Kalahari Desert

One more night in Botswana and it was unique! The drive to the next camp was pretty short which was appreciated after the party the night before. When we turned off the tarmac road it was a couple of kilometres of sandy and bumpy road to the campsite itself. Even though it is winter the temperatures are hot! We estimated that it is at least high 30's which was starting to get up there.

As we entered the site we saw some rather cute little huts and a few shade shelters. Unfortunately all the shady spots had been taken by another truck and the huts had no windows. Most people decided to stay in the tents and we all crammed into the shade provided by one tree.

Jacques then gave us the local wildlife warnings. So far we have been used to looking out for Zebra, Lions, Elephants and even Pigs. Now we were told to keep an eyeout for Scorpions, Spiders and bugs. There was a really annoying fly which we were warned about. It is quite large and will try and crawl into ears and noses. Jacques told us that they were difficult to kill and to give anyone that had one of them a 'hearty slap'. I don't think we have ever been more paranoid!

We had been told that there was a swimming hole nearby and all of us decided to beat the heat with a swim. Surprisingly we didn't take Kwando (our truck) but all 19 of us piled into the back of a ute and the lady who owned the camp drove us to the swimming hole. It was an exciting trip with a few people having a rather unstable ride over the sandy tracks. About halfway along we got a flat tyre and the lady told Jacques and JP that they had to change it. A piece of cake for our experienced guides and we were back in the ute, hanging on tightly as we lurched along.

The swimming hole was not what we expected. It was a very deep square cut hole in the middle of the desert. There was a small shaded area and even a bush bathroom. Originally it had been a quarry and then the water started to seep in and filled it. The 3 metre leap in was off the cut rock on the side and the biggest surprise of all was how cold it was! The temperature turned a few people blue. The flies mentioned above followed us out there and in the end the only way to get rid of them is the catch them (not that difficult) and remove the heads. They didn't even drown, and some how managed to survive even if you trod on them!

After a couple of hours swimming we headed back to the campsite where we met some of the local Kalahari Bushmen and went through the bush with them. They took turns showing us what plants they used for food and medicine. Later that night we saw them perform some dancing for the other truck.

We feel that it is important to mention that Botswana has a strict 'foot and mouth' prevention program. Part of this is a Buffalo Fence that runs through the Delta and we could see it from the air during our flight. The other defences are random inspection points where at the least every person has to walk through disinfectant and do the same with our spare shoes. This happened at least 5 times. Only once did the officers insist on seeing our luggage and inspecting for other shoes and meat. Easier said then done for most people as our packs had been emptied into the lockers. A few of the packs were repeatedly shown to the officers. Luckily the guards weren't all that dedicated to the task, as if they had inspected the lockers themselves they would have found quite a few of them full and the odd bit of frozen meat as well.

Okavango Delta

The delta is probably the main highlight of Botswana for most people. The Okavango river begins in Angola and flows into Botswana where around 18.5 billion cubic metres of water spread out to form islands, lagoons and channels for 16,000 sqare kilometres. It is also promoted as the place to see hippos, in fact our Lonely Planet guidebook has a picture of 2 hippos from the delta on it cover. Needless to say, we were quite excited at the prospect of bushcamping on one of these everchanging islands.

Our transport from camp was by open sided truck. This time with 2 long bench seats the length of the tray. All our tents, food, water and daypacks were then stuffed under seats or on laps. The drive out to our launch point was around 45 min of very bumpy sandy road, and included a stop to drop the drivers wife at work!

When we arrived at the launch it was organised chaos. There were other groups there as well, although we're not sure if they were staying the night or just doing a day trip. Once we had divided into pairs we had to find a 'poler' and get our gear into the Mokoro (think canoe). A mokoro is the tradional way of navigating the delta. Usually the mokoro is made from the sausage tree, but the tree has to grow for 80 years before it is usable and then the boat only lasts 5years. Most of the mokoros we used were more modern fibreglass versions.
A quick stop for 2 people to change out of a leaky canoe.

Off we go...

In the canoe, we had our daypacks as backrests and sleeping mats to sit on. The 'poler' stood in the rear and poled (or punted) us to our camp. The water appeared to be about 1m deep although we were advised not to leave the canoe unless told it was safe be the poler. Hippos and crocodiles seemed to be the animals to look out for. We were lucky enough to see some elephants on the way out as well. It took about 3hr to travel around 1km but it was very relaxing to sit or lie back and watch the reed and lilies go past. The only annoyance was the baking sun and the tiny bugs that jumped off the reeds. Claire even managed to grab a quick nap along the way.

This was the lady that had all the tents and chairs

The halfway stop and yes Claire is asleep

The tent lady just kept on going!

On the island it was all hands on deck to unload the tents, all of which were on one canoe poled by a single lady! Once everything was on shore the males in the group were instructed to 'mark the territory'. Even though they weren't sure if the guides were joking or not, each male dutifully went and 'marked' a perimeter around the camp. The guides then told us that elephants had been in this exact clearing a few days ago. Somehow this didn't make us feel safe! An upturned mokoro became our bench for food prep and the next 24 hours were spent swimming, learning to pole, reading and going on safari.

Safari out here either happens on foot or in canoe. Since we had already spent 3 hours in the canoe we all voted for foot safari on the same island that we were camping on. I don't think anyone expected to see as much as we did. We were split into 3 groups and instructed to follow the leader at all times. There was a guide in front and at the rear. Within a few meters of the 'perimeter' we were shown different animal tracks and dung and we hadn't been walking for more then 20min when we saw Zebra and Wildebeest herds grazing, further along we saw Giraffe and could hear elephants. The island is one of the bigger ones in the area and we saw a couple of other groups walking as well.

The highlight of this safari was definitely sunset. Not only was it an amazing colour or red and orange, but a herd of buffalo were kind enough to put on a stampede for us. The sunrise safari didn't yield as many animals but we could see some elephants shaking trees, possibly a little closer then we would have liked.

Our guides sang for us around the fire

This elephant was in sight of our camp
Our time in the delta wasn't just restricted to floating on the water. We had opted for a scenic flight over the delta as well. There were 4 of us in each tiny plane and for about an hour we were shown the delta. The view was stunning and for as for as you could see there was water and islands. Whenever the pilot spotted animals he would bank quite sharply to give us a look, the only problem was trying to figure out what he had seen. Steve managed to get front seat so had the best view.

To finish our time at the delta we joined with the people from the small group tour and had a 'bin-bag' costume party. Neither of us were in the running for best dressed but we tried our best, Claire went as the southern cross and Steve was a blackboard.

A herd of elephants on the move between islands

One lone animal

KWANDO - the new truck

It is time to leave Zambia and we started our last day by joining our new tour group. The eight of us continuing to Cape Town have joined 3 people that started their trip in Johannesburg, plus another 6 people just starting out. There is a more international flavour to this truck with 2 Germans, and 2 Dutch adding to the mainly English group. Our new tour leader and driver (Jacques & JP) are both South African and set about explaining how the truck works. First things first, girls are not to lift anything heavy! Good news for Claire, bad news for Steve who is put in the 'dog's body' group for the next 3 weeks. The rest of us rotated through the standard cooking/washing/cleaning duties as before.

Before leaving for the border we took the opportunity to also visit the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. Unlike in Zimbabwe where we were able to see the face of the falls, from Zambia we were able to look down the length of them. We had heard that you could almost walk along the top of them but when we tried, there was an armed guard preventing us. Back on the truck we headed on towards the border.
Zimbabwe is on the left side
Wise words!
The bridge that spans Zambia (left) to Zimbabwe (right)

This border is actually a river crossing where the Zambezi River meets the Chobe River. While crossing you can actually see four countries, Zambia to the north (behind us), Botswana to the south (ahead of us), Namibia to the west, and Zimbabwe to the east. If we had been on foot the crossing would have only taken around 30min but it took over an hour for the truck to make it across. The other side is literally river bank so we waited in the shade of trees until JP and Kwando arrived. At camp there were 2 other Acacia tours there. Our old truck (Limpopo) was continuing down to Johannesburg with the 3 remaining people, as well as a small group tour that was also making its way down to Johannesburg. This was the last time that we would see Fiona and Blessed, but we would travel alongside the small group for another couple of days. This particular camp site (Thebe River Safari) had been recently flooded and was in the final stages of rebuilding the pool and bar that a wayward Hippo had destroyed.

Up very early the next morning for a sunrise game drive in Chobe National Park. Unlike the game drives in Kenya and Tanzania the group stayed together in an open sided vehicle with bench seats. A couple of other peolple from the camp site joined us, so we had about 25 on vehicle. It was freezing! The windchill kicked in as soon as we started driving and it was at least an hour or so before we felt any heat from the sun. We were very jealous of some of the other groups going in that had blankets with them. Once in the park we headed straight for the river and found a large herd of Hippo. It was nice to see them a bit more active then those we have already seen. The remainder of the drive was uneventful. We saw lots of evidence of animals but none of them in person. We were quite relieved to return to camp and warmth, expecially as JP had cooked French Toast for us!

We think these are Rock Dussies. Whatever they are they are very cute.

That afternoon, we headed back to the river for a sunset safari cruise. It was with relief that we saw quite a variety of animals, including birds, crocodiles, giraffes, monkeys, buffalo and of course hippo. Finally we saw some hippos out of the water and they capture alot of photo time as everyone tried for the 'yawn'. Sunset topped off a great afternoon on the water.

Believe it not but this is the moon. We've never seen it so big or orange!

The following morning it was up at the crack of dawn again. This time it was for a 9hr day of driving down to Maun, and the Okavango Delta. Alot of that time was spent on a 100km stretch of 'road' that was ridiculously potholed. JP had a go at driving on both sides as well as the shoulders but nothing made it any smoother. At a supermarket stop Claire discovered the Botswanan version of Lamingtons. Naturally she bought it and the comment was 'I am sure it would have tasted great the day it was made'. Apparently it was rather stale.