On the Chobe River
TUE 7TH FEB DAY 117 CHOBE SAFARI LODGE, KASANE. BOTSWANA
59 Miles
Said our goodbyes to the German bikers and the other travellers in camp and headed for the garage in town before heading for Botswana.
At Foleys (Africa) Nick and one of his mechanics gave the Landy a good look over. They checked oils, greased the props, checked the suspension and steering and the only thing wrong was that the rear brakes were near the end of there life and the front only had a couple of thousand miles left in them. So we had them changed. I would love a job in his workshops, he does rebuilds as well as services and had a packed garage.
A few hundred thousand Kwacha light in our pockets we left for the Zambia/Botswana border some 40 or so miles away and the Kazangula ferry across the Chobe River.
There was a massive queue of trucks waiting for the ferry but no cars so after clearing customs and immigration which was a breeze we went straight onto the ferry, all a bit of a rush as the Zambian ferry had broken down and the Botswana ferry was making the most of the business. Two vehicles us and another Landy and one truck was the full load. Julie had to walk aboad for some reason. She didn’t have time to worry about the crossing as by the time we had loaded and she paid the fee we were almost in Botswana.
The other Landy was a guy who had travelled from Russia..Thats real overlanding!! He was on his own as his friend had to return to work.
Formalities in Botswana were easy, we are almost veterans at this now, the trick is to have all the paperwork ready and great everyone with a smile. We drive through the vehicle dip to keep Zambian germs out of Botswana and head for Kasane and Chobe Safari Lodge where we stayed on our last visit to Botswana over ten years ago.
Well Kasane has grown is size a lot, the Barclays bank is no longer a thatched building but a brick built one and the Lodge has been rebuilt too.
At the campsite on the Chobe riverfront we bump into Nicole and Peter who we met in Walvis Bay, Namibia. What is the chance of that? We spent a nice evening chatting to each other about travel experiences and about how lucky we all are to be able to do this.
59 Miles
Said our goodbyes to the German bikers and the other travellers in camp and headed for the garage in town before heading for Botswana.
At Foleys (Africa) Nick and one of his mechanics gave the Landy a good look over. They checked oils, greased the props, checked the suspension and steering and the only thing wrong was that the rear brakes were near the end of there life and the front only had a couple of thousand miles left in them. So we had them changed. I would love a job in his workshops, he does rebuilds as well as services and had a packed garage.
A few hundred thousand Kwacha light in our pockets we left for the Zambia/Botswana border some 40 or so miles away and the Kazangula ferry across the Chobe River.
There was a massive queue of trucks waiting for the ferry but no cars so after clearing customs and immigration which was a breeze we went straight onto the ferry, all a bit of a rush as the Zambian ferry had broken down and the Botswana ferry was making the most of the business. Two vehicles us and another Landy and one truck was the full load. Julie had to walk aboad for some reason. She didn’t have time to worry about the crossing as by the time we had loaded and she paid the fee we were almost in Botswana.
The other Landy was a guy who had travelled from Russia..Thats real overlanding!! He was on his own as his friend had to return to work.
Formalities in Botswana were easy, we are almost veterans at this now, the trick is to have all the paperwork ready and great everyone with a smile. We drive through the vehicle dip to keep Zambian germs out of Botswana and head for Kasane and Chobe Safari Lodge where we stayed on our last visit to Botswana over ten years ago.
Well Kasane has grown is size a lot, the Barclays bank is no longer a thatched building but a brick built one and the Lodge has been rebuilt too.
At the campsite on the Chobe riverfront we bump into Nicole and Peter who we met in Walvis Bay, Namibia. What is the chance of that? We spent a nice evening chatting to each other about travel experiences and about how lucky we all are to be able to do this.
Buffalo
WED 8TH FEB DAY 118 AS ABOVE
64 Miles
Up at 5.30 so that we could get into Chobe N.P. as early as possible. Paid our fees and then were told that we couldn’t drive along the river front until after 9.00. The guy said he didn’t know why but a leaflet on the wall said it all. It was to keep vehicle movements to a minimum, only safari operators were allowed on the riverfront. So our money is not good enough then?
Anyway we took a wrong turning oops and ended up on the river front anyway
Not that we saw much early on, things improved as the morning continued. We came across a lioness dragging her kill across the track, if we were 10 seconds earlier we would have had a great shot of it. Later we saw some of Chobes famous elephants in groups of 10 or 12 moving slowly through the reserve. One elephant was actually laying down a metre from the track and when we arrived we don’t know who was more startled the elephant or us. To late to reverse, to dangerous to stop so we drove slowly past as it got up.
Lots of impalas (nabis they are called “not another bloody impala”), kudu, bushbuck, numerous unidentified birds, some enormous baboons and the striped safari vehicle! The big baboons reminded us why we decided not to camp in the reserve as last time we were pestered by them all evening.
The Danish guy passed us and Nicole and Peter, seems like the three of us have the place to ourselves.
Back at the Lodge for lunch and I had ice cream for the first time in 118 days, very nice too although the impala burgers weren’t up to much!
We had a river cruise booked for 3 o’clock which started a bit slow, just some birds, hippos and crocodiles…maybe we are getting a bit blasé about this game viewing, we must not take this sort of thing for granted. Almost time to turn around and head back and WOW we come across a herd of 20 elephants which soon becomes around 50! Right at the rivers edge. The highlight of our visit and we finally see some or the famous big herds of Chobe.
64 Miles
Up at 5.30 so that we could get into Chobe N.P. as early as possible. Paid our fees and then were told that we couldn’t drive along the river front until after 9.00. The guy said he didn’t know why but a leaflet on the wall said it all. It was to keep vehicle movements to a minimum, only safari operators were allowed on the riverfront. So our money is not good enough then?
Anyway we took a wrong turning oops and ended up on the river front anyway
Not that we saw much early on, things improved as the morning continued. We came across a lioness dragging her kill across the track, if we were 10 seconds earlier we would have had a great shot of it. Later we saw some of Chobes famous elephants in groups of 10 or 12 moving slowly through the reserve. One elephant was actually laying down a metre from the track and when we arrived we don’t know who was more startled the elephant or us. To late to reverse, to dangerous to stop so we drove slowly past as it got up.
Lots of impalas (nabis they are called “not another bloody impala”), kudu, bushbuck, numerous unidentified birds, some enormous baboons and the striped safari vehicle! The big baboons reminded us why we decided not to camp in the reserve as last time we were pestered by them all evening.
The Danish guy passed us and Nicole and Peter, seems like the three of us have the place to ourselves.
Back at the Lodge for lunch and I had ice cream for the first time in 118 days, very nice too although the impala burgers weren’t up to much!
We had a river cruise booked for 3 o’clock which started a bit slow, just some birds, hippos and crocodiles…maybe we are getting a bit blasé about this game viewing, we must not take this sort of thing for granted. Almost time to turn around and head back and WOW we come across a herd of 20 elephants which soon becomes around 50! Right at the rivers edge. The highlight of our visit and we finally see some or the famous big herds of Chobe.
THURS 9TH FEB DAY 119 NATA LODGE S20 13.449 E26 16.055
210 Miles
Leave Nicole and Peter eating there breakfast, will we meet again on the road. Maybe they will tour Spain and drop in on us?
Long boring road to Nata which is being rebuilt, see more elephants as we drive along the main road. The land is very flat some of which is wood land and some land has massive fields planted with maize the fields stretch as far as you can see, its part of Botswana’s plan to diversify from mainly mining to produce more food. They do provide a lot of beef for Europe which is one reason that they have many veterinary fences in the country.
We get stopped at one control point and they check our vehicle for foodstuff. They say we cannot take the cucumbers,tomatos and red peppers wth us so they confiscate them but our onions, cheese, milk and bacon are o.k. Work that one out?
Nata lodge has the poshest ablutions we have come across in Africa., although the deep sand caught me out and we dug ourselves deep down in the sand.
210 Miles
Leave Nicole and Peter eating there breakfast, will we meet again on the road. Maybe they will tour Spain and drop in on us?
Long boring road to Nata which is being rebuilt, see more elephants as we drive along the main road. The land is very flat some of which is wood land and some land has massive fields planted with maize the fields stretch as far as you can see, its part of Botswana’s plan to diversify from mainly mining to produce more food. They do provide a lot of beef for Europe which is one reason that they have many veterinary fences in the country.
We get stopped at one control point and they check our vehicle for foodstuff. They say we cannot take the cucumbers,tomatos and red peppers wth us so they confiscate them but our onions, cheese, milk and bacon are o.k. Work that one out?
Nata lodge has the poshest ablutions we have come across in Africa., although the deep sand caught me out and we dug ourselves deep down in the sand.
Dung beetles playing ball
FRI 10TH FEB DAY 120 PLANET BAOBAB, NR. GWETA
S 20 11.270 E25 18.451
162 Miles
My visit to the loo last night was an experience, I got lost and decided to return to our Landy but ended up at another Landy in the camp. Good job they didn’t have a roof tent else I would have climbed into their tent!
Left camp at 9ish heading for Kubu Island (as seen on top gear) but when we got to the turn off and saw the flooded road we decided aganst chancing the 96km. It was bad to start but we didn’t want to get half way and then have to come back.
Carried on to the Nxai Pan turn off and ran into a mother of all storms, thunder and lightening all around us and unable to drive we pulled over, Julie was terrified and we turned around. The weather has beaten us. How can a glorious sunny day without a cloud in the sky change in 2 hours to monsoon type rain?
Well we have visited Botswana twice before and seen Nxai and Makgadikadi Pans before along with Moremi and the Delta so we don’t feel so bad at missing out this time. We decide to return to Gweta and stay at Planet Baobab a great site with some very interesting features. Its built around seven enormous baobab trees and has a bar with chandeliers made of beer bottles..yes over a hundred bottles per light!
S 20 11.270 E25 18.451
162 Miles
My visit to the loo last night was an experience, I got lost and decided to return to our Landy but ended up at another Landy in the camp. Good job they didn’t have a roof tent else I would have climbed into their tent!
Left camp at 9ish heading for Kubu Island (as seen on top gear) but when we got to the turn off and saw the flooded road we decided aganst chancing the 96km. It was bad to start but we didn’t want to get half way and then have to come back.
Carried on to the Nxai Pan turn off and ran into a mother of all storms, thunder and lightening all around us and unable to drive we pulled over, Julie was terrified and we turned around. The weather has beaten us. How can a glorious sunny day without a cloud in the sky change in 2 hours to monsoon type rain?
Well we have visited Botswana twice before and seen Nxai and Makgadikadi Pans before along with Moremi and the Delta so we don’t feel so bad at missing out this time. We decide to return to Gweta and stay at Planet Baobab a great site with some very interesting features. Its built around seven enormous baobab trees and has a bar with chandeliers made of beer bottles..yes over a hundred bottles per light!
SAT 11TH FEB DAY 121 EBAT GUEST HOUSE, TATI SIDINGS VILLAGE
S21 17.129 27 28.307
197 Miles
Another storm this morning but luckily we had already put the tent away before it started.
In Nata we buy a few bits and bobs and had a snack at the Wimpy next the the petrol station, bacon rolls, very nice in fact the best we have had in years they even had brown sauce already in them mmmm.
Continued to Fancistown Botswana’s second biggest town tryind to find somewhere to stay but had no luck. They are building a new football stadium on the edge of town but the locals say its in the wrong place and will be expensive to get there. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
In Tati Sidings Village we find EBAT lodge and are welcomed by the owner and shown a room, we asked for camping but she said they have a party of people there and it would be too noisy for us. Little did we know how noisy!
Nice little room and friendly staff, we find the bar and guess what the Botswana’s are watching Premiership football, a disgruntled Liverpool fan moans about that infamous referee Howard Webb and how biased he is towards Man utd. Now come on we cannot all be wrong his reputation has reached the depths of Botswana.
Dinner took ages and wasn’t worth the wait so we watched an episode of Mrs Browns Boys on the laptop before trying to sleep and I mean trying to sleep, the music went on until past two o’clock.
S21 17.129 27 28.307
197 Miles
Another storm this morning but luckily we had already put the tent away before it started.
In Nata we buy a few bits and bobs and had a snack at the Wimpy next the the petrol station, bacon rolls, very nice in fact the best we have had in years they even had brown sauce already in them mmmm.
Continued to Fancistown Botswana’s second biggest town tryind to find somewhere to stay but had no luck. They are building a new football stadium on the edge of town but the locals say its in the wrong place and will be expensive to get there. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
In Tati Sidings Village we find EBAT lodge and are welcomed by the owner and shown a room, we asked for camping but she said they have a party of people there and it would be too noisy for us. Little did we know how noisy!
Nice little room and friendly staff, we find the bar and guess what the Botswana’s are watching Premiership football, a disgruntled Liverpool fan moans about that infamous referee Howard Webb and how biased he is towards Man utd. Now come on we cannot all be wrong his reputation has reached the depths of Botswana.
Dinner took ages and wasn’t worth the wait so we watched an episode of Mrs Browns Boys on the laptop before trying to sleep and I mean trying to sleep, the music went on until past two o’clock.
This is the lion that just dragged its kill across the track.
SUN 12TH FEB DAY 121 KWA NOKENG LODGE on the border of Botswana and S. Africa at MARTINS DRIFT
S22 59.827 E27 56.45
188 Miles
The owner and manager apologised for the noise last night, apparently it was a stag night, seeing they don’t really drink much in Botswana they made a good night of it. The owners are from Gaborone (Gabs) and have set up this lodge where they give lectures on business management and environmental studies. They get money from the lectures and from the guests, nice.
The owner (she did tell me her name but its unpronounceable) complained about the Chinese in Botswana, something we have heard a lot about on our travels, they also seem to be selling the youngsters drugs!!
We move on towards the border initially the border at Zanzibar but we learn that the bridge may be a problem with the rains so we head for Martins Drift (sounds like a real border post doesn’t it?) via Selebi Phikwe. Selebe Phikwe is where some friends of ours (Zac and Cath) used to live, they gave us some names of people to find in the shopping centre but as it was Sunday most places were shut.
Couldn’t find anywhere to camp in the area so on to Martins Drift via Sefophe, Mogapi and Lerala.
We strike it lucky and right on the border is Kwa Nokeng Lodge (you all know what Kwa Nokeng means don’t you?). and we camp on a pristine lawn at the lodge.
BOTSWANA SUMMERY
Only a short period in Botswana, we have been twice before so we were only going to have a quick visit although the rains stopped us going to a couple of places, next time as they say?
Botswana is such a safe country with Blacks and Whites living together, in fact the President’s mother is English. People are very friendly and the roads are excellent. There is amazing wildlife to see and places to stay. The Parks are not cheap but that keeps the numbers down. In Chobe we only saw maybe 5 vehicles and two of them were people we had met before in Africa.
Visit Botswana you will enjoy it. One of our favourite countries.
S22 59.827 E27 56.45
188 Miles
The owner and manager apologised for the noise last night, apparently it was a stag night, seeing they don’t really drink much in Botswana they made a good night of it. The owners are from Gaborone (Gabs) and have set up this lodge where they give lectures on business management and environmental studies. They get money from the lectures and from the guests, nice.
The owner (she did tell me her name but its unpronounceable) complained about the Chinese in Botswana, something we have heard a lot about on our travels, they also seem to be selling the youngsters drugs!!
We move on towards the border initially the border at Zanzibar but we learn that the bridge may be a problem with the rains so we head for Martins Drift (sounds like a real border post doesn’t it?) via Selebi Phikwe. Selebe Phikwe is where some friends of ours (Zac and Cath) used to live, they gave us some names of people to find in the shopping centre but as it was Sunday most places were shut.
Couldn’t find anywhere to camp in the area so on to Martins Drift via Sefophe, Mogapi and Lerala.
We strike it lucky and right on the border is Kwa Nokeng Lodge (you all know what Kwa Nokeng means don’t you?). and we camp on a pristine lawn at the lodge.
BOTSWANA SUMMERY
Only a short period in Botswana, we have been twice before so we were only going to have a quick visit although the rains stopped us going to a couple of places, next time as they say?
Botswana is such a safe country with Blacks and Whites living together, in fact the President’s mother is English. People are very friendly and the roads are excellent. There is amazing wildlife to see and places to stay. The Parks are not cheap but that keeps the numbers down. In Chobe we only saw maybe 5 vehicles and two of them were people we had met before in Africa.
Visit Botswana you will enjoy it. One of our favourite countries.