Photography at Kubu Island - Landscapes and Astrophotography
The Kubu Island, situated in Botswana’s vast Makgadikgadi Pans, is an extraordinary destination for landscape and astrophotography. This remote area, surrounded by the sprawling Sowa Pan, offers a unique combination of ancient baobab trees and breathtaking night skies, making it a dream location for astrophotography and surreal landscapes. In this video, I take you on a journey through our two-day adventure at Kubu Island. The trip begins with a long drive from the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, navigating through sand and gravel roads. What seemed like a straightforward route soon turned into an unexpected challenge as we got lost in the wilderness near Orapa and Letlhakane. How not to get lost enroute Kubu : While traveling to Kubu from Khama (or from the A20), look for a town called Mmatshumo - from Mmatshumo, there is a marked gravel road leading to Kubu. We had Track4Africa and maps.me -both of which had incorrect routes that kept us going in loops in the wilderness around Orapa. We arrived at Kubu just around sunset, and started scouting for shots we could make at night. The island is not an island in the traditional sense but a granite rock formation in the middle of what was once an ancient lake, now a vast salt pan. The island has some of the largest baobab trees I’ve seen, some of which are over 2000 years old. The remote location offered some of the darkest skies we’ve ever experienced, perfect for creating star trails and nightscapes. Planning these shots was an intense process. We used apps ( sunsurveoyor and sunseeker) and to locate the Milky Way's position during the night and scheduled photos. We worked together to compose, light, and shoot the scenes. Tiring as the day was, it was rewarding and we were happy with the images we made The next morning, we returned to the spots we scouted the previous night to capture the soft morning hues and sunrise compositions. One of the highlights was photographing a lone baobab framed against the rising sun, with warm orange light bathing the surrounding granite rocks. As the sun climbed higher and the light grew harsh, we wrapped up the morning session and retreated to camp. We camped at the Gaing O community trust campsite (link : http://www.kubuisland.com/ ). The campsites are basic - this camp does not have ablutions or running water, so fill your water tanks up before heading towards Kubu.

