Day 3: Gaberone to Francistown.

I was not expecting it to be a “shooting the lights out day” as it was a travelling day. And so it proved to be.

Some money changing in the morning at one of the banks in the Airport Mall. A note on money changing. Not as simple as it is made out to be. Four banks approached all refused as I did not have a Botswana account with them. The money changer I had used before had closed for forex transactions. Bank Gaberone came to the rescue with money easily changed at a fair rate. I had done the homework on current rates so was aware of what it should be.

A casual breakfast at one of the coffee shops and some fresh meat shopping at the local Woolworths (limited choice, good Botswana beef, no lamb and the usual chicken choices) had me ready to leave at about 10h00.

It was about 550 km to Francistown my overnight stop. So an easy drive. Uneventful and the drivers largely well behaved. Road conditions quite acceptable. Picked up the freight trucks from Palapye. This town is the closest to the Johannesburg hub where they load freight for taking north.

Woodlands Stopover and Lodge is my overnight stop. I have stayed here before. A drive off the main road of about 10km on dirt brings you to a very pleasant stopover. Semi detached cottages, fully equipped, overlooking a sloping lawn down to the river. Outdoor braai areas complete the picture. The units have an equipped kitchen with crockery, fridge etc. Your vehicle is right next to your unit and a nice touch is an outdoor plug if you wish to plug your fridge in overnight.

Camping is offered in beautiful treed sites with what looks like private ablutions for each site. I suspect that Covid recovery is still in place as there were no campers. All the lodges were full however. A delightful place to walk around and there is even a 2km bird walk along the dry river bed. I enjoyed it and it was a nice break from sitting in the vehicle.

Tomorrow a similar distance to Kasane and Chobe Safari Lodge.