And That Makes 50,000

See if you can guess what the 50,000 stands for. Left Zimbabwe and had one of the easiest border crossings into Botswana. Had to walk across some disinfecting carpet to try and clean our shoes, but only the shoes we were wearing. Think I’m going to throw out all of my footwear before I return to Australia.

Chobe National Park

After a pretty short drive (compared to some of the previous days) we arrived at another very nice resort. Again we were in tents but at least we could use the swimming pool looking over the river. However our tents were set up quite near the river which had a lot of warnings about not swimming due to hippos and crocodiles. Stupidly I had my tent on the edge closest to the water – tried not to think about it too much but certainly shined my torch around a lot when I was heading to bed.

(tent by water’s edge)

Another early start for another sunrise game drive. Getting a little jaded about seeing the same old animals (which is sad) but was shocked out of my stupor when we saw a leopard pretty much as we entered the park.

(leopard – still exciting)

Think most of my photos have been the big or exciting animals – thought I’d add one of the numerous antelopes we see on these game drives. Unfortunately most times they run off but this one was too interested in the shade to rush away from the 4WD. Couldn’t imagine being out here in the middle of the day – even at 8am it’s so hot.

(impala in the shade)

Headed back to our resort which we discovered didn’t have a TV in. Had to walk down to another hotel to be able to watch the World Cup Bronze Medal Game involving Australia and Wales. Nice to get a win and so glad there are no New Zealanders on this trip. Don’t know if I could handle their gloating… After the game we all retreated to the shade by the pool and drank copious amounts of liquids.

After unsuccessfully trying to get rid of my t-shirt tan, we got on a small boat and did a river cruise. Still very warm in the late afternoon and the water looked so tempting. The river was so flat it would have been perfect for water-skiing or wakeboarding (as long as you forget about the crocodiles and hippos). These tour operators were a lot more sensitive to the hippos and we didn’t go close enough to annoy them and get the ‘yawning hippo’ photo. However our driver had no qualms about going as close as possible to some crocodiles – even right up to the bank where some were.

(crocodiles)

Rainbow Camp

Next morning we headed off to Namibia for the night – staying at a pretty good camp site which was run by an ex-tour leader. Very interesting talking to him – he used to take older German tourists which he said acted like school children over the 14 days he took them around. Also, in the men’s toilets, the urinals were actually hippo mouths – bit disconcerting late at night.

Okavango Delta

Learning a lot about African geography – beyond the fact there’s so much of it – but one interesting part of Namibia is that it has a pan-handle of land between two rivers. So we left Namibia and went back into Botswana for a couple of days. Still got enough spare pages in my passport – the Namibian and Batswana immigration stampers did a fantastic job not wasting space.

We were spending our first night in the delta in complete bush camping – no facilities at all. To get to the deserted part in the delta we all paired up and got in a mokoro (small canoe). Weren’t very stable – think small gondolas with the guy at the back poling us along. I didn’t get a great photo – didn’t feel very stable and wanted to avoid rocking the boat.

After getting all our tents, cooking utensils and food to our camping location we had a relaxing afternoon before a sunset mokoro cruise. Went extremely close to some hippos who can make an incredible amount of noise. We were close enough for the jaws music to play through my head and some of the more personally protective people were asking for our guides to move us away. Headed back to some open waters and watched the sunset over the papyrus reeds. As I’ve mentioned before I’ve taken so many sunset photos but thought I should attach at least one.

(sunset over the Delta)

After some dinner and entertainment from the locals (when they asked us to entertain them afterwards we failed miserably…) we had a relatively early night. The stars were incredible but I still haven’t seen the Southern Cross. Woke up early (but not nearly early enough) to go on a game walk which was so boiling hot I detoured into the shade whenever it was possible. Didn’t see too many animals but saw some lions tracks maybe 200 metres from our campsite. Makes you wonder how close animals have come during this whole adventure when we’re not AWARE. (And that makes 50,000 words on this blog! Kind-of scary). And having to drink lukewarm water is not fun – what I would have given for some ice at that moment…

When we stumbled back to our campsite our tents had been thankfully taken down and we got back into the canoes. Middle of the day mokoro ride is not my definition of fun. My canoe partner grabbed the milk carton box and fashioned herself a hat which was very trendy while our guide had a whole massive cardboard box he hid beneath. Dipping my hat into the water and then wearing it was a temporary cooling measure and by this time my water bottle could have been used for a cup of tea. Was an insidious type of torture since coolish water was so close but we couldn’t go for a swim.

Umvuvu Camp

We returned to our truck, swapped our dirty clothes for a cleaner version and then got in the canoes again for a thankfully short trip to a permanent campsite on an island in the delta. We were even spoiled with permanent tents and beds. There was a possibility of even playing paintball on the island (and really cheap at only $20USD) but the temperature was so high that getting into the safety overalls was too intense – let alone running around. Was a great campsite with some fantastic open roof showers but the only blemish was the number of mosquitoes in the area. Obviously being in the stagnant waters of the delta didn’t help but my trusty Bushman’s Repellent did extremely well – just my failure to adequately cover my feet when I took off my sandals and being attacked while showering resulted in a few bites.

After a fantastic sleep only interrupted by one of the best thunderstorms I’ve heard in a long time we awoke and headed back to our truck by canoe to leave the delta. Some of the canoes had portable chairs while in the others you had to prop yourself up. Finally worked out this system and stole some of the chairs for our mokoro much to the displeasure of the previous owners. Was one advantage of being first down to the boats.

Back to Namibia

We again did the Botswana-Namibia crossing and realised it’s my penultimate border crossing for this African trip. Returned to the Rainbow Camp – where we had left a few of our group who wanted to watch the World Cup Final (and maybe spend 4 nights in the same location). We’ve got about 2 weeks in Namibia then head straight to Cape Town. Can’t believe how quickly the time has gone.

Week Ahead

Wed, 26th of Oct Grootfontein

Thurs, 27th of Oct San Bushmen

Fri, 28th of Oct Etosha National Park

Sat, 29th of Oct Etosha National Park

Sun, 30th of Oct Spitzkoppe

Mon, 31st of Oct Swakopmund

Tues, 1st of Nov Swakopmund