Being on this side of the world for a while, we decided to take advantage of it by traveling to places that are harder to reach from the States. Our first trip was to Tanzania, and we caught the Africa bug. All of the other destinations we had in mind seemed to fade away and we have been back four times since.
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At first we did guided trip, but I really wanted to do a self-drive. I started bugging my wife about a Botswana trip in 2013. This year in February (2016), my brother and I went back to Tanzania and rented a truck from the guide we had used on our previous two trips. We stayed in lodges and camps, but did not camp ourselves. But we did all of the driving and navigating without being eaten by lions or dying in a fireball on the Ngorongoro crater bypass, so my wife started to warm up to the idea.
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We booked a Botswana self-drive in late June through a great company who set up everything for us. We never saw Andy in person, but benefitted from his excellent arrangement of the logistics. He booked the vehicle, campsites, lodges, a couple of guided tours, and provided detailed maps and driving directions.
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We showed up at the Maun airport and were met by a representative from the rental company. At this point I was worried about the car. We had signed up for a late model Landcruiser 76 wagon with all the camping gear. Our Tanzania experience had been a little rougher, and I was wondering whether the actual car would live up to the booking. I didn’t need to be. If anything we got an upgrade.
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Day 1 – Arrival in Maun
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The representative from the rental company showed us how everything worked, how to set up the tent, explained the dual battery system and fridge, told us the best places to buy firewood and groceries, and then offered to let us follow him to the parks office to pay our entrance fees for the following day.
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The car was a 79 (dual cab pickup) instead, and came equipped with recovery gear, winch, lockers, air compressor, fridge, roof top tent, and all the camping gear we needed right down to bedding and a wildlife handbook. They even had the only functional and well lubricated high-lift jack I have ever seen in the wild. (Intelligently stored in a case behind the back seat instead of bolted to the outside of the car like a trophy.)
Because I know who reads this forum, I will focus a little more on the car. The spec sheet looks like a dream shared by many here:
Late model (60,000 kms) Land Cruiser 79 series double cap pickup.
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• 1HZ
• Lockers
• Snorkel
• Air Conditioning
• Garmin GPS (Tracks for Africa loaded)
• Alu-cab cap on the back.
• Drawer system
• Front runner roof rack
• Front runner water tank
• Front Runner spare tire grill (just like the one on my truck an home!)
• 2 front runner jerry cans
• Engle fridge
• Ezi-Awn Jazz RTT
• Ezi-Awn awning
• Folding chairs
• Solar shower
• Winch
• High-lift jack
• First aid kit
• Tool kit
• Axe
• Shovel
• Kinetic recovery strap
• Shackles
• Gloves
• Tire puncture kit
• Air compressor
• Tire gauge
• Grass net for the radiator
• Front runner large table (brackets inside the roof of the cap)
• Cooper STT’s – (two spares)
• Sand mats
• Complete set of pots, pans, dishes, etc… including a griddle and a dutch oven
• 2 single burner stoves, each with a 10lb propane tank
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Everything was quality gear that I would own myself if I camped enough to justify it.
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Having been on one self-drive I had some ideas on what to bring. Because you guys like lists, here’s a sample. The asterisks are next to the ones I used. The trip would have been great without them, but was smoother with them. I would pack the same stuff again:
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• First Aid Kit (incl. basic meds)*
• Tool Roll, duct tape*, baling wire, WD-40, rope*
• Tire Deflator*, plug kit, fuses
• Fire starter*
• Leatherman*
• Binoculars*
• Camera gear*
• Cigarette lighter expander and USB ports*
• Leather gloves*
• Warm clothes* (its winter there and gets pretty cold at night)
• Bug Juice (deet)*
• Wet wipes*
• Extra photocopies of itineraries, vouchers*, passports, drivers licenses, etc
• Paper maps*
• Flashlights*, extra batteries*
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Things that we didn’t bring, but would next time:
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• Spices – salt, pepper, etc… There was no problem getting them in Maun, but you feel silly buying so much more than you need.
• Steel French press
• Our GPS’s – We use Garmin Montanas to navigate the desert in the UAE. There was nothing wrong with the GPS they gave us, but it would have been easier to use one we were familiar with. I had done this on the Tanzania trip and simply forgot to get it out of the car before we left on this trip.)
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The Parks office was our first experience with Botswana parks personnel, and it was great. The lady at the parks office went through our vouchers to make sure everything was in order, when she had a question about something, instead of turning us away, she called camp where we were staying to sort it out. This fantastic young lady’s friendliness and willingness to help was repeated every time we dealt with anyone from the parks.
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After leaving the park office we headed into Maun for groceries and a general recon. We had a couple hours to scope out our grocery options with the plan of buying on the way out of town the next morning.
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We stayed the first night at Thamalakane lodge a few km north of Maun. The lodge was a typical mid-level African lodge. Good food, great friendly staff, and beautiful setting. My bride was not entranced with the toilet in the bedroom, but otherwise it was a great place. It was crowded with other self-drivers who were on their way south. We were headed north.
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