fuel. Then continued south. The road south of Nata is a bit narrow with broken edges, so I wasn’t going fast, maybe 65kph. Eventually I got to Francistown, which was busy. I thought about heading to the shopping mall on the main street, but it was way too busy, and jammed with cars, so I continued on south. I was going to stay at a campsite at Palapye, but the latest iOverlander review said someone had got robbed there. So I decided to turn off earlier and head to an iOverlander wild camp, east of Palapye, that had got good reviews. I got to the quarry just before dusk, and it was a great quiet place to camp.

Up and going at 6:30am I headed for the border at Martins Drift. I tried to get fuel at the servo near the border, but their network was down, and they couldn’t take a credit card. I cleared the Botswana border, and then managed to weave through the trucks on the South African side. I managed this time to get a TIP (temporary import permit), after about 30 minutes of waiting. Then out though the Police check at the exit to the border crossing. I stopped amongst the dozens of trucks on the South African side and put up the starlink dish, and added data to my Vodacom sim, and then headed south-east. I got more fuel, and kept driving until I got to the Weesgerus campsite near Modimolle. I was jammed in with lots of other caravans, because it was school holidays.

Its an OK campground, and the next morning I got going around 7:30am. It was 10km to the N1, where I hit a police checkpoint. I managed to get though that and worked my way down the N1 for 180km to Johannesburg. I arrived at Airport en Route around 1pm in the afternoon. Total trip around 5,000km.