Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

When you drive to Savuti from Maun you'll have to drive through the Mababe depression. The first 47km from Maun to Shorobe are tarred, after that the road turns into a gravel road which can be rough, but generally speaking is not difficult to drive on. At the village of Mababe the Mababe depression starts, and so does trouble if you're unlucky. The Mababe depression is Botswana's is as Vernonica Roodt's travel guide calls it "the worst clays to be found in Botswana". In the rainy season smart tourist avoid the Mababe depression as the plague as you'll indeed find more mud than you'd bargained for. I drove through the Mababe depression in the rainy season in 2006 and it's not something I'll easilly do again. I didn't get stuck, but it took me over 10 hours to reach Maun. I reckoned that in the dry season the Mababe depression wouldn't be a problem so in October 2008 I drove through the depression again. I learned that not only rain but also the Kwai river can cause severe problems in the Mababe depression.

In 2008 the Kwai river has flooded into the Mababa depression making the road through Mababe village one big mud puddle and inaccessible to all vehicles. I'm not sure when the flooding started, but from what I heard it the depression has been flooded for a fair couple of months. What most people will probably do is ask the locals at Mababe village for help. Usually that would be a good plan, but in this case be very careful. Some of the locals will 'advises' tourist DELIBERATELY WRONGLY. They will 'advises' you onto deep mud roads so your vehicle can get stuck and then they'll ask you 750 Pula to help recovering your vehicle. To avoid problems at the Mababe depression drive around the East side of Mababe village. There is a road network East of the village which you can use to drive around the flooded Kwai river. If you're going North then keep the Kwai river in view and on your left side, if you're going South then keep it on your right side. You might have to drive some sections off-road, but you'll get there in the end. Only do this in the DRY season though as the roads to the East of Mababe are in a marshy area. In the wet season you'll not be able to drive through this area.

I'd advise to use a GPS when driving through the Mababe depression.

Below I've attached a couple of screenshots of the recommended route through the Mababe depression and some screenshots of routes that some people had to take due to the flooding Kwai river in 2008 (GPS data coutesy of Tracks4Africa).

• Tracks4Africa - Kwai river crossing information Tracks4Africa - Kwai river crossing information
• My route through the depression My route through the depression
• GPS tracks of detours GPS tracks of detours
• Advised route Advised route
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