Namibia to Botswana along the Caprivi Strip: Look Out For Elephants (& Police Checks)

Departed Ngepi Camp at around 8am and headed along the Caprivi Strip back to Botswana. The drive the whole way to Botswana was along the one highway, on a road on very good condition. In comparison to Botswana, there is a concerted effort to fix up potholes on the road, and every 10km or so there is a bench and bin on the side of the road for you to pull over. We can only say good things about the quality of Namibian roads. 

The highway went through a National Park, and there were several signs warning you about elephants, but no animals, except for cows and goats, were to be seen. There was a bit traffic, and quite a few tourists on the road. As we were passing by a small town however there was a small incident. In general a lot of the countries in southern Africa tend to have a lot of police roadblocks. I haven’t had many issues with these except a few times in Mozambique where I got asked for my passport. However because I’ve been using public transport I haven’t had to think much about them. My dad accidentally drove past one as we were on the Caprivi Strip however, and nearly got booked for ignoring a police order.  To be fair there had been no one actually there until a guy came running out. The only reason he didn’t have to pay a fine though is because we didn’t have the $1000N/1000rand fine on us. The police officer let him go though when we showed that we only had about $100N on us (I was half expecting him to take the $100N but we got to keep it).

Elephant Encounters & Searching for Lions at Mahango Game Reserve

Although we went across a border from Botswana to Namibia, we are still on Botswana/South Africa time because we are on the Caprivi Strip, which is a strip of land just above Botswana and to the east of Namibia. My phone changed over to Namibia time, which is an hour behind, so when I thought I woke up early at 5am this morning, it was really 6am. Anyways, it was still really early.

It took us an hour to get ready, put the tents down and have some breakfast before departing for the Mahongo Game Reserve. This was our first bit of seeing wild animals on this trip, and my dad’s first time seeing any in Africa, so it was a bit exciting. We pulled in at reception, paid $90N (90rand/$9aud) for a permit for the day, and drove in.  There were 2 loops you could go on, one which ran by the river front and the other by an artificial waterhole, and was partially 4x4 only. We spent the day doing both several time, as the park was quite small.

A Morning Boat Crash in Botswana and an Evening in Namibia

(our route for the day, driving from Botswana into Namibia into the bit of land known as the "caprivi strip"

On our last morning at Nxamaseri lodge, we were taken out on one last boat ride to search for some elephants. They apparently can be spotted about 1 hour and 30 minutes away, so we woke up early and were off by 7am. No elephants were to be found however, but the benefit of being up so early was that the birdlife was quite active. We saw flocks of birds swoop up and down and it was quite magical.