Southern African Safari 2017 Days 8, 9, & 10

Mum and Baby, they are not all this cute

Day 8

After 3 days in Johannesburg staying with Michael, Elisma, Claudia and the girls Sinead, Amber lee and Naomi we set off for Martins Drift in Botswana, we thank Michael and Elisma for their hospitality.

We got away by 08h00 going via Bela Bela (Warmbaths), Molimole (Nylstroom), Vaalwater, Lephalale (Ellis Ras), Monte Christo Tom Burke and Groblers Bridge where we crossed the Limpopo River and the border into Botswana with no problems getting to our destination Kwa Nogeng Lodge.

Our room was the very same one that we stayed in on our epic East African trip right on the slow moving greasy, green Limpopo River. The road can be long and boring, but there are a lot of game farms bordering the road and we saw giraffe, zebra, hartebeest, duiker, kudu, and wildebeest amongst others.

We stopped at Vaalwater en route and Denise had to get some biltong and dry wors, the display was amazing you could choose from Giraffe, Eland, Kudu, Zebra, Wildebeest and Beef amongst others. The shop attendant said the giraffe had a distinct taste and some of her customers preferred it and she insisted they all tasted different.

Mopani Trees all colours and hues

Game farming seems to be the dominant activity although there are some big fruit and vegetable farms, maize and ranching. Like most of South Africa we have passed through it is very dry, but it is still officially winter.

We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and no, we do not cross the Equator on this trip.

We had an enjoyable dinner and then it was lights out.

Day 9

We departed Kwa Nogeng at 08h00 after a nice breakfast where two eggs are compulsory. The last time we were on this section of road in 2013 Claudia drove and it was 120kms of hell, not because Claudia was driving, but because the road was so pot holed, if you drove in a straight line you would or could have been pulled over for drunken driving, but we were pleasantly surprised and the road to Francistown via Selibwe Pikwie was very good.

The Mopani shrubs/trees alongside the road were full of colour from green to brown and all shades in between.

Road works are, like in so many countries in Africa we have had the pleasure of travelling through, being maintained or built by the Chinese, there is even a Chinese oriental bazaar in Francistown. We spoke too soon as unfortunately the road for 70kms south of Francistown was very badly potholed and there is nothing worse than a pot holed tar road, but with the amount of very large vehicles travelling mainly from Zambia, many  loaded with copper billets it is not surprising.

I wanted to get off the beaten track and saw from my Africa map book there was a road that passed through Sowa Pan up to our intended destination of Nata, but alas my Tracks for Africa on my Garmin did not recognise such a road, so we turned around and luck was on our side. A vehicle was parked on the side of the road so we pulled along side and enquired of the two Tswana gentlemen if they knew of the road we were looking for and they said no not that one, but they knew of another one some 30kms back the way we had come and they would show us when we would turn off if we wanted to follow them, as long as we did not mind travelling at 120kph, which we agreed to do, after all that was the speed limit and we had been very diligent in sticking to all the speed limits and had escaped at least two speed fines.

At the turn off we got explicit instructions on where to go, that turned out to be better than any map or Garmin. It was a well maintained wide gravel road that appeared to service a diamond mine in the area and we arrived at Nata at 16h30 dying for a cold beer to wash the dust out of our throats.

The Northgate Lodge, they use the term Lodge very loosely in Botswana, it was more of a motel and if there had been any other choice I would have taken it. The room was clean, the shower worked fairly well and the bed was comfortable, three of Denise’s measures of a good establishment. However, the paint on the ceiling of the bathroom was flaking and was all over the floor, the TV had only 3 channels two in a language we cannot understand the third was a Supersport channel so we could watch some of the World Athletic Games in London.

We decided to try their restaurant, which was a big mistake, Denise only wanted a salad and asked for a Greek Salad, but alas there was no Greek Salad, but a green salad was available, which turned out to be also unavailable. I had a rump steak, chips and vegetables, which arrived after an hour. The beef was from a cow that had run all the way from Gabarone, the chips were cold, but the veg was hot and it cost R180. Oh well it is just another lesson on travel in Africa. By the way I had researched the hotels in Nata, the two I chose were fully booked 12 months ago and this one did not have rave reviews, now I know why. An observation is that a good staff training course would not go amiss not to mention cooking lessons.

This is what greets you at the picnic spots

Day 10   

We called him Ilean

We got away early having decided the night before that we would have breakfast or brunch en route to our next stop and the Wimpy in Nata has closed down.

We had not gone far on the road North to Kasane when, as Denise wanted to pass 3 trucks, an elephant decided to cross the road between the first and second truck as Denise was passing the third vehicle it was a close call for the second vehicle and the elephant, no guesses as to who would have won.

The route up to this point had fences now there are no fences giving game the option to move freely between Botswana and Namibia. We made good time to Kasane and pulled into Chobe Safari Lodge, where we have stayed before, at 11h00. We enjoyed an excellent brunch washed down with a beer shandy.

We decided to go through the Chobe Game Park to the Ngoma border post and saw considerable amount of game along side the Chobe river and as a word of advise this is where to see game either going to or coming from the river, because when we went away from the river we saw nothing, well almost nothing, we had just commented that we had not even seen an elephant when one strode out of the bush close to the road and blew into my ear, a second later and we may have known what it is like to hit an elephant, or not! We eventually find the A33 a bit like the last time in the Chobe when we exited observed a notice saying restricted access, military vehicles only permitted, but ignorance is bliss.

View from our room - Chobe River

Kudu

Game and more game in Chobe

Spoonbill with friend

Hippos cooling off

Play play between young bulls

 

Ngoma Bridge

We cross the border at 16h00 and other than all the paperwork it was uneventful. We are right on the river at Camp Chobe in a permanent tented camp. It is one of the Gondwana Group hotels and lodges and there is an abundance of birdlife and game in the area. Gondwana has recently acquired this property and are busy renovating and upgrading, but it is very nice and we have a very nice 4 course dinner with a bottle of wine.

Our lodging at Camp Chobe

It is a very moonlit night and the wildlife is very active and buffalo were munching grass right outside our tent.