Day 15 – 16: Ghanzi

We slowly got up and packed away even slower.

We went into Ghanzi to fill up the tank and to buy some supplies at the Shoprite. We then headed back South again and booked in at Thakadu Bush Camp just 5 km from Trailblazers. We didn’t have any major problems with Trailblazers and they are cheaper, but on iOverland there were so many mixed reviews and cross references that we also wanted to experience both places.

Here’s the review that Hugo wrote about the two campsites:

“Given the close proximity and the amount of conflicting reviews of Trailblazers and Thakadu we too stayed at both campsites for more than one night.
Thakadu is indeed more expensive, but for some it might have advantages over Trailblazers, whether those ‘advantages’ are worth the higher price is up for debate.
Both sites have swimming pools, but the one at Trailblazers were empty during our stay.

Trailblazers offer free wood, while Thakadu sells small bundles at 25 Pula.
The campsites at Thakadu is more private and each has its own water, all-day electricity and braai stand. But depending on the site the ablution could be far away.

At Trailblazers there is only electricity when the generator is on (quite noisy) between 18:00 and 22:00 in the evening and its only for lights and charging phones at the bar. The campsites are also not private, but ablutions are close to all sites (there are much fewer sites at Trailblazers).

One big negative for us at Trailblazers is the fact that it is frequented by Overland Tour trucks with 20 passengers. When we camped there, there were two trucks who played loud music till late at night. The owners at Thakadu said that no overland trucks come to their campsite and we didn’t encounter any.

At Thakadu there is a big container fridge that makes a hell of a noise throughout the day and night but taking a campsite as far away from it as possible can make things better.

Thakadu as all-day slow WiFi, while Trailblazers only have WiFi when the generator is on, but it felt a bit faster. Both places’ WiFi is free.

The bar at Trailblazers is cheaper than at Thakadu, e.g. a can of Coke is only 10 Pula vs 16 Pula at Thakadu.

Thakadu is a wildlife reserve so game and birds are abundant. At the reception there is a pond where Kudu, Springbok and all kinds of other animals come to drink. Trailblazers is in a spot between potato fields (not visible from campsites, but it’s not a wildlife reserve).”

We stayed for two nights just reading (Caro and Jaco), trying to work on the super slow WiFi (Hugo) and taking a dip in the ice cold swimming pool whenever it got too hot.