Botswana

We drove the short distance to the Botswanan immigration and customs buildings and quickly passed through the formalities. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho have a joint customs agreement so the carnet would not get stamped again till we left South Africa. With the last of our Pula we bought car tax from a lady who was obviously a born again Christian as the wall behind her desk was covered in handmade ìJesus Saves!î posters.

The first town after the border was Kasane and we needed money, fuel and food supplies for the next few days in Chobe National Park. We queued for the ATM but it wasnít happy with our UK cards so queued again in the bank to change the last of our travellers cheques. After 45 minutes we reached the counter to be told we had to wait a further 30 minutes for the cheques to be verified. Finally, we had enough pula to shop in the vastly cheaper Spar and fill up with diesel. We met Hans and Giselda from South Africa at the garage on their way home and another overlander vehicle who had come through Chobe. Their car was covered in mud from top to bottom and this gave us a good idea of the road conditions to come.

Our plan was to traverse Chobe National Park camping in Savuti one night and getting to Maun at the south of the Okavango Delta the following night. The road to the park entrance was like a rollercoster ride with shallow sandy repetitive dips that Bill took at some speed. I was feeling quite sick and we managed to break the luggage straps holding down our boxes in the back.

Once at the entrance we were told the road through the park was closed. This was bad news as to reach Maun would involve retracing our steps to Kasane and a detour of 700kms via Nata. We decided to stay the night in the park anyway as we could not face the same sandy track twice in one day.

The wet season meant we didnít see much on the drive to the campsite. The grass was long and thick but a few sighting on the road kept our hopes high. We decided to call it a day and set up camp early. Already at the site were 3 Land Rovers owned by a friendly bunch of South Africans on their holidays. We had already read about the notorious Savuti Campsite with its frequent wild visitors, and the South Africans confirmed its reputation as only 5 minutes before we arrived two lions had wandered past their tents. They insisted we set up our tent next to theirs for additional safety and Bill got down to the serious task of Land Rover comparison.

    Camping together with the South Africans

We had a great night sitting round a roaring fire chatting to the group about their travels and telling various stories from our adventure. We were glad of the company as all night the roaring from several groups of lions reminded us we were in the bush. We also had our first taste of the dung beetle infestation in Botswana as massive flying specimens launched themselves at the fire and lights. They really hurt if they got you on the forehead whilst aiming for your headtorch.

    Flowers in Chobe

The grass was thick all over the park and we saw next to nothing on our game drive the next morning. The road however was in better condition then we imagined and the drive on to Maun became a possibility following good reports from the local safari drivers. We decided to give it a go and arranged for the South African group to follow us the next day as a rescue party if needed.

    Road conditions in the park

Indeed the road was fine and we arrived at the park exit at 11am. The staff were surprised to see us but advised the worst was yet to come. The following 10kms were very wet and involved frequent detours into the surrounding bush. KT was no longer white but we had a great laugh and funnily enough saw more wildlife on this stretch of road.

    Kudu in the long grass

    A tortoise on the road side

In Maun we ate steak from the braai (BBQ) and washed in the best showers so far, recovering quickly from the days excitement. The following day we arranged a scenic flight over the delta which was the perfect way to view the meandering rivers and wildlife. Bill was decidedly green throughout the flight as the pilot performed acrobatics in the air. We saw elephants, giraffe, vultures circling over a carcass, hippos and lots of antelope. A fantastic experience (for me anyway).

        Okavango Delta

That night we treated ourselves to a meal in the campsite restaurant. It was spoiled somewhat by the hundreds of tiny dung beetles that flew into our food and drinks. Itís most unappetizing to fish out 20 or so bugs from your plate every mouthful.

Our next destination was Nxai Pan. This is a difficult word to pronounce as the ìnxî combination in the Botswanan language is said with a click from the tongue on the roof of the mouth. The huge quantities of zebra and giraffe were amazing to see. They migrate in the wet season from the south to breed with the surplus of water. Apparently this attracts lots of predators but we were unlucky this time. We met at the campsite a lovely couple called Ilan and Mia in their Land Rover Td5 who came straight over to invite us for a braai. We had a great evening swapping stories over some fine South African wine.

The drive the next day to Baines Baobabs was too wet and we had to turn back. We couldnít justify getting stuck just to see some trees. We headed south through Makgadikgadi Pans and on to the Kalahari. Both of us were expecting sandy scrubland but again the rains had turned the landscape a beautiful green. Our luck had turned and we saw 2 lionesses with a kill and a pack of wild dogs at close range.

The Kalahari was a real wilderness experience and we only saw one other car whilst there. As our fire died out we climbed into the tent with the sound of hyenas crying in the vicinity. The next morning as Bill was on the bonnet of the car taking photos I spotted a lion and shouted for him to get back in the car. He shot back into his seat and got a bit shirty when I told him you could just see a male on the horizon with the binoculars.

    My favourite

    Gemsbok

Driving back to Maun we stopped to have a look at the huge spider like crickets that carpeted the sand. On closer inspection they were horrible and we felt no guilt squashing them with the tyres. Bill even tried harder to kill greater numbers.

    Bug

The following day we headed north to the Tsodilo Hills and the ancient rock paintings. The site was free to enter and camp, which was a pleasant surprise, but the paintings were only mildly interesting and not as spectacular as those in Libya. We enjoyed cooking on an open fire with the hills glowing red in the evening sun behind us, sharing our supper with a local dog whose rumbling stomach was too loud to ignore. He hungrily finished our chilli but left behind several pieces of licked clean pepper.

Hollowed out canoes or mokoros made from the local sausage tree traditionally navigate the Okavango Delta and we drove to a community run lodge in Seronga to take a mokoro trip. The location was idyllic and we ate our dinner beside the delta with hippos grunting not far off. Both of us sat in the mokoro as Patrick our poler took us to an uninhabited island for a walking safari. Bill, in the front, was covered in spiders and webs as we cut through the reeds between lagoons filled with lilies. We saw the tiny pink painted reed frog and heard lots of hippo grunts whilst in the canoe. Luckily, we didnít have a close encounter in our unsteady transportation. Once we were safely back at the launch site Bill had a go and said it looked easier than it was.

    Breakfast in the Delta

On our return to camp we met the volunteer manager Chris from the UK. The apparently successful community lodge was in fact failing without charity assistance. We were a little disappointed to hear of Chrisí reservations about locally run projects but wished him luck in his remaining year with the group.

After another peaceful night at the project we headed to the Namibian border for the penultimate country of our trip. The border was efficient and we left Botswana in a matter of minutes.