There are so many things I enjoy doing in life but I have to say camping has to rate somewhere near the top of the list. To be out in the wilderness with nothing but the bare necessities, far from daily life and all the commotion of city streets for me is one of the most peaceful and tranquil experiences I could wish for. Without cell phones, internet, tv’s life just seems so much more simple. The best times of my life have generally come from these simple moments in life where sitting around a fire under the stars of the African sky with good friends will, for me, beat just about anything else.
A week ago I had that wish come true, although it seemed to take forever to come. A group of us had decided to head off on a weekend adventure to a place barely touched by the outside world. Khutse Game Reserve on the edge of the Kalahari has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. As we left Gaborone in the early hours of the morning all excited and keen to get away for a few days, I had no idea about what this place had in stall for us and how amazing it was going to be.
As with any roadtrip there are bound to be a few hicups but this trip had a few more up its sleeves just to tease us. First off and about 40km outside Gabs our traveling partners (Team Nissan, consisting of B-Rad, Owen and Kerry) forgot the permits so unfortunatly they had to turn back and go collect them. Not really delaying us (Team Ford, consisting of myself and Allan) but then we ran into our own issues later that morning first by getting to the last town before the turn off where we could get diesel where they had run out the day before so us too had to make a u-turn and go 60km back to fill up. Not deterred in the slightest about this we rushed back to the closest town filled up and met team Nissan again. Having major dejavu we headed back on the same road back to the turn off where a cop just had to be hiding and politely pulled me over to slap me with a small speeding fine.
Finally all the issues seemed to be over and we got going again and turned onto the dirt road which meant we had about 100km to go till the gate. The excitement was now growing km by km. Finally after a few nice big mud puddles and some sandy roads we reached the gate. By this time I was already in awe of this place.
We set out to get to our camp and get all set up for the weekend. Cracking open the first beer was a great feeling as we were now ready to relax and enjoy th
is magnificent place. We headed out that afternoon for a game drive and I was immediately blown away by the diversity of this place, Wide open pans and thick bush home to so many different creatures. Among the sightings of the afternoon were Gemsbok (Gemsquash as B-Rad refers to them), giraffe, steenbok, ostrich, jackal and so many different bird species. We headed back to camp while the sun was setting and started the fire so we could unwind after a busy day. Sitting around the fire we had to keep on checking the surrounding bush as this place is rather wild we spotted a little African Wild Cat, such an amazing little cat and a rather rare sighting it just made me realize how special this place was.
The rest of the weekend also did not disappoint, many sightings from Puff adders to leopard tortoise to many ant
elope and again many different birds. Unfortunately we never saw any cats but there will be a next time. Each of the days we went to finish off the afternoon by watching the sunset over one of the pans and this although ive seen so many beautiful sunsets these had to rate as some of the top. Sunset on the one side and a storm off in the distance on the other with a waterhole in between it all with a few giraffe relaxing and having a drink. These types of moments just make me fall in love with Africa over and over. This continent is just truly amazing and i always proud to call it home.
While all of us were now extremely relaxed we sat around the fire again to enjoy an evening braai and a couple drinks while reminiscing of the days and weekends events, there were quite a few moments when all we were doing was looking up at the african sky fulled with stars that you just cant see in many places, this was just pure and simple happiness! I can
t speak for every one of us but I was rendered speechless on so many occasions.
The last day came and I must say I was rather sad about leaving the Kalahari but there will definitely be a next time as this place is just to amazing not to come back to. If any of you are contemplating going somewhere this place is a must and definitely one for the bucket list.
Thanks again to B-Rad, Allan, Owen and Kerry for an amazing time, Team Ford and Team Nissan make a great team!
As always I look forward to the next adventure, and please feel free to comment or share!
Till next time
Cheers Jono 
Ranger Kid 
I couldn’t of said it better!! One of the most amazing camping trips I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of..
And the next one will be Epic too!