Moremi at last!

A few days have slipped away, and here we are, the penultimate day, the last camp site, photo's and memories soon to be the vehicle of recall for these amazing few weeks of travel.

Lindsay and I finished off our stay at Okavango River Lodge, with a long desired trip into the Moremi Game Reserve, where the others were just finishing their camp trip (see Lynn's account). We headed off at dawn, with the sun just curling up above the sand rim that frames the horizon, and drove the sandy switch back road into the Reserve. Our aim was to explore the newly opened Black Pools/Mogoggelo area, and then head up as far as we could into the Moremi in a day.

Plenty of good sightings of animals, a lion before we entered the reserve, another guarding a previous days kill of a young elephant, humping hippo's ( ask not), and plenty of other game. We had had drinks the pervious evening with our friend Tom's sister ( ex Polokwane). It transpired she led trips into the Reserve, and gave us advice on the ''interesting tracks'' to drive. They were!! I now have another lifetimes fill of deep sand, rickety bridge and water crossings.

It was a great day, and clearly checked out for us the routes and conditions we would encounter if we drove on towards Chobe and the Chobe River, about 250 km away. ( dreams eric, dreams!! ).

We drove back in the gathering dusk, with a red sun slipping down through the haze on the other side of the dirt road.

And now, the Daan Vijoen Game Reserve, a few kilometres outside Windhoek. A super well organised camp site with toilets and showers to grace a posh hotel.  A touch of luxury camping for our last night, though supper is being billed as an ''emptying of the back of the store cupboards''. The wine stores are in good fettle though.!

  Then tomorrow after lunch it is into the City  and the handover of these absolutely first class vehicles. Rugged, yet cruise at 120 km and hour on the good tar roads, handle pretty much all we have thrown at them in dirt track and deep sand. we have not had to use the winches, but all glad we had them, the low ratio gears a blessing when they were needed.

Always sad to end a trip, but Lindsay and I know we will be back.

Adrian's First Thoughts of His Most Memorable Seven Wonders of the Trip

These are my initial thoughts of my stand-out memories from the trip, in no particular order : 1. Fox and I being thrown out of our inflatable as we attemped to paddle down Popa Falls white water, then seeing Fox scrambling out of the water still wearing his sunglases under his protective helmet, safe, with me getting out from under the up-turned inflatable to then hang on hoping that the inflatable would take the rock- hits rather than me (as turned out to be the case). So, after the adrenalin high, all were safe! Fox and I both said that we would like to give the Falls another go! However, we joined the other boats to continue with our paddling down the Kvango. 2. The openess and serenity of Njuca Hills, with orange/yellow savanna, black acacia trees and no one else for miles other than than Lynn, Lindsay, Ellen , Fox, Eric and myself. 3. The wild campsite at Kwai, with elephants wandering by our camp just 15 metrews away during the day and hippos munching 30 metres away at night, all unconcerned that we were sharing their world! 4. Elephants swimming from the opposite river bank to an island at Chobe, with snorkles (trunks) up! 5. Witnessing a leopard attempting to snatch an impala - this time unsuccessfully - at Chobe. 6. Seeing the reaction of elephants when they stumbled upon another leopard's kill, showing signs not just of distress but also sympathy for this recent abrupt end of life, towards the north of Moremi Wildlife Rserve. 7. The plains at Etosha, full of wandering giraffes (a 'journey' of giraffe), hundreds of zebras, tens of elephants; and watching an elephant family washing and squirting - thoroughly enjoying their family event! And, an eighth memory (!), Lynn's exhiliration of taking her first photo of a cheetah - learning later from the local guide that this was a chettah with her cub, although we did not see the cub in the tall grass. Adrian

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.

Makoro haiku

in the makoro
gliding silently through reeds
- facing our future

Last few days

From Ellen
It has been a couple of weeks of incredible adventures, sights, sounds .. and memories. I am just watching Lynn update the blog with more information, so I will just bookmark this point in time here, and add some photos when I get home. Come back and visit this blog in the future and we slowly digest and work our wayt through the photos and the memories. It will be sad to leave the giraffes (one was on the road as we drove into this campsite) and all the other animals.

Will be blogging next in Noosa... but about Africa.

A reeds eye view of life by eric

Lindsay and I are now back at the Okavango River Lodge. It is Saturday. We are having a ''chill'' day, figurative rather than literal as once again the temperature is topping 34C. The last two days have been a delight of dream time on the Okavango River in a makora, poled by our guide and boatman, Kenny. A makora is a canoe basically, originally hollowed out of the trunk of a 'sausage tree', now in our age of sustainability, made of fibreglass and poled with a thin eucalyptus pole. We set out at with our very basic camping kit, and some food, for a night out on an island in the delta. A zizz of a powerboat to the ' community gate', where we swopped for the mokara, and set off into the reeds. It is impossible to feel anything other than calm as the boat edges slowly and gently through the narrow channels cut by hippo churning through in search of food. Each opening was approached carefully to ensure we did not have any unexpected encounters with our large waterway creaters. We laid back, watched the ebb and flow of bird life, from the top of the chain, the Fish eagle, to tiny LBJ's flitting amongst the reeds. Hundreds of dragon flies in a multitude of colours buzzed the boat and rested on creamy white water lilies. Our camp, in a clearing at the waters edge was just what we had hoped. We set up our small tents, Kenny lit a fire, our kettle was soon boiling with 'sweet'' water from the river to brew tea. Bush camping is definitely the 'bizz'. We went for a walk into the pan, following trails, learning what spoor was what, occasionally rounding a bush to see an elephant or two. Out on the plain herds of Red Lechwe, wildebeest, impala, giraffe. Night fell, the fire was stoked, Kenny hauled brush wood to create a barrier, assuring us that it would deter 'things in the night'. And it seemed to, as we laid in bed listening to sundry crashes and crunches, and the harsh cry of hyena. We managed to recognize a herd of bush cows as they had bells!! Next day, awakening to the rising ripples of bird song, and the sun creeping above the reed line to warm the tent. A cup of tea and we set off for a four hour bush walk, more an exotic nature ramble out into the delta. We are now a whole lot more knowledgeable about the nocturnal habits of the burrowing aardvark than before. Fresh elephant poo is easy, and means keep a sharp eyes open. It seemed to end too quickly, we broke camp, and before setting off I had a go at poling. Well, I reckoned all those years in Cambridge with punting should make for a classy show. Five minutes later, makopra, eric and pole were upside down in the water. Well, I needed a bath I guess. I managed to get the hang of it after my world class starting performance, and even managed a half elegant landing. Then it was the slow, gentle slur back. A huge calming still waterway, the silence occasionally broken by a startled Blacksmith Plover rising from its roosting in the reeds with loud 'teck teck teck'. Quite a special couple of days, and at last we have 'been on the delta'. Tomorrow we shall head up by road into the Moremi Reserve to explore a little, and then Monday we begin the 1000km haul back towards Windhoek.

Njuca Hills at Last..... by eric

Well, at long last Lindsay and I have camped in the magic circle of Njuca Hills, deep in the savannah plain of the great salt pan. A place we have tried several times to get to from Limpopo, without success. So a very real 'at last'. And it has lived up to our dreams. A small mound rising out of the endless ochre grassland stretching as far as the eye can see for 360 degrees. A few dry thorn trees clinging to life and waiting for the rains to come, a long drop toilet, a DIY shower.( you put water in the bucket, lift it up on a rope, leave it in the sun all day, and bingo, evening comes you release the tap and a hot shower). Its difficult in this crowded largely urban life we all lead, to hear silence. It is an absolute, which with a night sky of black/blue and a zillion stars, it is breathtakingly beautiful. Next day, as the sweep of nothing much was not to all tastes, we set off early to cross the plain on soft sand tracks. Lindsay's turn to drive our vehicle, and she did a star spangled effort of deep sand driving. Then much to all our surprise, we came to a very wide river ( that we expected , the Boteti), to find the crossing was a ferry. Ellen the previous night, taking a look at her map had asked if we knew about it, and we all inspected various maps, all just a wee bit different, and no ferry. No ordinary ferry, you have to think a wooden/steel pontoon, a couple of outboard motors and a guy with a wide smile and a long pole. He chuntered across, got as near as he could to the shore, and gestured us ( L and I were at that point in the lead vehicle) to drive into the river and up onto the pontoon. Ddeep breathes, high fives, and a slow putter across to repeat downwards into the water. Repeat three times! After that, and a long drive on tar/dirt road hunting a mysterious Camping Lodge whose owner had given directions as ''get to the dirt/tar junction and it is two spoor''. We eventually gave up after all our combined technologies, maps and common sense said, ''this ain't going nowhere!'' So we set our sights on Maun, and arrived here at the Okavango River Camp, three days early. So some replanning has taken place, with boat trips for us two on a mokaro up river to camp, whilst the others are heading after game sighting in the Moremi, which we will do as a days drive later. So today we have had R and R in Maun, much expended since our last visit, but still the slightly zany place we remember. A splendid lunch at a new arts complex called Mondsano, took awhile, but really lovely food served in a restfully courtyard. Not long now and we shall turn our vehicles south towards Windhoek and an ending to this terrific safari. eric