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Departure: Pandamatenga (Panda Rest Camp)
Destination: Francistown (Woodlands Lodge)
Date Time Start: 2018/05/22 07:16
Date Time End: 2018/05/22 12:20
Travel Time: 05h04
Odometer Start: 90131
Odometer End: 90508
Total Distance (km): 377
Weather:
Pandamatenga: Clear skies at 11C
Francistown: Clear skies at 27C
Trip Summary:
I got onto the road early in the hope of seeing some animals along the A33 road to Nata. I would stop and have a coffee break closer to Nata.
Pandamatenga is the main agriculture centre in Botswana where hundreds of hectares are planted with a variety of crops. It is amazing to see planted fields that disappear into the horizon.
I was fortunate because I saw: Bushbuck, Impala, Elephants, Kudu, Zebra, Warthogs, Sable Antelope, Red Hartebees, Wildebees and Ostriches. A local said there should be a lot of animal activity along the road as the rainy season had come to an end and the animals start moving to their Winter feeding grounds. From the elephant dung on the tar road, there are a lot of Elephants crossing the road.
So far I have kept to the speed limits 98% of the time over the 13,000km I have traveled. I have been through a number of speed traps without any hassles. Today, I went through an "Animal disease" control point. Soon after the control point the speed limit increased to 80. I kept to the speed for a good 5km after which I thought I had missed the 120 indicator so I increased my speed to 100 (there were no buildings/people along the stretch of road). About 2km further a traffic officer pulled me over and fined me P500 (Pula). That was the last of my Botswana currency.
The A33 between Nata and Francistown has sections with potholes as a result of the heavy rains earlier this year. They are in the process of repairing the road.
The turn-off to Woodlands is about 10km North of Francistown and you travel along 7km of gravel road that could do with some work.
Mobile reception is very bad but luckily they do have WiFi which is not very good, but better that mobile.
While I was tapping away on the Laptop, I heard what I thought were Hippo. I looked at the river and it was dry. I asked the guard and he said it was the Impala on the neighbouring farm and they make the sound during mating season.
Some hornbills and a squirrel visited my campsite hoping for something to eat.
As they day wore on, travelers started trickling into the camp. Mostly Germans in kitted 4x4 vehicles they hire from Britz.
One couple from Port Elizabeth (the Bouwers) had traveled through Angola. They said it is rough and the road are in a disastrous state.
Woodlands Lodge - Entrance
Woodlands Lodge - Camp Sites
Coffee Break along the A33 Road
Hornbill and Squirrel
Accommodation: Camping
Woodlands Lodge is a great & popular stop-over when travelling North or South in Botswana. The camp sites are well maintained with lots of shade and green grass. They have a little shop that sells the important stuff like wood, beer, etc.
If you want a camp site with electricity, you must specify this as only a few sites have electrical points.
They have a lovely swimming pool.
The ablutions are well maintained and clean.
As the Lodge is out of town it appears to be safe. They have a guard that does the rounds.
Commercial Agriculture on large scale at Pandamatenga
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