Day 4 - 17 May 2016 Khama Rhino Sanctuary to Lekhubu Island

Day's trip schedule

Khama Rhino Sanctuary -> Lethlakanye -> Lekhubu Island

Distance & time taken

250 km
5hrs


Accommodation

Lekhubu Island (www.kubuisland.com)
+/-80kms north of Lethlakanye - turn off the A14 road at Lethlakanye






Trip Notes

Zebra drinking at Serwe Pan

Woke up this morning before sun up with my throat on fire - similar to last year on the start of the trip through Namibia.  Dosed myself with meds to ensure it doesn't progress into a chest infection.  We had breakfast, packed & went on a last game drive before heading north to Kubu Island - T4A indicated a 4hr drive to Kubu.

Rhinos near Serwe Pan

We were fortunate on this drive to spot 7 rhino including a young calf at the Serwe Pan & then on  the way out of the park, white-backed & lappet-faced vultures feeding on a carcass near Malema Pan - we couldn't make out what had been killed but the vultures were soon joined by a black-backed jackal resulting in a bit of a stand off before the vultures scurried away to some of the surrounding bushes / trees to wait for the jackal to eat & move on.  We decided to move on as it was now after 10h00 & headed to the main gate, inflated the tyres & hit the black-top.


The drive north was uneventful passing through mopane forests & a substantial gold mine en route to Lethlakanye.  The road was in good condition with little traffic.  Refuelled at the Engen & then sought out the Spar to restock our food supplies some fruit & veg as we decided not to risk trying to get it through the border.  The mall housing the Spar also has a small Woolies shop which had opened during my time looking after the Africa business - quite impressed with the little footprint store.  The Spar was pretty busy with locals as well as a number of overlanders also stocking up before venturing north.

We carried on north on the tar until at a little village about 20kms away, the tar was replaced with our first taste of dirt.  On our right was a small compound behind quite an impressive gate for the area - this was the offices for Kubu Island.  We checked in but nothing was required from us as we had prepaid for 2 nights.  The road from the office to the island was only 47kms but took us over 2 hours as some sections were well eroded after the rainy season.  We came to a viewing platform that had recently been built providing views over the mopane forest through to the start of the pans.  The pans were very impressive but desolate & we had to stay on the tracks of previous vehicles as off the tracks, the surface still a little wet & we didn't feel like digging ourselves out of the mud - we had seen evidence of a few vehicles that had already got into difficulty.  Just before the Kubu turnoff, we went through a vet fence set up to check food products being transported through the region but they were more interested in the travellers going south - we bought some wood off the attendant that would suffice for our stay.

After travelling across the pan for a while, we saw out of the mirage, a cluster of baobab trees that became more abundant as we got closer.  This was quite a sight in the middle of the salt flats.  As we circled the island looking for the reception, we realised this was not a 2 night stay which was confirmed when we settled into campsite #2.  As the sun went down, we were treated to an impressive sunset & a vast array of birds visiting us including 2 new sightings:

• Golden-tailed Woodpecker
• Black-faced Waxbill

We started the fire before sunset & braaied fillet steaks as it got dark.

Kubu Island - Campsite #2

Camping at Kubu Island is very basic with the campsites a reasonable distance apart each with their own long-drop - proved to be a challenge space wise as well as with the smell.  A bush toilet would have been a far better option than these plastic spaceships that bake during the hot days.  The campsites are all on the western side of the island & are on a first-come first-served basis - the advantage is that you get a good view of the sunset.

I was really keen to get some night photos with the Baobab trees painted with light but the sore throat got the better of me so I headed up to the tent reasonably early.

Costs for the day

Accommodation	Kubu Island	BWP555,20
Diesel	Engen Lethlakanye	BWP726,00

Crimson-Breasted Shrike