North Gate (Kwai)

Sunday, 07 March 2010 19:01 |

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Camping

North Gate Campsite is located in the northeast corner of Moremi National Park, where the upper road out to the Mopane Tongue hits the main Maun to Chobe road. This is an extremely busy location, crawling with overlanders, especially during the South African school holidays. The campsite at North Bridge is by far the worst campsite out of all four campsites in Moremi. Most of the campsites don't have any shade and there are only a few waterpoints available. When the wind blows it can be very dusty at the campsite. Due to the lack of a designated ‘campfire’ spaces fires had been lit all over pitches so there was charcoal all over the place. This campsite is close to the Khwai Village which means you can hear dogs barking and other noises through the night. Not really what you're looking fo when staying in Moremi. The ablution blocks are new, built with joint funding from the EU. There are solar panels for hot water, but they did not seem to be operating. This could be due to the villagers using the ablution blocks so hot water is an issue. Baboons are also a problem here and they seem to be more aggressive than at Third Bridge campsite. I wouldn't recommend staying at this campsite.

Game viewing

Game viewing in the North Gate area was very good when I was there. Although a fair percentage of the road was flooded and couldn't be used even by a 4x4 the sightings were good and plentiful.

Road conditions

The roads in the North Gate area can be very sandy in places and very muddy in the Kwai river area. As is the case with all the roads in Moremi you'll need a 4x4. The road network in Moremi is extensive and proper paper maps do not exists. Bring a GPS with the Tracks4Africa maps installed to Moremi to prevent getting lost.

Fuel, food and water

As is the case with all the campsites in Moremi you can't buy any fuel or food in or near the campsite as there are no shops. There are several water taps dotted around the sites but I wouldn't recommend this as drinking water. Bring your own fuel, food and drinking water when staying in Moremi.

North Gate (Kwai) photo gallery