How to see the best of Botswana without a 4x4 by Melanie van Zyl
Botswana does not have to mean wrestling a 4x4 through deep sand. This route follows Melanie van Zyl’s sedan-friendly week from Johannesburg to the Makgadikgadi pans, Maun and the Okavango Delta.
Highlights include:
- Watching for flamingos on Sua Pan at Nata Bird Sanctuary after good rains
- Sleeping among the baobabs at Planet Baobab
- Quad biking onto Ntwetwe Pan for an overnight pan camp
- Stopping for lunch beside the Thamalakane River in Maun
- Poling into the Okavango Delta by mokoro with local guides from Boro
- Joining a game drive into Makgadikgadi National Park from Boteti River Camp
- Crossing the Limpopo at the sedan-friendly Martin’s Drift border post
Botswana road trip from Johannesburg to Johannesburg (2522 km, about 40 hours driving). Plan this trip with Sideroads Africa.
Stops along the way
- Johannesburg
- Seringa Cafe: Breakfast stop in Vaalwater on the R33 — a classic first-coffee halt on the Joburg-to-Botswana run.
- Martin's Drift / Groblersbrug Border Post: Limpopo River crossing from Groblersbrug (SA) into Martin's Drift (Botswana) — the sedan-friendly Joburg-to-Nata border.
- Nata Lodge: Palm-island lodge 10 km south of Nata — dinner, chalets and the base for Nata Bird Sanctuary sunset drives
- Nata Bird Sanctuary: Community flamingo sanctuary on Sua Pan — sunset game drives from Nata Lodge after good rains.
- Engen Nata: Village Engen on the A3 at Nata — fill up before the Maun stretch and the pans.
- Planet Baobab: Baobab-grove camp near Gweta — mud huts, a beer-bottle bar, and the overnight quad-bike trip onto Ntwetwe Pan
- Planet Baobab quad biking: Overnight quad-bike trip from Planet Baobab onto Ntwetwe Pan — meerkats, a pan camp, and a sky full of stars.
- Nxai Pan National Park: Salt-pan national park north of the A3 — the tarred Maun road breaks up just after this gate.
- Old Bridge Backpackers: Thamalakane River backpackers in Maun — pub lunch on the old Matlapaneng bridge before the delta.
- Sitatunga Camp: Quiet camp 13 km south of Maun on the Ghanzi road — dinner, chalets and a pool before a mokoro transfer
- Maun
- Okavango Kopano Mokoro Boro boat station: Community mokoro launch on the Boro River — overnight poling into the Okavango Delta with local guides.
- Boteti River Camp: River-edge camp at Khumaga village — sedan-friendly access and game drives into Makgadikgadi National Park
- Makgadikgadi National Park: Boteti River zebra migration and pan-edge game viewing from the Khumaga gate opposite Boteti River Camp.
- Kwa Nokeng Lodge: Limpopo-river lodge on the Botswana side of Martin's Drift — the recommended overnight before the long haul back to Gauteng