We checked at the camp office for the road conditions towards Baines Baobab. We have the reservations to camp there today. But the rangers advised us against driving over there as it has rained yesterday. They said they can reorganise our reservations and give a camping slot here. The camp is situated about 500 after Baines Baobab and the route cuts across the pans. Rains means that driving through the pans will be tricky and there is a high possibility that we will be get stuck there. That was disappointing news as I really wanted to go there.
We decided to take round trips along the edges of the South camp of the Nxai pan. We came across large herds of springboks, zebras and some giraffes, but no cheetahs or lions. At some sections, especially on the western section of the Nxai pan the road was a little bit difficult to drive due to the clay. But altogether we came out safe without much trouble. I also reduced the tyre pressures to 1.2 bar in the morning to have a better grip in sandy sections. The weather stayed dry throughout. By noon it was so hot that we decided to drive back to the camp and take a break for a couple of hours. On the way we stopped at the office to check for the road situation towards Baines. The rangers again suggested against going there today.
We stopped at the camp and took rest till 3 pm. Since it was dry and hot throughout the day we decided to drive towards the Baines camp. We have to take a diversion from the main road connecting the gate to the south camp at about 18 kms from the camp and then drive east for about 12 – 14 kms to reach the Baines Baobabs. There are two routes to reach there, the right and the left forks. The direct one – the right fork - is about 12 kms, but one has to drive through the pans at some sections. That means it is not at all advisable in the wet season. The left fork is good for driving in the wet season as it leads to the baobabs without cutting any pans on the route. The only pan that one has to cross is after the Baobabs to reach the camping place. Our idea was to take the left fork and see how the road conditions are and to turn back if it gets risky at any point.
After the diversion we completely missed the left fork somehow and ended up driving in the right fork instead. After a while I got doubtful and stopped to recheck our positions in the map. We drove back again to the main road. We found the left fork and then drove towards the baobabs. On the way we came across a couple (the only people we came across the whole evening) who were camping at the Baines yesterday evening. They said the road is fine till the baobabs and we have to be careful only on the last stretch across the pans. They advised us to stay on the tracks and never attempt to drive around the tracks. Encouraged by the news we drove to the camp. The track was fine and we came across some lonely bulls and a couple of gemsboks. That was the first time we saw a gemsbok in this trip. The landscape was absolutely beautiful. Though it was part of the Makgadikgadi pans the whole route was grassed over. And with the sun slowly moving toward the horizon, the light was golden making the landscape further magical.
We reached the Baobabs without any problems. The massive trees, around 7 of them on the edges of the pan, are more than 1000 years old!! Archaeologists have found extensive remains like stone tools from the middle stone age period around this regions. They were supposed to be at least 100,000 - 120,000 years old at the time when the super lake existed and this might have been the beach at the time.
The last stretch of track to the campsite was not as easy as expected as it was a little bit wet. Since I could see some fresh tracks across, probably from the car of the couple that we came across before, we decided to proceed further. It was a challenging drive and I made a mistake by trying to drive around a small puddle on the route, though the couple has advised us to stay on the track. I was thinking that we might get stuck in the puddle. The drive around was more difficult as the car struggled to get proper grip in the clay and the surface was much more wet than the track we were driving before. Somehow we crossed the pan to the camp. The campsite is a small island in the pan and is very basic. An open space, underneath a huge baobab tree, with a long drop toilet, that’s it; and there is no water or anything else. We found only one campsite, where we also decided to stay; I was wondering where the other sites are and how to reach them. Since our camping slot was a different number, we decided to stay where we are till somebody else shows up. I was completely against driving around the island through the side of the pan searching for the other campsites. In the middle of nowhere, far away from any kind of civilization in all 360 directions, it is the one of the best campsites we ever had.
Nobody came afterwards and we made the camp there. It drizzled a little bit in the evening and I was a little bit concerned whether it will be raining at night. That will make our return through the pan challenging tomorrow. The night with the marvellous African skies, with a millions stars, and the absolute silence, was an amazing experience. After dinner the Lady and I again tried some night photography of the skies. I was really happy to spend the time with the Lady in such a surrounding. I simply loved it!!!!
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