We left for Botswana at 5pm on the 19th of December 2008. We met our guide in Lephalale on the border of South Africa and Botswana. We spent the night in campsite there and then continued our journey to Botswana the next day. The campsite was basic but had shady trees and decent bathrooms.
We spent the night on a roof tent on top of the Landrover. It kept the mosquitos out and had a comfortable mattress.
Here we are relaxing on the bonnet on our first morning of the trip.
We were travelling in Landrover Defenders and although these cars are big and bulky, they are also top heavy. About 20km into Botswana, while travelling on a dirt road, Julia’s boyfriend (Sean) sister, Talitha, nearly rolled the car. She tried to over take another car but left it too late and starting sliding on the sand. After much screaming, Sean’s younger brother, grabbed the steering wheel and forced her to keep the wheels straight and accelerate. My life flashed before my eyes and Julia had to apologise a thousand times to use before we calmed down.
After driving for what seem like hours, we eventually got to our destination. The Magadikgadi Salt Pans, which you may have seen Jeremy Clarkson drive across in Top Gear. The pans are the size of Portugal. We spent the night at Kubu Island, and here you can see Julia, Sean and his dad, Haggis, at the start of the pans.
To get to Kubu Island you have to drive a third of the way across the pans, over very slippery sand surface. Here Sean is with the Landies on the pans. 
As you drive into Kubu Island, the first thing you see is a giant Baobab tree and thats about it. There are houses for miles and miles around.
We set up camp for the night camped under another Baobab.
Sean took us up the baobab, so we could get a better view. The green plastic sheeting in front of the tree is our shower. The day had been so hot that the water we used that night was still warm.
As we watched the sunset over the pans, we thanked our lucky stars that we were in beautiful Africa.
