In the town of Nata on the eastern border of Botswana I ran into two guys on a motorcycle trip
from Nairobi down to Cape Town – John from the UK and Hamish from Australia. Hamish’s
bike had suddenly stopped running in the middle of the road and it was brought to the lodge
on the back of a pick-up truck. We had a good night laughing and exchanging tips about
driving through Africa. The next day John and I drove into the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans for a
day-trip. It was everything you could hope for and more! Deep sand, thick mud, tracks that
suddenly disappeared into high grass, and spectacular views made for a great day of off-
roading. But I still wasn’t satisfied. We hadn’t managed to get to the bright white flatness I had
been imagining. So the following day John and I stocked up on extra fuel, water and food and
ventured into the heart of the pans, to Kubu Island.