BOTSWANA TRAVEL DOCUMENTARY - 4x4 Safari Road Trip feat. Victoria Falls
What's, mana a country. Known as one of the best safari destination. Students, abundance, of wildlife. But. There is so much more to discover, follow. Us on our four-wheel-drive, adventure. For remarkable. Our. Travels, in Botswana started, in the far north as we were entering chobe, national park coming, from Namibia. Instead. Of taking the tar road through the park we decided to go for the adventure, of the choba riverfront track, the. Chobe River front, of a summer put Suarez premier, wildlife feed within. A short time frame we spotted large herds of impalas, a game, of sea prize with a very young foal a water. Bar resting, a shadow and an enormous, group of pelicans. Hundreds. Of them shared a small stretch of the river moving. And feeding in unison. Congregating. In such large numbers has the benefit, of being more protected, from predators. One. Of the animals praying, when swimming pelicans, is the Nile crocodile these. Scaly. Reptiles, are masters, at hiding, even in shallow water, however. They can often be seen basking. In the Sun along the river side a. Sea. Precaution. The river could be a welcome, meal for these crocodiles. Elephants. On the other hand are in no danger. An. Important. Role in life's of many animals place the oxpecker who. Cleans ticks from anybody, who are just packing. The. Tracks along the Toba riverfront can be quite adventurous with, many animals, crossing the park while. Driving it is always a good idea to have a close, look at the bushes that way, anything. From burbot monkeys to cute little lion cubs could be hiding them. Sometimes. It might even be a large hippo happily, chewing, on dry cross. Upon. Seeing the sunset cruises on the river we thought this looked like a splendid, idea. The. Next afternoon we, embarked on our own. It did not take us long to find a group of elephants close to the water's edge. Shobha. National Park is famous, for its large amount of elephants, and the riverfront, is where they like to gather, here. They can happily feed on juicy, crusts. It. Is also perfect, sparing, crowd for young elephants, who play fight against, each other. These. Two were really having a go at it which apparently concerned. An older elephant, he. Went in between the two to stop the fight, this. Did not concern the young ones very much as they promptly, started fighting, behind his back again. And. Another animal, that appreciates, the same habitat, as the African buffalo which, tends to congregate, in large numbers. Smaller. And therefore harder, to spot are the monitor lizards that live in this ecosystem. But. Most of all we had come for the hippos that dwell in the river. Sudden. Slowly setting, all the boats headed back and calls it a day. We. Just made it to some barber because. We're driving to Victoria Falls and, the. Bureaucracy. Was, a little bit more intense on this side it was a little. Bit of chaos really, felt like Africa, that wood cars and lorries parked, everywhere. I was bailing a path to go through but then there were people friendly, enough to help us to to, find the right place to sign different, books and to get all the permits. That I needed and, then once. You're at the gate it's, essentially. Just a, beam that is open and closed so that's the entire border gate but. We had to fill out another registration. Form and I almost stole, the, tip of the pen from the guy. Very. Interesting, border crossing definitely a little bit of adventure filter at, Victoria, Falls the, mighty Zambezi. River trops into a gorge that is 1.7. Kilometers, wide. With, Victoria. Falls is not a single, waterfall, but rather Northumberland, force. At. Its highest Victoria. Falls stands at 108. Meters which, combined, with its wit by, surprise it as one of the two largest, waterfalls. In the world being. Only rivaled, by iguazu. Falls in, south america. All shared between the countries of Zambia, and Zimbabwe with. Many people arguing, that the better the user from the Zimbabwean, side. On. The, other hand you can only go and take a plunge in Devil's pool on the sand the inside of the. Forea, falls and about when we are literally, barding.
Here Delicious. So, much water flying up I mean, it is called the. Thunder that rain so, that name, kind of makes sense a lot here because we are just wetted. About the. Spray of water is, immense, at some points. Keeping. In mind that this is the Troy season, you can well imagine how, much rain there would be in the wet season. There. Are several view, points along the waterfall, all offering, a different perspective. Especially. Intriguing was the view point at the main course which gave us a rainbow, as a bonus. Further there is another great viewpoint, affording. A look into the gorge. This. Spot is only suitable for people without vertigo as you, are directly, on the cliff edge looking, down into the turbulence, amazing, River. And we decided that the usually crowd level wasn't enough for us and therefore took a helicopter flight the next morning. It. Didn't, take us long to be airborne in only. About one minute the deeply, cut Gorge of the Sambhaji river came into sight. The. View from the air is breathtaking. On another level as you can see the entire width, of the falls at once. After. Only 13, minutes and two circles, above the falls we headed back but. It was without a doubt a memorable. Experience. Back, in Botswana, we trove south towards, the big salt pens in the centre of the country, along. The highway we came upon several, control, bushfires, ruining. The grass but leaving the rest of the landscape xscape. Something. Like this makes us really mad but. Savannah is such a beautiful, country with a lot, of wildlife, and beautiful, nature and a. Lot. Of ecotourism. But then we're driving along the roadside here and there's literally. Just garbage. Thrown, everywhere. Is like, a huge garbage, time just alongside the road with glass bottles, lying around with a lot of plastic, just flying through the landscape it, is just very disappointing. Seeing this and, comparing. It to the beautiful nature that is all around us we, were very happy when we left the highway for the bush store it's another trade or a depends. More. Than a hundred kilometers, of sand and dust lay between us and our destination, kudu, island. In. Several, hours of driving we met a total of two other cops. Faces. The wilderness, we came to Africa. Landscape. In this part of Botswana is very, flat and mostly, covered in grass with a couple, of bushes and trees he and they, of. Course the, high crosses perfect, for Steambox to hide him. Just. Before sunset we reached Kubo island which is a rocky outcrop with, majestic, baobab.
Trees Crying on it, these. Trees are easily, a couple of hundred years old while, some specimen, have reached an age of more than 2,000, years, they. Are true survival. Specialists. Storing large amounts of water in their trunks, our. Webs come in all shapes and sizes and, more often than not look quite comical. The. Fruit of the tree is a popular, snack among, animals. Cuckoo. Island directly borders. On a large salt flat in an area usually referred, to as Makgadikgadi. Beds. We. Decided that we wanted to explore more of it. We took a route that led us directly through, one of them driving. Across the salt flats is fairly easy in the dry season but, extremely. Treacherous when, it has rained. Visitors. Are encouraged, to stay on the main track as the ecosystem. Is rather fragile, not. Everybody, sticks to the rules though. Not, many animals can survive in this epic elliptic, landscape, one. That is quite well adapted, is the ostrich, of course. Whereas. Many of the tracks are dry and hard they, are some softer, parts which are extremely. Dusty. It, is hard to imagine the sheer amount of dust flying up behind the car and, finding, its way into the inside. Just. Walking on the surface will cover your lower legs completely, in dust and dirt at, the, end of the day the entire car, was clouded, and it took us some time to clean it. After. Several hours of driving we, reached our next destination, which was the so called Queens barb up. The. Tree carries many a signature, from past travelers. Not. Far away the remains of Chapman's barber can be found. Sleeping. It's. Definitely not something for. Somebody who is afraid of dirt or dust, because. Invariably, at some point you will get very, very dirty and, very dusty, as you can tell climbing. Along the car after you've troubled through, extremely. Sand extremely, dusty, roads. Just. Leads to the fact that you're covered, in dirt from top to bottom really, but. At the end of the day or rather, at the beginning of the day if you can get. To places and enjoy these kind of views it is all worth it. Although. It is hard to find any animals, of most parts of the landscape as soon, as one gets near water the chances are increasing. Close. To a waterhole we camp on this group of elephants, which made good use of the moist nut. Although. These clumps, of mud are not quite as effective in covering their skin as dust these, elephant's patiently, continued. In. This part of botswana the temperatures, can easily, rise to over 40 degrees celsius, which is rather hard to cope with without an air conditioning. After. All these dry landscapes, we were quite happy to arrive in the Okavango Delta. It. Is a great fool buy for trail system, feeding through marae me Game Reserve with. Plenty, of chances, for exploration. The. Game reserve covers much of the eastern, side of the Okavango Delta and. Combines, a permanent, water source with drier areas. Marais. Me is one of the prime, safari destinations. In Botswana, and it, is easy to see why the. Diversity in wildlife, is immense, many. Species are easy, to observe without a professional, guy. Ramie. Game Reserve is also well suited for the adventurous, traveler, as it can only be accessed by former home. There. Are many deep sand tracks which can offer a row. I lied. Was without a doubt there's several little bridges along the way, these. Preachers, are constructed, with unsecured. Levani tree trunks which, freely, move around when you drive through them our. Favorite, spot was third, bridge where, mine approach was combined, with the crossing, of award. When. We were in the Caprivi strip we, bought a traditional, instrument called. A hippo collar and this. Is a very simple tool just wood, on the outside the cow skin on the top and a bamboo stick in the middle but, the real magic happens if you put some water on your hand and. Then. Rub the bamboo stick because. This mimics the sound of a hippo who, is happy as, it has found nice, and sweet cross. And. The. Effect of this is that hippos, in the water are reacting. To it they are coming closer, to the shore and they have been coming a lot closer to us at the beginning they were on either sides of this little lake or this little Lagoon but, now they are just in front of us wanting. The fresh cross. Being. A lot of fun to use the hippo caller brought us a lot of good results. Almost. Every, waterhole, at every, little stream is inhabited, by hippos, in the Okavango Delta. Most. Of the day they stay underneath the water surface, with, just a bit of their heads popping out. Hippo. Is tend to live in groups sometimes.
With Up to 40 or 50, individuals. An. Adult. Hippo is quite a massive animal easily. Weighing one and a half tonnes. Territorial. Fights among males are nothing, uncommon as the deep scars on this hip whose back showed. The. Teeth can easily, reach lengths of 50, centimeters. They. Are frequently shown during their characteristic. Yawns which, are quite a spectacle, to observe. Similar. To other animals they are quite happy to use the oxpecker service. With. All these streams it is always a good idea to check the water depth before driving through them with. Longer stretches it is often hard to touch but walking through them is not recommended. Sometimes. The only option is to hope it is not as deep as it looks. If, something, goes wrong there's, certainly, somebody waiting, eagerly, for a snack. While. Moremi offers many wet and flooded areas it is also home to some woodlands, with. Enough time and patience, there's a good chance of spotting some forest trellis, very. Small and how to spot, a thwart Mongoose. Eleven. Families are up to 30 animals and can usually be seen foraging. For insects, on the forest floor. At. Least one animal of the group is always perched a bit higher to skin the area for predators, a. Close. Relative to the dwarf Mongoose is the slender, me goose. Some. Are the forest areas show that it has been a long dry season with the foliage, looking, like autumn. This. Is without a doubt the. Wildest, campsite we've ever been to, earlier. The day there was an elephant standing in our campsite right here and it was walking around the other campsites, as well later, at night there, was an entire herd of elephant, walking around just just, a couple minutes ago there were two lines walking, right, in front of us less than 20, meters away they are hippos, calling, a hundred, meters away and the point it is just incredibly. Wild, here and a, beautiful. Wedged. Between morenae, game Rossano french / national park was a small, area called. Which arguably, offers some of the best scenery, in all of what's one. With. Plenty, of water and fresh, cream trois this, area, is a favorite, among water bucks water. Bucks are AA large shaggy, antelopes. That live in herds of Sixth and 30 animals. They. Have characteristic. White fur rings on their back ends which are useful as orientation when, they are fleeing from predators. Male. Water buck also sport massive, horns which are used in territorial, fights. The. Area is equally popular, among large herds of buffaloes who come to the river to drink. Similarily. Many birds such as the lilac, breasted roller, the. Settle build stalk the. African, long-tailed trike, wattled. Cranes be. African Hoople the, yellow-billed, horn boom and the Pete Kingfisher, can be observed. Krystal. Highlighted, on the choir River with this young elephant, boys going, for a swim with. These. Scorching. Temperatures we could imagine how refreshing this part must attain for. For young males it didn't stay peaceful, for long. But. Why not has also offer it's painful, surprises, when, I packed up the rooftop 10 this morning I stepped down the stairs and immediately, felt a searing, pain in my right foot it. Turns out I stepped, into a very, thorny, branch, and it went straight into, my foot not. So pleasant later, at night we also had the luck to spot this nocturnal survive ket close to our campsite. The. Next morning we started out before sunrise and, were immediately, rewarded. By spotting, a lioness, casually, walking along our path. Shortly. Afterwards, we came upon our first honey badger. Honey. Badgers, are usually. Nocturnal as, well this, one was apparently, still hungry as it was actively, forging, on the ground a. Little. Later our day got even better when we came upon this male ID and southern Joba National Park. It, clearly is no fan of all the thorns either. The. Early morning sunlight looked, magically, as he paraded along. It. Seems he was still a little bit tired though. Although. We drove all the way up to savuti in the centre of Java National Park we didn't see much more as everything, was very dry. It. Was then time to leave the wire leverage, areas, for the vast and lonely, west of Botswana for. Several. Hundred, kilometres we drove through virtually, uninhabited, landscapes. Our. Destination. Was with all the hours spent trying as it is one of its finest wildest, and most remote, sites. It. Is called by, harbor keven's there's.
Northern, And a southern entrance, to this cave system with. The former being a bit easier, to access through, free stairs. Inside. The caves we soon came upon fascinating. Stalactites, and stalagmites. The. Exploration. Of these caves is only for intrepid, travelers, there. Is nobody taking, care or registering. Your entry in, fact. There's nobody, near within, a 50, kilometer, radius, we. Were quite alone in these dark caves, or. Maybe. Not. We. Are just exploring, this cave system we. Can really, scare. Lighting. With all flashlights. And then something moved in flew towards us and it turns out they, are thousands. Of plants, hanging the little crevices, above us and they are moving from time to time some people are flying around usually, they feed at nighttime but, apparently due, to the fact that we are open for you some of them just smoke up and, it's quite fascinating just, watching, them and, they're emitting, these little sounds, high-pitched noises, probably, communicating, with one another it's. Just a very a fascinating, thing to be riding these, little, dense horseshoe, bets are only seven centimetres long and weigh a mere six grams they. Prefer to live in caves and groups of hundreds, of animals. Soon. After that we also came upon Egyptians split faced bats which are slightly larger. They. Appreciated, our presence a lot less as many of them started, to fly around as we approached. We. Then decided, to explore the caves a little bit more. We. Searched for more than three hours for, the connection, between the two entrances. We. Tried our best even. Crawling through narrow passageways. But, to, no avail. We. Have now explored, both the northern entrance and the southern entrance but we just couldn't find the connection, between the, two apparently. In the past there was a rope connecting, both but it's not there anymore and, at one point there was a two meter drop so we, decided to call it a day and leave with the memories we have instead. Of getting lost somewhere, in the cave system but definitely, what. A memorable, place a little while later we watched a local football match and soon found. That the border fence with Namibia, the. Track first seemed all right but soon became horribly, over, ground. After. Many kilometers, on sandy, tracks we thought that we could make up some time on the highway that. Did not work out as planned.
But, Swine offers a great variety of, poor wheel drive tracks but, if you think that the off-roading stops, when the tar Road starts you're, mistaken. Have, a look at this road this, is one of the major highways, of the country and it is littered. With potholes. That are sometimes 20. To 30 centimeters. D it, took us longer than expected but, we still reached our destination at. Cedilla Hills a place, of many great rock paintings. Together. With our local guide we went on the Rhino trail to explore, the area. These. Hills of trade cultural, and spiritual, significance to, the Sun people those. People, students. People and the tribe of those people were the key yeah. Those. People that painted this paint is using, hematite, choco. Concrete. And. Moffat URI, and also. Planner so. Here's the zebra, as. You can see it is not completely down but it was. On. Here. Is. The jackal, here. Is the Coogee and the baby could you and, the lines that you see is the lines that shows that they, were using the, fingers to paint they are fingers to paint and here, is the giraffe as you can see the non neck here the next legs and the chain which, is the trap then. Here is the world stock the. Steinbach the. Baby event and the Maha the. Odd rope and the geometric, design the. Geometric, design we used by. The measurement. In, specific. Hill English works there, is a great amount of paintings, in the area some, are more faded while others are clearly discernible. Some. Were quite easy to recognize, while, others were more abstract, such as this penguin. Our. Guide also showed us an old game still, play today. We then spend one last night, at the Okavango, River which, we saw for the first time since the movie yeah. Always. Eager for new adventures we, decided, to also cross the Aachen angle on an old and rickety Harry, this. Ferry is the only way to get to the eastern side of the Okavango in botswana. The. State of the wheelhouse did, not necessarily inspire. Trust and. Neither did the life rings nor, whatever this kind of plastic bottle, was useful, but. That was just the adventure we had come to Botswana. At. Least the engines were working fine, and so we slowly made our way across the river. We, arrived on the other side of the Okavango. Ironically. Once on the other side we didn't get to see the river again for 50 kilometers, so, we turned around and headed back to the ferry. On, our way south towards the Kalahari, we spend one more night illumise camping, in a truly magnificent. Spot. The. Kalahari Desert is not limited, to a single National, Park in Botswana but, rather covers, the entire southern part of the country. One. Protected, area as the central, Kalahari, Game Reserve which. Were decided, to have a closer look, right. At the start we had the luck to spot this funny duo. Generally. This area seems to be a favorite amongst teen books of which we saw many it. Was our first time spotting a young Steve mundo which was truly, tiny. We. Proudly present you but, swather steepest. Pothole, have. A look at this. The. Central Kalahari, Game Reserve is a very try place dominated. By cross shrubs. And the occasional, pin. In. Comparison. To the Okavango Delta not, as many animals can be spotted but with a little bit of patience, there's a good chance of seeing Springboks kudos.
Bull, The Beast and Oryx. They. Especially, tend to congregate, among the few water halls of the park eagerly, sharing a drink. And. Low vegetation also. Allowed us to look further into the distance so that we spotted our first bat-eared, foxes. Mariette. Foxes, usually, forage in pairs looking, for food which they locate, using their large ears. Surprisingly. Their diet is eighty to ninety percent insects. Most. Of the landscapes, look fairly similar in the park with, the exception, of this plaque pen which really stood out. There's. One small on our site when we came upon a pack of wild dogs. While. Dogs are among the most threatened, mammals in Africa with only a few thousand, left. They. Are highly skilled predators, hunting, in packs of 5 to 15 animals chasing. Their prey until it collapses, from exhaustion. Although. They are formidable hunters, themselves, they sometimes fall prey to lions. When. Exploring the Kalahari one should be prepared, for a lot of driving on sandy, tracks often limiting. The speech to 30 kilometres an hour going. Faster, could easily end in a catastrophe. Often. We've. Been doing, on. The go. I. Did. And. It turns out from. Now on it, is. Driving. In the night we did with. Several, hundred kilometers to go we, didn't have a choice but to push on, the. Only good thing that came of this ordeal was that we spotted a spring here a funny. Rabbit, hopping around like a kangaroo. Last. One we finally, arrived at camp. Early. The next morning we, were back on track driving, into the deep south west of Botswana the. Sandy. Tracks were a lot of fun and a struggle, from the night before was, soon forgotten our. Destination, was Tagalog Rd trans frontier park a national, park that unites wilderness, from Botswana, and South Africa. Characteristic. Filbert's one inside of the park are red coloured sandy, 4x4, trails traversing. Pristine, landscapes. Along. The trails froze mainly cross and a lot of thorny, bushes. Typically. For the Kalahari, they are also a number of tribe hands. Striking. Is the amount of Romans that seem to rise out of nobly a traverse. Depends, and usually lose all their momentum as soon as they reach the edge of the way. The. Dry ground is very popular. Among African, grounds crows which can often be seen foraging. For roots seeds, and insects. They, have very round faces and bushy, tails which makes it easy to distinguish, them from another grant dweller the, Mia get. Many. Consider, Mike heads to be one of the cutest, animals, and it is hard to disagree. Meerkats. Are always, vigilant, continuously. Scanning, the sky for predators. After. A long day of beautiful. Soundtracks, we reached our campsite, where we will welcome to buy several horn, boots. These. Birds are very common, in southern Africa, living in a range of habitats. They. Are inquisitive and tend to be a rather unafraid, of humans. They are two different subspecies, of hornbill, and southern Africa the. Red-billed hornbill and the yellow-billed, wampum, with the letter being the more common. Hornbills. Tend to be crowned tolling during the day foraging. For food, and. Diet consists, of anything, ranging from insects. To fruits and also, geckos. The. Setting Sun provided. These birds with a beautiful, backdrop while, they were turning over sand and search of insects, and seats. We. Watched him until the Sun had set and the chatter of the birds was replaced, by the sound of The Barking geckos. The. Next day brought us a South African part. Of the park where, we spotted also, larger animals. Among. Those was a female Springbok, with her freshly, born young. We. Also managed to get a glimpse of the famous black maned Kalahari, heights. We, explore town for many more hours in the box wine inside driving. On beautiful, red sand tracks and thinking, to ourselves that. This is an underrated, precious, of Botswana the. Same, applies to an area just north of the park called car Kalahari. Concession, area, this.
Region, Is just as wild and lonely as the rest of the Kalahari, with, beautiful, open savanna landscapes, and wide open pants. We. Knew that this would be our last night in the true wilderness. So we wistfully, watched the sunset. We. Made ourselves a, nice campfire, enjoyed. Our loneliness, together, and watched the millions, of stones from our heads. The. Next morning we pack down the rooftop tent and drove, back towards, civilization. Botswana. This. Was a fabulous, ride with memories, that will last a, lifetime, we. Learned the value of pristine, nature, animals. That are wild, and free-roaming, in. Their natural, habitats, living. Perfectly, fine without, human, interference. It. Is worth protecting these, habitats, so that future generations can. Marvel at everything, our world, has to offer.
2019-01-30 04:37
amazing upload, great channel
Amazing
+LucasTJahn Do Visit India. There are some great roads for 4×4 vehicles. Spiti valley, pass see some YouTube videos you will definitely love it.
Thanks! Glad you liked it :)
Wahnsinnig gut!
Danke! :)
Great job!
Thank you :)
This is gorgeous, Lucas! Just subscribed and would love to connect (we're also travel filmmakers)!
This is absolutely incredible. Very rarely do videos on Youtube manage to make me feel something, but yours always do.
Schönes Video, toller Kanal
Amazing, absolutely super professional quality. Couldn't believe I am watching a youtube documentary. It would be great if you can give inputs for future travellers.
Great pictures and great comments. It's like experiencing every kilometer anew.
Vielen Dank :)
Thanks a lot for your comment! I am very happy that you like the videos so much. That definitely motivates me to keep on creating more :)
Thanks :)
+Saurabh S Wagh It'll surely be on our list for the future! :)
Lived in Maun for a year and a half, never seen a hippo caller haha. Never even heard of one on the Botswana side. Third Bridge is about our favorite place on earth. Great video!
Thanks! Haha, yeah appears to have come from the Caprivi Strip. Our guide book supplied us with this information and we just couldn't resist buying it after we heard how it works :D
What month did you guys travel here? My wife and I are going this July
We started our trip in Namibia at the end of August, so this would have been middle of September to beginning of October :) Enjoy your trip!
Another masterpiece, Lucas...no words really ...loved it..love from INDIA.GOD BLESS.
Really enjoyed watching this, thnx! We are going to Namibia & Botswana end of may!
Happy you liked it, enjoy your trip! :)
Number one
Kann man eure Route irgendwo finden? Sehr tolles Video übrigens
Silke Stopper mit ein bisschen Willen auf jeden Fall! Wir hatten auch nur gut drei Wochen insofern durchaus machbar! Third Bridge Campsite im Moremi ist cool, da laufen häufiger Löwen durchs Camp. Ansonsten ist das Areal um Khwai zwar sehr schön aber ohne Toilette und Dusche, dafür aber teuer. Maun ist nur zum durchfahren, übernachten und einkaufen gut. Hier und da ist auch Wild campen möglich ;)
LucasTJahn vielen Dank für die super schnelle Antwort. Wir haben leider nur zwei Wochen Zeit, denkst Du eine "kleine" Runde zwischen Maun u Victoria Falls über Okavango, Chobe, Vic und Kubu Island wäre ohne Hetzen möglich? Du kennst ja jetzt die Straßen und Verhältnisse dort...übrigens welche Camp Site ist ein Muss?
Vielen Dank! Die Route ist ungefähr so: Chobe Riverfront - Kasane - Victoria Falls - Kasane - südlich nach Kubu Island - quer durch die Sua Pan zu Green's Baobab und Chapman's Baobab - Nxai Pan Nationalpark zu den Baines Baobabs - Maun - Moremi Game Reserve - Khwai Riverfront - Chobe im Süden bis Savuti - Maun - Richtung Westnorden zu den Gcwihaba Caves - Aha Hills - Tsodillo Hills - Okavango River - Okavango River Crossing - nach Süden zum Central Kalahari Game Reserve - südlich weiter zum Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, dort eine gute Runde inklusive Südafrika Teil gedreht - von dort nach Norden über das Kaa Kalahari Concession Area und zurück nach Namibia
Absolute beauty. Thanks for this vid mate
Make sure to watch Part One from Namibia here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmFfViYlHzA
Super!
this is what I call living the dream, thanks for sharing buddy.
My Pleasure :)
Please take my comments in the spirit intended: I really enjoyed your videography, and your pleasure and enjoyment of Africa was also very evident, however, for me, both videos in this series were rather spoilt by the numerous factual inaccuracies and omissions in the commentary.... It is so evident to me that you and your wife are intelligent and observant, clearly have an eye for a story, and understand the craft of videography! Why then, was your research so poor? Every second fact was either wrong, or more important and interesting facts were omitted! Given the sterling effort put into the video capture and editing a little more effort into factual research would have turned your videos into an absolute tour de force! The Fish River Canyon is the second largest canyon system in the world, not the third! Baby elephants know exactly how to use their trunks - if they didn't they would starve! Research Kolmanskop properly - it is much more interesting than the banal commentary you gave it! (Obviously you had no idea that Kolmanskop, at its height, was singularly the richest town on earth!) Both videos were characterised by similar inaccuracies and omissions.... I have no idea what you do for a living, but, if you wanted a career as a videographer, documentary maker, and story-teller could easily await you - as long as you do your research properly!
Hi Tony, first of all: thanks a lot for taking the time to write such a detailed comment. I highly appreciate any form of feedback (constructive, that is) as it is one of the best ways to for me to improve. An outsiders view can be very valuable. I pursue videography on the side and crafted both documentaries in my free time, not as my main job. Regarding your feedback: I agree that not all facts may be entirely correct. As I essentially researched this alone, this can happen. However, the examples you mention do not prove your point. A canyon can be measured by length, depth and width, which makes it very hard to determine which one is 'the largest', let alone the second or third largest. Our trusty travel guide features the Fish River Canyon as the third largest, and an additional online search conducted by me did not give any other results. In fact, it rather brought to surface that there might be even mighter canyons in the Himalayas and in Greenland. The same principle applies to the Victoria Falls, which can be called the largest but are dwarfed in width by the Iguazu Falls in South America, the amount of water rushing down by Niagara Falls and in height by Angel Falls in Venezuela. Furthermore, Baby elephants do not know how to use their trunks, similar to human babies having no clue how their legs work. Young elephants are not capable of sucking water into their trunks and then bringing the trunk to their mouth to drink. They either drink directly from their mothers teats with their mouth or kneel down to drink water directly through their mouth. They have to learn how to use their trunk which is an educational process in the herd. The young elephant at Etosha clearly displayed his inability as he just played around with his trunk but never actually drank any water, while the rest of the herd did so. Thirdly, I did plenty of research on Kolmanskop. It may indeed have been the 'richest' town in Africa or even in the world during that time. However only around 400 Germans lived there, which makes it fairly easy to get that title if you live on a diamond bed. Furthermore, rich is a bit subjective as Kolmanskop was rich in diamonds and some conventional luxury items, but rather poor in leisure activities in the environment and social contact apart from the small settlement. Generally, you mention 'Every second fact was either wrong, or more important and interesting facts were omitted!' - The second part of the statement is highly subjective. Everybody may consider different facts to be more interesting or important. My strategy was to pick facts which I can mirror in video. Sometimes that meant cutting other interesting information because I simply had no video material to show for it. I would have loved to talk more about the hunting behaviour of lions but those lazy buggers just kept sleeping in the shadow. Anyways, I am sincere in saying Thank You for your criticism. It pushes me keep on checking facts in the future!
Fantastic video Lucas. I've decided i must get over to Africa soon after seeing your videos. Thank you for sharing. Just one correction though: At 22:00 minutes you said that the male lion was clearly tired. Actually he wasn't yawning at all. This is the classic flehmen response. Many animals including lions have an organ above the roof of the mouth known as the jacobson's organ. It's used to enhance the sense of smell. By baring it's teeth like that the lion was allowing the transfer of pheromones to the jacobson's organ. Male lion's often perform flehmen when they have smelled a female, and from analysis of the smell of her urine it is thought the male can ascertain the health and reproductive status of the lioness. Here is some more information on the flehmen response. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flehmen_response
Thanks a lot, Pete! The mention about the lion being tired was actually irony ;) However, your explanation is very interesting and I surely did not know that. Thanks for sharing, always eager to learn more! I would have loved to include that information, but lack of footage would probably have prevented me from doing so. Anyways, I will read up about the flehmen response now :)
+LucasTJahn Lucas, think a bit about your reply.... How old was that elephant calf - do you know? By eight months that calf is well capable of drinking using its trunk! The fact that you did not see it drink changes nothing - it was playing (and enjoying itself)... As for canyon sizes, your reply indicates that you have missed a golden opportunity to explain by what criteria you used to indicate why the Fish River Canyon is the third largest (as opposed to the second largest). Simply telling me, now, that that was what your "trusty" guide said is a bit lame... On what basis does that guide make the claim? Do you know what criteria they used to make the determination? Are you aware that UNESCO rates the Fish River Canyon as the second largest in the world? (I confess that I did not find the exact criteria by which they make the claim...) As for the remarks about Kolmanskop I stand by my assertion that your commentary about Kolmanskop was boring and in no way actually captured the wonder of the place... As an aside - I watched your video about Australia, and you fell down the big hole that most people do with respect to your commentary about the Maheno wreck on Fraser Island! The Maheno was not wrecked during a cyclone! Check what month of the year the Maheno was wrecked! Then research the cyclone season in the Southern hemisphere! You will find that it was impossible for a cyclone to have been responsible for the Maheno wreck.... Yes, there was a storm, but, no, it was not a cyclone... By the way, I also found several sources telling me, incorrectly, that the Maheno was wrecked during a cyclone but that does not mean that they are automatically correct! Even most Australians believe the Maheno was wrecked during a cyclone (it is plausible), but then those people would have no idea what month of the year the Maheno was wrecked, but once they were aware that the Maheno was wrecked in the month of JULY most would then realise their error in assuming a cyclone was responsible! So, I say again to you that your research is lacking and you are missing many golden opportunities to tell MUCH more interesting stories! (Particularly since you have gone to the trouble of getting such good video!) The truth is often much more interesting than the "urban legend" and being able to actually indicate commonly accepted "wisdom" and then being able to contrast this with the much more intriguing and interesting truth will really separate one from the pack! I am only going to this much trouble to point things out because I believe you are really capable of taking your productions to a much higher level! Good luck....
+Tony Jay Hi Toni, Thanks again for taking the time to write such a long comment. I think we have to agree to disagree on a couple of points, which is completely fine. I wish I could do the depth of research you expect, but alas, that would mean it would take me even longer to finish a documentary which was originally just intended as a holiday memory for me and my wife. I agree, that there might be even more interesting stories out there and that the commonly accepted information might not always be accurate. However, it does not alter the video in any way if the Maheno was blown ashore by a cyclone or a winter storm. As you say yourself, many Australians believe it was a cyclone, many sources say it was a cyclone and it actually might have been an out-of-season cyclone. Who can really tell? The end result stays the same: a huge ship is corroding away on a wonderful beach on the worlds largest sand island. Of course, it is my aim to get the correct information, but I cannot dig as deep as a professional production can. My main intention is to entertain the viewer with an informational commentary that supportes the visuals shown. However, for the next production I will surely think about your words and do an extra thorough research. Thanks again for your comments!
I love your jurney... So Amazing & beatifl flora nd fauna over the rd ....
Wow Amazing stuff by you..❤
+LucasTJahn yp Did you travelled Uganda..? Bro
Thanks! :)
Sure ,,,, love from taiwan .
Glad you liked it :)
Great vid!! Where did you rent the toyota?
Great videos! Where did you rent the Hi-Lux and how much did it cost? Did you have to return it at the same place?
+J J We are fairly experienced travellers and at the end, preparation is key. We have travelled one year through Australia in a 4x4 and another year through Canada and Alaska in a sturdy van (you can check the documentaries on my channel), and therefore know our way around bumpy roads. We did not have any car troubles in Namibia or Botswana, except for a really annoying clonky noise. We were worried about that, but couldn't pin point it. It did not interfere with vehicle performance at all. In the end we called Asco Car Hire, they pointed us towards a mechanic in Maun, Botswana, who took care of it (spent an entire day there, which was not that cool). Other than that we did not have any problems. In the past we fixed tyre punctures with a tyre repair kit, which is always good to have. We also carried two spare wheels with us, just in case. Rule Nr. 1 for offroad driving is knowing tyre pressures. Whenever you leave the asphalt lower your pressure and you'll be fine 99% of the time. Lowering them increases your traction and thus you will not get stuck as easily and you won't puncture your tyres. Also, always bring enough food and water, an UHF radio and a beacon. That way you'll be safe and sound :)
Currently watching your Botswana adventure. It's how I pictured my next safari in Africa but lacked information on how to go about the self-drive. I'm glad YouTube recommended your channel! You guys are pretty intrepid travellers. Although I have offroad driving skills, I'm not sure if I would be as confident in a single car. I'm wondering how you managed problems such as car trouble, tire punctures, getting stuck in sand and mud, etc.
Hi J J, We rented the car in Windhouk, Namibia and also returned it there. The rental agency is called Asco Car Hire - you can check all of their vehicle prices on their website :)
Beautiful! Thank you!
truly amazing night skies................
We rented it in Windhouk through Asco Car Hire!
+LucasTJahn
+Brahma chowdary We haven't travelled to Uganda yet, but we might this year!
Superb. Thank you.
Hey, love the videos how would you go about planning a trip like this? could you give any pointers?
Digggaaaa. Gute stuff.
+Kings Music We haven't travelled to Uganda yet, but we might this year!
I loved this one also. Thank you for Sharing your journeys. Beautiful pictures.
very good picture
Hey, thanks! We actually didn't invest a lot of time in planning ahead. We got the car a couple of months earlier, bought a guide book and that was it. 2months prior I flipped through the guide book to determine our rough route through Namibia, for Botswana we decided while being on the move. We did not book any campsites in advance, except for a couple of nights in Botswanan NPs as it is compulsory. Otherwise I checked our travel guide and a navigation app we use a couple days in advance to determine what we would have a look at :)
The best views are from the Zambian side hands down. Although it is clear to me when you went the Falls was not at its best. If you time it right in flood season the entire precipice is a wall of water. Perhaps due to the lack of water flow you may have concluded otherwise. Nevertheless its an awesome destination no matter which side you view it from
Botswana beautiful and peaceful with good people BW
When you spent the day driving to the transfrontier park, where did you start from? I am planning a trip and was looking to make it from Gaborone to a camp in the park on one day
We started in the middle of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, all sandy tracks with 30kmhs an hour average speed. If you drink on tar roads during the day, you'll be fine!
https://www.facebook.com/Sojourn-Travel-Tours-307269700059631/ - they are on facebook will help you plan your trip around Southern Africa esp BW..
https://www.facebook.com/Sojourn-Travel-Tours-307269700059631/ you might find this info useful - check them on facebook
My country is so beautiful....
Thank you, it was beautiful indeed!
True.. Proud Motswana Blue Black n white
My country is beautiful
How did you guys manage with fuel? Did the vehicle have an extended tank or did you just carry jerry cans? How many km would a full "tank" last you? Great video btw! Very informative. I've lived here for 20+ years but I haven't done nearly enough exploring haha.
its Zambezi region..not Caprivi strip..
Our car had a double fuel tank with 140 liters total. That enabled us to drive almost everywhere without having to be concerned about refueling. We refilled everytime when we were embarking on a major stretch but didnt carry any extra jerry cans. And thanks! :)
Scenic flights by a Helicopter over the Okavango Delta are available for enquiries send an email to: endurancetravel@gmail.com a truly uplifting experience awaits you in your journey
Very nice & beautiful. thanks for this documentry. Love from India.
I realized that a man without culture and a zebra, black is not white. white is not black. A and an African E, bronze and an African.
+LucasTJahn awesome.
Soo Nice
Enjoyable
Simply terrific... thanks so much for sharing.
A once-in-a-life-time trip it is, I envy your trip...How did you manage fuel for your truck, do you carry with you? How did you plan your trip, did you hire a vehicle and decide on a route with no time constraint or does your visa and other permits restricts your no. of days?
You can never go wrong in the Southrn Africa! #Botswana, one peaceful nation.....the environment is rich with wildlife, breath taking moments. soooo peaceful
Beautiful Southern Africa.Enjoyed this documentary
We had a double fuel tank so we always had 140l with us, which allowed us to go wherever we wanted. We had a total of 7 weeks time, which we spent split between Namibia and Botswana. We decided our route quite on the go, always depending on what we wanted to see :)
Thanks for bringing us along the journey, brilliant narration and the visuals are so good . Looks like you put a lot of effort especially driving as well ... good luck for future travels
When my parents say to me that we are going in Botswana in Nivember i was sad but when i saw these I can't wait trip
Fascinating photography. Fantastic use of the done
+Saurabh Wagh It'll surely be on our list for the future! :)
Hey Lucas! Fantastic Video! Did you use a gps for Botswana? Or is it straightforward through Kasane, Chobe, Savuti, Khwai, Moremi and Maun regions? Also did you use your tripod a lot for photography or a monopod will suffice in your opinion?
Hi Amir, yes we always used a GPS through our phones and mostly an app called maps.me - very useful as it stores the map offline, so no data is used. I would always recommend carrying a GPS with you. As to tripod: I didnt use it that much honestly, always depending on the situation. When we left the car and positioned it somewhere, yes than it worked great. But shooting out of the car was mostly handheld. I always follow the strategy, rather bring a bit too much gear than too little, though :)
LucasTJahn thank you very much :) cheers!
+Amir Ataei Awesome, glad you enjoyed them! Wishing you all the best for your trip, its gonna be a blast! :)
LucasTJahn perfect Lucas! Ill give maps.me a look then! My wife and I watched both your Namibia and Botswana videos and enjoyed it immensely! We are heading to both countries in a month so we are super excited! We are from Canada so your Canada video is next! :) cheers and keep up the good work!
Well done on a great video
Lucas thank you I have enjoyed riding with you both , nice job I am from Fla USA and now travel visa my (PC) I would like to bring a friend with me next time if there is room for one more ?
@Amir Ataei Awesome, glad you enjoyed them! Wishing you all the best for your trip, its gonna be a blast! :)
@LucasTJahn awesome.
@J J We are fairly experienced travellers and at the end, preparation is key. We have travelled one year through Australia in a 4x4 and another year through Canada and Alaska in a sturdy van (you can check the documentaries on my channel), and therefore know our way around bumpy roads. We did not have any car troubles in Namibia or Botswana, except for a really annoying clonky noise. We were worried about that, but couldn't pin point it. It did not interfere with vehicle performance at all. In the end we called Asco Car Hire, they pointed us towards a mechanic in Maun, Botswana, who took care of it (spent an entire day there, which was not that cool). Other than that we did not have any problems. In the past we fixed tyre punctures with a tyre repair kit, which is always good to have. We also carried two spare wheels with us, just in case. Rule Nr. 1 for offroad driving is knowing tyre pressures. Whenever you leave the asphalt lower your pressure and you'll be fine 99% of the time. Lowering them increases your traction and thus you will not get stuck as easily and you won't puncture your tyres. Also, always bring enough food and water, an UHF radio and a beacon. That way you'll be safe and sound :)
@LucasTJahn
@Kings Music We haven't travelled to Uganda yet, but we might this year!
@LucasTJahn yp Did you travelled Uganda..? Bro
@Tony Jay Hi Toni, Thanks again for taking the time to write such a long comment. I think we have to agree to disagree on a couple of points, which is completely fine. I wish I could do the depth of research you expect, but alas, that would mean it would take me even longer to finish a documentary which was originally just intended as a holiday memory for me and my wife. I agree, that there might be even more interesting stories out there and that the commonly accepted information might not always be accurate. However, it does not alter the video in any way if the Maheno was blown ashore by a cyclone or a winter storm. As you say yourself, many Australians believe it was a cyclone, many sources say it was a cyclone and it actually might have been an out-of-season cyclone. Who can really tell? The end result stays the same: a huge ship is corroding away on a wonderful beach on the worlds largest sand island. Of course, it is my aim to get the correct information, but I cannot dig as deep as a professional production can. My main intention is to entertain the viewer with an informational commentary that supportes the visuals shown. However, for the next production I will surely think about your words and do an extra thorough research. Thanks again for your comments!
@LucasTJahn Lucas, think a bit about your reply.... How old was that elephant calf - do you know? By eight months that calf is well capable of drinking using its trunk! The fact that you did not see it drink changes nothing - it was playing (and enjoying itself)... As for canyon sizes, your reply indicates that you have missed a golden opportunity to explain by what criteria you used to indicate why the Fish River Canyon is the third largest (as opposed to the second largest). Simply telling me, now, that that was what your "trusty" guide said is a bit lame... On what basis does that guide make the claim? Do you know what criteria they used to make the determination? Are you aware that UNESCO rates the Fish River Canyon as the second largest in the world? (I confess that I did not find the exact criteria by which they make the claim...) As for the remarks about Kolmanskop I stand by my assertion that your commentary about Kolmanskop was boring and in no way actually captured the wonder of the place... As an aside - I watched your video about Australia, and you fell down the big hole that most people do with respect to your commentary about the Maheno wreck on Fraser Island! The Maheno was not wrecked during a cyclone! Check what month of the year the Maheno was wrecked! Then research the cyclone season in the Southern hemisphere! You will find that it was impossible for a cyclone to have been responsible for the Maheno wreck.... Yes, there was a storm, but, no, it was not a cyclone... By the way, I also found several sources telling me, incorrectly, that the Maheno was wrecked during a cyclone but that does not mean that they are automatically correct! Even most Australians believe the Maheno was wrecked during a cyclone (it is plausible), but then those people would have no idea what month of the year the Maheno was wrecked, but once they were aware that the Maheno was wrecked in the month of JULY most would then realise their error in assuming a cyclone was responsible! So, I say again to you that your research is lacking and you are missing many golden opportunities to tell MUCH more interesting stories! (Particularly since you have gone to the trouble of getting such good video!) The truth is often much more interesting than the "urban legend" and being able to actually indicate commonly accepted "wisdom" and then being able to contrast this with the much more intriguing and interesting truth will really separate one from the pack! I am only going to this much trouble to point things out because I believe you are really capable of taking your productions to a much higher level! Good luck....
@Saurabh Wagh It'll surely be on our list for the future! :)
@LucasTJahn Do Visit India. There are some great roads for 4×4 vehicles. Spiti valley, pass see some YouTube videos you will definitely love it.
Another exquisite production! Just a small correction. The lion at 22:00 is not tired. It is a perfect excample of the Flehmen Grimace, done to expose the Jacobson's gland to test the air for the presence of a female's fertility scent.
Haha Thanks a lot Donna! I'll make sure to leave some space!
Can’t wait to go this Christmas
Wow, this is simply STUNNING. Thank you.
Enjoy your trip!
@Emile Viljoen Thanks! That means a lot to me :) Slightly envious of your awesome backyard!
@LucasTJahn I just showed both your Namibia and Botswana productions to my family. This is our backyard where we play a lot. I congratulate you with excellent work. Well done!
You are absolutely right about that! It was meant as a joke, but I honestly wasn't aware of its purpose. Thanks for clarifying :)
I hope someday I can travel in my 3 favorite African countries: (Botswana, Kenya ans South Africa). Coming from the Philippines !!!
Hi Lucas , I have seen both videos and I enjoyed this . I found it very informative . You did a great job . Thank you for sharing .
Closest country to wakanda
Very nice video keep it up and continue making such amazing videos..
Hallo, ich habe ein paar Fragen zu deiner Reise. Gibt es eine Möglichkeit , dich zu kontaktieren ?
Philipp Thomanek Hi! Du kannst hier fragen oder via E-Mail - die ist in der Beschreibung.
beautiful i love my country im sharing this xx
When you view Victoria Falls from Zimbabwe, everything including Arm-chair Falls and The Main Falls from Livingstone Island to Eastern cataract is all on the Zambia side. Zambia also has the Knife Edge Bridge. The curtain of falling water Zimbabwe 30%, Zambia 70%. Better to visit both sides to fully appreciate Victoria Falls. Thank you for the wonderful video. Would love to go there to Botswana. Proud Zambian.
https://youtu.be/ffFzWPmCWrQ
thanks for letting us know about Botswana
Great video