The Overland truck treks up through Etosha and into Botswana, wildlife is more plentiful and truck life is becoming second nature on Tamzyn’s 21 day Cape Town to Vic Falls overland trip.

Day 13: Etosha

It’s a quick drive to the Namutoni gate of the Etosha National Park and within minutes we are surrounded by hoards of game.

Centered around the shimmering silver pan, the Etosha National Park covers over 22 000 sq kilometers and is home to the Big 5, as well as a number of rare and endangered species (including the Black Rhino).

We are all bouncing around the truck madly pointing out the fascinating game as we drive past journeys of Giraffe, herds of Zebra, plenty of Wildebeest as well as tons of the McDonald’s of the African plains (Impala).

We are even lucky enough to chance a sighting of the elusive Leopard, which walks straight out of the bush past our Overlanding Truck and off down the road. Awesome!

A herd of Buffalo visits the floodlit watering hole at our campsite. We watch them quietly drink from the pool before it starts to rain and we dart past the jackals scampering around and into the cover of our tents.

Day 14: Rundu

Swim for Your Lives

We wake up with a swimming start, our tent having been transformed into a watering hole in last night’s downpour.

Still we weren’t as bad off as some of the other overlanders who spent the night on the truck after being rained out of their tents!

Off to Rundu

After a seven hour drive, some of us choosing to pass the time with a little help from Uncle Bells, we arrive at Rundu on Namibia’s shared Angolan border and not far from where we will cross the border into Botswana.

As we are driving, the landscape changes dramatically around us, from grassy golds to lush greens whilst Nguni cattle line the streets and people dressed in dark coloured prints appear along the roadside. We knew we were getting close to the Botswana border!

We set up camp on the banks of the Kavango River and although there are supposed to be some monster crocs and hippo’s around we don’t manage to spot any.

Instead we enjoy our drinks whilst looking out from the deck overhanging the river and listen to the chorus of reed frogs and the engine of the sunset cruise boat as it chugs by.

Day 15: Maun

Hippo Hollers

We heard a hippo on the banks near our campsite last night whilst we were lying in our tents. Woo-hoo, I wouldn’t trade that sound for the world!

Botswana Baby, Yeah!

A quick trip and we cross the border into Botswana. The roads are long and flat reaching out into the horizon. We drive past herds of livestock running across the road every 100 metres. Tons of goats, sheep and cattle and they aren’t afraid of our overlanding truck.

The surrounding bush is thick, lush and green with ominous rain clouds gathering like grey candy-floss across the sky.

Maun

We arrive at the Sitatunga Campsite, the base for our Okavango Delta Mokoro trip, and unpack before heading off into the town of Maun to browse the local markets for the afternoon.

Maun is the fifth largest town in Botswana, although standing in the middle of the main street you can see from one end of the town to the other.

I found some killer hot and spicy chilies at the vendor market, as well as some cool looking safari hats! We spend the rest of the night dreaming about what the Okavango Delta had in store for us on this dream vacation.

TIA (This is Africa) and I am enjoying the hell out of it. Can’t wait for the Delta!

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Tags: africa budget travel, africa overland trips, botswana, Etosha National Park, Maun, namibia, Namutoni, okavango delta, okavango mokoro trip