ITINERARY 1  - $360 per person sharing

2 nights at Planet Baobab 

Arrive at the Baobab capital of the world! A traditionally styled mud Kalanga and Bushmen grass hut village shaded by giant baobab trees with an average age of 4000 years old!

Take a stroll with one of our local Guides through the surrounding bush as he points out local ecology, geology and culture and watch the sunset with a cool Gin and Tonic over a camp fire set deep in the bush.

Return to your Planet Baobab, your home away from home to spend the night. 

Day 2 

Take a tour of the nearest thriving metropolis, Gweta  (population 2000, anonymous source 1967) to experience modern African rural culture. Visit the local primary school and the outdoor village ‘courthouse’, the kgotla, the hub of village life. 

If you are lucky, witness the mixing of aphrodisiac droppings and roots at the Traditional Healer’s joint. 

Round this off with a traditional lunch of mealie meal and ground beef and wash that down with a warm bowl of traditional sorghum beer….mmmmmmm. 

After sleeping off the heady mix of Chibuku and ‘beef’ head off for the enigmatic and mysterious, Nxaisini Pan.  One of Gweta’s best kept secrets, Nxaisini is shallow rock basin filled with water year round, providing the sparse local elephants and other creatures with this much-needed desert resource. 
If one takes a closer look at the fossil plates under your feet it becomes apparent that Nxaisini’s water has been attracting both animals and people for thousands of years. 

The rock of Nxaisini Pan is filled with fossils of some of its earliest visitors and in the surrounding area one can find the scattered artefacts from man’s distant ancestors. Hunting blinds hark back to the Bushmen’s presence here only decades ago.  The Bushmen would hunker down behind their low walls waiting for the arrival of elephants and kudu in the evening.  Why don’t you do the same? 

Day 3

Departure

Arrive at the Baobab capital of the world! A traditionally styled mud Kalanga and Bushmen grass hut village shaded by giant baobab trees whose average age is 4000 years old!

Take a stroll with one of our local Guides through the surrounding bush as he points out local ecology, geology and culture and watch the sunset with a cool Gin and Tonic over a camp fire set deep in the bush.

Return to Planet Baobab for a tasty, wholesome dinner.
 

Day 2

At the crack of dawn our camp staff will have you transported to Ntwetwe in a little over two hours of liquid smooth transit! You can spend the day exploring the pans and the surrounding area.  Ntwetwe is the bigger of the two Makgadikgadi Pans, extending as far as the eye can see in all directions.  A breathtaking expanse of nothingness.

The peripheries are dotted with the remains of cultures long since departed and the pans are scattered with the salty, petrified skeletons of past wet seasons.  Birds, insects, mammals and reptiles have all succumbed to the sapping heat of the pans and their perfectly preserved remains are a strange reminder of the fleeting fertility of the rains. 

After a delicious lunch, head off on quad bikes into the magical unknown. 

Go where no man has ventured before – far across the unexplored wilderness of the salt pans.  Enjoy a drink before a barren and beauteous sunset followed by a barbeque dinner cooked to perfection by our ever-talented guides.

At the end of an action-packed day snuggle into your bedroll under the phenomenal Makgadikgadi, your very own star- spangled ceiling. 

Day 3 Return to Planet Baobab  Depart 

3 nights Planet Baobab & Kalahari Surf Club

Day 1

Arrive at the Baobab capital of the world! A traditionally styled mud Kalanga and Bushmen grass hut village shaded by giant baobab trees whose average age is 4000 years old!

Take a stroll with one of our local Guides through the surrounding bush as he points out local ecology, geology and culture and watch the sunset with a cool Gin and Tonic over a camp fire set deep in the bush.

Return to Planet Baobab for a delectable dinner.
 

Day 2

Take a tour of the nearest thriving metropolis, Gweta  (population 2000, anonymous source 1967) to experience modern African rural culture. Visit the local primary school and the outdoor village ‘courthouse’, the kgotla, the hub of village life. 

If you are lucky, witness the mixing of aphrodisiac droppings and roots at the Traditional Healer’s joint. 

Round this off with a traditional lunch of mealie meal and ground beef and wash that down with a warm bowl of traditional sorghum beer….mmmmmmm. 

After a siesta, leave in the Planet Baobab land speeder for a trip to the “Moon”. 

On reaching the lunar landscape of Ntwetwe get stuck into a lightning tour of the archaeology, geology and zoology of the area. 

Just when you think you couldn't take any more petrified, salty corpses, or stone aged antiques, head out on quad bikes into the middle of absolute nowheresville to face up to a 360-degree view of the twinkling stars of the Southern Hemisphere. 

Go where no man has ventured before – far across the unexplored wilderness of the salt pans.  Enjoy a drink before a barren and beauteous sunset followed by a barbeque dinner cooked to perfection by our ever-talented guides.

At the end of an action-packed day snuggle into your bedroll under the phenomenal Makgadikgadi, your very own star- spangled ceiling. 
 
 

Day 3

A quick visit to the somewhat ambiguously entitled ‘Sweet Water’ – the only permanent standing water in the vicinity of Ntwetwe, a magnet for desert birdlife and livestock.  Cruise the surrounds in search of meerkats, bat eared foxes, ground squirrels and other unique desert species and learn of their incredible struggle against the elements of Africa’s harshest wilderness. 

Return to your home away from home, Planet Baobab for a hot cleansing shower and a spot of lunch. 

After freshening up, head out into the dust and dirt for the enigmatic and mysterious Nxaisini Pan.  One of Gweta’s best kept secrets, Nxaisini is shallow rock basin filled with water year round, providing the sparse local elephants and other creatures with this much-needed desert resource.  If one takes a closer look at the fossil plates under your feet it becomes apparent that Nxaisini’s water has been attracting both animals and people for thousands of years. The rock of Nxaisini Pan is filled with fossils of some of its earliest visitors and in the surrounding area one can find the scattered artefacts from man’s distant ancestors. 

After an al fresco dinner on the pan, hunker down behind the blinds near the waterhole and wait for the Elephants to saunter out of the twilight to drink in the moonlight, as they have done, unrestricted for 1000’s of years. 

Finally, retire to your bedroll to rest for another peaceful sleep under the stellar riot of the Kalahari’s night sky. 
 

Day 4

After a blissful night’s rest you are woken by our over-enthusiastic Guides with a steaming cup of coffee.  Head out to track nocturnal visitors to the pan and recreate the nights’ drama that unfolded at the waters’ edge as countless sand grouse and other desert birds flock to the most vital of water holes. 

Return to Planet Baobab for your departure