Further into Botswana

I last posted to the blog from Nata. Since then we have travelled further into Botswana and out into Namibia. Eric has posted about the Njuca Hills. This was in the Makgadikgadi Pans and wasn't at all what I expected. I thought it would be a vast wilderness of salt pans (water having evaporated). It turned out to be savannah - miles of it! Very few animals near the entrance that we went through. Lots of soft sand driving (4 WD definitely needed with pressure taken out of the tyres to enable grip). The camp site was very basic - long drop toilet and a shower that you had to fill yourself - and we were the only people there. A wonderful meal and then a long look at the stars. 'Awesome' is a word that is frequently used today, but it really does describe the sky at night on the Njuca Hills. The next morning we ventured on to the exit gate, uncertain whether we faced a ferry, bridge or river crossing as the map was unclear. As we headed west, we saw more wildlife - elephants, various antelope and giraffes (more water around). According to the Lonely Planet, the whole area fills with migrating animals during the appropriate season - must be quite a sight. We finally arrived at the far side of the Park and entered the campsite. We chatted to the camp courier who told us that they had recently had 5 lions walk through their campsite and had all been forced to stay indoors! She also informed us that there was a ferry crossing to be had. The ferry only managed to take us across one car at a time. Quite an experience (Photos to follow). We failed to find our next campsite and decided to travel on to spend more time at Maun which is a main centre for the bottom of the Okagango Delta. This proved to be a sensible decision. Following advice from several people, Ellen, Fox, Adrian and I headed up to the North of the Moremi National park to an area owned and run by the Khwai Community trust. As we entered the area, we stopped next to a group on a morning game trip and spotted 4/6 (depending on who you talk to amongst our group) lions! We carried on and saw hippos, zebra, impala - all before we found the campsite. This bordered the river and had no fences (or facilities). In the afternoon, about 15 elephants came to visit and kept us very entertained. They were very at ease with us all and came within about 20 metres of our campsite. The area was full of game - during our trip we saw hyena, giraffes, lots of different types of antelope (including lechwee which is very local), wild dogs, another lion and a leopard with a kill (who ran off as we approached in our vehicle). A troop of elephants approached this area and were really spooked when they came across the dead kudu (leopard's kill) - an unexpected reaction. We all felt this was a real highlight of our holiday and that we would return here if an opportunity arose. Whilst in the area, we took a mokorro trip - a dugout canoe which is 'poled' by a local person. Very relaxing. We followed some narrow channels which the hippos carved out and these opened into larger pools with lots of water lilies. We had a lunch stop on the largest island in this part of the Delta. As we approached, there was an elephant who put his trunk up against a tree - and then shook it vigorously to get the palm nuts off! Quite a sight and unexpected. On the route up to the Mokorro base, we saw a Sea Eagle with a fish in its talons. The mokorro trip prepared us for leaving Maun and a couple of days of driving to get us back to Windhoek. We had one full day driving and stopped at a comfortable overnight bush camp before carrying on. Our next stop (Zelda's Game Camp) proved to be out of the ordinary. Really clean facilities with very hot water and intersting decoration including crocheted mats on the tables in the ladies ablution block. There was also animal feeding which included emus (Ellen and Fox felt very at home!), a porcupine (very cute!), a leopard and baby black wildebeest. Now we are at Daan Viljoen Game camp just outside Windhoek. This is a very nice site which has excellent facilities. We haven't seen a lot of game so far, but are happy just to potter around and prepare for return of the vehicles tomorrow. What an amazing trip - still digesting everything. I'm sure that more reflections will follow.