One of the very first long overland trips that I did in Lemon was a trip in 1997. We travelled through Botswana Namibia Zambia and Zimbabwe. There were three vehicles, my Series 2 camper, Brian with his series 3 camper and Andrew in his Defender 110. It truly was a overlanding at its best and a classic trip filled with remote locations, major breakdowns and proper offroading.
Luckily at the time we already had a video camera so we have rare footage of the trip. The quality is not like we are used to today but it is still a great record of what overlanding was like back in the 90’s.
The Route – Botswana Namibia Zambia and Zimbabwe
The Route followed was:
JHB – Lethlakeng – Xade – Deception Pan – Maun – Tsodillo hills – Poppa falls – Katima Mullilo – Livingstone – Hwange – Sinamatella – Robins Camp – Main Camp – Matobo park
The route took us from Johannesburg in South Africa as we headed north west to Botswana. We passed through Gaborone and then Khutse game reserve as we headed for the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Here we spent a few nights before heading to Maun. Then we travelled around the west side of the Okavango delta to Tsodillo hills. We crossed into Namibia at Poppa falls and travelled east along the Caprivi strip to Katima Mullilo. Then we crossed into Zambia and drove via Livingstone to Zimbabwe and Victoria falls. In Zim we travelled through Hwange national park and Matobo before continuing south and back home to South Africa.
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) is the largest, most remotely situated reserve in Southern Africa and the second largest wildlife reserve in the world covering 53000 sq. km. That makes it larger than countries like Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Following 30 years of closure, the 1980s and 1990s saw limited self-drive and organised tours. Deception Valley, located in the north, is one of the reserve highlights due to dense concentrations of herbivores that gather to feed on the sweet grasses that spring into life after the rainy season. Travelling through CKGR make you realise what its like overlanding in remote locations.
The Tsodilo Hills are situated in the nothwestern corner of Botswana about 40 km from Shakawe accessible via these thick sand tracks back then. There are four chief hills and the highest described as the male is one of the highest points in Botswana at 1,400 metres above sea level.
This is a UNESCO world heritage site consisting of rock art, rock shelters, depressions, and caves. It is estimated that there are over 4500 rock paintings at the site. Some of the paintings have been dated to be as early as 24,000 years old. We were lucky to be able to visit many of them.
One of the most famous San paintings at the site is the Laurens van der Post panel. Named after the writer who first described the paintings after his Kalahari expeditions between 1950 to 1955 in 4 series 1 Land Rovers.
Breakdown in Namibia
Returning to Katima Mullilo was memorable for me as I had spent time there during my national service in the late 80’s. Just before we arrived we had a major disaster as Brians timing belt on his Falcon 2.5 diesel snapped and caused some engine damage. To make matters worst some serious rain set in. Luckily we camped at the Zambezi river lodge campsite on the banks of the river, a beautiful spot to spend a few days. Changing a timing belt on the road is tough enough but doing it outside in the pouring rain is next level. Anyway Brian was not fussed and did a great job straightening out the bent pushrods and replacing the timing belt.
Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls
From Katima we crossed the Zambezi river on the the ferry to Sesheke. From there we drove to Livingstone and crossed the bridge to Victoria Falls. These world famous falls were spectacular in the middle of the rainy season. With a width of 1.8km long these are some of the biggest water falls in the world.
Hwange National Park (formerly Wankie Game Reserve) is the largest natural reserve in Zimbabwe. It is around 14,600 sq km in area. Hwange National Park was founded in 1928. We spent 3 nights here overlanding through these remote locations visiting Sinamatella, Robins and the Main Camp.
Our last stop was The Matobo National Park an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys south of Bulawayo. The hills were formed over 2 billion years ago with granite being forced to the surface. According to history, the Karanga people referred to the Matobo region as “madombo” meaning stones.
And that was where our trip ended as we made our way back home to South Africa.
| Trip Travel Log December 97/98 | |||
| Destination | Route | Roads | Camp |
| Weather – Hot during the day 30C+, cool in afternoons with rain showers. 4 days of rain between X-mas and New Year. | |||
| JHB | tar | ||
| Lethlakeng | via Gaberone | multiple sand track | side of road past lethlakeng |
| Bibe | thru khutse | pans then heavy sand | empty campsite |
| Xade | track | heavy sand | empty campsite |
| Deception pan | track | heavy sand then pans | empty campsite |
| Maun | via kuke fence | medium sand track | Colins house |
| Tsodillo hills | main road | tar then bumpy sand | almost empty campsite |
| popa falls | main road | tar and dirt | public campsite full |
| katima | main road | tar | public campsite zambesi river lodge |
| Livingstone | thru Zambia | potholed tar | public campsite full |
| Hwange | |||
| Sinamatella | main road | tar | half full |
| Robins | tracks | dirt | empty |
| Main camp | tracks | dirt | half full |
| Matobo park | main road | tar | fairly empty |
You can see the full video of this trip at The Overland Legend on YouTube
