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.
******* END OF POST ***********
(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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posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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