Monday 13th August (day 30) - Off to Botswana after lunch so need to make sure that everything is upto date this morning. Tried to contact indian embassy but will have to wait for e-mail response. Lunch off the truck before packing up tents and heading off to the border, which isn't far. One of the fastest border crossings I think I have ever done. Arrived shortly after 2pm. Exit stamp in next to no time and then into immigration. Cleared the border at the Kazungula road border post at 3pm. We had to put the truck through a wheel dip as well as all of our shoes as foot & mouth disease is a concern here. Visa is free for a change. Within a couple of minutes of crossing the border, a heard of elephants crossed the road in front of us.
Some info about Botswana - the most wealthiest country in Africa, mainly due to its diamond proceeds, being the biggest supplier in the world. But also due to its wildlife attractions. It was a british colony in the early 1960's but became independent again in 1967. Ironically diamonds were discovered in 1968! Me thinks somebody knew something but kept it quiet so that the brits couldn't get their hands on the stash! At least 50% of the diamond proceeds must go to the government. It is supposed to have the highest HIV infection rate in the world. It probably isn't true ,they just have better statistics available than anyone else. There are 80,000 elephants here and hunters are allowed to kill a dozen a year, as they ae lucrative for the government, fetching $110,000 each and they are trying to control the elephant population by spaying the females as well. The capital city is Gabarone. The currency is the PULA, which breaks down into 100 THEBES.
Stopped in Chobe town for an hour. What a difference a short trip across the border makes. Yoy can gell the change in wealth. The spar supermarket in Vic falls was empty due to the poor economy there. In Botswana the spar is jammed to the brim with low priced goodies. Consequently, we went berserk with the freedom to buy some decent food and treats.
At camp I was on cooking duty with one of the new girls lisa from Melbourne, cooking chicken a la king and rice for everyone. We did a decent job as it was gorgeous, washed down with a nice red wine I bought from town.
Tuesday 14th August (day 31) -
Weds 15th August (day 32) -
On the way to Maun had to go through another foot and mouth control dip at Ngwashagate. Time to get a bit upto date in Maun with some domestics. Haircut in a tent at the side of the road for 15 pula and getting some stuff posted home. As we were going into the delta by Mokoro (dugout canoe) we had to take the minimum of stuff. So, we spent the night at Sitatunga getting prepared. This was also the opportunity to organise a flight for saturday over the delta. More of that later.
Thur 16th Aug (day 33) -
Fri 17th Aug (day 34) -
Sat 18th Aug (day 35) -
Off to Maun airport in the afternoon for the flight olver the Okavango delta. This was in a 6 seater cessna for about an hour. From the air you get the true picture of the scale and diversity of this are. Saw heards of giraffe, elephant, zebra, wildebeest, buffalo
Sun 19th Aug (day 36) -
Namibia is an hour behind Boswana, so clocks go back at the border, making our local time now the same as the UK. Namibia is a very arid country so cannot produce much. As such it has to import most of its food. In the south there are diamonds but that area is out of bounds. Lunch stop at side of the road attracted a local family to come and watch. The interesting thing was that the girl, who was breast feeding a baby, looked to be no more than 15yrs old. That is typical in this area.
Also, a new currency to get to grips with. Now the Namibian dollar. 1 US dollar is about 6 namibian. Stopped at Ngandu safari lodge in Rundu for the night. This was only a 10min walk from the angola border, so went for a reccy. The border post was a camouflage tent manned by two folk dressed in matching camouglage. Had we had our passports we could have got another stamp but didn't have them. Angola was the other side of a narrow river with boats ready to ferry across for about $2. Got a photo of angola so that was something.
Mon 20th Aug (day 37) -
Tues 21st Aug (day 38) -
Sunrise gamedrive through Etosha NP this morning from Namutoni camp. Lots of wildlife to see: wildebeest, honey badger, oryx, impala, jackal, warthog, burchell's zebra, girafe, bat eared fox, southern yellow hornbill, caracal, steenbok, hartebeest. The site we were at had a waterhole a short walk away so spent a bit of time there watching the elephants with their babies. Oryx steak for dinner tonight - yummy. That one's on the list of favourites!
Wed 22nd Aug (day 39) -
Thu 23rd Aug (day 40) -
Got to our destination for the next three nights at Swopkamund mid afternooon.the place immediately strikes you as a part of germany, with the typical german style colonial buildings. Road names and shops, restaurants, etc all have a german feel. The weather wasn't great on arrival as a strong breeze caused a sandy haze to hang over the town. One welcome break was that we are out of the tents for the time here, staying at the Swakop lodge. Had a presentation shortly after arrival on the possible activitiies for the next few days.
Dinner was at a superb italian restaurant, the Neopolitana. Prices here are incredibly cheap and quantities are enormous. I had a baby rack of ribs that was like half an animal on my plate all for $N120, which is about 10 quid including wine and soft drinks.
Fri 24th Aug (day 41) -
Got picked up at 9:30 for sandboarding. The location was to be the local dunes which reach upto 200mtrs. Basically, you lie on a piece of hardboard about 4ft x 2ft - referred to as the ferrari! Elbow pads and helmet on and holding the front of the board up off the sand you hurtle down the dunes at a great rate. This is great fun and if you get the chance you should try it. You can reach up to 80km/hr! The main issue is having to walk up the dunes each time. One of the leaders has a speed gun to record your efforts and there is also a cameraman to film the action for the DVD we get given as part of the session. I did a great wipeout on the third run and rolled at about 60km/hr for about 5 rolls. Fantastic fun! Eat sand!
After lunch, back to the lodge for the next thrilling installment - Quad biking. This was run by 'Extreme quad biking' and I had a 350cc automatic beast with power assisted steering. Brilliant fun out in the dunes for about 2 1/2 hours. This machine flew and you can do things like jumps and roller coasters, where you fly up the dune and then turn to come down them at quite a speed. One girl in front of me rolled her's over on one dune and it landed on top of her. Good job she got out of it unscathed as it looked really serious from what I could see. The dunes here are an awesome sight, with different shades of sand and the lighting effects that change throughout the day. A superb exerience. One funny thing I saw was, in the middle of the dunes a road sign showing to turn right. Didn't get the chance to photograph it, but it looked odd in the middle of nowhere.
After an adrenalin packed day it was time to recover in the shower back at the lodge before meting to see the DVD of our sandboarding exploits. The wipeout looked better on video than I thought. Got the dvd for posterity.
Met up with a girl I had been talking to the previous day for dinner and a tour of the town. Swakopmund is a brilliant place that i have taken a shine to. Chilled atmosphere, nice restaurants, great location.
Sat 25th Aug (day 42) -
chillin' day today to catch up with stuff. Off to see Harry potter & the order of the phoenix at the cimena at 3pm so looking forward to that.Activity day...yippeee! stopped at Cape cross seal colony on the way south. Pups are born on november so there were only adult cape seals to see. There is quite an odour hanging in the air which some find nauseating. Also in residence are jackals that wonder the beqach awaiting their chance. There are plenty of remainders of the seals that didn't get away. The site also has two crosses as memorials. The are was originally inhabited by the portugese but later by the germans, who erected a cross as their claim. The whole has been subsequently influenced by their presence as borne out by the place names and architecture.after a short stop in Outjo, went to Otjitotongwe cheetah park. This is a real highlight as I got to stroke them and have them lick my hands. Just like sandpaper. The fur is beautiful and it is an honour to be able to get so close to them. The ones on the farm are all domesticated, but you can never trust them. The oldest is 14yrs old. The park has been open since 1994 but started as the home of Tollie & Roeleen Nel in 1931. Their son Mario is now responsible for feeding the cheetahs each day. There are about 7,500 cheetahs worldwide of which 6,000 are in africa and 2,000 in Namibia.today is Katie's birthday back home. 11 years old. Got her a saxaphone as a surprise. Would have loved to have been there to see her face but couldn't so sent a virtual hug by text. Hey ho....driving day to Etosha national park for the next couple of days. Game drive in the afternoon. Some different animals here. Banded mongoose running around the car park were sweet. Impala, kudu, damara dik-dik, steenbok, jackal, kori bustard, gemsbok, blue wildebeest.another day another country. Today we set off early to head into Namibia at the Mohembo border srossing. You see some interesting things in this part of the world. We passed through a 'lung desease' control station but didn't have to stop. Not sure what that was about?pack up and return mokoro journey back to Boro station. On the return trip after getting back to the mainland:we stopped off at a local Maun cemetery. The graves are covered in mesh cloches and have a signboard adjacent with the birth date. When died and when buried. Some were only 12 to 15yrs old. HIV is the biggest killer here, with the average life expectancy less than 40yrs old!Up early for a 4hour sunrise bush walk with the guide called 'shoes'. This time saw elephant, black backed jackal, zebra, wildebeest. They were also charging which made for some interesting photo opportunities. Also introduced to palm fruit, which are fairly hard fruit about 4 inch in diameter, with a hard outer skin which you break with a stick to reveal a thin fibrous layer which you eat that tastes like fig rolls. Inside this layer is a nut that is like a small coconut. It's so hard that it is almost impossible to crack open, unless your an elephant. They have a technique for knocking them out of the palm trees and collecting them off the ground. It is an education of the practical use of some of the plants which look ordinary but hide some interestint properties. One plant is used to atch fish. The leaves and bark are crushed by hand and thrown into a pond. The poison released kills the fish and the following day they pick the dead fish off the surface. After boiling the poison is gone, ready to cook. Another one is used as mosquito repellant by rubbing the leaves on your skin. Others for dyes. Chilled day with entertainment around the campfire in the evening. The polers treated us to some local songs combined with some funky dancing....then our turn. First up to represent our group, I sang a couple of songs that seemed to go down ok.left early to get to Boro station in the Okavango delta. This is a national park , so the area is fenced in. On arrival we transferred our sgtuff into the Mokoros after chosing our 'poler' who would look after us for the next few days. They fight over you as they expect a tip at the end. Two people per mokoro. It took around 2hours to get to our destination to set up bush camp, and the journey was wonderfully relaxing. All you hear is the sound of the mokoro cutting through the water and reed beds and the splash of water as the poler punts along. Occasional sightings on the banks of wildlife such as elephant and Burchells zebra make the experience surreal. I fealt like david Livingstone exploring the area. These waters are inhabited by python and crocodile but you don't see them. It's good to know they are there though! Bush camping in such a remote location is quite an experience. Peaceful and very rustic. Bush toilet ( hole dug in ground) and all meals around the camp fire, elephants a short way across the reedbeds and the occasional animal noise that may be too close for comfort, but part of the excitement. After settling in and having lunch, we went on a bush walk. The guides have lived there all their lives and there isn't much they don't know about the animals. Unfortunately, at this time of day most animals are under cover and hard to spot. Most of the walk was identifying footprints and which droppings belong to which animal. A facinating subject! After the walk, time to watch the sun set over this beautiful landscape and listen out for the sounds of animals passing by. Though I heard some hippos in the evening.Up at 5am as we head off to Maun today to prepare for our trip into the Okavango delta. The route takes us along the edge of the wonderfully named 'Makgadikgadi' pans. Unfortunately, they are fairly boring. A pan is just a flat basin that spends most of the year empty and dry. When it rains they change completely and so does the wildlife present.up at 5:30 for a game drive. Not much animal activity this morning. Saw elephant, hippo, kudu, gazelle, female lion, baboons, guinea fowl, maribou stork, ibis, vultures. After an hour or so in Kasane town catching up, went on a boat cruise on Chobe river. This was really good for wildlife spotting. Saw: crocodiles, giant iguana, crimson breasted roller bird, the beautiful bee-eater bird (makes its nest in holes on the bank of the river), pied kingfisher, Marabou stork, African fish eagle, elephant, hippo, water buffalo, ibis, kudu, baboons, Eland, Vultures dissecting a baby hippo, snakes. A beautiful sunset completed the trip. The standard issue with these trips is that you are joined by loads of other people in boats all vying for the same position so the views get obscured at times. 