SUNLIT BUSH ADVENTURES

The Nxai Pan experience - April 2017
Twenty four years ago, on my way to the Okovango delta for the first time I camped somewhere in the Gansi district in Botswana where I had a chat with a fellow camper. As we communicate our route plans he mentioned a place called Nxai pan which he visited the previous year and came across a scene were a Phython and an eagle of some sort where entangled in a fight for who is going to eat whom (apparently his video was shown on the popular TV program 50/50). I knew at that moment that I had to visit Nxai pan. So it was that on this same trip, on my way back home that I visited Nxai pan for the first time and what a special place I found without fences and abounded wildlife where elephants frequently stroll through the camp, lions raw at night and where I witnessed my first (and last) lion kill at a waterhole on Christmas morning 1993.
This article is about my latest visit (April 2017) to Nxai pan with my colleague and friend Peet Kruger and his family and some notable changes in Nxai pan over the years. First of all Nxai pan the reserve itself did not changed a bit in the past twenty four years! It is still a majestically special place with vast open planes, large herds of springbuck, lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and many other species equally impressive – where else will you capture lion, elephant and giraffe in one photo (see slider photo captured by Peet Kruger during a morning drive)? Bird life is also great.
So what have changed?
Bookings
First of all you cannot pay your fees at the entrance gate anymore! You will have to pay your park fees at one of BWD (Botswana Wildlife Department) offices after you have booked a campsite through Xomae Group (xomaesites@btcmail.co.bw) who currently holds the Nxai pan consession.  


For more information about bookings road conditions and the law not in Botswana and Nxai pan click here.
Ablution facilities
In the old days there was a “long drop” and a shower or two that was always damaged by elephants and if it did work there would have been no hot water. That has changed dramatically. South camp (the only camp) now has fantastic ablution facilities that is kept super clean (cleaned every morning) by friendly park personnel. There is also hot water thanks to sufficient solar instillations (also see Peet K’s comment).
Entrance gates
The only other change to Nxai pan is the entrance gates (yes gates) for there are now two gates. Your first entrance is at a control gate next to the Maun/Nata tar road where your reservation and park fees documents are checked. From here it is a fairly tough drive on the 30 km sand road to te entrance of the park. You enter Nxai pan through the entrance gate where your paperwork received at the control gate is checked and you are given directions to South camp where the camp sites are clearly marked. There is also a tuckshop at this gate.

George Breitenbach