Botswana

Kasane

We crossed over into Botswana and immediately entered safari territory. Hotels weren’t set up for budget travellers round here, but for families and couples on their week long safari packages. Hotels were grand, and even though some had camping sites, the prices were extortionate. The 2 cars were going to free camp just outside, but with just a ground tent (not a roof pop up), Luke and I booked a spot in the Chobe Safari lodge. But like all the big hotels, communication is a bit lacking, so as the others dropped us off, the guard ushered the cars in too, despite the front desk saying there was no space! 6 for the price of 2…those were figures we liked!

Chobe National Park

We awoke before sunrise to make the gate for Chobe National Park at 6am. We planned on driving through in one day, getting out before sunset when the gate at the South closed. Only 250kms – not a bother right?


Buffalos at Chobe

We all paid for our emtry snd at the next checkpoint before you actually enter the park, we ran into a policeman. He wanted to see the vehicle registration disc. We all explained that the UK doesn't have those anymore and its just a paper part, which Will had. But this guy was hell bent on seeing one and told us to go back to the border and get one. They don't just hand these things out at the border mate! He just wanted a little backhander, but knowing we had done nothing wrong, we weren't going to part with a penny. So Neil and Will pulled the calling the 'embassy' card out and asked for his name. That was our ticket through it seems, before even doing a fake call! Straight through we went...





Giraffes mid-fight

We started off along the gravel road and quickly took one of the paths to the river to see if we could spot any wildlife. The sand was pretty deep, bikes knocking around on the top of the car, and us bumping up and down in the back. But all worth it as we spotted a pride of lions, warthogs, gazelles, eland and other animals pretty quickly. After spending most of the morning doing about 5km per hour, we thought it was time to get a move on…after a quick lunch stop in a ‘designated picnic spot’ meaning ‘there’s no fence, so at your own risk guys.’  

We then decided we really needed to get a move on, but tarmac turned to gravel, which turned to sand and soon we were stuck behind a 4x4 towing a trailer. The couple were from Jo’Burg and said we definitely wouldn’t be able to make it to Maun that evening…it was sand all the way!




Elephant dust bath-I know how he feels!

After several hours, we arrived at an extortionate campsite that would charge $50 each if it wasn’t full. And we were told by the helpful receptionist that we had no other choice but to get to the gate before it closed!

It was hard to be in a rush still, with giraffe have a whacking fight with their heads hitting each other’s arses, and elephants everywhere having dust baths.

But off we went, wriggling our way through deep sand, passing elephant after elephant. We knew if one got pissed, we wouldn’t be able to get away from them quick enough in this sand.

We passed a lone hippo in a mud pool…with no proper river or lake nearby??? What on earth?

But we finally made it to the gate just in time, with the couple from Jo’Burg close behind too. There was no way we were going to make it to Maun that evening as the sun was about to set and it was still a good 3 hours drive in similar road conditions for the first hour.




Lions chilling out in the shade

So we decided we had nothing to lose by asking the guard if we could camp just outside the gate, to which she said yes, there was no stopping us if we wanted to. This isn’t really a ‘gate,’ but more of a building that lies on the border of the park. There’s no fence, and no stopping a lion or hyena investigating our tents or an elephant trampling on it like a twig. But somehow knowing you’re not technically in the park makes you feel like you’re safe (just), even though you’re under an elephant’s favourite fruit tree.

We had quite a peaceful night’s sleep, mostly because we slept in Lauren and Dote’s car, away from the clasp of the wildlife. Then we were off the next morning to Maun.

Maun

We stayed in the Old Bridge backpackers, a great little spot on the Okavango Delta river. We organised a makora ride as a group. These were boat trips down the Okavango Delta – 2 of us each in a boat and one poler who helped us wade through the shallow waters. It was a great day out, with the sun out in full force and a slow gentle journey manoeuvring the little paths between the reeds. Lily pads and flowers were scattered everywhere and the occasional hippo surfaced to say hello. We pulled up on a little island half way through for lunch and then headed off for a walk to spot some zebra, wildebeest and antelope. 


Okavango makora trip - Dotes and Lauren

There were definitely elephants around considering their dung was all over the place, even our guide’s hands as he picked some up and explained that people have it in their tea!!! And when we all cringed, he thought he’d make his point that it’s not that bad my putting some in his mouth! Delightful. Just what everyone needs after a long day at work…a nice cup of hot elephant poop.

We made our way back for a good 2 hours, whilst Luke tried to guess all the names of the Harry Potter books. He named a couple correctly but then struggled with a few, with guesses being:

Harry Potter and the goblin of fire
Harry Potter and the book of secrets
Harry Potter and the closet of secrets
My personal favourite – Harry Potter and Hagrid’s day out!
Harry Potter and the something of the something
(Given a hint here- phoenix)
Harry Potter and the Claws of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the feathers of the Phoenix
(Another hint – it’s nothing to do with what’s on the phoenix)
Harry Potter and the beak of the Phoenix!!!

He doesn’t fare well with stuff like this…he even asked me if Harry Potter was in Rivendell house (no that’s a place in Lord of the Rings where the elves live), and if the bald guy in the wheelchair is one of Avengers Assemble (no, that’s Professor Xavier in Xmen). Oh, and whilst he was trying to remind me of him saying Hagrid’s day out…he said ‘who’s that big green fella?’ Hagrid’s not green Luke, that’s the Hulk – who is incidentally one of the Avengers.

Oh dear…anyway, back to Botswana!




TINY plane

On one beautifully clear day, we took a flight in a 5 seater plane to see the Okavango Delta from the skies. The streams turned into lakes and back again. Some wide stretches of river revealed a vivid blue against the lush green of the swamps. There were even jet black lakes with trees that looked petrified, sticking out of them. And everywhere we looked, there were herds of elephants by the water’s edge, hippos hiding in the reeds, groups of wildebeest and even the odd giraffe. The hour went really quickly and before we knew it, we were straight into a bumpy landing. My legs are pretty short, but even I struggled to fit comfortably into that midget sized plane.

Since we left Malawi, we haven’t felt like we’ve been in Africa anymore – no rice and beans, no small local tin shed bars or restaurants with flies all over the place or fruit markets where you can pick up the juiciest mango for 10p. It’s been big supermarkets and high end cafés. Sounds like a luxury, right? But we’re really missing the Africa we were used to, where things were so readily available and you could mix with the locals very easily. It’s like being in England again – everyone on their phones and rushing from place to place in their cars, no time to chat with strangers anymore. I guess we knew Africa was going to get more and more developed as we went down, but it just changed pretty drastically. There are still small towns, but they’re just for the people that live there permanently – no local shops, restaurants or hostels – just basic living. A different Africa to what we’re used to, but what do we expect, we’ve travelled thousands of kilometres!

We headed out a few days later to the Caprivi strip, one uneventful journey, which brought us to Namibia. And so, Botswana was over in less than a week!



View of the Okavango










View of the Okavango