Maun to Bela Bela

Thursday 3 October

We woke up this morning to find our toothpaste eaten (and the soap nibbled).  A little tree mouse has been visiting our room each night, finding things to have a taste of.  Night 1 some crackers we’d left in the room went.  Night 2 it was the matches.  Luckily he hasn’t got into the cables or any serious stuff.

We’re leaving Maun today, but before we do there are a few quick errands we need to run.  Or so we think.  Nothing is quick around here.  Even when we’re the only two at breakfast it takes a good half hour for poached eggs.  We’ve got to get to the Post Office this morning, so that’s our first call.  The queue is vast and chaotic.  I tell Nick to leave me there while he picks up the rest of the things we need.  40 minutes later he comes back to find I’ve moved forward about 5 places.  Eventually, after an hour and twenty minutes, we manage to get our letter posted.

We leave Maun feeling a bit hot and bothered.  We’re headed for Nxai Pan – it’s only about an hour and a half away and it’s tarred all the way, so we clear the gates just in time for lunch. 

The actual pan is still a drive away and this is one of the worst roads we’ve encountered.  It’s rutted and sandy and we find ourselves swerving all over the road.  Nick acts like he’s not enjoying it, but he is a boy and I’ve been told that this sort of thing is fun for them.

Once we arrive at the pan the roads firm up and we coast along.  The landscape is flat and scrubby, with heat haze blurring the horizons.  We spend a bit of time driving around, but there’s not a whole lot of game about – some ostrich, vultures, springbok, the odd zebra and wildebeest.

Our campsite is, unfortunately, back down that atrocious road so we decide to get going.  It’s probably a good thing, because we end up horribly lost.  We know we’re camping at Baines Baobabs.  These are easy enough to find, rising majestically as they do in the middle of the salt flats. 

Where to next is the problem.  After we spend some time circling the pan we eventually spot a Good Samaritan who is able to point us in the right direction.

Our campsite, when we find it, is gorgeous.  It’s in the middle of nowhere, under 3 baobab trees just on the edge of the pan. 

There’s a bucket shower and a pit toilet.  It’s meant to be a shared site but as the night moves on it becomes clear that we’ve got this magic place all to ourselves.  We get the fire lit, take in the sunset and watch the stars come out.

Janet adds: we had our second bumpy road incident today: the bottle of oil that we had in one of our food boxes shattered, spilling oil all over the back of the car.  A serious amount of our beer time was spent trying to clean up…

Friday 4 October

We wake up with the dawn in our own little slice of the world.  We’re not in a massive hurry to get going, so we light a fire to keep off the morning chill and to warm some water for tea and bucket showers.

The showers work a treat, but there is a fierce wind blowing through the pan that hurries us along.  We can’t face another trip up the sandy, sandy road to Nxai Pan itself, so instead we retrace our route to the park gates.  It’s a ‘transit’ day for us today, but as we don’t have too much ground to cover we decide to take the scenic route through Makgadikgadi Pan.  I have to chuckle to myself: as we enter the park the ranger asks us if we saw in lions at Nxai and was very surprised when we said we hadn’t.  I can’t help wondering how many eyes were on us in our little campsite in the middle of nowhere.

Makgidikgadi Pan is a little bushier than Nxai, but it has the Boreti River flowing down its western border, so there is more water too.  It doesn’t take long before we start spotting animals - steenbok and kudu mainly – and white skeletons lie eerily strewn across the sand.

Within an hour or so we’ve hit the river itself and there’s an explosion of life: elephants, wildebeest, zebra and impalas. 

No doubt some predators are around too, but as usual they’re good at going incognito.  We spend a bit of time driving up and down whilst Nick has a little go at testing the car’s ability (and I clench my teeth).

After a quick stop for lunch we exit the park without mishap.  To get back on the road we’ve got to cross the Boreti River.  We’re told there’s a car ferry across that is ‘always waiting’.  As we get to the river front we see what appears to be a homemade, 1 car sized pontoon.  There’s a motorboat engine on each side from which it can be piloted.  The only problem is that it’s on the far side of the river and no one seems to be making any effort to get it across.  A couple of local lads are waiting to hitch a ride over on foot, so we figure it must be coming eventually.  We recline our chairs and have a little doze while we’re waiting.  Before too long the pilot wanders back, sees us waiting and fires up the ferry.  

Over on our side he’s very apologetic: he’d disappeared to help a group of tourists who were kayaking through.  He guides us  through the shallow water on to the ferry and putts us across smoothly.  On the other side we pay our cash, get handed a receipt and are on our way.

It’s an hour or so on a tarred road down to Rakops where we’re planning to spend the night.  We’re heading into the Central Kalahari tomorrow and this is the most convenient town to access the park from.  We’ve tried to book a campsite, but we’ve only been able to find one camping spot and our booking requests have gone ignored.  When we arrive we find the gates closed and the place looking deserted.  It’s not locked though, so we let ourselves in and wonder around until we find someone.  Yes, they do have campsites and they’re quite happy to show us around.  It appears we have the place to ourselves, so we choose the shady spot near the toilets.

The next step is to blast into town to pick up supplies for the next few days.  We’re pretty sure this is a decent sized town and bound to have a supermarket.  Wrong.  It’s a dusty, one street town with a few backstreet bars and the odd convenience store/take-away.  We’re in a bit of a pickle: as we passed through a veterinary fence on the way from Maun we couldn’t stock up on fresh food there, but there is no food (fresh or otherwise) here.  We need to be completely self-sufficient for the next 3 days though, so we’re going to have to cobble something together.  We scour the handful of shops and manage to come up with some drinking water, a few tins of beans and a handful of potatoes.  A bar sells us some beer and a take-away shop some bread buns.  It’s far from appetizing, but it will have to do.  I’m now also running dangerously low on cash as nowhere takes cards and we’ve had a few unexpected expenses along the way (like the ferry!).  Fingers crossed the petrol station will take a card.

A little concerned we head back to make camp and scratch together an unappealing meal.  A local cat wanders over for a bit of attention, but isn’t too impressed by what’s cooking.

Saturday 5 October

We wake up to the worst mosquito infestation we’ve ever seen.  Clouds of them swarm up from everywhere.   Luckily they seem to be the lazy, not that hungry sort, but we both kill dozens of them trying to get dressed.  Every time we open a car door they flood into the car and even though Nick burns mosquito coils in the car before we set off, we’re still chasing mosquitos round the car at 5pm.

We somehow manage breakfast without getting bitten to death and our little cat friend joins us again.  A quick trip into town confirms that the garage does indeed take cards.  Phew.

With that we set off towards the Central Kalahari.  It is the second biggest game reserve in the world and is roughly the size of Denmark.  With only a few sandy tracks crossing this vast expanse and probably about 25-30 campsites it is by far the most remote place we’ve travelled through.  Hence the need for self-sufficiency and lots of fuel!

The road is, of course, a sandy and rutted road, but we’re further slowed by the cows coming from the opposite direction.  We can’t blame them from using the road – it’s straight, clear and goes where they want to go.

In an hour or so we hit the park gates where we get checked in, pick up loads of useful information and say hello to the resident herd of kudu.  The going is slow at first and there is not much wildlife to be seen, but as we hit Deception Valley the horizons open up into vast, flat plains dotted with the odd tree. 

Springbok and Oryx start to appear, along with a lonely giraffe.

We’re enjoying the driving and the fact that there’s hardly another car to be seen (in total we see 4 other cars today), when we spot a car stopped by the side of the road.  Surely they’ve seen something.  There, under a tree just at the side of the road are two lions resting in the shade. 

We can’t be more than a few metres from them.  They certainly know we’re there, but (for now at least) don’t seem to bothered.  As the other car moves over we creep closer for some pictures.  They pose beautifully but we don’t want to disturb them too much, so we move on.

We reach a watering hole just in time for lunch.  There’s nothing too exciting going on but some Oryx are on hand for entertainment.  Our campsite is only 7km from here so we head over to take a look.  This is our first night in a wilderness camp.  It is, of course, unfenced.  It also has no facilities whatsoever.  No water, no toilet, no shower.  It’s simply a cleared patch of land in the middle of the Kalahari (the nearest campsite is about 15km away).  Perfect.

It’s too early (and too hot) to set up camp now, so instead we drive further down the road towards another watering hole.  It’s a bad idea, as the road is awful: rutted and bumpy – but also so narrow that we can’t even change our minds and turn around.  After an hour and a half we do find the watering hole and there are at least some signs of life: more springbok and Oryx, ostriches and some giant vultures.

We watch for a while and then face the terrible road back.  It’s now late afternoon, so we head back to our ‘local’ watering hole for one final look around.  It’s all still quiet.  Time to head back to our patch of ground.

We’ve just got the fire lit and the tent up as the sun goes down.  Almost immediately a chorus of chirruping insects fills the air.  We tuck into our beans on toast as the brilliant stars come out.  Here’s hoping any scary visitors wait until we’re in bed.

Sunday 6 October

We’d only planned to spend one night in the Central Kalahari, but somehow found ourselves booking two.  It’s a good thing, as it’s a wonderful place to explore.  Nothing scary visited us in the night (that we’re aware of) and we’re up early to spend a relaxed morning breaking camp.  We decide to start the day with a quick trip to the nearby watering hole where we’re rewarded with a pack of wild dogs relaxing in the shade, enjoying the fresh water and have cheeky goes at kudu that are way to big for them.

We spend a bit of time with them and then head off up the road.  Our route is taking us on a big loop across the northern Kalahari.  Last night we stayed on the bottom bit, tonight our campsite is on the top of the loop.  It’s a long way round and the road conditions are variable: sometimes blissfully smooth, sometimes belly-scramblingly bumpy.

A couple of hours into our drive we spot some big ears crouching in some bushes just off the road.  It’s our first sighting of bat eared foxes.  They look a little like raccoons but are very skittish and soon take off.

Not too long past them we spot a shape under a tree and stop for a closer look.  It’s a lioness spread out in the shade.  She’s not alone though, she has at least one little cub with her.  The cub is a little camera shy, but we watch mum and baby from the roof of the car (hoping daddy is not sneaking up behind us). 

Panning a little to the left we spot a giraffe, 10/15 meters from the lion.  We’re not sure if it’s frozen in terror or if it’s decided the lion is not a threat, but it watches for a while and then calmly carries on eating.

The rest of the drive flushes out a few more bat eared foxes, a jackal and the usual grazers (oryx and springbok).  We find an open spot to eat our lunch then continue on to a nearby watering hole.  It’s hot today – about 40 degrees – and all the animals seem to have taken refuge.  There are only a couple of ostriches on show.

From here it’s another bumpy 30km to our campsite.  We’re still in an unfenced camp (and once again we’re at least 15km from anything else), but this one is jazzed up with a bucket shower and pit toilet.  It’s set on the valley floor with panoramic views in all directions and although we’re not far off the road we don’t see another soul all afternoon.  In fact, we’ve only seen one other car all day today.  If only we were staying a little longer.

We relax in the shade while our water heats in the sun, then clean off in the shower.  We have sundowners on the roof of the car scanning for animals and then get our fire going.

Monday 7 October

We wake up to the most awesome sunrise this morning and find that the whole world is still ours (or so it seems). 

We once again have a leisurely morning breaking camp before starting our drive to the park gates.  There’s still plenty of time for game viewing this morning, so we keep our eyes peeled along the way.  It’s Nick’s lucky day today, as we come across this vicious honey badger digging for his dinner.  He’s not bothered about us spying on him at all, so we get to snap a few good pics.

Unfortunately that’s about as exciting as it gets this morning.  We see another honey badger, some oryx, springbok and a giraffe.  We also encounter plenty of bumpy, juddering roads, so we’re not too unhappy when we make it to the park gates at about lunchtime.  There’s still another 40km or so to go until we hit tar, so we best not feel smug too soon.

Back to reality and we’re a little stressed about our situation.  We still have no cash and no idea of where we’re spending the night, as we have no information on this section of Botswana.  We head down the road towards Mopipi, which we’ve been informed has an atm.  There is no atm, but the garage will, in theory, give you cash back.  Except that they don’t like the look of my cards because they have chips in them.  Oh well.  Still cashless we head further down the road to the next town, Orapa.  When we get there we find it isn’t a real town at all, but an entrance controlled miner’s village. Crap.  Back on the road we finally make it to Letlhakane, which rises like a mirage out of the desert.  There’s an atm (!), a superbly stocked Spar (!) and a pristine campsite (!).  There’s even wifi.  Perfect.  Before too long we’re settled in.  Although I’ve loved the wilderness camping it’s quite a treat to have electricity, running water and proper bathrooms – all brand new and sparklingly clean.

Just to top it all off, Nick has found two new friends (and he even put an extra sausage on the braai just for them).

Tuesday 8 October

Our doggies are waiting excitedly outside the tent for us to wake up this morning – we haven’t felt this loved in a long time.

We’d love to stay and bask in the luxury, but we make do with long, hot showers before we pack up and head off.  We’ve got one stop-off this morning: Nick is in need of a haircut.  In every town we’ve been through, there have been barbers set up at the side of the road.  Nick has finally decided that today is the day.  He finds a suitable spot and before too long he’s draped up and ready to go.  Seeing as how his stylist is equipped with only a set of clippers hooked up to a car battery he does a pretty good job.

Although we’ve been lucky enough to see loads of rhinos in Etosha, rhinos have been virtually poached out of existence in Botswana.  In the early 90s, a community decided to do something about it and formed the Khama Rhino Sanctuary.  At 4,300 hectares it’s more large farm sized than game reserve sized, but it is an important sanctuary and safe breeding centre for both white and black rhinos.  Since it’s inception the sanctuary has gone from strength to strength and is now home to 40 odd white rhinos and 5 black rhinos.

It’s on our route out of Botswana and it’s certainly worth a stopover.  We’re there by lunchtime and get ourselves checked into the near-empty campsite.  We’re given a huge, secluded spot nicely shaded by a huge tree.  We set up our chairs in the shade and spend a lazy hour or so watching the antics of the colourful birds.

Once we’re rested enough we decide to head out on a game drive, only to find our way blocked by a VW polo that’s got itself stuck in the sand.  No problem.  We’ve got a towrope, but we can’t find anywhere to attach it to on the polo.  We try digging them out, but it’s not happening.  Eventually some bright spark finds the manual for the polo and looks up a set of complex instructions to find the hole that the ‘towing eye’ is screwed into…  It’s all rather longwinded, but once the rope is attached we pull them out with no problems.

Feeling only slightly superior we set off again.  As the park isn’t too big we can take it very leisurely and look for game.  We pull into a watering hole packed with sunning vultures only to find 5 white rhinos running in in a cloud of dust (and one little warthog desperately pretending to be a rhino). 

There’s a game drive vehicle parked next to us and we can’t help overhearing one hapless tourist ask how old the youngest hippo is…

As we push on we encounter plenty of zebra, giraffe, impala and steenbok.  A stop off at the bird hide reveals a lone black rhino.  On the way back to camp we stop in at one last watering hole.  There isn’t a lot of game about, but the sun coming through a raincloud provides a most dramatic backdrop.

Back at camp we top up the birdbath and get the fire going.  We’re really going to miss this.

Wednesday 9 October

We find ourselves inadvertently sharing our breakfast this morning with some cheeky hornbills.

They’re far too entertaining to be a nuisance.  We’ve got time for a quick game drive this morning before we set off.  Finally we stumble across some elusive Eland – I’ve been hoping to see these shy guys for a while.

With that, we head out of the park and towards the border.  By lunchtime we’re across the border back into South Africa and our cheeky fat southern African trip is pretty much at an end.

From here we’re pushing on towards Jozi.  We’re giving ourselves tomorrow to get ourselves and the car in order before we drop it off on Friday morning.  It’s going to be a difficult parting – our truck has been home for the last 6 weeks.   It has seen us safely down bumpy, sandy roads, carried us across water crossings and taken us to some of the most beautiful, remote spots we’ve been lucky enough to spend a night in.

Janet adds: we woke up to an overcast morning and Nick asked what had happened to the sky.  It hasn’t taken long for Africa to get under his skin.