Adventures in the Bush

On arrival in Gaborone, I was able to acquire a second hand Toyota Land Cruiser. The previous owner had converted the vehicle so it had a ‘double cab’ while maintaining reasonable carrying space behind, ideal for us and our three small children. He had also installed a very large fuel tank, giving the vehicle a range of some twelve hundred kilometers.

Anxious to try out my newly acquired (but actually quite ancient) vehicle, we decided that as a first step we would spend a few days in the Khutse Game Reserve, part of the much larger Central Kalahari Game Reserve, supposedly just to the west of Gaborone (Gabs), but actually half way across Botswana.

A three am start always engenders a sense of excitement, so in the dark and cold of a July winter’s night, Diana and our three kids aged ten, six and three, set off. We thought the truck was about to fall to pieces on the as yet untarred road to Molepolole. It was still dark as we followed the Khutse signs, often having to get out of the vehicle to read them.

Knowing we had to travel in a north westerly direction, to my consternation we found we were going in an almost northerly direction. We eventually turned around when the track petered out in a completely deserted village. Back at the crossroads, as the sun was just peeking over the horizon, there were now a few friendly people about so we asked, ‘Khutse’? Having seen us obviously having taken the wrong turn, amid smiling sympathetic words of ‘shame’ we were pointed in the right direction.

Kevin and Captain asleep

Eventually, much later than anticipated, we arrived at the entrance, where we were luckily persuaded to take a guide, who gloried in the name of ‘Captain’. He guided us to a beautiful spot overlooking Khutse pan, a large salt pan where the game, mostly antelope and giraffe, just wanders through, taking almost no notice of any visitors. We spent three days there, completely alone. The only sign of civilisation was the occasional sight of a jet plane, noiselessly, as far as were concerned, making its way to far away, in every sense of the word, Jo’burg.   

There were indeed lions about, as the nearby roars and crashes at night testified. We drove around a bit during the day, just through the bush. as there were no tracks, with the older kids crawling out of the makeshift sun roof and sitting on the roof rack. Unfortunately, we were unable to spot any Lions.

Captain had his own bed roll. We had a large tent, strictly unnecessary, since the likelihood of rain at that time of year was remote.

Our abiding memories of the place were the isolation, the absolute peace and quiet, and the game just minding their own business. Diana and I were able to leave the kids with Captain and walk around the pan, managing to get closer to the game but keeping an eagle eye out for lions.  One evening, when Kevin, aged three at the time, fell asleep near Captain, began to snore, Captain misidentified his snoring as lions.

The ‘test’ was a success as far as we were concerned, so we started to plan a much more adventurous journey.