Hundreds of 4x4s tackle Botswana’s park roads each month and with careful driving you shouldn’t have any problems. It always helps to travel on convoy, but it’s not strictly necessary if you treat the conditions with respect. If you’re even slightly uncomfortable, it’s best to turn back or go around, and be especially wary of deep water crossings – a flooded vehicle is very hard to extract. In mud and sand, you’ll need to run low tyre pressures – between 1 and 1.5 bar is usually about right. Anything below 1 bar and you risk popping the tyre off the rim and at these pressures the rim has limited protection so be sure to drive carefully. You’ll need a portable air compressor to inflate and deflate your tyres as conditions change. Before tackling any deep sand or mud, first engage 4WD, pick an appropriate low gear, and then maintain that gear and speed steadily through the difficult section. If you do have to stop, take the power off immediately and roll backwards a few metres first before moving forward again. It’s never a good idea to step on the gas and hope. That’s a sure way to dig yourself in deeper.