Kubu Island Tours - 5 nights minimum (including 2 nights at Jack's Camp or Camp Kalahari)

 

During the dry season, travel across the salt pans is possible on 4 wheel drive "quad bikes" which avoid the problem of scarring the Pan's crust and sinking into the semi-hard mud beneath.  Kubu (properly, Khubung) is a granite extrusion covered with baobabs, forming an island in the south-west corner of Sua Pan. The trip across the pans to Kubu Island includes an ancient defense fortification that was only recently discovered.  On Kubu Island there is a semi-circular stone wall, 350 m in circumference. The wall has an entrances and apertures. There is no trace of habitation within its compass and this suggests that it may have been used once for a place of initiation rites. Such traditional Bantu places are remote and often difficult to access.  The first two nights are spent at Jacks Camp exploring the Kalahari Desert. The third morning the tour group departs on quad bikes across the Pans for Kubu Island, and two days and two nights are spent exploring the pans. The fifth night is spent back in Jacks Camp.

Sleeping in the open air   Setup for dinner

This safari is offered on an ad hoc basis for groups of 4 or more.  For the two nights out on the Pans guests sleep under the stars in bedrolls [there are no animals out here] attended to by a camp staff who will provide steaming bucket showers and three course, five star meals.

The Kubu trips are also designed to back onto Uncharted Africa Safari Co set date departures in the Delta

Five nights in the Makgadikgadi Pans including a Quad bike trip to Kubu Island

Day 1

Fly into Jack’s or San Camp for the first night of your Kubu Island adventure.

Travel out through the grasslands by game drive vehicle to the den of the rare brown hyena. These specialised desert animals are uniquely adapted to survive within the Kalahari eco-system and are Africa’s most rarely seen large carnivore.  Due to PhD Research projects, the hyena and cubs have become habituated to our vehicles and offer a very special game viewing opportunity.

Day 2

Drive out at sunrise into the Makgadikgadi National Park learning how the Kalahari Desert was formed as well as how the unique desert species are adapted to living in this sometimes extremely harsh environment. These activities are conducted in luxuriously appointed customized landcruisers, or on foot with a Bushman tracker.

In the evening, drive to the Seven Sisters Baobab. This is reputedly the largest tree in Africa and is comprised of seven trunks. However, more interesting even than the size of the tree is the fact that the early explorers, Livingstone, Baines and Selous used the baobab as a beacon by which to guide them across the pans. The Explorers then camped at the base of the tree exchanging stories and warnings about unfriendly tribes in the area and hunting expeditions. The names and dates of these historical expeditions have been carved into the tree and provide a fascinating insight into the modern history of Africa, seldom a possibility on safari.

Day 3-4

At dawn, set off on the quad bikes across the main pan en-route to Kubu Island. The journey to and from Kubu is extremely interesting as it includes a very ancient defence fortification which was only discovered a couple of years ago. The next two days/two nights are spent staying on Kubu Island and exploring the surrounding area. 

Kubu itself, a granite extrusion island studded with baobabs, is of course one of the most graphically beautiful spots in Botswana and is full of intriguing detail, such as walling, trade and bushman beads. It is also close to what is probably the biggest greater and lesser flamingo breeding site in the world.

30 000 flamingo fledge there when water is good and although the mud mound nests are deserted at the times of the year when we are able to visit Kubu, they are still very interesting to visit. Many chicks are left to die if they hatch too late to be able to join the incredible march across the Pans that the young flamingos undertake in search of water. Their remains lie on the pan surface almost petrified by the salt. Unhatched eggs also remain in some of the thousands of abandoned nests...

Guests also visit the extinct mouth of the Zambezi which together with various other rivers, once flowed into the Pans. The remaining beach is covered with beautiful water-worn pebbles amongst which you can find semi-precious stones such as garnets and cornelians.

Accommodation is in canvas bedrolls, which are laid out under the stars. There are no dangerous animals as such and as the Makgadikgadi is one of the most perfect places to stargaze, a starry sky makes the perfect ceiling! Hot showers and a long-drop loo are provided, and delicious meals are served on damask tablecloths set with bone-handled silver as in Jack’s or San Camp.

Day 5

On the morning of their last day, the Guests depart from Kubu once more setting off across the Pans on the quad bikes, ending the experience with a night of sheer comfort in either Jack’s or San Camp.

Day 6

After a morning game drive in the Makgadikgadi, return to the airstrip for your departing flight.

The most important aspect of these trips is that it gives the Guests a chance to truly understand the Pans, how they were formed as well as the history, both 'recent' ie. Livingstone etc as well as Stone Age... The Guests experience a sense of true adventure, active involvement as well as the sense of space that can only be felt upon reaching your destination after driving across white pans with absolutely nothing else in sight for several hours! The Pans are the size of Switzerland, a fact that is difficult for many to comprehend... this trip goes some way towards explaining the many mysteries of this fascinating and still very much unknown area.