In Maun we met two Swiss Overlanders, Heiko and Ursi (check their Facebook page: Grounded Ganet. In their words 'you won't understand it but it's got some good photos!), who had done the same trip as us just left a little later. They had some Landrover trouble (no jokes please!), and had ended up staying in Maun with us longer than expected. Over beers, after a hard day at the garage for them, during Happy Hour we made a vague plan to head towards the Mkhadihadi Pan together. We met up with them in Tiann's that evening and had a great braai... Sausage, home made bread and home made dhal made by Ursi which was lovely ( something else for me to try!). The Mkhadihadi Pan National Park was accessed only by boat, which looked fairly unstable! Luckily it got us both across without sinking and we were in the park. We didn't expect to see much at all, maybe some elephants, zebra etc which we saw all of as well as a family of lions as we came around a corner! A male, female and three cubs which were adorable! The sand in the park was deep and churned up, after failing to get up a sandy bank we let out the tyre pressure making it a lot easier.. If we hadn't been lazy and just done it in the first place we wouldn't have got stuck! It wasn't just us landrovers having issues, other cars were also getting stuck especially after a tourist bus churned up the roads more.. we had to help a couple in a rent-a-car out! On a side note I have nothing against rent-a-cars, it's a huge business, but I really feel park wardens should explain to peole in those kinds of cars what the roads are like.. We have come across many now who have never driven on 'roads' like the ones in Botswana and have got stuck. We got to Gweta, a small half way point, and the mosquito ridden camp site and were straight in the pool! We haven't had too many problems with mosquitos since Zambia but that night I got 15 bites from some sneaky ones that made their way into our tent! There is nothing worse than the sound of whining mosquitos in your ear, it fills you with a sense of dread - luckily we are still on the malaria tablets however I am really looking forward to coming off.. Having no crazy dreams or more sensitive skin to the sun will be great!
After reading my Go! Botswana magazine a few times I had seen a photo of the salt pans in the Mkhadihadi where the car was on its own in the middle of white salt and an amazing blue sky! We wanted a photo of this for ourselves so spent the morning driving out to the pans. The dust was insane, grey and like talcompowder, the wind was whipping it up and it was like a blizzard! Dust rained down on the car and obviously managed to get inside the car as well! We reached the pans and got the photo, we managed to get some well posed shots of both of the landrovers and had great fun doing it! Try to get the timer just right on the camera is always a challenge! We had wanted to wild camp in the pan that evening but the wind was too strong and whilst the car was already dusty, we didn't want ourselves and the inside to get worse.. Also swirling dust doesn't make for good camping! Leaving the pan we spent a night at Elephant Sands trying to cure Heiko of his elephant fear (whether it worked I am not sure) and decided to attempt the wild camp the next night! **fun elephant fact: an elephant can hold up to 14 litres each time it goes to suck water with its trunk**
It took a long and hot drive, through a lot of low hanging branches to get to the salt pan before Kukonjo island (not an island at the moment), the route wasn't marked and at times again it was fairly deep sand! We arrived onto the salt pan at 1pm and decided this was a good-a-place as any to camp! Awning out for shade, photos swapped and an afternoon of quiet and nobody! It was very quite throughout the night and no early risers to wake us up! The best nights sleep in a long time!
The 11km for Kukonjo Island was fairly simple, despite there being no road there were tracks which at times were slightly squishy! The pan is fairly dry however under the crust in some places it is quite spongy. We let Heiko drive first as they are lighter than us, so if they sank we knew we could judge the ground from where they had been. It was fine however and we arrived, paid and found a site. The island was bizarre, the salt pans surrounding the grassy island, along with the mirage meant it looked like the sea was around us.. You can see how those lost in hot places think there is water on every horizon! The campsites were big with a newly built pit toilet, and some shade as well as lots of flies! It was very remote with little wildlife but beautiful! As the sun went down and the fire was lit loads of scorpions came out, our feet and shoes were kept firmly off the ground! It was out last evening with Heiko and Ursi, it had been great to travel for a few days with them! The company, the sharing food and sharing our experiences with others who had done the same was really nice, something we hadn't realised we had missed until now! They are heading towards the Central Kalahari now whilst us towards South Africa (I have put their blog below).
Our last few days were going to be spent along the road towards Martins Drift where we would cross into South Africa. We had already done this border before so we knew it was fairly quiet, with a place to stop over just before you cross. From Kukonje we headed towards Khama Rhino Sancturary. It is a Sancturary run by a community trust and been running since 1992, with an aim to increase rhino numbers - most of the Moremi rhinos are from the Sancturary. We thought it would be really expensive, however we arrived at lunch time and were told for that day, camping and until 12 the next day would be 480 pula (about £34) so we decided to just bite the bullet and go in! Normally we like arriving at parks early in the morning so were sceptical about seeing anything! Arriving at our camp site it was isolated, with good facilities - I thought it was really good value! After lunch we headed out to the park, it is very small but we were told there were over 30 rhinos, both black and white. Going through the dense shrub land we saw very little, some birds, Spring bok etc but once we got onto the open pan with the watering hole we were rewarded with 10 white rhino including a baby! We hadn't seen white rhino yet (saw black rhino in Etosha), so it was incredible to see one, let alone 10! They were amazing, graceful and slow, however once they moved they were fairly rapid! We watched them for an hour or so until the masses of Toyota turned up and we moved onwards! We managed to spot some Eland, which again we hadn't seen much of - huge animals - a whole herd with 17 babies! Animals thrive in this place, I imagine there are very few predators due to it being well fenced in. We had met lots of people who had seen nothing here, I can see why, the next morning we went out again but saw less.. Luck of the draw.. A few rhino, jackles, vultures and obviously Spring bok! I would totally recommend this place, it is a bit of a gem.. Great camping and the possibility of lots of animals!
Between the Khama Rhino Sancturary and the border we had 4 nights, when arriving in Botswana we thought we wouldn't have enough time to see everything however as we have travelled through we have found some places we haven't stayed as long for various reasons. This meant we had to stop for a couple of nights some where, which was needed.. Repairs to the car, tidying bits up and tackling the mountain of washing that had piled up after the few days of wild camping and an increase of exercise being done! We arrived in Palapye where we had arranged on the Friday to see Deepthi who we had met at Elephant Sands the first time. It would give us two nights to sort everything, however her father recognised our car and as we arrived at the camp site she rang us up telling us to come over to her house, rest, shower and use her washing machine! I could have hugged her! On the hottest day in weeks (officially), we got to stay in an air conditioned house, my mountain of washing was washed in a washing machine and we were treated to 5* hospitality and food (beautifully cooked Indian food - I got some hints and tips but I fear mine won't be as good) from Deepthi, her father and her son. We could not have asked for more, they even let us stay over in the house.
We left the next day to head to Moremi Gorge for the night before returning to see them all again on Friday evening. We weren't sure what to expect with the gorge, but drove the 34km down dirt road to reach it. They were fairly full but managed to find us a spot which again was isolated with each site having its own braai, fire pit, tap area and bathroom.. An outside shower also which was really cool! The price was cheap, £22 for camping, entrance and a guided hike through the gorge. We quickly changed and headed off with Zuma who to get there had to hold onto the back of the car - disadvantages of having only two seats. Zuma was so knowledgable, he know all the birds, trees, insects and flowers, giving information about all of them.. He showed us hyena signalling points, trees that were good for snake bites, flowers that were good for poisons and a foot print that had been imprinted into the rocks years ago when the ground was still soft. We hiked up through the mountain stopping off at 3 small waterfalls, luckily it wasn't too hot and the water was cold! This was the first guided walk where the guide has been part of the price, and official.. He had a uniform, a radio, his own water, and first aid kit and most importantly didn't ask for anything - we did give him a small tip at the end but we really felt he earned it. This place was again another gem, definitely a place to visit, even for a day and a night!
Back to Palapye on Friday and we got back to Deepthi's around lunch time and were treated to Indian rice, salad and curd (a soured milk based dish). I was able to watch her make it and write down the recipie so I hope at some point to replicate it! We chilled for the afternoon, it wasn't as hot as the previous day so we all felt less hot and bothered! Evening came around and after chatting to Deepthi about what I cook at home we came up with an arrangement, for dinner I would cook macaroni and cheese (she liked it but didn't know how to make it), Charles would sort out the pork and she would sort out the chicken. This arrangement worked out really well and we had a lot of fun in the kitchen making and preparing everything for the braai. As the braai got started Charles and I were convinced there was too much food.. There must have been 2 chickens, 5 pork chops and sausages on top of the macaroni and cheese and bean salad. Deepthi's father, the chef, however was very good at making us eat and at the end only two pieces of chicken were left over, we were so full and luckily managed to prevent him from retrieving a leg of goat out of the freezer to slow cook over the dying embers! It was a great evening sitting outside, chatting, laughing and comparing lives and cultures. Pudding was frozen mango from the previous years crops, how we managed to fit it in I am not sure!! Again we were bowled over by the hospitality shown and left as new friends!
Our last day in Botswana was spent at Kwa Nokeng, a place where we had been before. Due to me having only 76 days left on my 90 day visa I could only cross on the Sunday which we planned to do early in the morning to reach Charles' family in Pretoria.
What is effectively our third 'stint' in Botswana has been fantastic, and we have come away from the country feeling a lot more positive and less 'done over' that the previous visit to the southern region. Our last visit we were left thinking that the country was hugely expensive, there wasn't much game or wild life and not much to do in between the tourist spots. This trip has changed all of that and I would thoroughly recommend Botswana to anyone (quite possibly over going to Namibia). Yes it is expensive, but not any more than other places.. We averaged £55 per day for the time we were here (3 weeks) and that included a scenic flight and Mokoro trip, so we weren't stingy.. Had we not done those we would have been on budget. There was loads of animals and it was so much greener than Namibia, the scenery just added something else to the experience.. Yes in places it was dry but in the pans for example it was part of the charm! There was lots to do and also cheaper ways to do things.. Take Moremi, we stayed outside in Maun for most of it going in for 1 night at a cheaper camp instead of paying the ridiculous Savauti camp fees of $50. We researched before we went looking for different places to stay in each town and ended up at the cheapest each time which, in Maun was the better option! We wild camped, and were lucky enough to spend two nights at Deepthi's house which always helps the accomodation budget. We were on the move most days, stopping only at Elephant Sands, so to reduce costs even more you could do it all slower.. We were time bound by the carnet so had no choice. What has struck me the most about this country is the people, the locals are so friendly and proud to be Botswanean (the 50th celebration of independence being an example). Everywhere you go they chat to you, are smiling and their hospitality is amazing as I have said already in this blog.. You just can't fault them! The people travelling in Botswana have also been the most friendly; in Elephant Sands where we met the most people who were happy to share food, fires and company.. We met people in Kasane also who I have heard from since. Meeting Heiko and Ursi was also great fun, it made the few days we spent with them even more enjoyable and we did things with them we wouldn't have done other wise.. Sometimes it is good to have new input! To sum it up, Botswana has been up there.. I would advise anyone wanting to take a tour of Southern Africa to spend a considerable amount of time here over any off the other Southern countries we have been to thus far! Roll on South Africa (no pressure!)..
BLOGS:
Heiko and Ursi's blog: www.gannet.ch (Google should translate it!)
Another blog to check out: www.yenshawinworld.com. Dan was on the Overland Truck which we met coming down. He travels a lot and his blog and photos are really interesting!
#africa #botswana #khama #mkhadihadi
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