Afrikan Overlanding redefines adventure
The Afrikan Overlanding family was brought together by the members' love for wildlife, outdoors and nature. A refreshing, and very enlightening crew, every time that the members depart for an adventure, you are rest assured that there is going to be some behind the scenes drama.
Fans of the Afrikan Overlanding crew, are always eager to hear what the many characters who form part of this group got up to during their countless and colourful excursions. The group was established by different circles of friends, and today it boasts of 17 members, all men, about that part later. One of the things that keeps many of the followers of the AO crew glued to the page is diversity in terms of the characters that make up this outfit. Everyone in the group is bringing something either in terms of talent, or character in how they relate and bring life to the whole group. Batho Motlhake, AO Spokesperson explains that one of the things that they were blessed with is great content creation by their members. They have great cooks, wine enthusiasts, steak lovers, qualified guides, writers, photographers and cinematographers.
“It is always a fun affair hanging out with the boys with all the banter and jokes. Zola is what I would like to call, our resident cook. The man loves steaks so much that he even has a page called Steak Whisperer BW on Instagram. I can’t talk about myself really, but if you visit our page our writers do post some stuff there every now and then. GSK is the serious dude who is always grumpy about time keeping and keeping track of action items and the to-do-list. Mmoloki sleeps at every opportunity he gets 'kana re lapile ke botshelo jwa teropo', he would say!” he explains.
This is the colour that all AO fans love to hear about. Motlhake shares with Style how this group started, and the direction that it is taking. He starts of by explaining that it all started during lockdown. When the regulations were relaxed, they couldn’t wait to do something as simple as a young drive into the bush, pulled out some meat and had a barbeque. Later that day during curfew, a WhatsApp group was formed, and the conversation grew from there. And the rest as they say is history.
Today, the group is something different from what they had imagined it to be when they started back in 2020, and it is interesting and beautiful to see how it continues to morph itself into this beautiful creature while they just watch in awe. He explains that the whole idea behind the group is to afford them a platform where they can take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city life by going to the bush to recharge. “What a better way to recharge than to visit the length and breadth of your own country, capturing stories and creating memories! Tourism is not just about flora and fauna, which we are blessed with, but also about the fun you can have in those destinations. We wanted to reimagine local tourism in our own special way,” he explains.
This reimagining local tourism in their special way is something that is winning them hearts, and following on social media, and most importantly, it is attracting local companies to join them as partners. According to Motlhake, the group comprises of 17 members. In the beginning membership was open but after a while it had to be capped so as to keep the group manageable, so membership is currently closed, he says. This means that those who might be dreaming about wearing their very own branded AO special t-shirt will have to wait for now.
Now for the most important question, is it by choice that the group only consists of men. He laughs off this question. “Like I said, the group was formed by different circles of friends coming together, so by design, it was always going to be male dominated. The issue of inclusivity has been brought up several times, and we have plans to address it, but bear in mind that a huge part of the success of the outfit leaned upon the already existing friendships within the group,” he says. Painting a picture of how they settle on places to explore, he states that at the beginning of each year they sit down to meticulously plan.
Other times, they make a toss, but obviously they would want to visit places they have never explored. Botswana has great camping sites which are very affordable to those who find themselves interested in such places, he explains. In their group, he points out that they have the steering committee and other supporting committees that run specific roles like merchandise, finance and media. “Each committee already knows what to do when a trip comes.
Preparations are always ongoing from the moment we decide on the destinations, for example, you have to book a campsite months before your planned dates to avoid disappointment,” he says. Something that keeps the group alive is that with every adventure, you will never know what will happen. This, he says is the fun part about Overlanding, as you just never know what might be lurking around the corner. He emphasizes that Wildlife is no child’s play, and that the golden rule when it comes to wildlife and being at places such as CKGR where they are heading in a few days is that you need to respect the bush, to stay safe.
“There is what we call ‘bush etiquette’ that needs to be upheld at all times. Keep noise minimal, have a well-lit camp at night, no music, observe, don’t get out of a car in the bush...among others. We have a trained and qualified guide in Afrika, he graduated last year,” he notes.
On average, in a year, they undertake three main trips where they go out into the bush as a group. In between these, they have other national calendar events that they attend like the Makgadikgadi Epic and Khawa Dune Challenge. On top of these, they also have their own intimate events where they invite their kids and partners for young sessions at nearby tourist destinations like Mogonye Gorge and Matsieng.
The biggest lessons that they want locals to take from their adventures is simply that Botswana is a beautiful country with great sights to behold, and calls on locals to go out there with their group of friends and create memories as they enjoy many of these places. So, what does the future look like for them. Well, their plan is to keep stretching this Afrikan Overlanding brand and testing its limits! Most importantly, they have experienced several brands, corporate and media show interest in what they do.
“The idea is to get to partner and collaborate with anyone who would add value to this brand we are growing. Even the President, HE MEK Masisi once summoned us to the VIP Marquee at Makgadikgadi Epic to tell us how proud he is of our efforts, that sell the beauty of our country,” he passionately says.