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You shouldn't hve a problem with an overhang because there are no up and down dry rivers to cross, like in Kruger. There are one or two places where you go up onto the ridge and back down but that won't pose a problem.

Still, you might be lucky with road grading, but corrugations will be your major problem.

Hi R - we saw a motorhome on our last trip although it was a rather large 4x4 type with lots of ground clearance. They did not appear to have much trouble with the roads but they were equiped for all sorts of problems as it appeared as if they were doing a Cape to Cairo type tour.

Welcome to the forum Ricker.

We visited Kgalagadi in August and October last year. The Aug trip in our Travel star Motor home and the Oct trip in our Mitsubishi bakkie. We experienced no problems with the motor home in August, confining our stay between Twee Rivieren and Mata Mata. Following the sound advice from other forum members at the time, we lowered the tyre pressures to the recommended 1.6 bars and kept our maximum speed below 30 kms/hr. It was a wonderful trip and nothing came apart or got broken. During this trip, we saw two other motor homes (one an Iveco) and many small sedan cars who seemed be managing the roads OK.

During our October trip in the bakkie, we traversed the whole park including Nossob where we saw three motor homes (one Iveco) that again seemed to be managing the road conditions. However, I can clearly state that the bakkie was more suited to the road conditions and those wilderness camps added to the enchantment of the experience.

As has been stated previously, the roads are very corrugated and in places sandy. They are truthfully not vehicle friendly at all and even in a bakkie, they are very trying.
You would definitely be able to make the trip (even to Nossob) in your motor home providing you lower the tyre pressures as advised and keep your speed below 30 kms/hr. The magic of the Kgalagadi and the joy of your motor home will long outlast the shuddering experience of the roads.

I would advice that if possible, you do not stay longer than necessary at Twee Rivieren as traversing the first 18kms to and from the nearest productive waterhole each day, produces very little.

Finally, as previously advised, do not underestimate the road conditions in the Kgalagadi. They will be worse than you anticipate.

That is the luck of the draw. We saw 4 lots of cheetah and some lions in the 'nearest productive waterhole' area (within 2 km thereof) in 2 days, and we missed the local leopards.

Many thanks CliveK
Your advice is much appreciated. I have great confidence in the Iveco Discoverer, but don't want to damage it before we move on to the west coast. Reducing tyre pressures is obviously the answer.
Does this increase the chance of punctures?
After many trips we are now able to travel almost rattle free, and Kgalagadi will be a new challenge!
Ricker

I have never had a puncture in KTP.

Morning all,

Regarding the question if a person can bring a motor home into KTP. I have seen a few in the park and as said I haven’t encountered anyone with a problem, it does however depend on the state of the roads by then and if it would be very corrugated. I would suggest that you just make sure everything inside is tied down and will not shake around while driving.

KG

No, not at all! I use a tyre pressure of well below 1.6 bar when I go offroading in much much less tyre friendly environments than the Kgalagadi and have no issues. Of course, punctures do happen at the oddest of times, lowering your tyre pressure won't put your risk higher though.

Hi there

Your advice would be much appreciated on the following:

We're planning our first trip to KTP in September this year and are not sure of where to sleep. We want to get the most out of the park. We currently have:

1 Twee Rivieren
1 Kalahari Tented Camp
2 Mata Mata
2 Nossob
1 Twee Rivieren

We wanted to stay at Grootkolk or Gharagab as well, but apparently trailers are not allowed there. Is that the case? Can you maybe leave your trailer at Nossob for a night or 2 and sleep at these 2 camps.

Which are the favourite camps??

Please advice where to sleep!!! We have a 4x4 with trailer. Gonna have to sleep at TR the first and last night. Want to stay 7 or 8 nights including the first and last at TR.

Anja

Hi Anja, the tented camp is quite close to Mata Mata, and for ease of use I would chose either for all 3 nights. Nossob is my favourite part of the park (and the areas north of Nossob), so I would leave 2 nights in Mata Mata (or KTC) and rather use an extra night in Nossob. I'm sure you can leave trailer at Nossob for Grootkolk / Gharagab, but others will advise better.
Enjoy (I'm there in 2 week's time to say temporarily goodbye - moving to the UK for a while

Hello Anja,

When you say you have a trailer, do you mean that you are camping ?
If so, remember that there is no camping at the Kalahari Tented Camp -- only at MataMata

I'm quite sure you'll be able to arrange to leave a trailer at Nossob in order to stay at Grootkolk or Gharagab -- I would advise a night in Nossob again after your stay in either, as it is a long way back to Twee Rivieren and you don't want to be rushed.

Have a great trip

Hi Anja,

You should be able to take the trailer along if you book at Grootkolk only. The parking is small, but I am sure you will be able to find a place for either car/trailer. Its only to Gharagab that you are not allowed to take a trailer along.

The distance from Grootkolk to Twee rivieren can be long but its do-able. You can reach Nossob in 3 hours and then another 4 hours to Twee Rivieren.

Your planning looks good for a first visit and I will keep the KTC booking. You can either stay there first and then go camping the next 2 days or rather stay at KTC before the drive to Nossob so that you can leave early.

I would like to know if it is totally dis-allowed to take a 4X4 trailer on this route? I have driven this route before and want to go on 21 trip via Mabuasheube but I heard that trailers will not be allowed. If so it will put my whole trip in jeopardy as I really would like to take my trailer with. From previous experience I am 100% sure it will be fine if the wheels are deflated enough, especially of the vehicle it self. The vehicle is a short-wheel base and I am sure it will be fine over the dunes. I can not find any rules on the Sanparks website or the Botswana env and wildlife website to say it is totally dis-allowed. We will be 3 vehicles in the party.

Your information is not totally correct. There are 2 roads between Nossob and Mabuasenhube. The top road is actually a trail and runs in one direction only and you CANNOT take a trailer or CARAVAN on that trail. You need a good 4x4 with low range for the trail. The bottom road is the "public" road and you can pull a trailer on that road. The only sand dunes you need to be wary of are the ones coming out of Nossob. The rest is quite firm and you should have no problems. We are travelling the other way around in March from Mabuasenhube to Nossob wit three 4x4's all pulling trailers. We will stop over at Matomi.

I would appreciate advice regarding a trailer in Kgalagadi. Do we need to hire a 4 X 4 trailer or can we use our little standard luggage Venter trailer without coming back with no chassis. We have never been there before. 4 adults in 1 Pajero staying for 14 days in June so need to take quite a lot with us. Staying at Twee Rivieren, Urikaruus, Nossob, Mata Mata, KalahariTented Camp, Kieliekrankie. Not camping anywhere.