Travelling along the Hunter’s Road, camping in the middle of nowhere and sharing the outdoors with big game – this is what adventure is made of. By Willem van der Walt

We were looking for adventure and we had a week to find it. With his experience and knowledge of Botswana, Jan Swart Jnr had suggested a route that would show us the wild side. Our plan was to experience a river safari at Chobe and then camp at Kubu Island (Lekhubu Island), driving the legendary Hunter’s Road along the way. 

We travelled as a group of six in three vehicles, stocked with everything we needed. Myself and my son, Joah, were in a Land Rover Discovery 4 with an off-road trailer and rooftop tent. In a Toyota Hilux were Jan Swart Snr and Jnr while Vincent and John Pareira travelled in a Ford Ranger, all sleeping in ground tents. 

We would be going off grid, so needed sufficient supplies as well as the necessary tools for fixing things. Between us we took fridges, freezers, ice boxes, gas stoves, solar panels, a shower, enough drinking water (about 220l) and spare diesel. An axe and a spade rounded out our equipment. 

Destination: Botswana

We left Johannesburg at 04:00 in order to reach Francistown just after 16:00. A stop at Cappuccinos in Lephalale was a chance to have breakfast and watch the Bokke beat Australia. Going through Stockpoort Border Post was quick and hassle-free and took us no longer than 10 minutes. Our first night we camped at Woodlands Stop Over & Lodge, ready to hit the road at 06:00 for Kasane.

Reaching Big 5 Chobe Lodge in Kasane just before 14:00 we set up camp and headed for a boat cruise on the Chobe River. As we puttered along we spotted hippos, elephant herds bathing in the river, crocodiles, buffalo and impala. We saw maribou storks and no fewer than five fish eagles, as well as an amazing sunset. 

On the Hunter’s Road

We stocked up on meat and drinks in Kasane the next morning ahead of our trek along the Hunter’s Road.

Tracks4Africa says: Stretching along the border with Zimbabwe, the Hunter’s Road was once a wagon road used by traders. Today this 4×4 track runs from Kasane in the north to just short of Nata in the south. There are large stretches of black cotton soil where vehicles can get bogged down in the wet season. The track runs through hunting concessions and forest reserves where bush camping is not allowed. Overlanders should also take care to stick to the track so as not to cross into Zimbabwe by accident. 

It took us 5.5 hours to cover 126km of the Hunter’s Road. Before it could get dark, we found a baobab on a koppie, where we set up camp. In the distance we could hear elephants and lions interacting, so we rigged a motion camera in case we had lions visiting at night. Fortunately, we were left in peace.

The next morning we continued along the Hunter’s Road. After lunch time, we decided to head to the A33 as we were losing time to make it to our next destination. An hour on the tar road brought us to Elephant Sands. What a wild experience to camp with graceful elephants roaming through the campsite.

An island like no other

In the morning we set off for Kubu Island and again travelled 5.5 hours to cover 90km. The roads were very sandy and at times felt like waves in the ocean. But what a drive!

We reached the campsite on the edge of the ancient lake just after 17:00 and quickly set up camp for the night. For two nights we camped surrounded by mystic baobabs. On our one full day, we explored the pans and the island, even working in a midday bush shower.  

Tracks4Africa says: The Kubu Island campsite location has changed, please find it and the correct access roads on our latest maps. The Gaing o’ Trust, which runs the camp, decided to move the site to preserve the unspoiled nature of Kubu Island. Unfortunately, some visitors scratched their names into the baobab bark and didn’t practise proper camping etiquette.

Also read: Etiquette for wild camping

The adventure comes to an end

Our final day at Kubu Island involved another early start. After a quick coffee on the pan and watching the sun rise, we made our way to Khama Rhino Sanctuary. We arrived around 15:00 and after setting up, headed out on our own game drive of Khama to look for rhinos. We parked at a bird hide overlooking a watering hole for an hour and saw waterbuck, squirrels, impala, mongoose and a variety of birds. Packing up camp the next morning we saw numerous tracks around our vehicles. We realised we had had inquisitive visitors during the night: cheetah.

The route home took us via Stockpoort again and we stopped at Cappuccinos once more for a great breakfast burger. It was a short breakaway, just seven nights, but a super father-son experience. Seeing the wild side of Botswana and driving the Hunter’s Road made for special memories. 

Looking to explore Botswana? The 5th edition of our popular Botswana Traveller’s Map is hot off the press. Like all our maps it provides distance and travel time for the entire road network – tar, gravel and sand. It shows border posts with their operating times as well as traveller services in main towns. For information like destination descriptions, places to stay and things to do, turn to the Botswana Self-Drive Guide Book. Get the paper map and book together in the Botswana Travel Bundle and save.