Bathing in dust at the Kalahari-Mantshwabisi

When a part of a country turns into one large picnic area, it means something significant is happening. Everyone I talked to were talking about the big race, Mantshwabisi. I had no idea what the race was about or ever heard of it in the U.S. The 1000 km Kalahari Desert Race, which is held every year in the south African country, is undoubtedly the most popular sporting event in Botswana. It forms part of the inaugural Dakar Challenge. The Dakar Rally is an annual off-road race event, which used to take place from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. In the past years, the race has been taking place in South America (If you enjoyed that, you may like this too)The Kalahari Desert Race, though, was sensational to watch. It's nicknamed Mantshwabisi in Botswana, after a village in the Kweneng District where the race track passes through. The race takes place on a route that involves different types of tracks, riverbeds, thick sand, and some areas of the Kalahari. Spectators spent the entire weekend of the race 22nd-24th June chasing after cars, waiting hours at the stop-points for the cars to arrive, stop-point hopping, and camping at nights under the clear night sky in the wilderness. People save up their money and prepare for months for this event. The actual race started on a chilly Saturday morning, with thousands of spectators, me amongst them cheering on as 4x4 trucks and sand-masters battled through the 500km terrain for the day. The 1000km trek would be covered in two days on different routes, with 500 km covered each day. I attended the race both days. The family I came with to the race were stop-point hopping to catch the vehicles pass closer and where there were less people. We got to three stop-points that day with one close to the starting line, the other in the middle and the last closer to the finish line. There were a total of 14 stop-points. We set camp on the last stop-point. Along our way, we saw locals literally on tress and families preparing meals, and it was our turn to bbq, or "braai" as Batswana would call it, some quality steaks. Trust me guys! if you want to taste real beef or game meat without any hormones or additives we see in the U.S., you need to visit Botswana! The demand for African beef is so high that Botswana exports its beef to the E.U. 

"Braaing"some quality food

I got really close to the motor vehicles that passed by. If the race driver were to commit a mistake, this post would be unlikely. I managed to get some cool photos and you know where to check them out! Every time a  truck or sand truck would pass by, a wave of dust would blind every living soul in the vicinity. Surely, all I inhaled was dust. I wont be surprised if the grilled food I ate was marinated with some silica. Regardless, the food was delicious while I bathed in dust at the Kalahari.

Sand Storm!

Toyota won the race, while also taking up the runner up position. With this win, the winner will gain automatic entry into the much awaited Dakar Rally in January 2013. 

Toyota Hilux in the lead