![]() |
#1 South Africa - Pilanesberg NP #4 Botswana, Zambia #6
NAMBIAN DESERT #7
Luderitz #9 Garden Route & Addo Elephant Park #11 Drakensburg
Mtns, Battlefields, Kruger NP |
Road Report #2 Waking up in Mokolodi Steve had a closer look at the shower set up. A rustic setup. We would need to build a fire under a barrel of water then pump it into the overhead, outdoor shower. Considering how cold it was that morning – no idea
on the actual temp but we had our warmest gear on we, decided we’d
hope for a better option this evening. So after a relaxed breakfast we
headed back up the bumpy The reason places like Mokolodi Game Reserve are so expensive to camp in ($300 pula a night = $45 Cdn) is because staying there also entitles you to spend the day driving throughout the reserve and viewing the wildlife. But we have a 2 WD that is likely to get stuck and a long drive ahead of us today so we head for the gate. Enroute we have our first bit of magic for the day, a troop of vervet monkeys hopping and skipping across the road in front of us, jumping into the trees at the edge, peering curiously out of the branches to see what we were up to. Next we came on a huge troop of baboons at the One of the little baboons posed himself against a termite
mound. These are everywhere to be seen.The story with these is that during
the life of a termite colony they will have three queens. Each queen lives
for about 25 years. So the really humongous mounds we see are probably
about 75 years old. You never see the termites because they live and work
in tunnels underground – a whole warren of them underfoot, apparently.
The only time they do come out is at night. Anteaters and other animals
do sometimes break into the termite mound. When this At the edge of Gabarone we stopped at a small shopping mall to get some petrol and groceries. The first thing we noticed was that there were no lot boys looking for pulas to guard our car, no hanger-ons lurking around the edges. It was a clean, tidy shopping mall with everyone going about their business, period. No one looking for handouts. We are also noticing that residential homes along the highway do not sport the imposing compound walls with barbed and electrified wire common in South Africa. Occasionally we see one but most either have no fence at all or a simple chicken wire/ chain link to keep animals/kids in. According to what we are reading, the politics and economics
of Botswana are very The road, as we drove towards Serowe is beautiful – paved and no potholes. Rest areas are placed frequently – a pull off and picnic area under a big shady tree. As we turn west from Palanaye the terrain is beginning to roll. It is still a burned out winter landscape but the green is still peeking through in many fields. Drivers here are crazy fast – like Europeans. The
courier trucks, particularly, are always in a big hurry. They speed up
behind you then dart out, pulling in so quickly at times it seems certain
they’ll nick your front quarter panel. We are driving a moderate
90 kph – just about right for this little 4- By late afternoon we arrive at our destination, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary and have no trouble securing a campsite. The sites are about 2.5 km from the main gate, inside the sanctuary. They are huge and level sand with a braii pit. Each site is under a giant monkongwa tree which is a lot like a baobob but smaller. The ablution block is lovely – rustic in style but the water is endlessly hot and the shower is absolutely lovely. We take the opportunity to do some laundry and hang it up outside. If you stay here longer, there is a restaurant and pool.
And if you have a 4WD or The sanctuary was chosen due to its excellent habitat for
the endangered rhinos, central location and proximity to Botswana Defence
Force base which provides 24 hour protection. This is important because
poaching continues to be a major problem in Africa. Men in Asia are convinced
that the rhino horns hold the secret to lifelong erections and as we all
know, there is big, big money in keeping old men in the game. Monday, May-28 Today we saw a LOT of donkeys – absolutely everywhere
– thousands of them in this area. They seem to roam free. As do
goats, huge herds of them. Cannot figure out if they are being farmed
or wild. This is also cattle country and those are obviously being grazed
out. When we stopped at a rest area to have lunch we were entertained
by the cowboys tearing around on horses herding the cows into groups and
moving them into corrals. interesting to watch as the cowboys definitely
have their own style here, wearing hats of every description but could
not help noticing that Around Rakops we came on the Kalahari salt pans – miles and miles of dusty and deadly dry white pans as far as the eye can see. With the wind kicking up the dry sand into a fog of flying dust it looks like one of the most miserable places in the world to live. You can take ATV tours out onto them but I cannot figure out why you would. Originally we thought we’d need to stay here somewhere for the night. Thank goodness the roads are so excellent that is not necessary.
Arrived in Maun about 4 pm and went straight to the Wilderness Safaris office where we enquired into trips into the Okavango Delta. This is the company that has been recommended to us but when I looked at their website before leaving home I nearly choked on the prices. THAT was not going to happen. However, always the optimists we popped in and discovered that if you are IN Botswana and booking the trip to leave WITHIN the next 14 days you are eligible for a 70% discount. Holy cow! The delta is now affordable again. So we have booked 2 days each in two camps – Xigera and Kwetsane. Everything included, and that means three flights over the delta, is about $1100 each. Very cheap for what we will be getting / experiencing. One of our camping neighbours booked a flightseeing trip
over the delta – just the one hour flight cost him $300 Cdn per
person. We will have 1.5 hours of flying time Our trips don’t leave till My 31 so we settle in at Audi Camp about 10 km from Maun. The price is $140 pula (less than $20 Cdn) for the campsite, an additional $70 pula if we want electricity. The shower block is unique – a round rondaavel style building with a thatched roof that covers all but the edges. The showers are on the edges so there I was, showering under the stars – just lovely. They make good use of the sun here - there are solar-panels everywhere and the water in the showers is very hot, feeding directly off solar-heated units beside the ablution block.
Steve took a walk down to the river and had a great talk
with a local fisherman and his wife who was doing her washing in the river
while watching the cows wade in and out of the river. This is the same
river that they seem to be pumping our water out of. Hope it is being
treated. We are buying drinking water and pouring a little bleach into
the tank of the camper so that our washing up water is at least chlorinated.
There is a great bar and for 45 pula ($6) I purchased 30 days worth of internet so I can get some stuff done here. All of these camps also have a variety of accommodations available to travelers with no camping gear of their own. For example, here at Audi you could book a simple tent on a raised platform with 2 cots and mattresses. Or you could book a deluxe ensuite tent with all the luxuries. They also have a self-catering house for rent. There are not a lot of us at Audi Camp but those neighbours we have are amiable. Directly beside us are a couple of youngish blokes from Capetown. They are driving a big 4WD LandRover that has been decked out with enough equipment to make it every man’s fantasy. The night before they had camped in the wilds just outside Moremi NP and spent the whole night trying to keep the brown hyaenas from destroying their camp. They were exhausted and shaken by the experience. They had chosen not to camp in the park itself because the Botswana Wildlife Department had just raised the camping fees to $2100 pulas per person/ per night. That is $300 Cdn per person / per night. Crazy. The Wildlife minister seemed to think that tourists would pay ANYTHING to park in a field with an outhouse. We mentioned this to a Botswana guide we met and he confirmed the story as absolutely true. He said the safari companies are absolutely livid because the rate was raised astronomically overnight and they were supposed to notify their clients, most of whom booked months and months ago that they now had to come up with these huge fees. So there is lots of protesting going on and hopefully that will be changed. Fortunately, because we don’t have a 4WD we cannot actually drive into most of these parks ourselves and will be depending on daytrips that don’t carry those kinds of fees. Tuesday, May-29 Maun is a very walkable town – not very big. The
tourists just seem to fly in to the airport, change planes to get out
to the lodges and fly back out again. There is not a lot in the way of
cafes or tourist concessions. So the shops are completely geared to the
local needs. I found them very interesting to poke through. Some stuff is similar in price to home, others are much cheaper. For example, a couch is about $1000. A pair of children’s shoes is $3. Steve got his plug situation sorted for $3 at a local electronics shop. The same adapter had been $15 in a large shop in South Africa. We’ve been having a problem trying to marry up extension cords and wall plugs and appliances. We brought what were supposed to be the correct adapters from the travel shop at home. But here, everything seems to have a different plug pattern. Even within the same country. You would not believe the series of connectors we have plugged into each other, one on top of the other just to make this computer work. I am not sure what the current exchange rate is with Canadian dollars but somewhere around 7-8 pula per Cdn $. So examples of food costs: can of Fanta orange 5.45p (less than a dollar) Back at the campsite we booked an electrical site for the next 2 nights so we can recharge things and I can work on the computer. We also sent a laundry basket of clothes off to be laundered – 20 p for the whole basket. Cheaper than Mexico where we were paying up to $8 for a basket of clothes. So, tomorrow we are flying off to our luxury lodge on the
spectacular Okavanago Delta. That will be an interesting change of pace
for us. Stay tuned. Carolyn Usher
|
![]() |