Tuli Block, Botswana

After we left Zimbabwe we went back to Kasane for a night as I'd left a notebook in the Internet Cafe there, then we started heading back towards South Africa. We had intended staying near Nata but when we turned up at Nata Lodge we found that it had been completely burned down, all that was left was the swimming pool. We then tried Nata Bird Sanctuary but that had also been burnt out (by a different fire).  We eventually camped at Woodlands Stop-Over (S21 04.906 E27 27.884) near Francistown.  It had grassy pitches and a swimming pool so we were glad that we’d carried on.

The following day we drove down to the Tuli Block which a long narrow stretch of land in the East of Botswana and is starting to be developed as another Game Park. We camped beside the Limpopo River at Limpopo River Lodge (S22 29.708 E28 47.631).

The Tuli Block, is different to the rest of the country as there are lots of rocky outcrops.  There are several private Game Parks that ‘share’ the animals in the area.

For the first time since we left South Africa 4 weeks ago it was cloudy all day!

The Limpopo had quite a bit of water at this point as there were dams across the river. We walked across one of the dams and from the middle took this photo.

The Limpopo is the border between Botswana (left bank) and South Africa (right bank).

W saw lots of buck and a few elephants in the reserves.

We decided to drive up to the Pont Drift border crossing as we wanted to drive across the Limpopo where there is no bridge.

On the way we had to cross the Motloutse river and stopped in the river bed to look at Solomon’s Rock, a 20 foot high block of stones which the river has gradually eroded.  

Like the Limpopo at Pont Drift this river can only be crossed in the dry season.

At the border we were disappointed to find that there was no water at all in the Limpopo so just had a sandy riverbed to cross!

From the border it took us 2 1/2 days to drive back to Richmond. We stopped at a small Game Park just outside Polokwane and then at a B&B in Standerton (as the campsite there looked very neglected).

Kalahari, Botswana
Okavango, Botswana
Tsodilo Hills, Botswana
Kavango River, Caprivi, Namibia
Kwando River, Caprivi, Namibia
Zambezi River, Caprivi, Namibia
Chobe National Park, Botswana
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Tuli Block, Botswana
Diary.

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