Early in June I had the enormous privilege of spending 9 days at and around Elephant Sands Lodge, located near Nata in north-eastern Botswana, participating in Gospel on Safari where I and eleven other believers spent time with our Creator and His Word in the most amazingly unspoiled natural surroundings. Without a question it was one of the most impactful experiences of my life and I am immensely grateful for and humbled by all that was revealed to us, both physically and spiritually.
Located just off the A33 main road linking Nata and Kasane, Elephant Sands offers accommodation and camping at the main lodge as well as a very comfortable bushcamp a few kilometers deeper into the bush. Both are unfenced and frequented by a wide range of wildlife day and night. The main lodge’s campsites and units, as well as the main building housing the swimming pool, restaurant, bar and curio shop, surrounds a waterhole that is supplied with pumped water and is a real magnet to elephants and a wide variety of birds. The bushcamp – Eco Lodge – has a plunge pool and 12 comfortable two-sleeper tents serviced from a large kitchen and open plan dining area that also overlooks a pump-fed waterhole.
Elephant Sands serves as an excellent base from which to explore the immense wilderness that surrounds it in all directions, and wildlife viewing is especially rewarding at and around many of the waterholes that are currently being provided with pumped water, seeing as Botswana is being hard hit by one of the worst droughts ever recorded in the country.
Our group spent three nights “wild camping” at one such waterhole, called Domtshetshu Pan, and I will tell you more about that experience in the next installment!

Wat ‘n wonderlike geleentheid! Om soveel mooi te sien – die wilde diere (en daardie lieflike sonopkoms) … dit maak ‘n mens nietig voor ons Skepper. Ek is natuurlik gaande oor jou olifant foto’s (wat ‘n pragtige dier) en die foto van die Cape Glossy Starling is net so mooi. “Wild camping” – klink na hope pret!
Om soveel vryheid te ervaar, so deel van die Skepping, en dan nog soveel tekens van Sy teenwoordigheid en liefde tasbaar te ervaar was ongelooflike, Corna.
So glad you had this experience! Being out in the beauty of creation is fuel for worship!
Thank you very much, Kathy. I pray that what I experienced and what was revealed to me in these 9 days will sustain me each and every day that remains for me on this earth.
You were very close to Heaven there, Dries.
No question about it, Tracy!
Wonderful photographs and what an amazing experience Dries! 😊
Thank you so much for the kind words! Amazing it certainly was in the true sense of the word.
DeWet, ek glo hierdie was van jou beste 9 dae ooit! Jou fotos getuig daarvan, en om saam met ñ groep mense te wees wat Vader se Woord intens opsoek, kon net n diepe vervulling teweeg gebring het.
Ongetwyfeld n ervaring wat ek my hele lewe lank aan sal vashou, Una
Remarkable and beautiful!! What an experience that must’ve been!
It was truly a blessing beyond comprehension!
Wow, Dries ek glo goed dat dit ‘n lewenslange indruk op jou gemaak het. Nie net die skoonheid van die natuur maar ook die een wees met jou Skepper. Dankie dat jy dit deel.
Dit was n enorme voorreg waarvoor ek nie eers my dankbaarheid in woorde kan uitdruk nie, Ineke.
Ek kan my indink dat dit jou diep geraak het.