Dealing with the flood damage in the basement

(posted from home)
(This post covers 23 – 30 September, 2011)


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Friday, 30 September-

This morning we took the utility-trailer load of trash to the landfill. Our local waste-recycling company had posted direction to take flood-related trash directly to the landfill rather than to the incinerator and there's currently a bit of a price break to do so-- $48 a ton rather than $55 a ton.
The process was very easy. Drive onto the scale upon entering the yard, pull up to the small-loads dock and throw your stuff into large trailers behind (and below) the dock, pull onto the scale on the way out, and pay your fee. We were pleasantly surprised to only have to pay $27-- I had assumed there'd be a minimum fee of $48. That at least helps defray the cost of gas a bit.
I played a bit more with Zinio and ordered another South Africa travel magazine-- this one 'Getaway'. It's less oriented toward four-wheel drive adventures than 'Leisure Wheels'.

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Thursday, 29 September -

This morning we have yet another morning of hard rain. Nevertheless the dehumidifiers have been slowly pulling down the humidity level from 93 per cent. Today it's at 50 per cent. My moisture meter has also shown me that the wood contacting the floor (the wall 'plates') is indeed drying out.
This morning Labashi had some things to do and I decided to see if I could get Zinio working. Zinio is a digital magazine website. I first learned about it when looking through a copy of 'Leisure Wheels' magazine in our Johannesburg guesthouse. ('Leisure Wheels' is a 4x4 adventure-touring magazine for Southern Africa). I wanted to subscribe but didn't want (and didn't want to pay for) a paper version. Zinio solves this problem by putting up the magazine online in a digital form and providing the tools to read it both online and offline.
I ordered 'Leisure Wheels' ($12.88 for a year) and created my account. But, (surprise, surprise!), I couldn't read the magazine. I contacted Zinio tech support and they sent me a checklist which resolved the problem. I had told my browser not to accept third-party Flash content and that was preventing the reader from starting.
I read about half of the October issue of Leisure Wheels by lunchtime and then felt guilty for not doing any work in the basement. But I did love reading about touring Lesotho in winter and the new HiLux pickup.
That afternoon I painted the walls with Drylok waterproofer (the original latex version). The actual painting only took an hour and looks good. Now if it just sticks.

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Wednesday, 28 September -

Today was yet another rainy day. Labashi and I went into York to look for a better storage solution for the basement. We need a solution that allows us to dry out the basement without having to empty it out first.
After spending the day looking at options, we've decided on wire racks with locking casters. We already have a dozen or so 'wing boxes' and lidded storage boxes to put on the wire shelves. And since the wire shelves can be adjusted up and down in one-inch increments, I think we can come up with a fairly efficient and somewhat-portable setup.
I'm also considering keeping the storage unit long term. Perhaps we'll try a hybrid solution.... keep the hardly-ever-used-but-can't-part-with-it stuff (like family history artifacts, photos, and documents) in the fire-resistant storage unit and gear we need more often (plumbing, electrical, carpenter, and painting tools and supplies) here. We'll see.
Back home I worked on the basement wall to prepare it for a coat of drylok waterproofer. I had dryloked the walls about 15 years ago and we now have six or eight dinner-plate-size blisters of drylok separated from the underlying layer of block and an original coating of drylok. I pried off the blisters and wire-brushed the wall under them to prep.
That evening we watched the extras from the 'Expedition Africa' DVD and then two episodes of 'Damages', Season Two.


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Tuesday, 27 September -

We're finally feeling we're getting ahead of the basement problem. The air purifier is doing its job and we're pulling down the humidity level to dry-feeling levels.
We spent the morning loading the trailer in the rain. We also took advantage of having the utility trailer to also start cleaning out our barn.

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Monday, 26 September -

I've finally realized we just aren't going to be able to deal with all the trash using our regular garbage service. I drove back to Chambersburg today, this time to borrow Maypo's utility trailer. This will allow us to load all the trash on the trailer and take it to the incinerator or landfill. That way we can clear the patio rather than try to set out six bags at a time (our limit) for the next two months.
Once back home I – guess what? – hauled more stuff to the storage unit. It's chock-a-block now.
That evening we finished 'Expedition Africa'.

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Sunday, 25 September -

This morning I made a run to Chambersburg to pick up the high-capacity dehumidifier we had in the house we've been working on. I was happy to find the house in good shape and to find the basement completely dry-- just as we had left it--- despite all the recent rain.
Earlier this year I had ordered the dehumidifier from Amazon with the idea that we'd use it in the Chambersburg house until we sell it then I'd replace our antique dehumidifier at home with the new one. But we can't wait now--- we must have much more capacity for our basement problem. I ordered another from Amazon and will use the antique and the Cburg one for now, will perhaps use all three once the latest arrives (depending on how much progress we're making), and in a week or so, get one down to Chambersburg.
I had started early on my drive to Chambersburg so was back by lunch time. While Labashi continued cleaning and sanitizing, I continued hauling to the storage unit.
We finished the Expedition Africa disk and started the final one tonight,

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Saturday, 24 September -

Today we rented a storage unit and began hauling and stacking. We needed to get everything that hadn't been soaked out of the way just to have room to work. We put a few things in our guest room but we're wading in water as we do this and don't want to ruin the carpet in the guest room. We had both Mocha Joe and Labashi's car kept busy with the moving. As we'd get one filled up and the other partially filled I'd take the full one over to unload while Labashi finished filling the other. Our 10x10 storage unit seemed to fill up very quickly with the dry stuff while our patio overflowed with the wet and/or ruined goods and boxes.
Late in the day we showered and changed and took Mom and Dad out to dinner. We needed a break and hadn't seen them since returning. We picked them up and drove to Carlisle to one of their favorites-- Cafe Bruges. They like the 'moules et frites' (mussels and double-cooked french fries) and the Belgian beers there. I'm not much of a beer drinker but have found several we look forward to there.
Today was part of parent's weekend at Dickinson College and the restaurant got very noisy and crowded-- a bit too much for us by the end of the meal. Fortunately we have the flexibility to come here when it's not so busy next time.

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Friday, 23 September-

This morning we started the process of getting the water out of the basement. I first tried the manual bilge pump from the fishing boat but the water's so shallow (about an inch to an inch and a half deep) it doesn't do much before the pump is mostly sucking air. Oddly, I found a dust-pan did much better. This one has a handle that allows you to stand while sweeping dust into it and that was just the ticket for a relatively good low-energy 'pump'. I could 'shovel water' much more easily than I could work the bilge pump.
I used a five-gallon bucket and filled it with about four gallons of water each time. I then took that to the nearby utility sink.
That afternoon we began pulling out soaked boxes of stuff. We had accumulated a lot of empty boxes we were going to use to ship anything we sell on Ebay (one of Labashi's projects) and many of those were ruined. We also had boxes of miscellaneous goods left over from moving Mom and Dad from Michigan last year so Labashi was very worried about those. The bottom boxes were of course completely soaked and then the next up on the stack would be partially soaked and a bit moldy, then the higher levels would be okay.
That evening we watched some more 'Expedition Africa' episodes.


**** END OF POST *********

The flight and drive home ; a problem with the house....

(Posted from home)

(This post covers 20 - 22 September, 2011)


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Thursday, 22 September -

We arose around 0900 and had breakfast and talked some more, then packed up the car for the trip home and departed shortly before noon.
We lunched in Frederick at a newly-refurbished Greek restaurant we'll use again in the future. We arrived home in late afternoon.
We had been warned there had been flooding from Tropical Storm Lee in the area so were a bit afraid of what we might find in our house. Our neighbor said he had some water intrude from the floor drain in his house but I thought we'd be okay.
Wrong. When I walked into the house and descended to the basement level I heard the squish sound of water in the rug as I stepped onto it at the bottom of the stairs. A short look revealed we have about an inch of water throughout the basement. There's just a bit of a musty smell at this point but I did see a few little patches of mold. But it's NOTHING like the mess we had when we returned to a sewer backup in 2005 or the refrigerator power-outage we returned another time.
Fortunately our guest room is not affected – its floor sits two inches above the level of the rest of the basement-- so the carpet there isn't affected and that room is fine. But we'll now have to clean out and dry out the rest of the basement. Given the weather predictions for lots of rain for the next week, that doesn't look like fun.
We watched two episodes of 'Expedition Africa'. We had started the series before leaving and had finished the first disk. Now it's interesting to see the flora in Tanzania (where the expedition is).

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Wednesday, 21 September -

Continuing our flight.... We had boarded at 2200 local time and our flight would last until 1700 the next day according to our watches. As we neared Dakar, Senegal for a crew-change stop, I was wondering if I was going to be able to handle the long flight. My back was hurting a bit and the seat seemed extra hard. After the stop in Dakar the new crew came through and searched each vacant seat-- in case one of the departing passengers had left a bomb there before getting off in Dakar. Then they came through with a spray bomb to kill any insects which may have been inadvertantly brought aboard from Senegal, which has problems with yellow fever. We knew of the process from a friend who thought the chemicals used in the spray to be dangerous (there are mixed reviews about it on the internet) so we had N95-spec masks with us and donned them for about ten minutes after the spraying. We appeared to be the only people with masks though several other people covered their eyes and nose with their hands or a piece of cloth for a few minutes.
After we were airborne we had another, smaller snack and that seemed to wake us up. Over the course of the flight we each watched four movies and that helped pass the time.
We arrived at Dulles shortly after 1030 Eastern time (1630 on our watches because of the six-hour time difference). It seemed to take a long time to get off the plane and take the shuttle to the international terminal. There we got in line for passport control and saw the long line wasn't moving at all. The computer system had decided to freeze up and had to be rebooted. But once the reboot cleared things up the process went fairly quickly and it was only a few minutes till we met Labashi's brother and were in his car speeding toward his home.
We had a bit of excellent lentil-sausage soup our hosts had made, sat up talking a bit, then about 1300 we went to bed to try to catch up a bit. I slept very heavily until 2000, Labashi not quite so long.
We spent the evening talking and went back to bed around 2300.
We both woke around 0230 and were up for the duration-- our bodies thought it was 0830. I finished reading one of the books we had bought about safari-guide experiences in Botswana and read about half of a thin book about the history of the colonialization of Africa-- very interesting reading.



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Tuesday, 20 September-

We spent the day in the room at the guesthouse. Our flight isn't until 2245 tonight and the owners of the guesthouse very kindly allowed us to keep our room until supper-time. We spent the day cleaning up our dust-covered gear and packing everything just so for the trip. I also had time to catch up and post the blog online and read a 4x4 magazine called 'Leisure Wheels'. There's lots of good info about touring southern Africa by 4x4 as well as the typical reviews of trucks and gear. I see I can subscribe to the digital version from the US and it's cheap. I'll have to read more about how good the digital version is.
That evening we joined Arthur and Ina and a few guests in the lapa for drinks and then supper. After supper Henry drove us over to the airport around 2000. We had a few minor problems finding things there at O.R. Tambo International Airport because of bad signage. In trying to find where to check in, we had conflicting information posted. The check-in counter was listed as B22 but the terminal as Terminal A. There's no 'B' counter in Terminal A. Fortunately there are a few helper-guys there to assist tourists. He couldn't explain why the sign said what it did but did know to take us to Terminal B. And when the B22 desk was not manned, took us to another where we checked in without problems.
Then we just wanted to get to the gate. As we passed an elevator we saw a sign hanging from the ceiling in front of the door with the words 'Terminal A gates' and an arrow pointing up. We took the elevator up but it dead-ended on a floor with nothing on it. It turns out the sign merely meant we should continue down the corridor we were in when we saw the sign. If it hadn't been posted right at the elevator doors we would have known that.
And when we got to the gate the sign said 'London – Virgin Atlantic – Boarding'. But there was a South African Airways plane at the gate, not a Virgin Atlantic plane and it wasn't in the process of boarding. That sign never changed the whole time we were there and boarded our plane. Of course we checked we were at the right place and we were-- they just didn't bother to change the sign.
The other odd thing that happened was that after we reached the gate we were all told to line up, men on one side, women on the other. Though we had passed through the security checkpoint and passport control, it was only now at the gate where we and our hand-luggage were searched. It wasn't a problem-- just odd, particularly when the staff now had to keep track of who had been searched and who hadn't and, predictably, people would still have to go down the hall to the bathroom before their flight. That meant, of course, that they had to be searched (and take off shoes and belts, etc) after returning from the bathroom. Odd.
When it came time to board they merely announced that we could board--- no boarding by row or section, etc. Fortunately we had been sitting at the back of the waiting area and that put us at the front of the waiting area after being processed through the security search. So we were among the first dozen people walking aboard and so were able to walk right to the back of the plane where our seats were (row 72!).
After we went airborne a round of drinks and then a light supper was served (and it was good!) Then the lights were turned off and most people took the hint to try to get some sleep. We couldn't sleep but were comfortable and entertained by the seat-back monitor's offerings of movies and TV shows.


***** END OF POST *******

Savuti, Ihaha, Kasane, Francistown, Gaborone, back into South Africa...

(posted from Sunrock Guesthouse, Johannesburg, RSA)

(This post covers 9 – 19 September, 2011)

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Monday, 19 September-

This morning the fishing-lake guy came down and talked to us a bit on his rounds of the property. Last night when we checked in he had said something about the Krugersdorp area not being safe. This morning we learned there had been a hi-jacking and rape three weeks ago. Four guys hi-jacked a woman's car right on the main street of town and had driven to the nature reserve and raped her. He also told us the guys we could see camped across the river from us were from Malawi and Mozambique and he believed they were robbing homes in the area. He said we were safe because they knew the first place he'd go if anything happened on his property would be their camp. But they (or someone) had stolen a laptop over the weekend at a house we could see in the distance--- while the residents were sleeping there.
When the guy learned we had been in Botswana he said, “It's like 90 per cent black, isn't it?” he asked. “I'd NEVER go there. You know there's a lot of you foreigners who come over here and don't go home, jah?”. We didn't quite know what to think. He was on the one hand kind of aggressive but also went out of his way to be sure we had everything we need, even offering us access to one of the chalets so we could have hot showers.
We then drove into Johannesburg to Nelson Mandela Square and Sandton City mall--- which our guidebook says is Johannesburg's most exclusive. We at first had trouble finding parking because we couldn't enter the parking garage (due to the height of our tent) but just across the street a security guy waved us over. He arranged parking for us in the fancy hotel's garage. When I asked about price he said we could just give him a tip when we come back. It appears he's the security guard for the hotel making a bit of extra cash on the side by offering parking for tips.
We spent a few hours walking through this upscale mall. It had an Apple Store (called an “iStore” rather than an 'Apple Store') and many, many clothing stores. In one area were cars being promoted (including a Ferrari) between stores. There were upscale Italian coffee shops, a gelateria, and a 'Mugg and Bean' coffee shop. The anchor stores were Ackermans, Edgars, and Woolworths.
We then drove the few kilometers over to Bushlore to turn in the truck. We spent about two hours with the returns process and negotiating the credits we'd get for the tire we had to buy, the extra fuel we returned, and the roof-rack brackets we had bought and had installed. We also went over our list of things that had gone wrong with the Operations Manager. All in all it was an easy process but we'll see what happens when Bushlore has had time to do the final going-over of the vehicle.
Jubaloni then drove us over to Sunrock (the guesthouse where we had stayed when we came in) and dropped us off. Nice guy but a frighteningly-fast driver, that Jubaloni. I was surprised how much pickup the Bushlore bus (a Toyota Quantum) had compared to our rental 4x4 truck (a Toyota HiLux).
We spent a few hours decompressing then went over to the Sunrock's lapa for 'sundowners' (happy-hour drinks) and, eventually, supper. During sundowners we talked to Maypo, Orat, and Labashi's dad via Skype Video. Arthur and Ina (our hosts at Sunrock) then made up another terrific braai, this one featuring boerboer and sausages. Good stuff!
We fly home tomorrow night!

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Sunday, 18 September -

We had a restful night and good, hot showers at our chalet in the Ngoyama Lion Lodge at Krugersdorp Nature Reserve. As we parked to drop off the keys at the front desk, we saw our only lions of the trip-- a male and a female in a relatively small fenced lot. It was depressing to see them like this. They both looked too skinny and very bored.
We drove in to Johannesburg to the Africa Museum. The GPS first took us to an empty lot before I noticed there were two listings for the museum. We parked free right out front and the museum had free admission.
This museum is located in a massive old market building. On the lower floor we spent an hour in a temporary exhibition of cartoon art. This one was wonderful. We wouldn't understand the cartoons at first but underneath each was a good explanation of the issue with sufficient background to understand the cartoonist's point. This also provided an interesting picture of life in South Africa. My favorite cartoon strip was 'Madam and Eve', which has a Dilbert-like incisiveness.
The museum also had a very interesting geology section. It's of great interest to us, of course, because there's so much we don't know of Africa's geology and geography.
There was also a photography exhibit which showed us intimate photos of daily life in rural KwaZulu-Natal, a northeastern province in South Africa.
We spent three hours in the museum and then crossed the square to Sophiatown Cafe for lunch. And there on the menu was just what Labashi has been looking for--- a dish made with mopane worms. These are caterpillars of the emporer moth which feed on the mopane tree. After collection the juices are squeezed out and the remainder dried. They can be eaten at that point but often are cooked in a sauce of some type. In this case it was a wine and garlic sauce. The worms themselves are about two inches long and about 3/8 of an inch in diameter. See http://planyoursafari.com/blog/african-delicacy-the-mopane-worm/ for photos and more info.
After lunch we walked to the nearby Worker's Museum and learned the history of Johannesburg's workforce. The black laborers lived in subsistence conditions in 'camps' which were fenced and monitored by company police. Whites were generally skilled labor and they lived in much better conditions. The Workers' Museum did a good job of showing how recruiters were sent out to fulfill the cheap-labor needs of the mines and why the workers would be interested in coming to live in such conditions so far from home. It wasn't a matter of choice so much as a matter of providing for family.
By mid-afternoon we needed to move on so had to leave the Worker's Museum earlier than we'd have liked. But we needed to make the 45-minute drive to the Lesedi Cultural Village. This village is a tourist attraction which features reconstructions villages of five of the main historic tribes of South Africa-- Ndebele, Zulu, Basotho, Xhosa, and Pedi. That's then followed by traditional dancing and then an African feast of traditional foods.
Our village tours went too quickly. We were in a group of about a dozen people and would first be asked to greet the four or five people manning each village. They'd reply and we'd be given permission to enter. Then our guide, a young Zulu woman, would tell us a few interesting facts about the tribe (such as why they wear the clothing they wear) and then we'd move on to the next village. We'd have liked this portion to last longer but with all the activities of the evening, it would be impractical to do so for most tourists. Oh, yeah... and at the Basotho village we were offered mopane worms. This time they were just the dried worms. They tasted like biltong--- better known to us foreigners as jerky. The group at first didn't want to try them but Labashi jumped in and took one and that gave four or five others the push they needed to give it a try (including me!)
After a short break we were invited into a dirt-floored community structure with a smoky fire burning in the middle. We were given demonstrations of each tribe's dancing specialties, both male and female. The drums were incredible during these dances and readied everyone to give it a short try.
After the dancing we were invited to a restaurant where we had a buffet of crocodile, ostrich, lamb, chicken (“African fowl”), and beef sausage, with salad, veggies, and dessert (milk pudding and koeksisters (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koeksister)). I'm not a fan of game in general but the meat dishes were prepared in sauces and were quite good.
After our goodbyes to our hosts at Lesedi we drove to the nearby fishing lake where we had stayed night-before-last. When we entered asked for and were granted permission to stay until 0900 tomorrow. We were the only customers there and built a fire with our remaining wood and enjoyed a very nice few hours beside the fire before retiring to our rooftop tent.

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Saturday, 17 September -

We arose promptly at 0600 to be sure we'd be out of the camping/fishing area by 0700. For once we packed up quickly and even had time for a quickie breakfast (muesli and fruit).
We drove to the nearby Lesedi Cultural Village since the tourbook said they open at 0700. We couldn't imagine what they'd be doing that early and we were right--- the village opens so the restaurant can serve breakfast but the first tour isn't until 1130 (the lunch tour). We figured we'd go do something else and return.
We drove a half hour through absolutely super countryside to get to the Steirfontein Caves, knowing we'd get there long before their 0900 opening time. Along the way we passed hundreds of bicyclists, some in packs of 30 or so and followed by a club vehicle.
This cave is part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is the home of some of the greatest finds in archeological and anthropological history--- skeletal remains of 'australopithicus' hominids, i.e., very early beings with characteristics of both humans and apes. One of the remains, called 'Little Foot' is still partially embedded in stone and is very slowly being excavated with dental drills. The remains are so old that carbon dating cannot be used to determine their age. Carbon dating is only good back some 500,000 years and there is no carbon-based material to test. Approximate dating is done by determining what the polarity of the earth's magnetic poles was in the rock around the sample. The magnetic poles change slightly over eons and in fact were at one time reversed.
Our tour of the cave was about an hour long and led by an entertaining guy who called himself 'Maropeng', the name of a nearby tourist attraction. Shortly after descending into the cave (via a concrete stairway), he pointed out a fenced-off opening-- that's where 'Little Foot' is located and is the site of the ongoing dig.
The cave was surprisingly large. From the look of the surrounding terrain I figured the cave would just be a small one. But it had several rooms about 30 feet high. We did have several very low places where we had to shuffle along bent over as far as possible but they were very short.
After the tour of the cave itself we went to the accompanying interpretive displays in the visitor's center and spent the better part of an hour there.
We had lunch in the parking lot and decided we'd drive into Johannesburg to the Apartheid Museum. We arrived about 1230 and spent the next four hours learning about the rise and fall of apartheid and its wrenching effect on the peoples of South Africa. We also spent a long time in a very comprehensive exhibit on Nelson Mandela.
I can't do justice to the Apartheid Museum in describing it. It's truly a world-class, thought-provoking, well-balanced treatment of this tragic part of South African history.
We left the museum around 1700 and went looking for our campground for the night. We tried to call the Krugersdorp Nature Reserve numbers in the 'Camp and Live' book but they were bad. We decided we'd go ahead and drive there and if it turned out camping was not available, we could go on to the same place we stayed last night.
When we arrived at the Nature Reserve we learned the campground was closed for renovations and the entire Reserve was now operating under a new manager. That's what happened to the phone numbers.
With darkness approaching we thought we'd ask about camping at the Lodge and perhaps they'd know of something nearby. On a whim, we asked about the rate to stay at the lodge and were pleasantly surprised to be quoted a price under $60. It turns out the restaurant is closed, the bar is closed and the rooms are being discounted to bring in some cash flow. But that fit our needs very well and leaves us closer to Johannesburg for tomorrow so we took it.
We were shown to a chalet and we cooked supper in the driveway as the sun set. We then had showers, blogged a bit, and read.

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Friday, 16 September -

We awoke at 0600 and packed up slowly. We still had to plan where we were going today. We had the general idea of heading toward the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg. The Cradle of Humankind is a World Heritage site but we're learning it's actually several sites.
We drove out of Moklodi Reserve around 0900 and headed for the border just outside Gaborone. The border crossing was very easy and we soon were cruising along along the Madikwe Game Reserve. We had thought about visiting Madikwe when we learned it's relatively new (1991) and has 10,000 animals but we also learned it has no day-visiting facilities, only lodges. That leaves us out.
We continued down through NorthWest Province for the rest of the afternoon. The changes in the land were very interesting. For a few hours we had wild lands on one side (the Reserve) with some signs of cattle-grazing on the other. That changed to more and more signs of cattle grazing and eventually to large farms with planted fields. The land opened up and we had long views across the farms and the landscape looked like eastern Montana for a few hours.
We then came to more crowded areas that looked more like the central California hills and we started seeing farm-based B&B's, grain silos, nurseries, farm implement dealers, the occasional winery, etc. And as we came nearer to Pretoria the weekend traffic increased and we saw upscale lodges, game farms, and small towns with all the services.
We had trouble finding a campground tonight. We have the “Camp And Live” book which is supposed to be a comprehensive guide but it's not very good. NorthWest Province is a huge area and the Camp and Live book only shows a handful of campsites and those consider themselves 'resorts'. We don't have a guidebook like Veronica Roodt's guide to Botswana or the Bradt Safari Guide to help us.
We decided we'd go to one of the Cradle of Humankind attractions and ask for their recommendations for nearby camping. That kind of worked. We ended up at a pay-to-fish lake which allowed campers but we have to be out by 0700 or pay for another day (!!!!!). The good news is it only cost 80 Rand or about $11.
We made supper and spent the evening relaxing and watching the fishermen.

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Thursday, 15 September -

We arose at 0630 and put on our city clothes for our visit to downtown Gaborone today. We began following the GPS's instructions to the National Museum when we happened upon a safari outfitter called Hi-Range. On a whim I stopped to see if they might have brackets or be able to make some up or weld my broken ones. To my surprise, they had a set in stock. Here I had assumed the brackets were part of the Eezi-Awn rooftop tent and had contacted the manufacturer and asked Bushlore about support for it in Botswana. There is none. But the rack to which the tent is attached is a Front-Runner product and those products are a lot more common.
I had found the brackets but wasn't sure I had the tools to remove the old ones and replace them. When I asked Hi-Range about possibly installing them, I was pleasantly surprised again. I'd have to pay $67 for the brackets (a set of 4 and bolts) but installation would only be $25 and they could do it right away. I jumped on it and an hour later we were back on the road with new brackets in place and properly installed and sealed with silicone-seal.
We found the National Museum easily and circled the block a few times to find parking. The Museum is next to the National Art Gallery but the Gallery is closed today. The Gallery store was open, though, and Labashi bought some ostrich-shell earrings. But processing the credit card had to be done in the Main Gallery, so they unlocked the doors and we had a chance to quickly walk through the main floor of the Art Gallery and get a sense of the art.
We then spent two pleasant hours going through the National Museum. It has wonderful dioramas, very similar to those on the top floor of the State Museum of Pennsylvania.
After our visit we walked a block over to the Nando's restaurant for lunch, then walked the open-air market between the buildings leading up to Parliament. We circled the Parliament Building, then back toward our parking spot. We noticed the City Library along the way and checked it out.
We then drove to a international school with a dance theater to see if there was anything going on but we struck out there. That drive took us past many embassies in what looks like an upscale residential neighborhood.
We then went over to the University of Botswana and walked to the bookstore and souvenir store. We've done this on many of our trips-- just to get a sense of the place. We also had milkshakes at the snack bar of the student union building.
We then drove back through Gabarone in late-afternoon traffic. We stopped at a LiquorMatic for some Ipala Cream for an evening toast and then on to the Mokolodi Reserve.
We drove up to the World View Conference Center to see the view, then returned to our camp and Labashi made a spaghetti supper while I set up our sleeping quarters.
We blogged and read and watched stars and went to be around 2100, happily tired.


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Wednesday, 14 September -

Malaria-pill day! (We have to take our nine malaria pills a week apart and our first was on the Wednesday we left so that makes Wednesdays “malaria-pill day” ). Fortunately, neither of us has any side effects from the mefloquine.
We had a truckload of loud (and a bit drunk, I think) guys come in to the campsite beside us last night around 2300. They made a lot of noise and talked at full volume through 0100 but then finally quieted down and we slept well from then on.
I spent a few hours catching up the blog and then we drove over to the hotel and uploaded it via wi-fi from the lounge.
We then headed south for Gabarone, Botswana's capital city. Along the way I noticed I had another broken bracket on the roof rack holding the rooftop tent. That's two of them. I called Bushlore and spoke with Clyde about it and he advised getting them welded and if that's not possible, then secure the tent with ratchet-straps. I tied down the rack using rope and a piece of wire I found in a roadside picnic stop.
We drove all afternoon and arrived at Mokolodi Nature Reserve shortly before sunset. We drove right to our campsite and made supper in twilight.
The moon is full now but not coming up until 2030 tonight so I lit the LPG lantern for a while but Labashi doesn't like all the noise--- she can't hear the animals. We watched stars for a bit, then sat in the truck reading until we decided to turn in early-- around 2100.

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Tuesday, 13 September -

This morning we awoke at 0630 and packed up to move out. We have a passenger today ; Rebecca, the mid-twenties Swedish tour leader. Her clients are flying by bush plane to their next stop near Maun and she's taking the bus.... and their luggage. Fly-in safari clients can only have 25 pounds of baggage on the bush flight so she hauls their other bags with her to the next meeting point. She's going to ride with us from Kasane to Nata, then take the bus the 300K to Maun.
As we learned from talking with Rebecca the other night and on our ride today, she's had more life-experiences than most people twice her age. She grew up in Tanzania, studied in Italy and Sweden, spent a year and a half backpacking through South America, speaks Swedish, Spanish, Swahili, English, and French. She's back at University now working on a degree in Global Studies. She wants to work on development projects in Latin America and/or Southern Africa.
After our three-hour drive to Nata we had lunch with her at a Barcelo's restaurant behind the bus stop. We asked around about when the bus could be expected and got answers “1:15”, “2 o'clock” and “3:30”. But the best answer is 'just wait there and it will show up'. Our waitress from Barcelos said it would be okay for her to wait at the outside table where we had lunch so we left her there with a fond goodbye and promises to email each other.
We drove on another four hours to Francistown and checked in to an unexpectedly luxurious campsite at the Cresta Marang Garden Hotel and Casino. Camping was only $22 and we had the run of a luxury hotel with wi-fi, pool, pool-bar, etc. We had showers and talked briefly with two Japanese guys who are bicycling. They had been backpacking but bought old, beat-up bikes in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) and have been spending more time fixing the bikes than travelling (they joke). One of the guys has been backpacking around the world for six years. He returns home to Kyoto to work for a few months every once in a while but only to earn enough money to go back on the road.
As sunset came on Labashi made up a pot-luck meal from our stock of canned goods. Tonight is was corned beef and corn and onion and olives. We need to eat out a bit less and work our way through the provisions before we return the truck.

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Monday, 12 September -

This morning we slept in till 0630 and then readied ourselves for the trip to the Falls. We left the lodge at 0800 and were transferred to the Zimbabwe border where we met Beki, our guide from Silver Tours. Beki drove us the 45 minutes to Victoria Falls and then took us on a two-hour tour of the falls. Afterward Beki took us to a nearby cafe for lunch and turned us loose until our pickup time at 1430. We spent the time shopping the nice shops of the Elephant Walk and then walked over to the Victoria Falls Hotel.... a very historic and impressive hotel of England's Colonial Age.
Beki picked us up at 1430 for the trip back and we met a German couple who Beki had picked up at the airport for their transfer to a safari camp.
We processed back through Zimbabwe and Botswana border stations and were back in our campsite by 1700, after a very, very nice day.
We had supper in the bar at the Thebe River Lodge and then when the laptop battery died, we went back to our campsite and set up a table in the pavilion near the electrical outlet. Labashi worked on an email to family while I had a long conversation with Peter and Jean Morse, an Eglish couple who are in the process of emigrating to South Africa. They were driving an old Land Rover ex-military ambulance which Peter had taken four years to outfit to see Africa. The Morse's had story after story of their adventures on the road for the last four months. We finally called it quits around 2200.


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Sunday, 11 September -

Today we arose at dawn and took a game drive on this spectacular morning, slowly winding along River Road toward Kasane.
We exited the park around noon and went looking for a campsite. We settled on Thebe River Lodge's campground and had a long conversation with Roy, a Zimbabwe-born South African farmer of macadamia nuts. We then went looking for lunch. We had a long, leisurely one at Old House Restaurant in their garden as locals watched South African rugby on the bar television nearby, a very pleasant Sunday afternoon scene.
We spent a few hours in camp and made arrangements for a guided trip to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe the next day.
We then drove to Chobe Safari Lodge, hoping to be allowed to have dinner there. Dinner wasn't served for a few hours yet so we had drinks at the outdoor bar and watched the sun set. The Lodge is very, very nice and we enjoyed getting the chance to experience its common areas a bit.
We decided we didn't want to wait for supper so headed back to Thebe River Lodge. We had supper in the bar and spent the whole evening talking and drinking with Rebecca, a Swedish tour leader and college student, and our new-found friend Roy, the nut-farmer.

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Saturday, 10 September -

We had a scare last night. Around 0330 Labashi shifted her weight fairly heavily on our roof-top tent, causing the tent to shake a bit. Almost immediately we felt a strong push against the truck. Labashi asked me if I had done that and another sudden jolt occurred. We had seen a largish elephant by the nearby ablution block earlier in the evening and figured it must be the elephant. We lay completely still and listened. We couldn't hear anything definite but Labashi said she could occasionally hear the whoosh of air as the elephant breathed. I thought I heard elephant footsteps nearby. We lay motionless and about an hour later fell back asleep.
At dawn I cautiously zipped open the tent door and checked for the elephant. Nothing. When light came up a bit more I dressed and climbed down the ladder to see the footprints. There were none-- only the old ones we had seen when we first arrived.
Shortly after the jolts happened Labashi whispered “maybe it's Korbus trying to scare us silly Americans”. But there were no tracks from Korbus's camp and he denied having anything to do with it. And there were no 'tracks' of an elephant-nudge in the thick dust covering the truck.
I eventually came to the conclusion that it hadn't been an elephant at all. I had parked one wheel of the truck on a flat rock. The rock wasn't really flat, though.... it was wedge-shaped. By morning's light I could see the tire had rolled off the rock. I think Labashi's jostling caused the truck to roll forward enough to roll off the wedge. The jolts had to do with the manual transmission allowing the forward movement but doing it a gear-tooth at a time ; thus the jolts. It's either that or some kind of ninja-elephant that frightened us.
Anyway, today we drove north from Savuti. I had clear instructions from the wildlife officer on how to find a detour around the deep sand on the lower Ghoha Road. Cross the bridge and take the left turn, then go 10K to a sign to Ghoha. “Immediate left?”, I asked. “Yes-- immediate left”, replied the wildlife officer.
We crossed the bridge and took an immediate left on the road to Linyanti--- the one we know to have the deepest sands in all of Chobe. But it was, after all, a detour. Within a hundred meters we hit deep sand as we climbed a hill and I'm still not sure how we made it to solid ground. But then things went okay up to 9K or so. There we came upon a very long stretch of deep sand and I knew in my heart of hearts that if we go into that sand, we're going to have to be towed out. I walked in about 100 meters and it stretched out far ahead. There's no way I'd have the momentum to get through that and as soon as I made the smallest mistake, we'd be stuck quite badly and have a long, long way to dig out.
I returned to the car and told Labashi there's no way I'm entering that sand. If that means we have to go back to Maun and take the long way around to Kisane, so be it.
We returned to the Savuti gate and learned from another ranger that I shouldn't have taken the immediate left but the left at the split only about 25 meters further on. And once I do that, ignore the signs to Ghoha and follow signs to the airstrip and that will eventually rejoin the road to Ghoha Gate.
We followed the new directions and soon felt we were indeed on the right path. Past the airstrip the road was pretty good and did lead us in the right cardinal direction whereas the Linyanti road seemed to be trending north too much.
After a few hours of rock-and-roll we made it to the Ghoha Gate and signed out of that section of the park. But that also gave us a new problem. The ranger at Xaxanaxa had told us to avoid the 7K stretch of bad sand on the left after the gate but now the Ghoha Gate person told us the opposite. TAKE the 7k road to avoid the worse sand of the straight-ahead route. We decided to go with the opinion of the ranger nearest the turn, i.e., the Ghoha Gate ranger. The 7K segment proved to be quite bad. It was 7K of red Namibian Sand, some of which now adorns the top of my air cleaner and the top of the battery.
After the turn at 7K, though, things got markedly better and we made good time. We broke for lunch at a shady tree and soon approached the village of Kachikau.
A few K before Kachikau, though, we came to a split. The left looked more used so we took it and very quickly came upon two stuck vehicles. They were safari vehicles towing trailers and had all the help they need to get going again so I backed out to the split for another look. Since the road looked good we took it, figuring we could turn around if its character changed. We soon realized it was a boundary line with a patrol road, not the road we wanted. But we could see the village in the distance and it looked like the patrol road would go to it. We continued on and indeed we came to the village. But it was the back of the very large village and we couldn't see how to get out to the hard road. We finally asked directions of the very nice people living there and were soon on good old tarmac, airing up the tires.
We buzzed the 40K to the Chobe entrance gate to the west end of River Road and signed in. Then we got a surprise--- the road was all deep sand for 4K. Fortunately, it was all downhill and didn't go too badly. At the bottom of the hill we broke out to a spectacular view of the Chobe River floodplain and thousands of zebras. It seemed we should have had stirring music at that point-- it was an incredible sight.
We spent the rest of the afternoon dawdling along the west end of River road, stopping to look time and again. We finally reached Ihaha (our campground) around 1600. We checked in and then drove right back out for a late game drive to the east. On this drive we saw a large group of banded mongoose digging away furiously, perhaps after termites or ants--- we couldn't tell.
After dark we returned to camp and built a fire and had supper. As we worked I heard odd sounds in the bushes not far away. That turned out to be Cape buffalo, heading down their game-trail to the river. We had a full moon and could see their massive dark shapes slowly moving to the river.
That night we heard hyenas but didn't see any. We spoke to our next-door neighbor and he had seen a leopard on the evening game drive. We had seen hundreds, if not a thousand, elephants, sable, a dozen giraffes, kudu, storks, warthogs, and baboons.


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Friday, 9 September -


We again headed north out of Maun today, bound for Savuti. Though we had been told the camp was full, we also talked with wildlife officers at Xaxanaxa and South Gate who said the concessionaire would have to take care of us since we had a booking at their other camp (Linyanti). We of course had no idea if that was really true but figured there must be some answer because this type of thing would have to happen a lot.
We buzzed along at 100 kph for the first 50K on hard road, then 60-80 kph on the gravel up to Mababe and the entrance gate to Chobe National Park. But then the character of the road changed dramatically. Once through the gate we had two-track and it was two-track with a high center, stretches of sand, and long stretches of immense potholes we had to weave around and/or idle through. For a first hour or so the forest looked a good bit like the woods at home in very early Spring. A few budding trees and bushes here and there, lots of brown, dead leaves and an open understory. But then the land opened up on the right side to classic African plain. We could see for miles. As we trundled along we saw a dozen warthogs, a dozen elephants, and five giraffes.
As we approached Savuti we took a turnoff to 'Bushmen Rock Paintings', a pretty rock outcropping along the river. We followed a path which supposedly led to the rock paintings but never did see any. But it was a beautiful spot.
We then drove on toward Savuti Camp and promptly got stuck in deep sand. This time we were able to dig out by ourselves. We avoided needlessly spinning wheels (which just digs in deeper) and 'dug the dif' and dug away sand from under the spare tire and bashplate. We used sandladders for the front tires and logs for the rear tires. In this case we backed out to more solid ground. We then made a mad dash over a kilometer of deep sand-- I'm still not sure how we made it.
At the gate, the concessionaire guy said it was unfortunate but the campground was full. I asked about the reserve sites and he said they were full too. Also, there was another car ahead of us waiting to see if all the campers with bookings actually showed up. There didn't appear to be an answer and it was way too late to drive back to Maun. But after a while the guy said we could wait up by the ablutions block to see if something opens up. When I asked what happens if nothing opens up, he said 'Then we'll make a plan'. That's South African code for “we'll figure it out”.
We were only at the ablutions block for 20 minutes or so when the guy appeared and said we were in luck. Nearby campers had agreed to let us share their very large site. That's how we met Korbus and Elsa, a South African couple who farm near Cape Town. We gratefully set up camp and took showers and made supper, then spent the rest of a very, very pleasant evening getting to know our hosts. Korbus had tales of his experiences in Namibia in the Bush Wars of the 1970's and Elsa regaled us with stories of how nice Cape Town is.
Korbus cooked up some steaks for their supper and made some 'brown bread' for us. In this case it's tomato and cheese in a long brown roll (much like a hot dog roll) which is then toasted over the fire. They were delicious. For our part we provided all with glasses of Ipana-palm irish cream. It's much like Amarula Cream, though perhaps a bit more chocolaty.
By the end of the evening we were great friends. We exchanged email addresses and invitations to visit. Elsa insists we must come to Cape Town and stay in their guest cottage.


****** END OF POST *************

Kubu Island, Maun, Moremi Game Reserve, breakdown

(posted from Marang Hotel campground, Francistown, BW)
(This post covers 1 – 8 September, 2011)

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Thursday, 8 September -

This morning we arose at dawn (0600) and headed for South Gate of Moremi to exit the park. About a click before the gate we startled a youngish bull elephant which trumpeted at us as it dashed for the bush; it had been hidden behind some dense growth as we approached.
We were intending to turn toward Savuti for our connection to Linyanti but two clicks past the gate the truck started acting odd. I'd push the accelerator and it would do nothing. The engine light came on and the truck idled for a bit, then stalled. It would start up okay but pushing the accelerator did nothing. The manual told is the engine light symbol meant 'Take your vehicle to a Toyota dealer' (thanks!!).
After checking over the engine for any obvious problems we dug out the satellite phone and called Bushlore and talked with Mark. He advised another visual check while he talked to their mechanic and had a look at HiLux like ours for ideas.
In the meantime we had a few passers-by come by, all of them stopping to be sure we were okay. One guy said it's water in the fuel. I found the fuel filter drain and drained off an inch of fuel and did see some tiny water drops which looked like grains of sand but the engine acted the same afterward.
I called Mark back and reviewed the situation and he said he'd call someone in Maun to dispatch a mechanic out. Another passer-by asked if I had checked the air filter. I had indeed looked at it several days ago but only gave it a brief glance. I took out the air cleaner element and tried the engine again. It worked! The engine returned to normal and appeared to accelerate just fine. I put the air filter element back in place and expected to replicate the original problem but that didn't happen-- everything seemed to be fine now.
We drove back to the South Gate and I called Mark again. He said he'd call off the mechanic and I said I wanted to go to Maun and put in a replacement air filter since this one was very dirty. He agreed.
We drove back toward Maun and met the mechanic at the veterinary fence (also called the 'buffalo-fence' these are fences erected by the government to prevent the spread of hoof-and-mouth disease to cattle). I followed the mechanic back to the shop and spoke with Mac MacKenzie about the problem. We agreed it probably was a fuel or sensor problem and a replacement air cleaner element wouldn't hurt if I could find one. I had noticed fuel on the side of the engine and as we stood there talking one of the mechanics asked about a drip under the engine. That turned out to be a small leak from the rear fuel injector and was easily remedied with a 17mm wrench (I had tried tightening it at the South Gate but the largest wrench in the truck's tool kit was a 15 mm and pliers didn't do much). I gave Mac a 100 Pula for his trouble and moved on. But it's nice to know who the go-to guy is in Maun for recoveries and repairs. Mac also outfits Land Rovers for self-drive safari's so perhaps we'll do business in the future.
We then were running to late to make our Linyanti booking so we went to the concessionaire to try to change it but no-go; their other camp at Savuti was full. I also picked up and installed a new air filter element from the Autozone at Riley's Garage.
We returned to Sedia for another night and had showers and pizza and a good sleep.

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Wednesday, 7 September -


We arose early and went on a game-drive this morning. Moremi is mostly underwater it seems. The rains in Angola flow down the Okavango Delta, flooding Moremi each year. This year is said to be even higher than the record-setting flooding of 2009 and 2010. Unfortunately that means we couldn't drive most of the roads in the Reserve.
We drove to nearby Paradise Pools, an oasis of greenery among all the drab foliage of winter. We saw many impala and lechwe and loved just hanging out in this area-- it did indeed seem like a paradise.
We then drove toward Third Bridge. We came upon five giraffes feeding near the road and spent a long time watching them. The females are quite lighter in color than the males and we liked seeing the very, very tall male and the awkwardness of the young giraffes.
We then found ourselves in a very sandy patch. I missed a down-shift and we found ourselves very, very stuck in the sand. We got out the spade and sand-ladders (long rubber mats to put under the tires) and spent about 45 minutes trying to get out with no success at all. Two guys happened along in a bush-truck but couldn't stay to help-- they were rushing to the airstrip to meet a plane. But one guy did give us some confidence that we could get the truck out-- we just had to do a better job of digging out the sand from under “the dif” (the truck's rear-differential gear housing). We dug for another 20 minutes or so when along came another bush-truck from one of the nearby camps (Wilderness Dawning Safaris). This time two guys jumped out and plunged into the task. One took the spade and began digging out sand from under the dif and the underslung spare tire. The other went in search of three or four-inch logs and told us they'd work much better than sand ladders. When given the signal I gave it a try but the engine seemed to load up right away when I tried to pull out (I later found this was due to the dirty air cleaner) so I just managed to get stuck again a bit further along. We all dug for 20 minutes or so and we connected their tow-strap with mine and to the vehicles for a tow. One of the guys asked if it would be okay if he tried the driving and between the digging-out, the logs, and the tow, and Labashi and I pushing against the tailgate, we got it up on higher ground. We said our thanks to the guys and I gave each 100 Pula for their help. We decided to retreat at that point because we didn't want to deal with any more deep sand so we detoured around the big sand-hole and got back to better track. On the way back to Xaxanaxa we briefly got stuck again but this time the limited-slip differential got us out-- we hadn't bottomed out as hard.
We then drove back to Paradise Pools and found shade for a nice, relaxing lunch. As we wrapped up our long lunch we heard what sounded like a dog bark once in the distance. And before long we saw a lone baboon. Then, a minute later, another. And another. And then the main troupe of baboons and vervet monkeys, including the cutest little babies clinging to their moms.
We returned to camp and had luxurious hot showers at the very modern, solar-powered ablution block. At 1600 we ventured out again on a game drive, exploring the roads up to the flooded areas. Then turning back. Back at Paradise Pools we took another jeep-trail and soon encountered two big elephants tearing away at trees. And while parked watching them we saw a big monitor lizard come waddling out of the bush and turn down the track.
We returned to camp by sunset (we're required to be in by 1730), built our fire and had supper, then caught up on blog notes and planning for the next few days.

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Tuesday, 6 September -

Today we did a bit of last-minute provisioning (fuel and pula) and headed out of Maun for Moremi National Game Reserve. Right after entering the gate we saw a dozen elephants very close to the road and on both sides of us. In fact we backed off a bit to give them more space and not crowd the young ones and their very watchful (and HUGE) mothers. They were grouped close together (one group on each side of the road) and were slowly flapping their sail-like ears to keep cool in the 90-plus heat of the afternoon.
We arrived at Xaxanaxa (“kak-a-nak-a”) camp about four and settled in to our site. Ours was well away from the 'ablution block' (the bathrooms-and-showers building)--- far enough that it was too dangerous to walk at night. We didn't put up the roof-top tent until late in the evening so we could drive to the ablution block just before bedtime. The only problem this gave me, though, was that I had to leave the fire. The wood had burned down a bit but I spread out the remainder in case the wind came up suddenly. I could see the the campsite in the distance from the ablution block but if a wildfire started it would get out of control quickly. Fortunately the wind was very light.
We had a 5/8 moon tonight and sat out enjoying the stars. I bought Labashi a southern-skies star book when we were in Maun and we picked out the Southern Cross and Scorpio (which she says looks like a great white shark).
Oh, yeah. And we saw the aftermath of an airplane accident which happened this morning. As we approached the Xaxanaxa gate we saw an oddly-tilted 172 in the trees off the end of the grass landing strip. Several guys were standing around it, including the pilot. We learned at the gate that it had run off the end of the strip just before noon this morning. The pilot claimed his brakes had failed but I think he had landed downwind. The wings and most of the fuselage looked ok but the prop was bent and the landing gear partially torn away. The plane had mounted a pile of logs and debris at the forest edge, saving the wings but creating a bit of a nightmare to recover the plane. It will be a long, dusty drive for a crane-truck.

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Monday, 5 September -

Barking dogs awakened us in the night but we were able to get back to sleep. The dogs are a mixed blessing. At Kwa Nokeng Lodge camp we were glad to have them. We could tell from different dogs barking which way the night-wildlife was moving. But they tend to bark TOO much in some areas-- like fenced-in camps. Here at Maun the dog was too close-- perhaps 50 meters-- and demonstrated remarkable barking stamina.
We spent much of today shopping and running down our bookings for the parks. When you arrive at the wildlife office they give you a map of vicinity showing the camp concessionaires. You select which camps you'd like to book, go to that office to check availability and to pay, then return to the wildlife office to pay for your park admission fees for each person and for the vehicle. You cannot enter the park or reserve with your own vehicle without a confirmed booking. The alternative is to camp at a lodge outside the reserve and buy seats for a 'game drive' into the reserve.
We booked campsites for the next five days in Moremi Reserve and Chobe National Park at Xakanaxa and Linyanti (2 days each), and Ihaha (1 day), respectively. We had tried to get a Savuti reservation but it was booked for the next week or so (more on that later!)
For lunch we tried a Barcelo's fast-food restaurant. We had a very tasty chicen stir-fry and noticed they have wi-fi and newspapers. We didn't have time to take advantage of the wi-fi but browsed the South African Sunday paper while eating.
We had to make several trips to the booking offices and wildlife office and we booked a late-afternoon scenic flight in a Cessna 172.
At 1630 we went to the Maun airport for our scenic flight over the Okavango Delta. The flight cost $350 for an hour's flight for the two of us. Our pilot was a young South African who explained that we'd be flying at 500 feet and would see animals but he's not allowed to circle the animals or follow them in any way. The trick, then, was to look ahead and try to pick out animals and the pilot would bank the plane on the animal-side to give us a better view. But honestly, we're in a plane doing 100 miles an hour looking into the setting sun much of the time, trying to spot animals among trees and bushes. We did see a herd of water buffalo, giraffes, and elephants but the view was a fleeting one. It still was very cool to see them from this angle, though. We got a sense of where they were in relation to the river and to the various types and concentrations of vegetation.
After the flight we returned to the Sedia campground for the night. We had a very tasty Mexican pizza for our long, dawdling dinner. As we were leaving, the floor manager invited us to stay for a traditional dance display. Eight girls dressed in traditional clothing of leopard-skin patterns and colors danced and sang in a very interesting chant-response series of songs for the next hour. We learned these were dances of celebration of a young girl's transition into womanhood. The dancing was a series of individual performances, each girl altering the pattern, adding creative moves. Some also invited guests to join briefly. A Spanish group was attending and one woman did a Flamenco version of the dance. That sounds ridiculous but given that the traditional dance involved a lot of very rhythmic foot-stomping, the Flamenco was just a creative twist on it and brought a hearty laugh.
Labashi and I each had our brief call to the stage and our inept tries to duplicate the moves of the girl were hilarious. Also, the women were instructed in uulation and Labashi surprised everyone with an incredibly loud and near-perfect scream-warble (!!!!).
We slept very well after that and for once the dogs were quiet.

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Sunday, 4 September -

Today we got up early so we could be sure to be out of the park by 1100. I'm not sure that's a great rule. At the prices we paid for entry and camping, we shouldn't have to be out of the reserve until at least mid-afternoon so there's time to park and observe at multiple sites.
After the gate, we buzzed the 40k sand road out to Rakops where we once again topped off the 160-liter tank (actually it's two 80-liter tanks plus I have 40 liters more in jerry-cans on the roof).
We drove on to Maun, arriving there by about 1530. As we drove Labashi looked for a lodge with camping and, hopefully, an internet cafe nearby. We were lucky to find the Sedia Lodge, which not only had camping but also had an internet cafe next door. After check-in we showered and had a drink at the pool bar. I had brought along the laptop to the bar so we could get emails and the blog ready to go at the internet cafe. When I opened the laptop, it found a wi-fi hotspot right there at the pool-bar. That was great! We could work there while sipping wine and the connection was free. And, remarkably, the camping charge was only $11 per night. And to top it off, right after I connected, a Skype video call came in from Maypo. He had seen I was online and gave me a call. That just seemed incredible to be sitting in a bar in Botswana while talking to Maypo sitting in his home office back in Chambersburg--- and it was a free call!
That evening we celebrated our Kalahari adventure with a nice meal out at the lodge restaurant. I had filet and Labashi had the extensive buffet.
We went to bed as quite happy campers that night!

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Saturday, 3 September -

We arose at 0630 and were underway by 0745. We had a poor sleeping-night last night, not because of the animals but because of wind. The wind acted very oddly; we kept getting brushed by violent whirls – mini-dust-devils-- which flapped the tent and kept us awake. Between listening for lions and reacting to the thrashing of the tent, we didn't get a lot of sleep. As dawn neared, though, the wind stopped and we slept deeply for a few hours.
We drove the Sunday Pan loop this morning and that led us up to Leopard Pan, where we saw our first lion tracks.... definitely an exciting moment.
We then drove south toward the Deception Valley. I had wanted to visit here since reading 'Cry of the Kalahari', an excellent book about two young researchers who in the Seventies drove out to Deception Valley to bush-camp and make detailed observations of lions and brown hyenas. Their story is extraordinary and I was very happy to get to see Deception Pan and the Deception Valley for myself.
We saw our first honey-badger along the way and thought it rare but within a few hours we had seen four of them. They have a reputation for being very nasty but these guys ignored us. Then again we didn't get out of the car with them nearby.
We drove on to the Letihua Valley for our second night's camp, taking the time to tour each loop-drive. We checked the Letihua waterhole but there wasn't much action. We did see our first bat-eared fox here, though. We stayed until nearly dark and then returned to camp for supper and to build our lion-fire.
We were a lot calmer about it tonight. It finally occurred to us that lions aren't going to come rushing out of the bush at us. We need to keep our wits about us around camp--- both for lions and hyenas--- but we can go about our business with little fear of an attack. Then again, we don't go for long walks, either.

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Friday, 2 September -

We 'stood up' (as Labashi's Uncle Joe used to say) at 0630 and were underway by 0800 today. We've got to work down our time for breaking camp. We circled Kubu Island one last time to see the baobab trees and salt flats in the morning light.
We drove a few hours back to Lethalakane, fueled up and hit the SPAR again and then headed northwest toward Rakops and the turnoff to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve ('the CKGR'). After topping off fuel at Rakops we turned off the hard road and drove 40K of sandy-but-ok road to the entrance gate. There we paid our camping and entrance fees, bought some wood (mainly because the responded to my declining wood with 'But, sir, you need wood to make fire to keep away the lions!').
By then were nearing dusk and so it seemed more urgent to get to camp before dark. We encountered a few deep-sand sections that gave me pause but the truck seemed to handle them well.
We found our camp at Sunday Pan 2 an hour or so before dark and we hurried a bit to get a fire built and supper made before full dark. I also set up our LPG gas bottle and put on the lantern to give us some more light to ward off the scaries (as if that would do it!)
We spent a bit of a nervous first evening, staying close to the fire and the truck. We're advised not to wander more than 100 meters from the campsite but there's enough growth around that even ten meters outside the cleared area of the camp you feel vulnerable.
As the fire burned down we did some reading and planning by headlamp as we sat in the front seats of the truck.
Today we had seen gemsbok (oryx), kori bustard, springbok, and black-backed jackal.

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Thursday, 1 September -

We arose at 0630 and were on the road by 0900-- headed for Kubu Island. This is an island surrounded by land, in this case the Sowa Pan. The Pan is a salt-lake bed. In the rainy season the water can be up to your knees here but in the dry season (now), it's a pancake-flat expanse of white salt. Kubu Island is a rocky outcrop which is very striking in appearance. Among the rocks are massive baobab trees (and other trees I can't name), all large in scale. The baobab tree bark has a reddish hue and when the sun nears the horizon they take on an incredibly beautiful color.
To reach Kubu Island we drove to Lethalakane where we shopped at the SPAR (supermarket) and hit the NEDBank ATM for 2000 pula (about $70) for walk-around money.
Kubu Island is also known as Lethubu Island which led to some confusion as we read signs and tried to compare to our guide book. The track out to Kubu gave us our first taste of driving in a remote area. There were multiple paths, unsigned y-intersections, a few massive potholes, and some short deep-sand stretches. Our Tracks4Africa SIM card in our GPS did a good job of sorting it out.
We arrived at Kubu about two hours before dark, took a break and then a short walk to photograph the trees as the sun fell very low in the sky. We had supper after twilight and then walked over to talk with two guys from Ohio camped a few sites over. It turned out they had grown up in western Pennsylvania and one had lived in Botswana for a few years some 25 years ago and was returning to see how things had changed.
From them we learned we had been fortunate to have rented through Bushlore. They had also rented a GPS but the outfitter failed to put the Tracks4Africa chip in it so it was virtually useless. The base map for southern Africa has so little detail that there's nothing but the hard roads. They had gotten lost several times on the way out to Kubu.
After our visit we returned to camp and sat out watching for shooting stars. We saw three-- one of them a 'sizzler', i.e., one so bright and long-lasting that it seems to sizzle as it crosses the sky.
We went to bed at 2130 and read for a bit before falling into a very deep sleep.

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