Day 1 - 09/09/2010.
Well, at long last, we finally had no more sleeps until Botswana! We have been looking forward to this for months. Malcolm arrived from Sydney on Monday and has spent a few days with us acclimatising, here in Jozi. So far so good.
We departed at just after 10am and headed for Martins Drift, which is the border crossing between South Africa and Botswana, about 5 hours drive from Johannesburg.
The three of us shared the driving and the trip was pretty uneventful, with a stop at Mokopane, which used to be called Potgietersrus in the old South Africa.
We arrived at Martins Drift at around 15:00 and had a relatively easy transition through immigration and customs and then a short drive across the Limpopo River and into Botswana. Lordy, we had made it!
Just this side of the border, there is a lodge called Kwa Nokeng. Neither of us fancied sleeping in a tent that night, so the 3 of us booked into a chalet.
Day 2 - 10/09/2010.
We all had a bit of a rough night seeing as we had picked up a 'flu bug over the last few days. Malcolm was up first, taking pictures of the Botswanan sunrise. We all mucked in and brewed some tea, boiled eggs and made toast. We then quickly packed up and headed off to Maun and the base of the Okavango Delta, 726km north of Martin's Drift.
On the way, we stopped at the Khama Rhino Reserve, which was established in 1986 to rear Rhinos in the midst of a Rhino poaching crisis. Unfortunately, these were the only Rhinos we were to see on our trip. They are not so abundant in the National Parks of Botswana. We drove around the reserve for an hour or so. We managed to spot around 3 White Rhinos. After a quick lunch in their huge but mostly empty cafeteria, we head off north to Maun again.
Seeing as it was a long drive to Maun, we tried to find somewhere to camp for the night. Alas, campsites proved to be quite elusive. Ruth was concerned about us driving through the night, seeing as the roads were swarming with cattle and donkeys. Ruth had visions of our accident a few weeks prior and really didn't want to have a head-on with a cow or donkey. We did come across a 'Motel', which I thought was more a brothel than anything, but after some negotiating, it turned out that they would only accept cash in Botswanan Pula, which we had none of anyway, so we promptly drove on.
Malcolm took the wheel when darkness fell. I was still quite ill, so I slept on the backseat of the Hilux. Around 20:50, we arrived in Maun, all tired and grumpy. Thankfully due to Malcolm's driving, we did not run into any of the said donkeys or cattle! After a quick search, we found a really good campsite within the grounds of the Sedia Hotel. We found a good spot, quickly put up the tents and promptly hit the sack…
Our first attempt at putting up the tents was in the dark. This proved to be a great test. Nonetheless, within 10 minutes, we were ready to rock and roll…..
Day 3 - 11/09/2010.
Up and at 'em at 6am. We were duly rested and I felt a bit better than I did the day before. It was already warm at 6am and very, very dry and dusty. We once again boiled some water for tea, boiled some eggs and burnt some toast on the gas cooker…….ahhhh, camping life….nothing better.
Seeing as Ruth and I had previously booked and paid for our camping fees, we needed to add Malcolm to our passenger manifest. With our 4x4 vehicle, the tents are on the roof, so we had to pack up everything first and head off into town to find our booking agents. We first found the Department of Parks and Wildlife as we needed to get our park entry permits which were not cheap for the 6 days. 2400 Botswanan Pula (which means 'rain' incidentaly), (USD$350) for the vehicle and 3 pax for 6 days. Camping fees are around ZAR 250 per person per night as well. It is a way of keeping the brandy and coke swilling South African campers away from Botswana. The Botswanans are trying to attract the Americans and Europeans to stay in the luxury lodges. Not many South Africans would pay ZAR 250 per person to camp! But then again, this is Botswana and we were headed for adventure….
We managed to find the booking agents with not too much fuss. Malcolm paid his fees and he was added to our sites…..sorted.
We then headed for the supermarket to get in some last minute groceries. We filled the diesel tank again and then headed back to the campsite for some R&R…..
Didn't do too much that afternoon apart from sit around the hotel pool and eat a spot of lunch. The campsite was situated on the banks of the Thamalakane river, so Malcolm and I took a stroll to go and check it out. We weren't all that hungry for dinner, so we gave it a miss. We once again had an early night as tomorrow, we were headed off to the Moremi National Park. This is what we had been waiting for….some real 4x4 offroading!
Day 4 - 12/09/2010.
Once again a 6am wakeup call from Mother Nature….. This is becoming pretty routine now. Wake up. A quick wash and tooth brushing session and then preparation for breakfast. Malcolm has established a routine of climbing down from his tent and putting the kettle on. I should have called him Polly…….
We packed up camp quick smart shortly after breakfast and then hit the road for the Moremi National Park. I took the wheel seeing as I hadn't driven much the last two days. The short drive out of town took us to a dirt road, which we stayed on for roughly 2 hours before arriving at South Gate, the closest entry gate to the park from Maun. After presenting our permits to the officers at the gate, we jumped in the vehicle and entered the park… Man, this was a great feeling. The last few months preparation was for this. My wife, my best friend, a sturdy 4x4, and all the camping gear we could eat!
For photos of the Moremi National Park, please click on the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dlivens/BotswanaMoremiNationalPark
The roads in the park are all sand. Some of them quite deep sand, which we weren't to experience until a few days time.
We stopped for tea next to a large waterhole, hoping to see some wildlife. I felt a bit exposed getting out of the vehicle in the middle of the park. It kind of felt like we had Lions checking us out from a distance!
Our first destination was a camp called Third Bridge. This is a very well known campsite amongst the self-drive fraternity. We were going to spend two nights there.
After an hour or so, Malcolm took over the helm and we shortly came across First Bridge. Well, it used to be a bridge, now it is just a river crossing. We have all been looking forward to the water crossings. Seeing as none of us had encountered water or severe offroading before, this was going to be exciting. There were a few vehicles in front of us. As the vehicles passed through the water, we had a horde of photographers snapping away at the vehicles. Malcolm was next and did the water crossing with gusto! Hence, we lost the front number plate at crossing one! Apparently it is commonplace for vehicles to lose their number plates on water crossings and thus we came across numerous vehicles without them…..
Next was second bridge and Malcolm was still at the wheel. This was not so deep and quite a short crossing, but was keenly negotiated by our Mal……..
We didn't see too much wildlife on the drive, apart from a lot of Gazelles or Impalas. We did come across a family of Giraffe, with Mum, Dad and two youngsters.
Around about 16:00 we eventually came across the entrance to Third Bridge campsite. We showed our papers and were promptly allocated a campsite. Our first warnings were of the Baboons, which were numerous in this campsite. We were also warned not to venture to the ablution block after dark, seeing as there were no fences around the campsite and that wild beasts frequently pass through the campsite at night, namely Lions and Hyenas….
Whilst we were setting up camp a huge troop or congress of Baboons marched through and climbed into a huge tree nearby. Luckily we had been allocated a site not under any trees. One of our funniest recollections of staying here was one of the campsite officials running from the main gate armed with a whirling broom shouting 'Bad Baboons, Bad Baboons'. The Baboons promptly fled in fear from this broom wielding madman….. Children under 12 are not permitted within these campsites and now we knew why. Maybe because of this madman….who knows????
Anyway, tonight we were going to have our first braai. We should have had one long ago, but none of us had much of an appetite for meat and alcohol. Tonight was a celebration. T-Bones were on the menu. We had been talking about T-Bone steaks for the last few days. Every time Malcolm and I go away camping in Australia, T-bones are always on the menu. T-bones and beer. Ruth rustled up the mandatory salad and Malcolm rolled up the potatoes in tin-foil for jacket potatoes. Sometimes I wonder what good I had done in my previous lifetime to deserve a wonderful and privileged life this time around….
In the night we could hear Lions roaring in the distance. TIA, This is Africa……
Day 5 - 13/09/2010.
Every time one reads about things to do in Botswana, the Okavango Delta is always first, followed by a 'Mokoro' ride (long, slim, canoe like boat for two guests, propelled by a 'Poler'), along the many waterways of the Delta. This is what was on our agenda for the day.
Ruth was our designated driver to the Mboma boat station. On the way, we had another water crossing. Ruth was in charge of this one and she skilfully tackled the obstacle like an old pro. Bah, there is nothing to this 4x4 malarkey!
At the Mboma boat station, luckily we met some South Africans (presently living in Adelaide, Australia), who were 3 people as well, so Malcolm teamed up with one of the women seeing as the Mokoro's take two people. We had to wait a while as the boats were already out and we needed 3 of them for our needs. In the meantime we had a good chat amongst the 6 of us and shared our experiences together of Botswana so far.
When we had 3 mokoros return from their trips, we all jumped in two by two and away we went. Travelling by mokoro is an extremely relaxing experience. The 'Polers' were very savvy about the Okavango Delta. They were quick to spot little frogs and insects nestled amongst the reeds and vegetation. Reminded me of a line from 'Watership Down'. Ratty said, "Believe me my young friend, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, quite so nice as simply messing about in boats".
Softly, quietly gliding through the water under African sun really unwinds one. It took me until now to start to really relax. I took loads of photos and then gave Malcolm my camera so he could take some photos of Ruth and I.
After 40 minutes or so, we climbed out on an island for a quick talk about the Delta and it's surrounds, after which we climbed back into the mokoros and headed back. When we arrived back at the Mboma boat station, we had an impromptu lunch and then drove back to Third Bridge campsite. On the way back, we bypassed the campsite and found the actual Third Bridge. This time it was a bridge made of logs lashed together.
We arrived back at Third Bridge campsite late afternoon and set up camp again at our site. I was sitting in a camp chair pondering our day's events with a cold beer in my hand, when I heard rustling in the bushes behind me. I turned around only to see an Elephant slowly making his way towards us. Lordy, I jumped out of my chair in a hurry! Malcolm started laughing and we both went for our cameras. Malcolm was filming the juvenile Elephant and his comments were that the Elephant looked quite safe until it started flapping it's ears and aggressively making his way towards Mal. To which Malcolm's reply was 'Maybe not!
The ablution block had hot water, which was heated by two solar panels behind the block. Ruth came back from the ablutions laughing her head off. She said she was watching baby Baboons using the solar panels as a slide!
The braai was lit and lamb chops were on the menu tonight (with the ubiquitous Ruth salad…), oh, and of course beer…..mmmmmmmm.
Day 6 - 14/09/2010.
Today, we were heading for North Gate camp, also know as Khwai. We were told this area is Lion country and we were keen as mustard to find them…
Ruth was at the wheel first up. Leaving Third Bridge means crossing the actual Third Bridge. This time the bridge was in tact. We crossed over the bridge and it wasn't long before we came a herd of Elephants. Man, these are such beautiful, graceful creatures. The further north we went, the more Elephants we were seeing.
We came across a waterhole with plenty of Nyalas and Impala milling around, after which we bumped into two guys who looked like they were wildlife film makers who told us there were Lions up the road further. After getting a bit lost and not finding the Lions, we found the road that led to North Gate again and proceded to head that way. We once again stopped for tea alongside a dried up waterhole and once again Ruth went wandering. This always made me a bit edgy, Ruth's wanderings. These parks had a fair amount of Lions in them, even though we hadn't seen any yet. They could have been sleeping in any bush not far from us. I kept thinking "What am I going to tell Shirley (Ruth's Mum)"….. How would I tell Shirley that Ruth had ended up as a Lion's lunch!
After tea, Malcolm took the wheel and we then drove to the Hippo pools. Hopefully we would see, well……Hippos. When we arrived at the Hippo pools, Malcolm shouted…"Hippo". Lo and behold, there they were, about 3 of them close to shore wading in the reeds. There was a great viewing platform which we climbed. I the pools, there were other Hippos too, but quite far out.
After a couple of hours further towards North Gate, we took a detour that led us to a huge waterhole. There in the distance Malcolm (yes, bloody Malcolm again) spotted a crocodile swimming. It was a bit far away to take any pictures. We also saw a couple of Pied Kingfishers plunging into the water.
Shortly after, we got to North Gate campsite. Checked in and found our site. We didn't set up camp straight away seeing as it was only around 15:00 and we wanted to go for another game drive before setting up camp.
Around 4'ish, we set out back to the waterhole, but after 5 minutes drive, we came across a couple of safari vehicles. We drove closer to them and were trying to figure out what they were looking at. All of a sudden, I spotted a Lion laying down under a tree. We drove a bit closer and then I shot him……..with my camera. Aftera a while we drove on slowly. Malcolm then spotted another Lion, but he was partially hidden in the bush. Well, we had spotted our Lion at last…….
We drove back to the campsite and put up our tents and lit the braai. Before long, we heard rustling in the bushes again. This time a very confident Honey Badger made his way through our site. He didn't seem too fussed about Human Beings. Not sure if I have seen Honey Badgers before in the wild, but he was a prime example….
Day 7 - 15/09/2010.
This morning whilst having breakfast, we heard a huge commotion in the bushes nearby. Antelope were running everywhere. A little later, we heard from a German tourist that there was a Leopard attack. Not sure how she knew, but alas, it was a noisy affair!
Today we were heading to the Chobe National Park. We were scheduled to spend 3 nights there at Linyanti camp, Savuti camp and then back to Linyanti. We packed up after breakfast, I took the wheel and we headed off.
We met a German bloke from Nambia in Maun at the Department of Wildlife as we were paying for our park fees. Lo and behold, here he was in Khwai. He drove with us for ten minutes in his vehicle, as not far from the campsite was our first water crossing of the day. Lordy, it was like 50m across!
We got out and studied the water. Looked deep, but…..who knows? It was obviously passable as there were fresh tracks leading into the water. So…we all jumped back into the Hilux, bid farewell to our German friend and put the vehilce in Lo-range. Slowly, slowly across the river as not to create a wash that would end up under the bonnet. Wouldn't want to cut out halfway through…. Luckily the water didn't go more than halfway up the vehicle. Before we knew it, we were across. No dramas!
Looks like this was going to be a water day. After half an hour on the road, the road came to an abrupt end….more water, this time deep and wide. Luckily upstream, there were a couple of 4x4's crossing. We double-backed and found a side-road, leading to the crossing. The two vehicles we had seen just now, were gone. There were a couple of locals on the other side of the river. Two came over and directed us to keep far right of the crossing and stay close to a fallen tree in the middle of the river. Just to the left of the fallen tree was a DEEP hole and we wouldn't want to get stuck in it…
Ruth waded to the other side of the river whilst Malcolm directed my movements in the middle of the river. I had pulled too far right and had to back up in the river….not the best thing to do, but hey, I had to learn. Negotiating around the tree was easier the second time without getting stuck either. A short while later, I was across, to be greeted by the clapping locals. For their help, I gave the three of them a cold beer…..
On we plodded to Chobe. This was a long dusty road we headed along for around 60km. We made it to the gate at Chobe at 10:00am. At around 11:50, we stopped to brew some tea.
By 13:00, we had made it to Savuti camp. We still had another 33km to go to get to Linyati camp up north. This was going to take around 2 1/2 hours. We had heard that this is the most treacherous stretch of road yet. Deep sand, for miles and miles and lordy, it was getting hot.
For photos of the Chobe National Park, please click on the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dlivens/BotswanaChobeNationalPark
We crossed the Savuti river and headed on. After a quick teabreak, Ruth took over the wheel and she was going to take us to Linyanti. Her skills as a 4x4'ist were about to be tested.
It didn't take too long to hit the sand and boy was it thick. 1st gear all the way for 5km's. We did have a laugh, and Ruth loved every minute of it. Sliding all over the road, fighting to keep control of the steering wheel. Ruth made me proud as she drove her way onwards and upwards….
On the way, we caught up with the two vehicles that crossed the river before us earlier on. One of the vehicles was a Suzuki Grande Vitara, definitely NOT the kind of vehicle you want in this thick sand. Anyway, the road was narrow with thorn bushes each side. The Suzuki got stuck right in front of us. The 'Middelmannetjie' or the middle of the road was too high for the Suzuki…
Malcolm took the helm and managed to ease past him and onto a path running parallel to us. He drove up the road for a while not finding a path back on to our road. Anyway, Malcolm ended up getting stuck and a Landrover who was in convoy with the Suzuki had to pull us out. Seeing as Malcolm has just bought a Landrover back in Oz, he was quite pleased to keep telling me a Landrover rescued a Toyota! Bugger….
Eventually we made it to Linyati. Ruth was tired from the ordeal as it is quite nerve-wracking worrying about getting stuck in thick sand, especially since we were travelling alone.
We found our site and pitched camp. Man, oh, man, what an awesome site. Right on the banks of the Chobe river. Elephants were wandering through the camp once again.
The sun was going down over the Chobe River and what an amazing sunset it was. I took loads of photos. Ruth then lit the braai as she wanted to try her hand at it, seeing as I normally do the fire thing. Ruth braaied the meat to perfection too. Ah, what more could a man want. A beautiful wife, his best mate, beer, meat and the most amazing sunset!
Not sure if I have mentioned it before, but we were advised not to go to the ablution blocks at night. Ruth insisted that we took a walk to the block anyway. We took our torches and headed off on the 300 metre road. The Elephants were still in the bushes next to the road, busy breaking down trees to get to the leaves. It is quite frightening walking in the pitch dark. Lions and Leopards have extremely good eyesight at night and that is the time thaey hunt. There could have been anything lurking in the bushes next to the road. At least we could hear the Elephants…..
After a quick shower, we walked back to our site and jumped into bed. Tomorrow, we were heading off to Savuti Camp.
Seeing as Ruth and I love our hiking, this is a great place to do just that.....
What a beautiful Rose....
Below is the kind of sculptures I like...
Spare a candle Sir?
After taking numerous pictures of the tree, we went looking for rock art. We parked the Toyota after a short drive and climbed the hill. We found the rock paintings after a short while. These painting consisted of Eland and Elephant. On the way down from the hill, I came across a bees nest. After a short while, these bees got quite angry and physically attacked me. Luckily I didn't get stung, but they were very aggressive.
After we climbed down from the hill, another 4x4 pulled up on the dirt-road. Three women were in the vehicle and told us that there were Lions spotted nearby earlier on! Lordy, I am glad we didn't meet up with the said Lions.
Finishing our lunch, we headed back to the Savuti campsite. After setting up the tents, an inquisitive bull Elephant approached us. Ruth was reading in one of the rooftop tents. Malcolm and I stayed very quiet and watched the Elephant approach us. He came right up close to the vehicle, had a sniff around and then started moving away. Ruth was watching him from the tent and he passed by only inches away from Ruth. I don't think he could see her as Ruth had the mosquito net down. We joked that the Elephants eyelashes nearly poked Ruth in the eye!
Heading north, we left Savuti camp towards Ghoha North Gate. This was quite a sad occasion, seeing as we were leaving the National Parks behind. We have had such a wonderful time so far, a truly African experience.
After we exited the park, the road didn't change much at all. A long sandy trip until we hit the 'main' road. The main road turned out to be a 100m wide……sandy road. We threw a right turn to the east and headed towards Kasane, close to Kazungula. Lordy, it was a like a sand highway. We saw only one vehicle on the way to Kasane. We were wondering as to why the road had to be so wide. Anyway, every now and then, we had to pass a tree or two in the middle of the road. It seemed to go on and on and on, sand road into the horizon. A couple of hours later, we stopped for a tea break and change of driver.
In the meantime, Ruth had wandered off somewhere. After a short while, a couple of concerned locals came running over to Malcolm and myself. They were quite agitated and they told me the 'White lady' has walked to Zimbabwe and she will get arrested by the Zimbabweans….??? Seeing as Zimbabwe was only about 10 metres from where we were, with no visible fences, Ruth wasn't the wiser. Anyway, I ran over and shouted for Ruth to come back as she was an illegal immigrant in Zimbabwe. Man, we laughed about this for the rest of the trip. I suppose we will never forget it….. Apparently the fence has been destroyed by Elephants, probably many years ago..
On the other side, in Zambia, we went through the standard beaurocratic waltz to get all our paperwork in order. Man, this was crazy. Then again as I said before, TIA.
During our skid, we connected with the gutter that runs down the middle of the grass verge. This ripped the front left wheel off and then we preceded to roll over. All I can remember is shouting 'Ruth', 'Ruth', and then grabbing her and pulling her towards me. The roll itself was quite frightening as it was just a mass of dust and broken glass. The feeling of being flipped upside down is very disconcerting to say the least! Fortunately we only rolled once and landed back on the wheels.
