GWETA - Planet Baobab

GABORONE - GWETA

• Depart Gaborone at set time
• Arrive in Gweta around 3 pm
• Check in and refresh
• Dinner at the camp
• Over night

OVERNIGHT AT THE PAN

• Have breakfast at the camp

# Pan overnight with quadbiking and meerkats visit

• This morning, you’ll drive across the vast grasslands in a 4x4, past the lonely baobab sentinels, to Xau Xai where the quad bikes are stationed. Along the way, your guide will explain the incredible adaptations of the species that are unique to the Kalahari Desert environment. Pick up your quad bike and head out into the magical Makgadikgadi... Ntwetwe is the bigger of the two Makgadikgadi saltpans and breath-taking views of sparkling saltpan extend as far as the eye can see. Quad bikes enable us to explore the vast nothingness of the Makgadikgadi in an ecologically correct fashion leaving only a shallow track that will be washed away by summer rains. Open the throttle; close your eyes and travel, knowing there is nothing to crash into until you fall off the edge of the earth...

• This afternoon, you will meet some of the Kalahari’s most fascinating inhabitants, the meerkats. Due to an ongoing habituation programme, it’s possible for guests to get up close and personal with the captivating creatures. Remember: they are not tame, just used to our non-threatening presence, and in the absence of termite mounds or trees, you may find one using your head as a sentry lookout post. Observe these social, superbly-adapted animals and see how they interact with each other and their environment. After your meerkat mission, it’s time to head to camp, or to be more accurate, the middle of nowheresville! Enjoy a drink before a barren and beauteous sunset, followed by a barbeque dinner cooked by your ever-talented guide. At the end of an action- packed day, snuggle up in your bedroll under the phenomenal Makgadikgadi skies, your very own star- spangled ceiling. Think silence, think slumber, dream baobabs...

• BBQ dinner
• Overnight

PLANET BAOBAB

• Wake up to the Kalahari sun rising between your feet. Warm your hands on a mug of piping hot coffee and soak up the solitude. This morning, you’ll search forthe stone tools that remain scattered on the surface of the salt pan and your guide will give a comprehensive explanation of the manufacture of stone tools as well as the evolution of man himself. Remember that these are not your property. Throw them back from whence they came. Just when you think you couldn’t take any more stone-aged antiques, you’ll quad back to the edge of Ntwetwe Pan and explore the surrounding area in search of uniquely adapted desert species such as bat-eared foxes, springbok and kori bustards. Then, it’s time to leave your quad bike behind and head back to Planet Baobab in a 4x4 for a much-needed shower and a scrumptious Planet Baobab breakfast.

• 9 am After a delicious breakfast, take a tour of the thriving metropolis of Gweta (population 2000 -anonymous source 1967) to experience modern African village culture. Learn about the history and traditions of the Batswana from our guides whose knowledge has been inherited from their forefathers. Visit the local primary school, ‘Sekolo’ with itsoutdoor classes under the morula tree, the Kgotla– a traditional court that governs the village and people of Gweta, and for the very brave, werecommend that you try out some sorghum beer! Set off to visit a local cattle post, where you will beshown around a traditional Batswana home. Get a glimpse of rural Botswana life and join your hosts for a traditional Kalanga meal of sorghum, mealie meal, “seswaa” (beef stew), wild spinach, mophane worms (optional!!) and wild beans followed by a lip-smacking baobab fruit milkshake.

• Enjoy afternoon at leisure
• Dinner at the camp
• Overnight

PLANET BAOBAB- BACK TO BASE

• Have breakfast and check out