TOUCH DOWN // SPRING 2019
BEST WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE
Tau Pan Camp, Central Kalahari
Game Reserve, Botswana
The raw wilderness of the Kalahari is all
the more pronounced in the dark of night.
Named for the handsome black-maned
lions that prowl these plains, I am thankful
to be lying several metres up on the
open-air sleepout deck at Tau Pan.
Black-backed jackals croon, sickle bush
pods rustle in the breeze and, thanks to
a moonless sky, the galaxy unfolds above
the double bed, revealing a mesmerising
Milky Way.
The really sensational thing
about seeking stars is that
the more remote you are, the
better. And that is what
Tau Pan is all about.
Tau Pan Camp is off the grid (electricity
and hot showers are fuelled by our closest
star, the sun) and there’s no Wi-Fi to
distract from the rugged wilderness of the
world’s second largest game reserve (the
Central Kalahari Game Reserve measures a
staggering five million hectares). The really
sensational thing about seeking stars is
that the more remote you are, the better.
And that is what Tau Pan is all about.
BEST INTREPID ESCAPE
Ntwetwe Pan, Makgadikgadi,
Botswana
Nowhere else on Earth do the four
elements of fire, air, earth and water
collide as they do in Africa. This is
especially evident at the Makgadikgadi
Salt Pans.
Once an enormous super lake, the
pans are now baked dry, and fine earth
swirls around the sky when the wind
blows across the parched desert plains.
We set off from our lodge, Planet
Baobab, during the late afternoon, riding
through the ash-coloured landscape
towards our overnight camp to sleep
wild, with nothing but a bedroll (a very
cosy one at that) on Ntwetwe Pan.
54 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
Above: Tau Pan Camp – off the grid, isolated,
and the perfect stargazing retreat. Below:
Back to the (comfy) basics in Ntwetwa Pan.
The excursion is only operational in the
dry season (between April and October),
when the cool winter air permits
crystal-clear stargazing – a roaring fire
keeps us snug against the winter chill
when we arrive in the middle of nowhere.
Retiring to our simple beds after dinner,
the sky has transformed into a canopy
of fiery sparks and it is breathtakingly
evident why, out here, the elements still
rule supreme.
UNDER THE STARS
Q SLEEP
WITH SURE Sure Travel can
customise any spectacular starbed
itinerary to suit your needs and will take
care of all the details. Contact your
nearest Sure Travel agency or call 0861
47 48 49 / visit www.suretravel.co.za.