Africa - Part 11 (Etosha, Damaraland, and Swakopmund)

Our last morning in Etosha N.P. found us bummed because we really enjoyed our visit here. We were supposed to stay only 2 nights, but early on the first full day we decided we wanted to stay longer, so we would skip our overnight in Damaraland, just driving through it on our way to Swakopmund on the coast. So that was our plan after we packed up our site. We prepared breakfast and took it with us as we walked to the waterhole to catch early morning action, and indeed there was plenty of that. No larger mammals, but the numbers of zebra, springbok, kudu, and even some Oryx were impressive as they are rarely seen at the waterholes at night. Nighttime is elephant, giraffe, rhino, and predator time. As we watch from our bench on this chilly morning, small twigs and pieces of grass would occasionally fall on us from above as social weavers furiously worked on their communal nest hanging from the tree nearby. It was huge, looking like it could house 30 or 40 of the little fluttering builders. It was tiring just watching them. Eventually we had to tear ourselves away from this wonderful setting that we could stay at all day, and head south as our next destination was a longer distance due to our decision to stay another day in Etosha N.P., so our stopover point which was almost dead set in-between Etosha and Damaraland was now just a pass-through point.

By noon we were at Khorixas where we got gas, which is not too far from our original destination in Damaraland named Twyfelfontein. Another 90 minutes and we found ourselves where we wanted to be. We stopped at a camp and asked the young lady where we could find the place called Organ Pipes. I found it on the internet and wanted to visit it as we passed through. We had also passed an attraction named "Damaraland Living Museum" which was tended by a young, attractive, topless woman who sat in a small booth at the entrance. She said it would take several hours to see the presentation depicting life for the Damara people, past and present. No, to those of you wondering - I DID NOT have trouble maintaining eye contact with her. But I can say that a brassiere would benefit her and her triple D's that were making their way down to her belly button! And she couldn't have been more than 20 years old. I was later informed she was single, but had plenty of interested "boys". Yeah? No doubt! Anyway, it looked really interesting, but we didn't have the time to devote to it. We also had to pass on the main attraction of the area, the UNESCO ancient rock paintings. After we visited Organ Pipes, we found ourselves back in the parking lot of the museum, facing a dilemma. We both really liked the area and wanted to explore what it offered more than we were able to under the current circumstances. My position was Swakopmund was mainly a resting point and where I was going to try my hand at sand boarding (where you use a snowboard and slide down the huge sand dunes). I was willing to give that up and eat the cost of our camping fee to stay overnight here in Twyfelfontein and stay only 1 night in Swakopmund (it was originally planned for a 2-night stay). Radhika agreed, so we went to Aba-Huab Camp down the road from the museum where Radhika told the young woman at the counter in reception that we were thinking of staying overnight and what availability did they have. The young woman looked puzzled by Radhika's use of "thinking", and I interjected that we "were" staying and wanted a site. After a brief chuckle, we secured a campsite and decided to visit the rock engravings with the rest of the afternoon and save the museum for tomorrow morning. So the last few hours of the day were spent hiking over rocks with Honey, who was our guide, learning a little about the people who left these pictures 6000 years ago. It was interesting and the terrain was beautiful. We were the last visitors to leave, and several of the workers started walking back to their village, which wasn't too far from our camp. We piled as many as could fit into our truck, telling the others we could come back for them. After the 10-15 minute round trip, we picked up more, who had been walking along the dusty road. We still couldn't fit everyone, so the final 2 continued to walk, saying they would get a ride with someone as they passed by, as we made another trip to the village. It was almost dark now, enough to need my headlights. Radhika and I debated the odds of them getting a ride out here in the middle of nowhere (which describes many places we had and would visit), so we decided to play it safe and drive out in their direction one more time. As we did we passed a vehicle, but it was too dark to determine if the final two were inside enjoying a ride home. We didn't see them on the road where we calculated they should be, so we returned to our campsite. After borrowing towels from the camp, we took showers under the starry, desert sky. We forgot to pack towels and had been using "Magic Towels" that we bought in Amsterdam that came in a package the size of a half dollar coin and a little under an inch thick. When you open the package the towel eventually opens to the size a little larger than a washcloth. I was happy to use a real towel even if it was just for one night. As I dropped off my towel and soaps, a German woman came out of her shower without any modesty. Gotta love those Germans! She left as I came back with my pj's that I had left in the truck. After my shower I stepped out to find her back in the shower area (there were 3), and she asked me if I had seen her coat. Uh, can I get my towel and no, I didn't see your coat in my shower (the one she used was 2 over). Guess she feels we are even now in the "seeing you naked" category!

After I got my jammies on, we made some sandwiches, bought some drinks and looked for a place to eat. The same young woman from reception said we could eat in the restaurant area, which was really nice of her. So we ate upstairs in our pj's and enjoyed some cool beverages to end our only night in this area. Definitely want more - some other day, perhaps. I stayed up as Radhika went to bed, setting my camera up in a good place to get some time lapsed work on the night sky. There was one artificial light I had to avoid, but the cool thing was it was throwing some light on a tree that I decided to place in the lower portion of the frame. After a couple of 15-20 minute exposures, I was ready for bed, and crawled up the ladder. It was a warm night, which was nice after slightly chilly ones in Etosha.

The next morning we were up early, had our breakfast and went off to visit the museum after paying our bill. We spent almost 3 hours there, leaving a little after 11am. We learned how they settled internal tribal disputes, natural remedies found in the area to treat various physical ailments and injuries, from ground ostrich egg shells for colicky babies, to dried elephant dung for joint pain. The former is taken internally; the latter applied externally to the painful area, just for those of you wondering. You don't want to get those two confused! We learned how they hunted, celebrated, played, interacted, and so many other things. We watched a ceremonial dance, the shaman "cured" a patient, they demonstrated how to start a fire, set a trap, etc. It was cool! They made buttons, beads, prepared hides, used the first sunscreen - did I already say how cool and interesting it was? They have been doing this for only 3 months with this new museum, but I hope they are able to sustain it because it was one of the most interesting experiences we had on our trip. We had to get to Swakopmund, and the young lady at our camp said it would be 6 or more hours. I couldn't see how, I was thinking more like 4, but we got on the road by noon and stopped only briefly once or twice. One time was when we were about 2 hours into our drive. We passed a Himba woman and man on the roadside selling what would be considered trinkets. But she was the thing of most interest. Himba's are mostly found to the north, so it was fortunate to see them here. We bought several items to wear, then got back to our journey to Swakopmund. But I felt I hadn't made enough images of her and it was bugging me. Radhika said I should decide to continue on or got back before we traveled too far, so I stopped and whipped the truck around. The somewhat comical thing about it was we had to pass a man who was selling things of his own on the side of the road, and every time we passed him, he came out into the road holding up some of his wares. I felt a little bad for the guy because he looked so hopeful each time we passed. We pulled up, parked, and I paid her directly to make some more images of her. She loved it! Her boyfriend seemed quite proud too, but keeping an eye on me to a degree I sensed, even though Radhika was with me. We loaded up again, passed the guy on the roadside on more time, and kept on. At some point, we took a road that was shorter in distance (and time we had assumed), but it probably didn't save us any because it was almost a "non-road". The trails in Moremi were more "road" than this was! Hell, I couldn't determine where I should be following at one point as we passed some houses and huts as there were no tell-tale tire tracks. I just winged it and rolled the dice in my head, luckily coming upon a better-marked path along the way. We eventually came back upon the more primary-type road, and we determined that we will not take any more "D" roads. "B" indicated a paved road, "C" a dirt/gravel secondary road. We saw some demarked as "F" roads that seemed to go out into pasture, so I designated that F as farm! You're wondering where "A" roads are? Good question - so were we. Never saw one.

We got to the coast by 4pm, seeing the clear skies of the desert recede and give sway to thick fog and chilly, biting winds. We headed south along the dunes on our left and waves on our right. I saw one of the few shipwrecks that remain stranded along the coast, so I pulled us onto the beach engaging 4WD. I made some pictures out in the cold blustery wind, and jumped back in to warm up and drive off to reach our destination only a few kilometers more south. Getting stuck in the sand was not in the plan, but that didn't matter. Florida-boy got stuck. I dug a lot of sand out, and got the truck to move out only to bog down again. Now the tide was coming in too close to the truck, it was getting later, and I was concerned. I saw some fishermen in the distance, so I ran over to them and asked for their help. One said he would be buy in a little bit, so I ran back and unloaded the heavier cargo in the back of the truck. After a few minutes, the older German gentleman came up in his Toyota, got out, tied a tow rope to the back of his truck and told me to tie the other end to our truck. He then got into our truck, changed the 4WD gear from Hi4W to Lo4W, told me to untie the rope that I had just attached to the front, and he drove it out with a little effort. Remember the guy in Moremi who told me NEVER to use Lo4W? Well, I didn't even consider trying lo in this situation! I thanked the guy twice; we loaded the stuff back into the back, and got the hell off that beach. Next stop - Alta Bruke campsite in Swakopmund. No more pussyfooting with any side trips! And the weather was already bumming us out, going from sunny heat to overcast gray windy cold! Plenty of that shit in Amsterdam come winter (and part of fall and spring too!). After the fact, removing a day here and spending it in Etosha was a freaking stroke of genius I wish I could take credit for. Swakopmund became a resting point between 2 far apart destinations, where we did laundry, charged batteries and cell phones, got a decent restaurant meal, pulled out more cash, took great showers in the nicest, cleanest camping facilities we would enjoy on this part of our trip, and bought a few more provisions for our time in the desert to the south where the internet indicated there would be no groceries to buy. After a slightly chilly night in our tent, we left the next morning for Sesriem several hours due south. But not after I handled a decision in the most wishy-washy of ways.

Gas. There was between 1/4 and 1/2 a tank of it showing on the gauge. I figured we could make Solitaire, where the map indicated we would find gas stations. As we left Swakopmund, we didn't directly pass a gas station. As a matter-of-fact, we were looking for one at one point, because we couldn't find the road we needed to take to head south. If we had found one for directions, we would've killed two birds with one stone and filled up the tank, as well. I was also factoring in the spare tank of gas we had in the back that we had been traveling with since the 2nd (it was now the 7th). Anyhow, Radhika became very nervous about the state of our available fuel once we were on our way and many kilometers out of Swakopmund. Then I became more nervous and less sure of my decision. So the safe decision was made, and we turned around after some hard moments in the truck. Luckily we didn't have to go all the way back to Swakopmund, but could get gas in Walvis Bay, which was closer to us and would figure again later into our adventure. We were delayed probably an hour due to my indecision, but it was better get there later than desired than be on the side of the road with an empty tank. If I had been by myself, I most likely would've pressed on. And now knowing the route and distance, I'm completely confident we would've made it to Solitaire by using the spare tank.

Anyway, we're on our way to Sesriem, the closest camp site to the park entrance, where we need to be to get a "first thing in the morning" start when the gates open and we can get the sunrise experience of the worlds tallest dunes. That will be picked up in the next post.

The album for this post can be found at:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?galleryid=bccd0ceeb0864e0dbb98941821fed66f&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 10 (Etosha National Park Day 2)

We were able to wake early, a little before sunrise. We went through our now morning ritual, breakfast and then packing away the tent, exiting the Halali gate right after it opened. We decided to hit a few waterholes in the area that we missed yesterday, visit the pan, and then make our way west to Okaukuejo towards the afternoon. Reception had already told us Okaukuejo was full that night, but seeing as they were batting 100 at being wrong, we decided to go there anyway and finagle a spot for us to camp at tonight.

We headed out, stopping at the Etosha Pan. Just a huge to the horizon zone of white, scorched, dead zone with nothing apparently living there. Still, would be cool as hell to cross, but we didn't have the time. It was an experience just visiting it for 15-30 minutes. Not out too long after leaving the pan, we were driving past a wide-open dry area and into a grassy plain, when Radhika emphatically said, "Stop!” She had spotted our first lion!! It was a female, relaxing in the tall yellow/tan grass. Zebra and springbok were eyeballing here. The zebra were like stone, hardly moving a muscle, with eyes fixed on her. The springbok however, would glance in her direction, but would continue on. They are so quick and agile, they are not as concerned about the lion as the zebra. Then, by surprise, out of the tall grass a male lion laying next to the female lifts his head to check out the scene. He was totally hidden from view. They both took in the menu as it passed, but showed little interest. That's because they had other things on their minds - - SEX!! Yeah baby. There was some shagging going on in the bush. After they both had almost completely vanished from site laying back down in the grass, she raised up to all fours. She looked at the frozen zebras, still not moving much, glanced over at the male and slowly walked over to him. He raised his head as she came near, and she walked past him, but as she did she smacked him in the face with her hindquarters! She just swung her ass in his direction and popped him with her hips. He made it to his feet and followed her to where she had stopped, crouched down, and waited for lover boy. For all of 10 seconds, we watched as these two (I guess you can say) went at it. It was not inspiring, so all you guys should know if your partner calls you a lion in the sack, it's really a slam. Don't be bragging to the fellas. However, as women like to complain about, after he did what he needed to do, he walked a short distance and promptly fell back down into the grass to resume his nap. She, on the other hand, rolled over onto her back, paws up in the air like the Don Juan of the lion world had just ravished her. We stayed there for almost 2 hours watching them, waiting for them to exhibit some interesting behavior, chase some game, welcome more lions, but all they did roughly every 30 minutes was get busy. And it was the exact same way each time - the male getting a smack in the face with the business end of the female. It was interesting when a herd of Wildebeests came up on these two. The entire herd, maybe 50 or so, locked it up quick when the lions were first detected. I could almost hear the screeching tire sound in my mind. But even they, eventually, weren't as skittish as the zebra, and I know why. That zebra flank we ate in Windhoek was damned tasty! If I were a lion, that silly, striped horse would be at the top of my list of what I would want to run down, suffocate, and than chew on for the next several hours. After watching the 4th ho-hum hump-fest, we decided to move on to see what else was going on.

Not too far down the road from where we watched the al fresco fornication, we came upon 5 more females laying low in the tall grass on the opposite side of the road. As luck would have it, a bus came by to watch for a little while, and out through one of the windows popped cousin Jens smiling mug, as her group toured Etosha before returning to their program back near Windhoek. These lions were stationary, and it was now late morning and the sun had heated up the earth pretty efficiently. I didn't think they would hunt at this time of day, as they were huddled under a scrub tree for its shade. But we sat and watched for a while anyway, in the event something would happen. It didn't. So, with it being close to noon and we weren't far from Halali, we returned to have our lunch there. It was pretty empty, with most out in the park. We sat near the pool and outdoor restaurant, ordering a couple of drinks to go with our sandwiches that Radhika made. Halali is a really nice camp, with a great swimming pool, nice restaurant, and plentiful campsites.

After lunch, hit some waterholes and then made our way west towards Okaukuejo. We saw many animals along the way at the waterholes and on the plains. But one of the best ones waited until we were practically at the gate of Okaukuejo, when we spied a rhinoceros in the bushes foraging. Jockeying the truck back and forth as it moved along, we watched it until it went deep into the wooded area and out of sight (at one point it got within perhaps 20 feet of the truck!). By then, it was close to 5pm, so we figured our viewing was done for the day and we went to reception to secure a spot to park and camp. We were given spot #40 and a map to find it (remember - we were told at Halali that Okaukuejo was OVER booked). Well, it took a little effort to find it, as the map and the verbal directions didn't seem to match to me or Radhika. But we eventually found it, parked, and checked out the area and what is widely considered the best, nighttime waterhole for viewing game. The lodges here are the best in the park. Also, the most numerous. The restaurant and shops looked pretty nice, and they had a "baby" pool along with the larger Olympic sized one. They have a tower that offers great views, and the waterhole IS fantastic. I would say a perfect visit to Etosha would be a night in Namutoni, two in Halali, and as many as three in Okaukuejo. That night after dinner, we watched a large group of giraffes come for water, and heard lions in the distance groaning, which set off howling amongst some closer to the camp wild dogs. I took a shower late, as Radhika was in the tent. On my way from showers to tent, the lions released some low groans, sounding a lot closer to the camp. I must admit to climbing the ladder into the tent with more purpose than usual. I know there's fencing around the entire camp - or at least that's what I was told and assumed, but my heart was saying get your ass up the ladder tout de suite. Radhika could hear the lions from inside the tent, and she smiled as I told her my determination to scale that ladder a little faster than past nights.

Tomorrow we would leave Etosha and head for Damaraland, not too far from the Skeleton Coast. The animals of Namibia, for the most part, would be left in Etosha.

To see the album for this post, go to:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?galleryid=0f9906f085c9411d92efe254cf526e7b&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 9 (Etosha National Park Day 1)

The next morning we woke fairly early, and I climbed down and made breakfast. I’m only talking bowl of cereal and fruit – having only to heat water for the late sleeper’s cup of morning tea. Campers all around were bustling with activity, packing up, washing dishes, and fixing breakfast. The gates would open very soon and animals are active in the morning and late afternoon. We decided the night before that we would travel to the northeastern side of the park towards the campsite named Namutoni. The 3 camps of Etosha National Park are ideally placed 70km’s from each other, with Halali pretty much square in the center of the public area of the park. Off we went on our first day in Etosha, feeling quite excited, but determined to see a lion. You see, while we were in Moremi, we talked to several tourists who already visited Etosha, and they spoke glowingly of the park, how easy it is to get around, the nice camps, and the multitudes of animals. And they all saw lions! So, we were pumped to drive around all day, making plans to stop and eat lunch midday when the day and sun were at their hottest. We figured that would be near or in Namutoni, and as it turned out we were right. We stopped at several waterholes that are on the way to Namutoni, seeing animals there and dispersed along the plains. It was a hot midday sun that hovered over us as we reached the northern most camp. We parked in the shade and walked to where there were picnic benches inside the courtyard where a few restaurants, stores, and shops were. Radhika made sandwiches and I went to the bar that was open and bought 2 ice-cold refreshing beers. A band of 6 or 7 mongoose’s scurried along the grounds exploring, bickering, and eating tidbits found along the way as we ate our lunch. Most everyone was watching them, with one young girl following them around with a camera.

We left Namutoni around 2:30, leaving us 3 ½ hours before the gates would close at Halali. Our first stop was a Chudop waterhole. The day before 8 lions were sighted there, but none showed during our stop today. We did get great enjoyment out of watching giraffes drink and two males in particular, who were engaged in what appeared to be activity geared to establishing status within the herd. They would swing their long heads in a low arc, and then bring them up with considerable force, turning their heads slightly so their stubby horns would lead to impact. Over, and over and over this was repeated, as they stood side-by-side, walking a little, adjusting their positioning with slight foot (hoof) work. It was very interesting to watch. Also of interest was each species reaction of the others when approaching the waterhole. Which are skittish, which ones are ignored, which ones give ground. Some are pretty much universal, like giraffes being very nervous of other species even with their size advantage over most, no doubt due to their vulnerability when their heads are down drinking. It seems like there’s a 3 minutes period before each 10-second drink, as they are very cautious when they lower their heads. When there’s a larger group, the giraffes do have a slightly stronger sense of calm about them. Ungulates are pretty careful all the time, as well. Elephants seem to be the only ones observed that basically lumber up without much concern, and do as they please. If other animals are near or in the water, they all make way for the elephant. It was surprising to me, because they weren’t aggressive. Perhaps size matters at the waterhole! One night we witnessed a mid-sized elephant try to run off what appeared to be a full-sized rhino by fake-charging – breaking into a slow trot in the direction of the rhino, kicking up dust when it came to an abrupt stop halfway to it. The rhino took note, even took a step back on the elephants 3rd or 4th charge. But on what turned out to be the elephant’s last gesture at making the rhino leave, the rhino actually reciprocated and did a mock charge of it’s own, with equal or elevated gusto to the elephant’s, which caused the elephant to back down and return to the group of mostly larger elephants. Maybe this elephant had a Napoleon complex? The rhino was left alone to share the water with the group of 5 or so elephants, getting is share of water and leisurely making its way back into the darkness.

Departing Chudop, we stopped at a waterhole named Kalkhauwel, I believe. It was overrun by pachyderms too numerous to count! There were a few vehicles already there watching the show. Huge to small, all sizes drinking, playing, fighting, bathing, and socializing. At one point, with us watching the herd pass left to right leaving the waterhole with the sun behind them, two moderately large elephants started a shoving match, locking their trunks and pushing head to head. Our parked location had us 30 seconds from getting a whole lot of gray, wrinkled, elephant ass on top of our hood! Radhika had already been chanting the previous 15 seconds “Start the car. Start the car! Start the car!!” I did, and put a little more distance between us. In the meantime, to medium-sized vans pulled up packed with what turned out to be Italian tourists. Almost as soon as they stopped, they were yelling from vehicle to vehicle, and one idiot even got out to take pictures. He looked at me, shooting from the driver’s seat with my camera and long lens, and tossed back his head slightly in a manly, kindred spirit sort of gesture. I just shook my head and hoped my expression back to him conveyed what I was thinking – asshole. Everyone else, in all other vehicles, was being quiet, respectful of the other viewers and the animals. This lot was being ignorant from beginning to end. Even the Etosha safari guide in one of the trucks told the bonehead he wasn’t allowed to be outside the vehicle. Numbnuts paid him no mind. Where was a lion in the mood for some linguini when you needed one? Mangia, mangia!
The next waterhole was Springbokfontein. There were more of the same herbivores there, but as an added bonus we watched those funny looking ostriches come along for some water. We had seen a few already, but mostly from a distance. They are skittish too…very hard to get anywhere close without spooking them. We made the 150km (and more) roundtrip circuit for the day, getting back to Halali at 5:45pm again. Making photos at sunset is impossible, seeing as how the sun goes down close to 6:30 and you have to be inside the gate by 6. That was a little of a bummer. It would be nice to be able to stay out slightly past sunset, but you give humans and inch and they take a mile (or kilometer), and then dopes would be wandering around in the dark hitting animals or becoming a lion’s chew toy, so I understand their thinking by making everyone return before sundown. We took site number 16 tonight, doing better than the night before and not taking 20 minutes to decide on where to camp. It was still bright out too, and that was very helpful. Once again, we heard that the campsite was full, but we saw plenty of open spaces. We decided we would stay another day, and not leave Etosha tomorrow, but stay at Okaukuejo for a third night, considered to be the best camp of the 3 in Etosha, at the southwestern side of the park, 70km west of Halali. We had our dinner, finishing off the chicken and borrowing a can opener again to finish off the vegetables. We went to the waterhole, which was relatively quiet. Walking back to our campsite, we passed my 2nd cousin Jennifer, who was with her group that was doing fieldwork for their degrees. Part of their group decided to camp out all night at the waterhole, taking turns watching the action while the others slept, and waking the group if anything exciting occurred. We decided we would get an early start tomorrow, and try our luck at getting a spot at Okaukuejo at the end of the day.

The album for this post can be found here:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid&galleryid=aea9f611754442d4a54cfb96c53c40bb&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 8 (Windhoek and Etosha)

We landed in Windhoek where the airport was much more modern than the one we left from in Maun. We had accommodations already booked for our one night in Windhoek, but Angel and Haide had NO idea where they would be staying – not even how they would make the 35 kilometer journey from airport to town. They were traveling with no plan, and this was their honeymoon! In Africa! For several weeks!! To me, that takes cojones!!! Our 4X4 hire company was picking us up, so we decided to see if they would take them to where we were staying, as well. Our driver, Gerson, said that it was no problem. On the drive from the airport, he was saying how hungry he was because he had been so busy today that he didn’t have time to eat. Haide offered him cookies and the little bit of snacks they traveled with, and he enjoyed them in copious amounts! He also suggested they travel with us, as they were looking for a tour to join or something like that, as they had made no provisions for traveling around the country. That put Radhika and I in a tight position, because while we liked Angel and Haide, I travel differently due to photography, and it’s not compatible for most people. But then, when we got to our guesthouse, Gerson asked them for the equivalent of €30 for the ride. A pretty steep price, so Angel and Haide chastised him for the misleading way he indicated they could travel with us, making it seem there was no added fee or cost. He was getting paid twice for the same journey, already being paid by Aloe Car Hire to pick us up and deliver us to Rivendell Guesthouse, and being slick about it. He took off €5, but he still pocketed €25. As it turned out, where we were staying didn’t have any availability for them, so the driver agreed to drive them to a couple of places close by. They called us, saying they had found a place and we would meet at this local place called “Joe’s Beer House” that is a favorite of tourists. Meanwhile, we were given a crappy room without a bath. Not what I had booked. The young girl who unenthusiastically greeted us at the gate when we arrived, and tried to tell us there was no reservation (until I pulled out proof), was now saying that’s all they had and a mistake had been made. Our room had someone else in it already. But she was kind enough to inform me that we wouldn’t be charged the rate for the nicer room. Yeah, no shit! Needless to say our stay wasn’t what I hoped for, and luckily it was for only one day. I’m still exchanging emails with the owners as they are “tracking down” what went wrong.

After a mix-up between Aloe 4X4 hire company and the subcontractor they use to provide airport and hotel pickups, we were delayed in getting to their location the next morning. Their 4X4 hire business seemed to be run from their house. Their neighborhood, like similar ones seen in Johannesburg, was full of houses all encircled by concrete walls, topped with barbed or razor wire and some electrified. The houses do seem like mini-prisons. One large step beyond developments and gated communities one finds in the states, where access is granted only to those with proof of residency or hold special permission to enter. Only things missing were machine gun turrets at the corners. A young gentleman named Opy (yes I thought of Andy Griffith right off) was there to meet us inside the compound that we entered. He made sure to close and lock the heavy steel gate with electrified wires running along the top once we were inside. I later wondered what his impression is of all this security, being a black man of Africa. The truck was there, with the tent on the roof. It was the same truck model we had in Botswana, so that was good. The paperwork didn’t take too long. He showed us the 2 options we had for insurance. One, where we paid about $5000 if the truck becomes unusable and there’s no additional fee, and another where you pay about €10 per day and the amount owed drops roughly to half. I asked him what do most people take, and he said the first option. So that’s what we took. He went inside the house to get us a sheet and 2 pillows, and said he had to give us sleeping bags. We inspected the truck, its contents, camping supplies, emergency equipment, and how to erect and take down the tent. There was ¼ tank of gas, so we were told to bring it back that way. No point in telling Opy that’s a dirty little trick, trying to make the client “guess” at their fuel usage and not come back with a full tank, as his grasp of the language was spotty, at best. So, we took off after he showed us on a map where the tourist office was located downtown. On the way, we realized he never put the sleeping bags in the truck. We called him, saying we would come back after we were done at the tourist office. We also ran into Angel and Haide at the tourist office. They were looking to stay in Windhoek a couple of days and then head out to other areas. We had already settled the idea of traveling together and they understood the reasoning. Besides, they would be in the country for a week or so longer than us, and had more time to travel at a slower pace.

So, we find the tourist office and park. Now, from what we experienced in the several urban places we visited, this is how it’s done. There may be parking meters, but there are also men and women, most with a colored vest, usually orange, standing in parking areas. Whether they put money in the meters for you or not, I’m not sure. However, they watch the vehicles, keeping them safe. When you return to your car, you give them some money. That’s how it was here. We got a lot of useful information inside the tourist office and even booked a campsite in Etosha using their phone to call the park! It was the best, most efficient and thorough tourist office I can recall ever experiencing. They even told us how much we should pay the gentleman watching our vehicle. Across the street was a grocery store, and after a little difficulty, we found what we wanted and stocked our small fridge that came with the truck. We proceeded back to Aloe where Opy gave us our sleeping bags, got directions to the closest gas station, filled up the spare tank, as well, and then went to an ATM where it promptly digested Radhika’s card. The reason we needed cash was because Namibian gas stations do not accept credit cards! That was going to be a pain in the ass as it’s a large expenditure. Gas was not near as cheap here as it was in Botswana. We pulled some money out at a different machine with another card and headed north for the 4-hour drive up to Etosha around 12:30 or so.

The road was paved most of the way, so that was good. It enabled us to keep our speed at 120kph or higher. We had to not only be inside the main gate by 6pm, but also inside our rest camp gate, which was 70km from the main gate. It was called Halali, and when we hit the main gate, the lady was so nice and concerned about us making it in time she let us pass and pay when we left several days later. The road into the park was paved for a little while, and the speed limit dropped down to 60kph, but I went a little over that to get to Halali’s gate before closing. I had read online that if you get there late you can honk your horn and someone would come out and open the gate, but you may get a fine or at the least perhaps a less-than-cheerful vibe. I would prefer to avoid that. And as it so happened, the guy was in the act of closing the gate when he saw us drive up, and reversed his course and widened it so we could pass through. No dirty looks from him either, instead we got a “you just made it” smile. As we made the journey from main to Halali gate, we saw a fair amount of game. The land was very different from what we saw in Chobe or Moremi. Chobe is riverfront and forest, Moremi more broken brush and marsh, especially in the Okavango, and Etosha is really flat with a lot of scrub – much drier than the other two parks in Botswana.

Once inside, we went to reception to get a campsite, and the process was a little slow. We had been told (as we will be told every time we try to book in an NWR run camp) that they were fully booked with precious few spots remaining open. But the woman at the reception counter told us to drive in and find an open spot and take it. That was like a 3 Stooges bit for us, because we must’ve pulled into 3 or more, and once in the spot, we didn’t like it for one reason or another. It’s dark, so our headlights are blasting away into people’s camp area, and I just knew they were thinking, “What is wrong with this guy? Pick and spot, already!” I was about to pop a blood vessel, but we finally agreed on a spot. I had a hard time even recognizing where to pull in, perhaps being the camping novice that I am. Nightfall and the lack of bright lighting didn’t help me understand the layout, either. We also wanted a spot close to where the waterhole is, and in close proximity to one of the shower and toilet houses. Once the truck was positioned as we wanted, it was time to open up the tent, get the cooking gear out, and start dinner. Oh boy! Cooking the frozen chicken pieces we bought was an adventure, as first I tried them over the open fire, but that didn’t seem to be going so well, and we also wanted to eat before we woke up for breakfast the next day. So I busted out the mini LP tank and attached the top burner, and tried the covered pan method on the chicken. It heated them up plenty, but what was left was not recognizable as foul by a long shot. Actually, it was fortuitous that the lamp didn’t provide ample lighting, because looks-wise it was visually foul looking. After removing 80% of the chicken from the pan to our plates and leaving the other 20% as a baked-on crusty cratered lunar surface looking mess in the pan, I scooped out most of the mixed vegetables that was also cooked on the LP tank onto our plates. Ummmm-good! Those vegetables came in cans, and of course you know our camping kit did not include a can opener! Luckily the people next to us had one that I borrowed. I was quite surprised how good both tasted, and Radhika enjoyed our first camp meal together too. Washed down with some ice cold Lychee juice and I was good to go! We walked to the waterhole, and as we got to an area far enough from camp where the lights dimmed significantly, we both looked up into the southern hemisphere night to enjoy the show and both witnessed the same falling star! It was magnificent! The waterhole had quite a bit of spectators at it already, so we merged right in and watched as elephants already present chilled out and filled their trunks with water. A rhino was also there, and through the time we were there several different species paid a visit to quench their thirst in this dusty environment. It was a bit on the chilly side here, not as warm as it was in Botswana. We walked back to our site, checking out the sky along the way. Maneuvering up into the rooftop tent was a unique experience. Changing and storing our clothes out of the way was a little tricky, but it worked out okay. Our first night “roughing it”. How would it work out by morning?

The album for this post can be found here:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?galleryid=bf5a76d3d4d34a889564d7c51185c281&rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 7 (Maun and Delta)

It's a little confusing...Maun, Okavango Delta, Moremi Wildlife Refuge. Looking at a terrain map, Okavango Delta is an area that spreads across this region. When I first started research for the trip, I believed The Okavango Delta was another park or area to visit, but it actually spreads across the area, encompassing or touching the city of Maun, Moremi Wildlife Refuge, Chobe National Park, and other towns and areas.

We were staying several kilometers north of Maun at Discovery B&B. A really nice place and good location that provides many options the area has to offer. We decided to take a flight over the delta, a nice bird's eye view. A little later in the day than I would prefer due to the turbulence from warm air currents that my stomach doesn't appreciate all too well, but it was fantastic to see the life below from that vantage point. After the flight, which ran about an hour, we dropped Jennifer off at the Maun airport so she could catch her flight to Windhoek, Namibia. We spent the rest of that afternoon driving along Shorobe Road, as there were many photographs to be made and things to see that were more "local" and not touristy. We ate dinner with our hosts at Discovery B&B tonight, who are transplants from Holland. It was very interesting to hear their story, of how they were volunteers in the area and decided they wanted to stay, and found Discovery when it was for sale and decided to buy it.

The next day we decided to turn in our rental vehicle, as we had it a week at that point, was €100 per day, and we were staying local and could get around using our feet and taxi's. I drove out to Kaziikini in the morning, because since we left there I hadn't been able to find my reading glasses, and it was not fun to ask Radhika to read the menu the night before at dinner. I had a feeling I knew where I could have left them, and it was less than a 45 minute ride. Besides, I hoped to see some animals in the early morning hours. I did find the glasses, but didn't see much wildlife. Funny about the glasses, they were left in the shower/toilet area of the camp sites. One of the campers heard why I was there and told me he saw the glasses just sitting there over the past 2 1/2 days - even tried them on to see if they worked for him, but they didn't. He figured those glasses were there to stay and the owner was long gone, so he was really surprised to see me get them back. Radhika was just getting ready to have breakfast when I returned, so we ate, relaxed a little around the grounds, and then drove into Maun to return the vehicle to Budget. We then walked around the area some more, making pictures and checking things out. The day before, we decided to arrange for an afternoon boat trip today, timing it for after we drop off the vehicle. The guy had told us to bring some beer, so we bought some and dropped it off early where the boat was leaving from so the guy could store the two 6-packs in their fridge. Today, we walked along Shorobe Road until it was close to when Neil, who owned the place, had told us to show up. We took a taxi to the place, and Neil had no recollection of our conversation from the prior day. I heard him telling Radhika the boat was full and he couldn't take anyone. We'll we finally jogged his memory, and we had a nice ride all to ourselves on the delta waters on our way to pick up some people at Buffalo Gate. We walked to few kilometers from the boat location to our B&B. It was a little adventurous, as it was pitch dark, but we had no problems and made it back fine.

The next morning was our last in Botswana, as we caught the same 3:30pm flight to Windhoek Jen had taken two days prior. We just hung around the B&B after breakfast, and had a taxi pick us up a little early so I could get some last shots in before we were taken to the airport. Of course there was a glitch, as we waited to board with a Spanish couple. Four of us, in total, would be on this plane. Jen had texted us the day she left saying she was the only person on her flight (maximum 16 passengers). Well, our flight was full and delayed. The four of us were sitting at the locked glass door to the tarmac as our departure time passed by. We had to go find airport personnel to find out where our plane was. We were redirected to another area and told the plane had arrived and was fueling up on the other side of the airport. We finally left, behind schedule, for Windhoek, saying "goodbye" to Maun, Botswana, and all the incredible times we had there.

The album for this post can be found at:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?wf=sharegrid&galleryid=05c584aebd2a4ab9902bcbb4b7c513c3&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 6 (Moremi Wildlife Refuge)

Sleeping in the small huts was quite different than our large Kubu Lodge cabin that we shared. At first I found it amusing that there were gaps between door, wall, and floor, and small gaps all over as the reed/bamboo “sticks” don’t provide building material that seals like bricks, blocks, wood, etc. If it were mosquito season, the net over the bed would be even more treasured. But it was cool to see the almost full moon peeking between “slats” of bamboo/reeds. Almost wished there was no roof so we could lie in bed and see the stars.

We woke up to the watch alarm. We had our breakfast of soymilk, cereal, juice, muffins, and banana’s on the tailgate of the truck around 7:30. After finishing our morning routines, we walked up to where the reception hut was to find out about our reservations and guide into Moremi. We were introduced to Tizzer, who would be our guide and ride with us into the park. We went back to organize and lock our huts and met Tizzer about 20 minutes later. Off we went, eagerly looking forward to our adventure the day would bring us. We drove out of the camp area and down the dirt road that brought us from Maun but going in the opposite direction. Tizzer had me turn off onto a small track, basically a path that has been made by two sets of tires. We slowly drove along this for some time, looking for wildlife. As we drove, our discussions with Teezer left me a little puzzled. After more time had passed, we still hadn’t entered Moremi, and his conversation left me with an impression that something was amiss, we figured out that he was told that we were using him only for guiding us in the community concession, which lies outside the boundaries of Moremi.
The small community near Kaziikini Camp was given land next to Moremi by the government, to use and develop to provide jobs and support the tourism industry. So they built the camp and conduct guided safaris on the concession. But I indicated via email that we wanted a guide for Moremi. We eventually convinced Teezer that was our intention, to go into Moremi all day with him, not the 3-hour concession safari that he was told. So, he agreed to be “kidnapped” by us, at first expressing a slight concern that back at the camp they would wonder where he was when he didn’t return. But he said he would explain it all to them at the end of the day and we said we would pay for his time. So, after spending about 2 hours or more in the concession, where we did see giraffes and other animals, we drove to the south gate of Moremi and entered around 12:30.

Teezer said it had been about a year since he was last in the park. Our eyebrows raised a little on hearing this, but I felt it was at least one more time than me, he added a little sense of comfort by being there, was helpful driving the correct route, and it didn’t cost that much to have him along. Moremi’s roads are quite “natural” – dirt and sand, with ruts here and there, most parts in need of serious grading and speeding never an issue. The CRV would not have been able to handle the conditions we encountered. We hit some very deep and long sand pits, getting stuck once. Luckily, there was someone right behind us and with them pulling us using a towrope, digging out the sand, and me in reverse we came out. Must say it’s a little weird being outside the car in a place where there are lions out and about. The guy, who was from South Africa said they were stuck in mud for 90 minutes the day before, and he walked to a campsite to get help. The park posts advisories saying if you get stuck to stay with your vehicle, as someone will eventually come by. I don’t know if I would walk by myself any great distance out there.

We drove on, pulling over to the side to deflate the tires a little as he had suggested for better traction. They waited for us by going slow, and I tried to drive with a little purpose so we could stay with them in case I managed to get stuck again. We came across some tricky, hazardous areas, but I followed their example and we made it to where we wanted to go. One of the most unnerving situations was crossing what passes for a bridge there. We had to pass two – and seeing someone else do it right before me was a big help! Pictures don’t do it justice. The one we have pictures of isn’t even the worst one! A long, deep pool of water had to be crossed, not too fast, not too slowly, with a 40-degree turn in the middle of it. Then you had to ease up onto the “bridge” while mostly out of the water, and take that very slowly as you hit a rut with a different tire constantly so we were bouncing and shifting all over the place. We checked the time and figured we should head back to get to the south gate before it closes. That meant crossing those two “bridges” again. Not ideal, but I did gain a little confidence by doing it once. Such a relief as we successfully negotiated the first then the second. I was only mildly concerned when we passed the long section of soft, deep sand where we had gotten stuck earlier. This time, I had built up a good head of steam and just kept the pedal down. Also, the guy had told me to always keep it in “High 4”, never use “Low 4”. That would come back to bite me on the ass in a week, but that story comes later. We drove back to Kaziikini, the situation with Teezer being with us all day was explained, and it was arranged for him to be with us all day tomorrow. We went to the restaurant/bar for some cold drinks and discussions about our day with Teezer, Fana, who is the assistant manager, and some other guests. After, we ate some of the groceries we brought with us for dinner, cleaned up, ands retired for the night into our huts. Nothing much to do out in the middle of nowhere, if I’m not mistaken we were lights out at least once between 8 and 9pm! But that made it easier to get up early the next morning.


We had learned that we could buy the entry pass at the gate the previous day, so that’s what we did. Up to this point, we already had seen most everything we were hoping to see, with the exception of a big predator…a big cat. So, we were hounding and pressuring Teezer during the ride on our second day to guarantee us a lion sighting. If we didn’t, he would enjoy a long walk back to his village, we told him. We could hear them in the far distance in the morning, and he spoke with researchers who tracked their movements in the park, so we were hopeful. We even stopped at their research station briefly in the morning before going into Moremi. We did get stuck in soft sand again, but this time we dug a little with our hands, and Teezer and I placed some sticks under the tread to get some traction and we were out with little trouble. Once in Moremi, we would drive a different route. The day before we had to cross 4th and than 3rd bridge, respectively. Today we would have to possibly cross 1st bridge, if we went that far. I was not eager to do so, even with yesterday’s successes. Having spent most of the morning searching for lions in the village’s concession area, we made it to Moremi right around midday. We saw plenty of wildlife in the morning, but still no lion. Saw lion tracks, took pictures of the lion tracks, but not one lion. Even saw a kill from a distance…took pictures of that…but no lion.

Our first witnessing of a predator making a kill was from a most unusual source. Teezer said he knows of no one who has seen one. It was a Secretary Bird fighting, killing, and then tearing a Black Mamba snake to bits to eat it. These snakes are no joke, being 2nd only to the King Cobra as the longest venom snake on the planet. This one looked to be about 5 feet long at least, considering the bird was the average height for a Secretary Bird of 4 feet. Once subdued, the bird took the snake away from where we were parked watching, and joined what was most likely it’s mate, as it shared some of its meal. That was really exciting and interesting to watch. But as we told Teezer, it’s not a lion, so he better warm up his walking shoes! It was about 1 o’clock, we had 5 more hours until the park gates shut for the day. Time was running out. We saw more zebras and giraffes, and then came upon 1st bridge. I did not like the looks of it, and immediately voted “No” regarding crossing it. It was almost 2 now, and we had to start back soon anyway, seeing as how it would take us some time to get to the gate if we made stops along the way. As we sat there and debated, tourists in several trucks came from the other way, driving around the “bridge”, choosing to go through a large water hole. Then a truck with workers went through, exchanging a few pleasantries with Teezer. We turned around and followed them back the way we came. We were quite some distance away from 1st bridge when we came across a group of vehicles that we had passed earlier in the day. They gestured for me to roll down my window, and they asked me if we saw the leopard and cubs up ahead. We said we hadn’t, and asked how they came to believe this was up ahead. They said the people, the ones who had come across the water hole while we watched them had told them. You see, one of the unwritten courtesies of doing safari is to spread the word of sightings to others you come in contact with. Teezer couldn’t believe these 2 vehicles of German tourists traveling together didn’t say anything to us at all about what was literally 3 to 5 minutes down the road from where we were at the water hole and bridge!! And he couldn’t understand why the guys he spoke with in the truck didn’t tell him. So we immediately decided to turn around and go back, as this was our chance to see a big cat and Teezer’s chance to have a ride back to camp! AS we were deciding whether to try the bridge or go in the water, the other vehicles, one being a Mercedes SUV took the bridge route. One was even pulling a trailer. So I was the last to go over the bridge, and while it was bumpy, it would prove to be the easiest crossing of the 3 we would make, as the leopard’s location was right before 2nd bridge, so we wouldn’t have to cross that. Good thing to, because it looked really bad! We went all the way to 2nd bridge, because we were told the location of the leopard was right before 2nd bridge, and we would see quite a few vehicles parked there watching. We saw nothing! We waited and debated, drove back and forth in the area, scanned the area with binoculars and zoom lens…no cat!!! We were bummed, but entertained the thought that we were in the wrong spot. While possible, we didn’t think that the party broke up so quickly. So we drove back the way we came, and right before a small turnoff, in the distance along that turnoffs route we saw a group of cars all parked in the same direction. We made haste and found what we were looking for!! One hour later and 470 exposures later, we were fully satisfied having gorged ourselves on a beautiful leopard and two playful cubs! We were maybe 15 meters (about 50 feet for those metrically challenged) from them. About 6 or so vehicles maintained a watch, two would leave then others would come and join. My knee hit the horn as I sat on the window to shoot over the truck’s roof, and the people in the safari vehicle next to us had a cow. The leopard? She looked over for what was maybe two seconds and then went back to watching her cubs. It was fun observing the behavior of this family for an hour – such great entertainment. The cubs would play, and when they got out of hand she would go over a give a little growl, and if that didn’t settle them down her paw would lay the smack down on them. At one point she went into the brush and came out with the severed head of a Springbok! The cubs played with and chewed on the thing for quite a while, until the two cubs started fighting over it. She got up, took it in her mouth and disappeared into the bush, returning a few seconds later without it. Playtime was over!! If we didn’t have to get to the park gate before 6 we would’ve stayed longer. We passed over the bridge around 4pm, and made our way back the way we came. We got to the gate with a little time to spare and back to the camp well before sundown.

We had to get to our next destination, Discovery Bed and Breakfast near Maun, which was only an hour away. Jen was going to depart for Namibia the next afternoon, so we wanted to be close to the airport. The bill was settled and we left the camp, again, a little later than I would’ve liked, because we got to the B&B after dark. We had no trouble checking in, and decided the next day we would take a plane trip over the delta before Jen flew out a little after 3pm. We drove to Audi Camp where we spent our first night in Botswana six nights earlier, which is only a few kilometers south of our B&B, to have dinner at the restaurant there. After, we drove back to the B&B, not too concerned about driving at night here as it was a paved road and only a few kilometers between places, and went to sleep in our really nice cabins, ready to start fresh tomorrow for another phase of the trip.

The album for this post can be found here: http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?trackingid=BTAGC&galleryid=fdf03f9f1716469b91c83574be06932d&rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 5 (Victoria Falls)

The plan was to get up early and head to the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe, as I read online that it can take a while crossing the border. The reality was we didn’t get up all that early, and we had a nice, leisurely breakfast. We also took an abbreviated stroll through the lodge’s natural trail that is on their property, starting around 7:30. We thought it was entirely fenced in, and it is, except where the fence has been breached! The elephant droppings we came upon kind of gave us the hint. We became separated as I stopped to take some shots and they kept moving forward. I ended-up back at the lodge, but they were not. I checked the reception, our cabin, and restaurant. I checked with Barbara, who said she hadn’t seen them but they would be okay out there. Finally they returned after perhaps 30 minutes. Muffin-stealing monkeys at breakfast were also a distraction that ate up our morning time. So we didn’t depart from Kubu Lodge when I thought we would or what we all agreed to on the previous evening. We would be back to Kasane in time to do a river cruise in the afternoon, as we didn’t expect it to take a long time to get what we wanted out of the visit to Victoria Falls. That was the plan…

Jen offered to drive the ninety minutes each way, so I became a passenger for the day. She was a little shaky at first, what with the steering wheel being on the right side of the car, but got somewhat more comfortable over time. It was helpful that the CRV was automatic.

The border was very close to Kubu Lodge, as we mistakenly ended up there the night we came in to Kasane. The process takes a little time, as you first visit the immigration window and then customs window. Several different fees have to be paid and information provided. They wanted to know the size of the engine in our CRV for instance, along with some other off-the-wall details regarding the vehicle. I had no idea, said I had no idea, and just threw out some numbers. The guy would say “55?” and I would say “Yep. That’s it!” Passports were stamped and we finally moved on. In-between my periods of usefulness, I covertly made some waist-level images, as I felt they wouldn’t be too happy if I lifted the viewfinder to my eye. Visually, it was a very interesting place, and I wanted to give it a shot at trying to capture what was going on there. I like the results.

We drove into Zimbabwe, luckily using a paved road all the way into Livingstone, which is the area and town around Victoria Falls. It’s funny – you are driving past literally nothing, and then within a few meters these tourist shops and this quasi-civilized area erupts from nowhere. Capitalism is alive and well at Victoria Falls! We follow signs and pull into a small parking area across the street from the entrance area to the falls. A polite man in uniform confirms we can park there. We walk across, pay our entry fee, and study the map displayed on a big wooden board. There are only 2 main paths that make a long loop along the rim of the falls and then back to the entrance gate, so we begin our walk.

It’s a short distance to the first place to stop to view the edge of the falls, so I stop and put my rain sleeves on my cameras and shower caps over my lens. This works well here at the side of the falls. It’s fairly easy to keep droplets off the lens, and the sleeves I’ve been using for a couple of years now to keep the camera bodies dry. As we move around to the front side of the falls, the mist becomes heavier. The bodies aren’t a concern, but keeping the water off the lenses will be tricky. I mean I have to remove the shower caps to make exposures, so timing will be required. The mist isn’t constant here. The air can be calm and dry, providing a pretty clear view of the falls. But then there’s a shift, and rain actually falls UP in front of you – mist being pushed up the side of the cliff from the floor below and then it falls onto you on the other side. It’s a weird sight and sensation to see rain going up in front of you! I was moderately successful keeping the lens dry at the sides, but as I got closer to the middle it was a losing battle. In no time I was soaked through, a spot or two (or 3 or 4) would land onto the glass, but the cameras remained dry. It was constantly “raining” in certain areas. This was the dry season! We were told the falls were at their weakest this time of year, and we may get slightly damp. If that’s their weakest, I can’t image the power, the roar, and the soaking of being where we were when the summer rains swell the river and flow of the falls. It’s got to be incredible! Images capturing the size and depth of the area were impossible to make as mist created a veil that covered much of the falls. I read online that seeing the falls from both sides (Zambia being the other) was ideal, but also read the best view is from Zimbabwe. I also read crime against tourists was common in the area. Given more time and better conditions, I still wouldn’t be too interested in seeing what else was available in the area, as it looked fairly straight forward. Anyway, we reached the apex of the loop, and watched some bungee jumping over the river gorge before heading back on the trail to the entrance. It didn’t take as long to get back as we didn’t stop along the lookout points. We were back at the parking lot and were headed back to the border, having spent a little over two hours at the falls. Of course after the 90-minute drive and dealing with the border, which wasn’t as tedious as traveling in the other direction, we still got back too late in the day for a river cruise due to our late start. So, we decided to just go back into Chobe to see what we could see for the remaining two hours of the day before the park closed around 6pm. The players were pretty much the same, although Radhika spied a Giraffe in the distance that I didn’t get a chance to see before it disappeared into the trees. We went back to our Lodge a few minutes before closing, and prepared for dinner. This was our 3rd and last night at Kubu Lodge, and it was most definitely the nicest place we would stay at during our trip to Botswana. In the morning we would be hitting the road back to Maun to stay two nights at Kaziikini Camp, which is the closest camp to the south gate outside of Moremi Wildlife Preserve. This would require another early departure in the morning. So we did our packing and showering that night before and after dinner.

The next morning we awake at a good time and go for a walk on the nature trail for pre-breakfast exercise around 7:15. We walk the entire trail, something I haven’t done but Jen and Radhika did the morning prior. It takes us about 40 minutes. Breakfast runs us another hour so, as we all become involved with a Yellowbellied Greenbul that's inching it's way to my scrambeld eggs, and it’s now about 9:30. If a bird eats egg, is it a form of cannibalism? It’s after 10am before we are checking out, the CRV is loaded, and two members of the party are jibber jabbering in the reception with Barbara and generally loitering around. It’s pushing 10:30 now, and I say we REALLY have to go. Several times already we found ourselves driving late in the afternoon, trying to reach our destination before sundown. Our next destination is a remote camp, no doubt with very little artificial lighting. I didn’t want to get there after dark (which happens about 6pm or so)! So, we’re on the road back to Nata and then west to Maun. Our schedule looks pretty good in terms of providing us with time, so we decide to drop in on Budget to complain about the CRV not being what we had contracted for, and demand a true 4X4 to be able to navigate the abysmal road/trail conditions of Moremi. We also have to get a pass into the park for the next day, money from the ATM, and some food and water for the next two days as I read online that there was none to be had at the camp. The vehicle exchange took less than an hour I would say, with us getting a Toyota Hilux 4X4. We worked well as a team, splitting up the duties between us to cut the amount of time required to accomplish everything. Even so, with the best-laid plans we had delays. The ATM’s were not cooperating, the grocery shopping was tedious, and the takeout chicken dinner was anything but expedient! But we muddled through and got everything done and had about an hour to drive up Shorobe Road towards Moremi’s south gate where Kaziikini would be found. It’s about 48 kilometers total distance, and at the halfway point there’s a veterinary fence that you have to gain access through and the road turns from paved to dirt. So the last 24 kilometers is slower going. Fortunately for us the road signs provided were good, as nightfall once again provided a little tension as our journey concluded. We arrived at the camp in darkness, using the truck lights in an attempt to discover where we should go. We went along the sandy trail that took us by campsites with names and small huts, but we found no reception or check-in area or building. We returned to the area where we first came in from, and two young gentlemen met us. They said it was late (uh-huh) and reception was closed. Hmmm…it was barely 6:30, and my interpretation of what they were saying was “You can’t stay here”, so I gave my name and said we were staying here over the next two nights, and we had a guide in the morning. They disappeared down a road that had a “Staff Only” sign at the entrance way, and came back with keys to two huts and we followed them down the same dirt road we took earlier as they walked us to our huts as we drove behind them. Small, made of a reed/bamboo type vegetation, they were just enough for us, and our backpacks. Thirty seconds away were the showers and toilets, nice and clean enough as we checked them out after dumping our stuff after eating our chicken dinners that were bought in Maun. We kept the rest of the food locked up in the cab so as not to draw the interest of animals. The night skies were clear finally, after not being able to see the stars due to light pollution or clouds, and it was a tremendous sight! This was my first time seeing the southern hemisphere’s constellations, and what an incredible moment it was for me. I was in total awe – we all were. I can’t express how absolutely plain the night skies in the northern hemisphere are in comparison! The number of stars must be at least two-fold, and the arm of our Milky Way galaxy stretches from horizon to horizon! As chilly as the night was, I decided to take a shower that evening under the stars. The water was lukewarm, at best, but the show above kept my mind off the air temperature and any goose bumps I had could have easily been from the sight above than from the cool water hitting my warm skin. I will NEVER forget the sky on that first night.

The album for this post can be found at:
http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?trackingid=BTAGC&rlang=en_US&galleryid=598aa22ec09946aab1631c5dfd155751&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 4 (Chobe)

Up early after a good nights sleep, I quietly eased out of the cabin to enjoy the morning. Jen had already ventured out, so Radhika was left to snooze away. The lawn sprinklers were on over various parts of the grounds, and I had to time it just right to make it to the bank of the river without getting irrigated. Didn’t see any guests out and about, but lodge staff were scattered around, doing their duties. Saw nothing of interest in or near the river, so I worked on my timing again to get past the sprinklers. Did well with my timing but poorly on foot placement, as I stepped into a mud hole formed by the sprinkler. Guess it would’ve been smart to tie my shoes too before I slipped out of the cabin in my pj bottoms and t-shirt, because soon I had both socked feet in the mud as I looked back over my shoulder to see my shoes firmly secured deep in the brown muck! I have to pat myself on the back, only because I kept myself from doing something even more asinine, and that was the momentary thought of putting my muddy-socked feet into my new, still clean-on-the-inside Columbia hiking shoes. I balanced on one foot as I peeled the pasty sock off and carefully slid my clean foot inside one shoe. I bent down tying it just enough to keep it securely on, and then pulled the other one from the mud. Think of a sink draining the final measure of water in a whirlpool and the sound it makes, adding a little “pop” at the end for sound effect. And it was so securely in there that my pulling took me down at first more so than pulling out the shoe! Getting it on and quickly tying it, I returned to the cabin where I quickly gave the socks a sink cleaning, hung them to dry, and put on a clean pair and joined everyone for breakfast. A pretty yellow bird was chirping overhead near a platform at the corner of our outdoor location. I took this to mean only one thing – it was hungry and one of the humans down below needs to put something tasty on the platform. There was a family with two young children near this platform, and when I placed a small piece of bread on it, the yellow bird came down immediately and pecked away. The kids especially loved this close up view and sat there in amazement until the bird finished and returned to the tree. A fun start to our day.
The entrance to Chobe is just a few minutes drive, so we were there in no time. Once past the gate, we came upon a turnoff to the right with a sign that indicates the direction for the river route, which is where we wanted to be. It took us perhaps 30 minutes or more to reach the river, because almost immediately we saw Impala, and stopped every few minutes to observe them. But our “show” began in earnest when we reached the river. There’s a track that runs along the river several kilometers in length that you slowly drive, stopping whenever the situation dictates…like watching a group of hippos or giving ground to a frisky male elephant that’s picking up sticks and slinging them with his trunk in your direction. As a matter-of-fact, hippos and a group of crocodiles were the first animals we saw along and in the river. Soon, we were seeing more impala, elephants, baboons, warthogs, zebra, kudu, and many types of birds. All either stayed at or in the river, or made their way to it at some point during the day. But Chobe is known for the highest concentration of elephants in Africa, and that is what we saw. Elephants of all ages, solo, in small groups, and large herds. They are so much more magnificent-looking in the wild than they are in a zoo. Even more so than when we rode on elephants in Nepal during a bush safari looking for rhinos. Warthogs loudly munching vegetation at the waters edge, impala and antelope constantly grazing, hippos mostly dozing along with crocs, and baboons making their way across the watery field to play in the trees and get to the dry ground across our track and into the forest. We slowly drove the length of the trail, and at the end it seemed to me to be a dead-end…you just turn around and go back in the same direction. There were a couple of turn-offs along the way that lead you into the park, away from the riverbank. We took one of them as we double-backed, and it took us through sandy areas and a scrub forest before we came upon a sign that indicated a right turn would take us onto something called the “upper route”. Jen, with her adventurous spirit was very keen on taking this, but I was skeptical, as none of us knew where this would lead us. After a brief discussion, I said we would drive on it for a little while, seeing where it takes us. Well, a little while turned into a couple of hours, and as more minutes passed without signs or any indication of where we were headed, nervous tension began to permeate the vehicle. We had a map of Chobe, but no trail was marked as “upper route”. There was no cell phone coverage. No GPS. We hadn’t come upon or been passed by another vehicle since taking this route. Not one sign was passed that indicated a destination, the length of the route, or where we were. It had become late afternoon. I was (and possibly not alone in this) thinking we might be sleeping in the CRV tonight somewhere in this wilderness. Minutes dragged on as we continued to pass only unremarkable terrain and large piles of elephant droppings. No signs to direct us still. No signs of anyone else out there with us. We were hoping to be led back to the riverbank, and every so often became hopeful, as the terrain seemed to be changing back to what was found near the river. But those hopes were dashed and the scrub forest went on and on. Cell phones were frequently checked for signal, maps were being passed back and forth, and then silence would fill the CRV for a while as I just drove slowly on. I glanced at the time on the dashboard often. We came to an intersection where there was deep sand, and it was decided that we would make a left. But the sand was too soft from the side we were on and I did not want to cut the wheel and bury the front tires, so I went straight through. I hoped I could find, from the other side, a way to gain some speed along the safest path to avoid getting stuck. The path straight looked very overgrown, with vegetation so close on either side it was impossible to pass without the constant scratching of branches on the sides of the CRV. I stopped and managed to turn around, and now made what was a right turn, getting through the soft sand. On we went, hoping we were headed in a direction that would soon reward us with a road sign or any sign of human life! Fading light and gas level added to our concerns as we made our way. But almost out of nowhere, we drove up a small hill and on the other side was a paved road!! Everything that was puckered-up from tension in that car was released in unison! A couple of cars went by, and just up the road there looked to be some kind of checkpoint, so we pulled up and asked someone if Kasane was in the direction we were traveling. It was, indeed! We had no idea where we were, but so glad to be out of our “lost” situation. When a policeman at the checkpoint asked if we had seen the lion with it’s kill along the side of the road back from the direction he thought we had come (he obviously didn’t see us emerge from the forest), we didn’t flinch from our desire to get to Kasane, fill the tank with gas, and just go back to our lodge. We were going to Victoria Falls the next morning, and had enough adventure today. The excitement of dinner, a shower, and sleep was all that I was looking forward to, to end this day. The album for this post can be found at:
http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?wf=sharegrid&galleryid=e3c6b6809fae4764865f22da26354c38&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC