5 Minutes with: Super Sande

Super by name, super by nature, and super by profession!

Super was born in Botswana, and has spent all of his 30 years in the bush. He helped build one of our favourite camps, Jack’s Camp, in 1993 and has remained in the Makgadikgadi ever since. He is a true specialist in this challenging and unique ecosystem.

Super has incredibly good tracking skills and eyesight like a meerkat’s – which combine to make him an expert on finding the Kalahari’s most elusive residents. There is nowhere on earth quite like the Makgadikgadi – and no one on earth who knows it better than Super.

What’s your full name?

“My full name is Super Sande.”

What do you love about your job?

“My job changes people’s lives. It gives people different experiences that become memories to last their lifetime. Those memories are the ones that drive them back to Africa.”

Where are you originally from?

“I come from a village called Senyawe in the North East of Botswana.”

What’s it like to guide in the Makgadikgadi?

“Makgadikgadi is a very challenging place to guide. It gives you time to think since there is not much around you when on the salt-pans. Populations of birds, zebras, and other species come in bigger numbers than most places – guests usually arrive not expecting much and they get blown away by this.”

Do you have a favourite camp?

“I like all places and also like guiding in all of the camps that I work.”

What’s been your favourite sighting so far?

“My best sighting so far was fighting lions. It was over a zebra kill. There were nine males in the park and three in each pride fought for two days and none of them got the food at the end. They were too busy fighting away and vultures and hyenas got a free meal.”

If you’d like to learn more about Jack’s Camp, the Makgadikgadi Pans and the great man Super Sande, watch the fantastic video produced by CCTV below:

We hope to welcome you to Botswana and the magnificent Makgadikgadi Pans one day soon!