By Roxanne Reid
About halfway between the dusty little town of Nata and the dusty bigger town of Maun on the edge of the Okavango Delta is Planet Baobab, a quirky camp in Makgadikgadi, Botswana. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you see a giant cement aardvark on the side of the road.
About halfway between the dusty little town of Nata and the dusty bigger town of Maun on the edge of the Okavango Delta is Planet Baobab, a quirky camp in Makgadikgadi, Botswana. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you see a giant cement aardvark on the side of the road.
The oversized aardvark stands opposite the entrance to the unusual Planet Baobab Camp, which is hidden off-road behind the trees and bushes. Here you’re on the edge of the Makgadikgadi pans, a place of lunar landscapes, salt-encrusted white dust and star-packed skies.
The Makgadikgadi story
Head guide Bacos Taubaka explained how the Makgadikgadi pans formed long ago. Ntwetwe, Nxai, Sowa and Lake Xau all make up the white Makgadikgadi. A million years ago they used to be lakes, up to 300m deep in places. Back then, the Boteti River filled the lakes then flowed into the Limpopo and on to the Indian Ocean.
Then movement of tectonic plates made a ridge to the west of the pans and water could no longer pass. ‘Water from the lakes evaporated and left condensed minerals and salt behind,’ said Bacos. ‘There used to be people and lots of animals on the pans, and Stone Age implements are still discovered there.’
Head guide Bacos Taubaka explained how the Makgadikgadi pans formed long ago. Ntwetwe, Nxai, Sowa and Lake Xau all make up the white Makgadikgadi. A million years ago they used to be lakes, up to 300m deep in places. Back then, the Boteti River filled the lakes then flowed into the Limpopo and on to the Indian Ocean.
Then movement of tectonic plates made a ridge to the west of the pans and water could no longer pass. ‘Water from the lakes evaporated and left condensed minerals and salt behind,’ said Bacos. ‘There used to be people and lots of animals on the pans, and Stone Age implements are still discovered there.’
Today the pans are filled only by rain water, except Sowa, which also gets water from the Nata River to the east. In 2008 there was a flood and Planet Baobab was underwater. There were fish here, even a hippo about 15km away. ‘That’s why one of the buildings has a painting of fish on it,’ he explained.
Kalanga-style huts
We stayed over in one of Planet Baobabs' huts built in the style of the Kalanga people (or Bakalanga), which makes this place unique among Botswana lodges. Each has a different bright design painted on the outside. Grace at reception told me that the patterns were traditional but not the colours, which would traditionally have been earthier tones that came from clay and plants instead of a tin of Plascon.
Kalanga-style huts
We stayed over in one of Planet Baobabs' huts built in the style of the Kalanga people (or Bakalanga), which makes this place unique among Botswana lodges. Each has a different bright design painted on the outside. Grace at reception told me that the patterns were traditional but not the colours, which would traditionally have been earthier tones that came from clay and plants instead of a tin of Plascon.
Inside, Basotho-style patterned blankets covered built-in cement-framed beds. Colourful enamel plates adorned the built-in cement shelves, while the mirror in the bathroom was framed with bright red Coke wrappers.
Each hut had its own small enclosed yard, with a distinct form of decoration; ours were hearts.
Baobabs and a bush bar
When the wind came up in the afternoon, mopane leaves skittered across our walled yard. With the top half of the stable door open, I looked out at a huge baobab tree in the soft light before sunset. Electrified paraffin lamps lit the meandering paths to the huts at night. Some of the baobabs were lit up too, lending the camp a magical fairytale atmosphere.
When the wind came up in the afternoon, mopane leaves skittered across our walled yard. With the top half of the stable door open, I looked out at a huge baobab tree in the soft light before sunset. Electrified paraffin lamps lit the meandering paths to the huts at night. Some of the baobabs were lit up too, lending the camp a magical fairytale atmosphere.
The baobabs the camp is named after are thousands of years old. Nearly 20 of them dotted the area around the huts and campsite. Each generous-sized campsite was carved out of the natural bush and had a thatched shelter for shade, making this very desirable camping in Botswana. Campsite ablutions were in a large rondavel, with loos and showers in a circle around a central basin area. All the doors were tin with perforated patterns on them.
Campsite
Campsite ablutions
A funky bush bar was the beating heart of the camp, where safari guides and farmers stopped for a Coke in the heat of the day, or tourists and locals dropped in for a cold beer before dinner.
There were photos of old Drum magazine covers, chandeliers made of Amstel beer bottles, drums for bar stools, reclining chairs covered with cow hide. A blackboard in a corner announced a menu of shooters with names like Kalahari Breezer, Howling Hyena, Pan Rider, Baobab Sunset and Kalahari Heartbreak.
There were photos of old Drum magazine covers, chandeliers made of Amstel beer bottles, drums for bar stools, reclining chairs covered with cow hide. A blackboard in a corner announced a menu of shooters with names like Kalahari Breezer, Howling Hyena, Pan Rider, Baobab Sunset and Kalahari Heartbreak.
Alongside the dining and braai areas was a sitting room where everything – including the apparently upholstered couches – was fashioned out of cement. Cement tables were painted to look like wood, cement chairs and sofas were painted with blue and brown fabric-like patterns. With a cushion under my butt and cool cement at my back, I found the chairs surprisingly comfy. The ‘carpet’ was a cement floor with painted patterns, making it one of the most unusual and quirky sitting rooms I’ve ever been in.
Planet Baobab activities
There are plenty of things to do either in camp or on excursions from camp, so ask for the price list when you book in.
There are plenty of things to do either in camp or on excursions from camp, so ask for the price list when you book in.
- Join a guide for a late afternoon nature walk among the baobabs, stopping for sundowners.
- Enjoy a swim in the pool during the heat of the day, or lounge in the shade.
- Go on a game drive to Nxai Pan or Makgadikgadi national parks to see plains game like zebra, wildebeest and springbok or maybe some lions.
Meerkat
- Join a troupe of habituated meerkat as they forage across the veld for scorpions, beetles and grubs. Follow them at a discreet distance, or sit down and they may scramble up onto your head or shoulder to get a better view of their surroundings
The start of the quad bike trail; 20 minutes later there was no grass, just white salt pan for miles
- Go quad biking on Ntwetwe pan to see how flat and empty it is.
- Enjoy a spectacular sleep-out under the stars on the vast Ntwetwe salt pan, and see the whole of the southern hemisphere’s stars laid out from horizon to horizon.
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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
