Day 16 - Chobe to Khwai

Drive: 255km
Accommodation: Mbudi Camp

After enjoying the beauty of Chobe it was time to make our way to the final part of our trip: the Okavango Delta.

Today would probably be the most challenging part of our trip. It was only a 255km drive to get to our next stop in Khwai, but we were warned by other travellers who’d done the drive that it was no joke. It’s very remote with bad roads/paths of deep sand and lots of bumps and can only be taken with a 4x4. We were told to be prepared for at least 9 hours driving. Their advice was to skip this part altogether and rather take the alternative route, a long tar road which would be 3x longer in distance.

Luckily the staff at Chobe assured us that it was not dangerous and that they take the road themselves often. It’s a beautiful drive with lots of wild and we should see it as an adventure, exactly our thoughts!

We decided to listen to the locals rather than the tourists and after a quick pit stop in Kasane we were on our way. The first hour was a breeze and after about 90km of tar roads we reached the sand. We deflated the tyres and drove into the bush. 20km passed quite easily and we had only 140km to go, what was all the fuss about?

Then the deep sand and bumps started. And it didn’t stop. Not being able to go faster than 10km we started to understand the challenge. Leo not feeling very well on this day didn’t make it easier.

We did however continue to make good progress and about halfway things seemed to get easier. The GPS indicated only 2 hours to go and we were already thinking about the cold beer at arrival.

Suddenly the road stopped. Or better said, the right turn that the GPS indicated didn’t exist. There was only a left turn which was an extra 2 hours drive. The path got even worse and we started to think we should’ve listened to the tourists.

After 7 hours we finally made it to the camp. And although a bit agitated by the trip we realised that it could have been much worse. We didn’t get stuck and except for 2 wine glasses, everything had made it in one piece!

The next 2 nights we were staying at Mbudi Camp, a simple site on the Khwai river. At arrival a huge herd of Elephants was taking their afternoon dip in the river closely being watched by the local hippos. We realised this was our camp! It was in the middle of the bush open to all the wild.

We asked the reception about the safety and after a not so reassuring answer - yes all the animals are here, better don’t get out of your tent at night - we found our spot and got ready to set up camp, but not before an elephant came to say hi.

A little nervous of our surroundings and tired after a long day we had a quick dinner and went to bed early.Read more