Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Day 27

Salama after the accident on Day 27 - 27th August 2017

Our last day and we are feeling excited although the urge to continue is still there, after all we have our friend Harry to look after the house re-build side we can give Liz, Harry’s better half, to see to the interior decorating and furnishing and we can come back in March 2018 when all is done.

We have a good breakfast and set off for Knysna, I decide that we will do two more gravel roads although there are tar road options, the first is to Willowmore via the R306 and the second is via Prince Alfred Pass via Uniondale and Avontuur, so I let Denise to the first leg, as the saying goes “ladies first”

The R306 is in good condition and has been recently graded, then we cross the border between the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape into the Cacadu region and that is when we found out what Cacadu really means, the time is 10h00.

The driver of the grader doing the Western Cape section is a bit like some neighbours I have had in the past, when they mow the lawn on the verge and they get to your section of the garden they will not go an inch further and inevitably leave a big mound of cut grass in your section. Well this is what the grader driver did on the R306, instead of dumping the excess gravel off the road he left it piled up across the road, sufficiently so that a vehicle hitting it will get a viscous pull on the steering wheel and that is exactly what happened to Denise, but she regained control only for the vehicle to swerve out of control to the right side of the road and roll across a farmers fence into his sheep farm. We think we only rolled once but it could have been twice.

This was the state of the road in the Cacadu

I was briefly knocked out by a flying Bols Brandy bottle that was securely closed inside a cooler box and when I came to we were on our wheels at 90 degrees to the road. We checked each other and then turned on the ignition to roll down the windows as both front doors were jammed. Most of our luggage was strewn across the road and whilst Denise was collecting that I was trying to get our insurers number. A vehicle stopped and Denise managed to get the telephone number for the nearest police station, which was in Rietbron 7kms away. They said they would be there in half an hour and they were there in 20 minutes.

Both our phones were low on battery power and we were afraid we would not be able to make the necessary calls, but somehow we managed. The first name that came into our heads was our site agent and friend Harry and he dropped everything and headed out foe Reitbron and we owe him big time for all his assistance.

The Police say they have had several accidents along this stretch of road and after loading all our cag into the police van he said they were going to leave a constable there to guard it as it could be pilfered if they did not do so. Now I am thinking maybe it was not the grader driver, but some locals who had piled the gravel up on the road to create an opportunity, conspiracy theory? Or maybe just the knock on the head or as the youngsters say today “whatever”

After the event and some zooming in on the photos I see a huge sidewall gash on the drivers front wheel so perhaps it was a combination of piled up gravel and sharp stones that caused a blow out, we will probably never know.

We are back in the police station waiting for Harry and Denise says a cup of tea would be nice and asks the police constable if there is a café or hotel in the town, the response is that there is none, but she will try a lady who runs a B&B and we are in luck. We walk around the corner and are well looked after by the B&B proprietor and we have her life story, but that can wait for another time, we are very grateful.

Around 15h00 Harry arrives in his BMW, but just as he was turning into the town he got a flat tyre warning and he has no spare, not supplied with run on flat tyres, we load his vehicle and we look like the Patel family going on holiday, but despite using his compressor the tyre does not retain pressure even though we have filled it up with some sort of sealant which was probably past its use by date by close on a decade, because it did not work. We were to find out later that the gash in his sidewall was so big no sealant was going to seal it.

The intrepid travellers decide to give it a go, but it was evident that after a couple of kilometres we could be victims for a second time in one day and Harry calls it a day. We get some assistance from two young men on their way to PE, but it was clear that there was little they could do, but they got the name of a breakdown company in Willowmore and the owners name and telephone number from their father. All this time Harry is having a torrid time on the phone to his insurers asking for roadside assistance, which they were happy to do from either Johannesburg or Cape Town and this after spending half an hour telling them where Beaufort West and Willowmore are he despairs and we do not have a lot of hope.

When we get hold of the breakdown company in Willowmore we find that he has already been contacted and he will be with us in an hour or so, by this time the farmer near to where we are sitting on the side of the road comes with his wife and insists that we go to the farmhouse and have some coffee or tea while we are waiting for the flatbed to arrive.

Now I ask you if you have heard anything as silly as when you have a puncture on a BMW just wait for a flatbed to arrive to take you into the nearest town to have the puncture repaired, just do not have a blow out in the middle of nowhere and two hours from the nearest town, unless it is Willowmore where Piet Viljoen has his breakdown and recovery service business. Piet also organised a fourth hand tyre of the right size to be ready for fitting at the service station. Only one word of warning do not accept a lift on the breakdown vehicle if you have a choice, because on that road with Harry’s car on the back, Harry curled up behind the front seats, Denise and I in the danger seats, take my word for it the next 70 kms were frightening with Piet chatting away about the politics, his late wife’s death and many other subjects all the time looking at Harry behind the seats or to Denise and I with many a waving hand.

 Denise and I are thinking we cannot end up this way as his truck bounces along the road and swerves in the loose gravel and the coup de grace comes when he is on the tar road and bearing down on a little sedan with Denise and I looking wide eyed at the top of the little car, bracing for the collision, when he swerves out and overtakes it, accompanied by some sharp comments about Cape drivers.

With not a little relief we get out of the breakdown truck and head for the toilets, cannot think why there was this dire need.

Harry decides this tyre deserves some respect and he sets his speed control to 80km/p/hr and off we go. A big decision is made outside George to stop at a service station and have something to eat which is the best thing we could have done as we do not realise how hungry we are and Denise chooses a Cornish pie and Harry and I a Steak and Onion pie, well it is arguably the best pies we have ever eaten.

We finally get home at 22h00 exhausted, but alive if a little grazed, battered and bruised.

We wanted to finish the trip with a bang, but not the one we experienced and we have to thank the police at Reitbron, the kind B&B owner in Reitbron, the farmer and his wife on the Willowmore side of Reitbron, the two young men who stopped for us and getting Piet’s telephone number, to Piet himself, may he get many more breakdowns in his area and a very special thanks to our close friend Harry Cronje who has been exactly what you would want from a friend, everything. We also thank our many other friends who have offered us solace and support through the fire disaster and now the road accident. We feel that we can tackle anything with friends like you and you know who you are.

Our wonderful car Salama who has taken us safely on many journeys all over Africa

I apologise for not getting more details on those good folk that assisted us, be assured we will not forget you.              

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Day 26

We decide on a couple of routes in the park to see what it has to offer, we are told they have lion so my top rank spotter is told to keep her eyes skinned.

We see a fair amount of game, compared with the Tankwa that is, but it seems the lion has gone on holiday or joined the circus. What was nice, is that there was always something to see and there was a very picturesque drive and pass into the hills surrounding the park, and who gets to drive it? You guessed it, Denise, she has all the fun.

In the afternoon we do a walk within the camps boundaries where they have labelled all the Karoo plants if you can ever remember their Latin names or are even interested in the botanical names. They also had a 300 metre circuit where they displayed fossils from millions of years ago that have been found in the dry river beds and mountains of the Karoo, some were quite impressive.

Klipspringer in the Karoo National Park

Mountain Zebra - No stripes under belly

We cannot decide whether to go home or just keep driving and Denise is on to me about not including Cape Town in this trip, I think she just needs to have some retail therapy.

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Day 24

My lovely lady on a cold morning in the Tankwa Karoo

'In the desert you have time to look everywhere, to theorise on the choreography of
all things around you.’

Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

The day starts with temperature around 6 degrees, which I am told is quite warm for this time of the year. We needed to get some more firewood as the stock was low and the stockpile that was there was cut so big it did not fit into the donkey and from our experience yesterday we needed to get the hot water fire on latest by 16h00 if we wanted a hot shower that evening, forget about a morning shower unless you get up at 04h00 and continually load wood into the donkey.

We explore most of the Tankwa and Denise drives the Gannaga Pass which is described on Safari Now as follows:-

 “The Gannaga Pass is one of those passes that you should simply do at least once in your life. This is a driving experience that you'll never forget.

At the summit (1600 m above sea level) you'll feel like you've arrived at a place of peace. The Gannaga Pass connects the Ceres Karoo farms and villages atop the Roggeveld Plato. Most of the pass resides within the Tankwa Karoo National Park, where you'll find a wealth of birds such as the black eagle.

Denise driving up the Gannaga Pass in the Tankwa Karoo

It is steep and very twisty gravel road where you hope and trust that you will not meet another vehicle coming in the other direction, we have coffee at the Gannaga Lodge and head back down. It is unfortunately a misty, rainy day so the views were not as spectacular as we are sure they are on a clear day.

Metal art at the Gannaga Lodge

The Tankwa Karoo has limited wildlife and that which is there is in small numbers and you have to have a keen spotter like Denise if you are to see anything and we saw:-

Cape mountain zebra, oryx, red hartebeest, springbok, eland, baboon scattered around the park there are no predators, if there were they would go hungry, but it is the scenery the quietness and remoteness that has appeal, we had two days of no phones, TV, radio and definitely no newspapers.

Eland on the Gannaga Pass

There is quite a bit of birdlife and these are some of the ones you could see, some endemic to the Karoo, if we saw them we did not identify them as such:

I am a sucker for Sunrises and Sunsets this is Sunset in the Tankwa

One of the many dry river beds in the Karoo maybe they do run sometime

Karoo Korhaan, Karoo Lark,
Southern Grey Tit, Tractrac Chat, Layard’s Titbabbler,
Karoo Eremomela,
Cinnamon-breasted Warbler,
Namaqua Warbler, Pririt Batis,
Fairy Flycatcher,
Black-headed and
Protea Canaries.

Our cottage, De Zyfer built in the early 1900's and still largely original

That evening we had another braai, hot water a roaring fire and an early night.

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Day 23

Magnificent landscape of the Cederberg Mountains

Sunrise on the Cederberg

We get away at 08h00 after a lovely breakfast at Saint du Barry’s, and I cannot agree with the Garmin on the best route, first mistake of the day. I decide we are going to go via the Biedouw Valley as it cuts off a big loop up to Calvinia before heading South East. Surprise, surprise we do see quite a lot of flowers in the valley along side the road and the river, but still not prolific, but pretty all the same.

Flowers yes we did see some

Looks like the Farmer is telling the sheep to close the gate

We are soon travelling through farms and as co-driver I have to open and close farm gates all of which have different means of securing the gate closed, then on one such gate there is a notice board that states “This road is closed at Uitspankraal between April and November due to the depth and flow of the Doring River in 33 kms” We agree that in view of the drought in the Western Cape and the Cedarberg in particular the river cannot be that high and we have noted the low water levels in the Biedouw River and we decide to press on.

The road on at least two occasions looked as though we were arriving at the farmer’s front door, well it does, one passes the front door and then continues on the road, there is no alternative.

We finally arrive at Uitspankraal and the Doring river crossing and we stop and stare at a 50 metre wide river that has a fair flow. We have no idea how deep it is, Denise throws a rock in and says “it is deep” Now despite all our 4x4 training neither of us wants to wade into the river to gauge the depth and flow. I am not keen on the alternative, which is return to Clanwilliam and head for Calvinia. I say let us give it a go, Denise is hesitant. I have in my mind that the wade depth for my car is 800mm, I have since learnt that it is 700mm.

The Doring River crossing at Uitspankraal see where Denise's rock hit the river

I engage diff lock and low range and enter the water with not a little trepidation, the river gets deeper and deeper and I feel the river bed is very rocky and we do a bit of bouncing, I keep the bow wave steady and we are urging Salama on with “come on girl you can do it” Denise is saying “go, go, go” and I am waiting for the engine to stall or the river to push us down stream, we are travelling at an agonisingly slow pace and we pass mid point and I am waiting for the river to get shallower, the water is lapping against the top of the bonnet, but if anything it is getting deeper. Only 5 metres from the road does the depth start to recede and we can begin to relax. I think to myself this could have been my second mistake of the day and truthfully it was a bit foolhardy and next time, because there will be a next time, I will insist that the co-driver wades the river first.

We have between us opened and closed some 20 farm gates, seen some flowers, changed our underwear and finally arrive at De Bos on the R355 and we head South to try and find the Tankwa Karoo National Park entrance. Well we finally go through a gate and my Garmin is saying no access road, but it is getting late and we bash on.

We suddenly come across a very weird site called Stonehenge it turns out to be a farm and has a tented camp and has some chalets situated on the Tankwa River and near to where they have an annual “Afrikaburn” described on Wikipedia as “

Africa Burns Creative Projects (AfrikaBurn) was created in 2007 as a not-for-profit company, with the intention that it would serve as a vehicle for the creation and co-ordination of an independent South African Burning Man regional event” Look at photos on the web site it looks like an off the wall event.

The Manager/Owner of Stonehenge confronts Denise, whilst I am walking through the bar and lounge where there is music playing and it looks very strange, I get back to Denise and she is being asked if she would like to have a beer by this not too small Afrikaner and what is going through her head is that movie about the people who get lost or breakdown and were murdered in the Australian Outback and their cars are stored in a big barn, because there are also a lot of old cars scattered around the site along with metal art creations that look very spooky.

Well we get the directions to the Reception Offices from our new Boet and he makes it sound like it is just around the corner, well after a couple of hours, during which we get to see three quarters of the Tankwa Karoo we almost find the reception by accident, it is well away from the three entrances and our no access entrance, but at least we find it and our cottage is just down the road. At reception we are told that the hot water is heated by a donkey, so called because you have to constantly prod, cajole and load wood into the fire that heats the boiler. Denise takes charge and I have to prepare and light three fires, the donkey, the braai and the open fire in the living area which is in a fireplace the size of a bathroom. We then both rush between the donkey and braai to make sure that they do not go out in temperatures that are well on the way to single digits. At the end of the day we have a warm shower, a nice braai and a warm cottage, there is no electricity so its paraffin lamps and torches and to cap it all the refrigerator is supposed to be solar powered, but is not working.

We make all the fires safe, we are very conscious of the consequences of fires and we climb into bed thanking the lord that we did not live in the early 1900’s when our cottage was built.  

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Day 22

The Beautiful Cedarberg

We must be the worlds greatest optimists; today we drive down to Lamberts Bay as we were told that flowers had been seen, but again it was a disappointment.

However we were able to do our good deal for the day when we came across a security company vehicle on the side of the road and they had run out of petrol some 10kms from Lamberts Bay so we gave one of their party a lift into town and told him if he is still on the road when we go back to Clanwilliam we will pick him up.

Lamberts Bay has a fish factory and a potato chip manufacturing plant that supplies a lot of the fast food outlets in the Western Cape with chips, I assume they par cook and pack, after all this is a potato growing area. The odour of fish is very evident in this town and although we did not see any fish we could certainly smell them.

In the afternoon we travelled up into the Cedarberg and saw how low the water in the dam was, but the scenery was great, but very little in the way of flowers.

Tomorrow we leave for the Tankwa Karoo National Park our second last stop on this our Sothern Africa Safari.

You can see where the dam supposed to be now it is beach

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Day 21

These flowers were seen at Concordia north of Springbok

 Our intention to travel home via the West Coast was to see the flowers, but alas, as with yesterday the flowers were few and far between. They say that for a good flower showing in the Western part of South Africa in August and September it needs to rain in March/April to germinate the seeds from the previous year and then get good winter rain and we all know that it has been a dismal year as far as rainfall in the Cape is concerned.

Quiver trees in South Africa as well as Namibia

Flowers what flowers

That is my favourite flower in the centre of some Namaqualand daisy's

Before we left the Springbok area we went to Concordia north of Springbok as our host said that there had been reports of some good sighting of flowers and there was a fair show. On our way to Clanwilliam we hunted flowers everywhere from Skilpad to the Namaqua National Park and the best we found was on the side of the road.

The photo does not do these flowers justice

Like the elephants of Madumu nature has dictated and dented our expectations and the Spring flowers of West South Africa this year were a damp squib. We took the whole day to get to Clanwilliam and our hosts at Saint du Barry, Wally and Joan had reserved a table for us at Reinhold's and we had a superb dinner.

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Days 17, 18, 19 & 20

Okavango River at Rundu

Hakusembe Lodge Grounds

Denise negotiating

Pretty bushveld

Kalahari Sands

Our room at Canyon Roadhouse

Bathroom at Canyon Roadhouse

Old vehicles 0n display at the Roadhouse

Station masters house

  

Day 17

After a very pleasant stay at Hakusembe and believe it or not in the same room as we occupied in 2015 we head for Fiume Lodge and Game Farm just outside Grootfontein.

We wondered what we were in for when we left the road and went through two sliding gates along a very rocky road to Fiume Lodge, which was like an oasis, in the midst of dry bushveld it had 8 rooms and they were well appointed. Outside the Lodge there was a water hole and a salt lick, which later that afternoon attracted Zebra, Oryx, Springbok, Wart Hog and there was a host of birdlife and a couple of resident bush babies. It was the ideal stop over for travellers to Etosha, Caprivi and North East Botswana and all the national parks in that area.

Day 18

We headed for Gobabis today getting away fairly early although they had a power outage that affected the whole North East Namibia so we are not the only ones that have power cuts and they had no idea when it would be back on and no one in Namib Power could tell them what the problem was, we were very empathetic!

We wanted to see the Central parts of Namibia and today we got our wish, but we could not rely on the Garmin to take us there through the C and D roads and I had to revert to the one map book I had, which does not have the road number changes in so half the time we relied on the cars compass.

Today it must have been Wart Hog open day, we saw literally hundreds, most managing to get through the fences along side the road, because we all know the grass is greener on the other side.

This part of Namibia consist of huge cattle farms alternatively game farms, when I say huge, I mean huge, we were told that they are up to 15,000 hectares in size. The vastness and open spaces in Namibia never fail to astound us.

We arrive in Gobabis in the late afternoon and we are staying at Gobabis Guest House, which is located just outside the town, but interestingly it is truly mixed housing with large houses mixed with township houses and everything in between with some roads tarred and some gravel, but you can see that trust has not been built between neighbours with the “haves” living behind high walls, all windows fitted with burglar bars. Walking down to town at night is not recommended.

However, the accommodation was good and the dinner was home cooked roast chicken, with some delightful pumpkin fritters, crispy roast potatoes. Prior to this we had chicken for two nights in a row and Denise was hoping it would not be chicken again, well I could have bet on chicken; luckily the home cooking saved the day.

Day 19

We had breakfast with three guys from South Africa who were on a hunting trip, but had another important duty to do, which was to scatter one of the party’s brother’s ashes in the game farm that they had been visiting and hunting on for 20 years some people have some peculiar places to pick for their final resting place. I am sure the relatives of the game they have shot over the years will be delighted; I leave the rest to your imagination!!!

We once again defy the Garmin and choose to visit Dordabis where I understood they had a weaving industry using Karakul wool, but alas, if it was there it was nowhere to be seen. We took a wrong turning and ended up far further East than we intended, but we did see a lot more of Central Namibia all on excellent gravel roads, some even better than their tar roads. We continued to make good use of the compass with very little help from the Garmin and Tracks for Africa, which seems to be the story of my life as we had the same problems when we travelled to East Africa in 2012.

The Garmin told us that we would arrive at Canyon Roadhouse near the Fish River Canyon at 21h00 at one stage, I told Denise that it was impossible and estimated our arrival time as 18h00 and we eventually arrived at 18h30 just as twilight time approached.

We have a lovely room and we enjoyed a non-chicken dinner and almost a bottle of wine to celebrate our last night in Namibia with a vow to return again. Canyon Roadhouse is quite quirky with an old cars theme and a popular destination with lots of overseas visitors to the Fish River Canyon itself.

Day 20

On the road to the RSA Border

Scenery that photo's do not do justice to

Our destination today is across the border and an overnight stay in Springbok at Annie’s Cottage a place we have stayed before. We had the most efficient border crossing ever and crossed over in no more than thirty minutes. The road to the border is another straight one, but the scenery alleviated the boredom.

We could well be disappointed with the flowers this year as although there were some flowers on the side of the road as we approached Springbok they were not the profusion that they are known for. The guest house Manager said they had 4mm of rain in both June and July and unless there is rain in the next week or two it would be deemed a failure in this area. We hope the situation improves as we travel south, but there is nothing we can do about it, it is nature’s way and the B----y weather and we can come again next year.

Our next stop is in Clanwilliam and this time next week we will be back in Knysna, if we do not decide to continue the journey.

Happy Birthday Mathew hope you had a very good day and all the best for the year ahead, we love you.

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Days 14, 15 &16

Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Days 14, 15 &16

Another African Sunrise over the Chobe River

Collect Moments, Not Things (Aarti Khurana)

Day 14

The above saying is pretty apt for us and others who lost their homes and all their things.

We managed to get away reasonably early from Caprivi River Lodge and following Keith Rooken-Smith’s advise we had a tar road all the way to Sangila .then we hit a very sandy rock and roll section all the way to the entrance gate to the Mamili National Par.

The variety of game in Chobe is amazing

 We were told at the gate that at this time of year as the water levels in the Okavango swamps drops through evaporation the wildlife and in particular the elephants migrate across onto the islands in the swamps where there is an abundance of their favourite food. I recall we went to one of these islands in a mokoro (canoe) in June 2015 and saw a lot of palms which our guide told us the fruit is really enjoyed by elephants. So it looks like one should go to the Okavango in the dry months August to October and to Mamili and Muhombo at the start of the rains in November/December, deep into the rainy season I understand the roads in these parks cannot be navigated and we saw signs of that in our travels where there are deep ruts in the black cotton soil (I think this is an East African name for sticky deep mud) I must research this phenomenon.

We did see wildlife, but not in any great numbers and we believe they should rename Mamili; Wart Hog park as we saw a lot of them. The real event of the day was when I got stuck in deep sand with a consistency of face powder. Now imagine this, we have not seen another vehicle in 3 hours and we are buried is sand up to the running boards, without a word passing between Denise and I, well not ones I can put into print, I get down Roger Hogarth’s shovel and Denise goes off to get dry wooden branches to put under the front of the wheels and she tells me later her fall back plan was I should go back 500metres and collect elephant bones lying by the side of the road and she would shovel.

We named this one Ilean she would not move away from the tree

Against this background we were told by Rangers, Lee and Norah at the gate that we could well see lions now I understand Denise’s logic of taking over the shovel duties. The temperature at this time is 30 degrees centigrade and I am sweating like a pig. It took two runs at getting out and when the wheels finally started to bite all I could hear was Denise yelling at the top of her voice go, go, go.

After that we decided to go onto our next destination; Namushasha River lodge, which is located on the banks of the Kwando River and a lovely lodge it is too. We have a very nice room right on the river and a short nap is necessary, but Denise decides it is pay back time and I should do the clothes wash and wash the shoes that were covered in and full of sand from Mamili.

We have a very nice dinner and crash early.

There were so many beautiful specimens of Kudu on this journey

Day 15

We awoke this morning to the grunts of hippo right outside our front door and saw that as a good omen.

In the light of the good omen, we decide to do a self drive - game drive into the Muhombo Game Park also bordered by the Kwando River and because the Swiss couple we met at Chobe said that they saw hundreds of elephant, just our luck they have all migrated to the Okavango Swamps in the last three days, because all we saw of elephants was very dried calling cards, we did see some wildlife, but not a great deal to write home about.

You could call us persistent, devils for punishment, or just plain optimists, as we had also signed up to go on a boat/game drive into the Bwabwata Game Park yesterday.

Well we can confidently say it was one of, if not the best game drive, we have been on, we had sightings of Red Lechwe, Reed Buck, Impala who, a bit like in the Kruger they are known as the Macdonalds, one on every corner, Sable antelope, giraffe, buffalo, big herds and very close, and then at the Horseshoe, so named because of the shape of the river at this point, we saw over 150 elephant and although we were some distance away when the first group arrived, we were even standing around drinking Windhoek lager and eating a “buffet” a bit more variety than our last buffet feast, then we ended up surrounded and we could smell them and they certainly could smell us and they were not comfortable with the smell and they approached us from up the river, behind us and the other side of us, our guide and driver had left it a little late and the elephants were getting very irritated, luckily not irritated enough to attack us as we were sitting ducks as they only had to charge 10 metres.

We get back to our boat and it is twilight time and as we are approaching the Lodge we see a hippo right in front of us, the boat pilot decides to put foot and this annoys the hippo and he dives under, right alongside the boat and catches something that sounds like the propeller, now he is very upset and he chases us well above water level with his huge mouth agape less than 2 metres behind the boat. We think the boat pilot also got a fright as he sped away, because he nearly smacks into the reeds. We also think that this hippo has a personal vendetta against this boat and waits for its arrival every evening and one day he will get his own back as he nearly did today.

Keith of Caprivi River Lodge told me he and two elderly clients had a lucky escape from upset elephants when a baby got left behind and was squealing and although Keith was acting responsibly parked some 15 metres away, the elephants did not see it that way and almost destroyed the vehicle, they were lucky to escape with minor injuries. Keith put the incident in perspective and it was much the same with us today he said “it all happened so fast you did not have a chance to s- - t yourself” 

Day 16

This must have been all of 5 metres in the Kwando river

 We have now reached Rundu and we are staying at the Hakusembe Lodge (part of the Gondwana Group) we have stayed here before in 2015; it is located on the banks of the Okavango River and across the river is Angola. It is, I am told, the place to come fishing but there is also a good deal of bird life and it is a convenient stop over between Windhoek and the North Eastern game parks of Namibia and Botswana if one comes via the West coast of South Africa.

We had to go back into the Bwabwata Game Park, well when one thinks that we saw 150 elephant at Horseshoe yesterday, today you would have thought there are no elephant in this park as Horseshoe was deserted bar a few Reedbuck and Impala and we also covered a good deal of the park in our 4 hours there, however what we did have was some very good practise driving in thick sand which was again like face powder.

The B8 road to Rundu must be one of the most boring it is dead straight and with very few bends, there are warnings of elephant, wild dog and kudu and we did not see one, must be the wrong time of year!

I am going to try and download this onto the blog today and hope I have better luck than at Namushasha.