Day 1 (Pretoria to Francistown)

Transcription

1 Technical / gear / money info: 2006 Prado 4l Petrol, B'Rakhah Ingonyama camper/caravan, OME suspension plus air springs at the back, winch, roof rack for tyre, 2 jerry cans and wood. One 40l Engel fridge in the car with a second battery, to be used as a fridge for drinks. One 40l Engel fridge in the caravan to be used as a freezer. One 120Watt solar panel and two 105 AMP Energizer deep cycle batteries in caravan. Final average fuel consumption about 22l/100km. We borrowed a friend s satellite phone which we never even took out of its bag. Cost of trip R32,987 (which includes two new tyres costing R3,300 in total) We spent 23 % (R5,587) more than budgeted (after taking tyres out), eina. Day 1 (Pretoria to Francistown) 1 My wife and I with our two daughters aged 6 and 10 leave Pretoria at around 08:00 on Sunday 23 Sept 2012 for a 2 week trip to Botswana all by our lonesome selves; the idea is to spend some quality family time with each other (our first trip to Botswana since 2009; and our 13th trip there overall). Just as I am about to get into the vehicle I see a screw in the front right tyre. I remove the screw with a hammer's head and the tyre starts to deflate. I quickly put in a plug and we set off, eager to just get away. 27km outside of Pretoria we stop at the Total and the petrol attendants are keen to help me put on the spare tyre (I don't trust plugs on a highway). As it turns out the spare tyre (still brand new) is unbalanced so the steering vibrates quite heavily at around 100km per hour. I do have a second spare on the roof but I am way to lazy to take it off the roof and put it on the vehicle as the previous change took an hour (it took 20

2 minutes to find and retrieve the jack). I decide to push on and keep a look out for a tyre shop. No such luck anywhere on a Sunday. The border formalities were easy and no long queue or heavy searches (all contraband is easily smuggled through <--apologies to all people who never do anything wrong ). The customs official caught me off guard with a question "do we have any vegetables" (I knew fruit was forbidden); I just stuttered and said we have salad ingredients; he then let us go through. We reach Francistown at around 19:00 and we stay over at old friends of ours. I did my friend a favour and transported (smuggled ja) a case of Port for him to FTown. We finish one of the bottles (much to our disgust the next morning). He is a doctor in FTown and I ask him the next morning about the substances that can cause such bad headaches; we have a great laugh and we set off for a short drive of 250km Elephant Sands (after I have the tyre fixed at another old "kennis" at Hi-Q FTown). 2 Day 2 (Francistown to Elephants Sands) We have a custom to always stop Nata Lodge for a swim and lunch. At this stage the weather was ever so slightly on the cold side; so the swim was a little bit cold but the lunch was excellent. We reach Elephant Sands at around 15:00 and set up camp in about 10 minutes and then set off to the bar area for some "Olifant Poot" (Amarula on ice) at the bar area. We sit there for the whole afternoon. At dusk we go and make a quick supper before going back to the bar area for some elephant watching. This turns out to be the highlight of our whole 2 week trip. We sit about 3 meters away from the elephants on the platform away from harms way. The elephants are very relaxed about the people. While sitting there on the platform in the dark I see a pretty girl and funny looking guy with a hat coming to sit next to me. I stare at the girl a bit because she has something about her; later I see her funny companion to be none other than Jonty Rhodes! We were surprised at the affordable rates (P180 for our family) at Elephant Sands. We learn that Elephant Sands actually truck in the water for the animals because the borehole water is too salty (apparently a few molecules short of sea water). Wow! Photos: Elephants at Elephants Sands

3 3 Day 3 (Elephants Sands to Kasane) We drive onto Kasane where we book into a family room Chobe Safari Lodge (CSL). Our booking is for two nights (cost is P1230 per night for all four people). The room smells of rat or bat sheit but we persevere, as we are not the complaining type. We spend the afternoon at the pool area and enjoy an early lunch from a fairly priced and tasty menu. It turns out that in the evening there is only a buffet (available) at P190 per person, which we find exuberant. We order "room service" from the pool area (after quite a bit of haggling I must add). The room service is hugely expensive with a sandwich costing P85 (nearly R100). Lesson learned. We nevertheless enjoy the air-conditioned room while the kids sleep in they own minute little room with bunk beds. Nuff said. Day 4 (Kasane) I leave at 05:50 to go fishing with a local on his boat at a cost of P800 for three hours (Walter, cell ). We catch no big fish but I enjoy the time on the river. Walter has paid off 3 months' installments this boat but he feels nothing for the boat. The boat is a bit dirty and he parks it in between (or actually ON) the rocks at the rapids. The afternoon is again spent at the pool but we decide to book OUT of our room and into the CSL campsite (after all, we pulled a whole friggin caravan halfway across the earth). We get a lovely campsite (number 3). We have a late lunch at the pool at 16h30 (just before the pool menu closes out). We spend the rest of the afternoon watching Miss World who is camping next to us (well, at least that is what I am doing). I also fiddle with charging the deep cycle batteries whilst we are having the luxury of electricity in the campsite. and eventually find out that the campsite s power points output to be very weak (too weak to charge the batteries properly via the battery charges!). Not all power seems equal. Day 5 (Kasane) We do some shopping in Kasane as well as buy a ton of wood from a local we tracked down in the township. We then head out to Ihaha along the riverfront. The wood purchase was a very good plan indeed because we saw no-one selling wood anywhere on our way to Savuti. On the way to Ihaha we get stuck in the sand because I was too lazy to reduce tyre pressure. As Murphy's law goes, we get stuck right in the middle of a massive herd of buffalo. I get out very cautiously to deflate the tyres and then one of the old bulls actually does a short (mock) charge at me! Fortunately a vehicle with three staff members of Thebe River Safaris came past, got out of their vehicle nonchalantly and started helping me. They reckon that the buffalo knows that we are just tourist and we mean no harm. Throughout the whole deflation process and digging the buffalo stayed very calm! Three kilometers from Ihaha the one tyre on the Ingonyama (an old BFG A/T) burst when we went over a rocky area. About 2 minutes later a truck from Beyond Safaris came past and they staff member was very keen to assist. At this stage I was overwhelmed at the friendliness and helpfulness of these people; just amazing.

4 4 Photo: buying wood Day 6 and 7 (Ihaha) We enjoy Ihaha thoroughly. The monkeys (and baboons to a lesser extent) are a constant irritation, not even a few potshots with a ketty (slingshot) keep them away. I am also scared of the Namibians who came over a few days ago and relieved some tourists of their worldly possessions during the night. I lock my solar panel with three chains and put up a portable alarm (motion sensor). The portable alarms keeps on going off due to the police vehicle that is patrolling the area as well as other unknown "things". The portable alarm is only used the first night and then packed away. The game viewing in Ihaha is spectacular. The first night the campsite was 80% full and second night only 30%. The foreigners walk to the ablutions, even at night. The one night our neighbors walked back from the ablutions to their campsite and then a lioness walked past them about 30meters away! The lioness was not interested in them at all (nor interested in me who standing next to the fire 20m away); she was walking to another three lions which were 100m away on the other side (we are not sure how they just appeared from nowhere but it is possible that they too walked past our campsite while I was braaing.). Our foreign neighbors are having problems with their fridge due to a seal that was leaking; the seal was bent and that caused all the cold air to leak.

5 5 Photos: Ihaha campsite Day 8 (Ihaha) Our third and last day at Ihaha means going back into Kasane to pick up our pre-ordered meat from Ron's Fresh Produce (excellent quality at a good price), as well as getting two new tyres for the caravan (the BFG's were on their last legs after 10 years). We also stock up with two bags of ice, which is promptly put into the 40l Engel freezer and treated as if it is royalty. Only yours truly may open the freezer. I take out a batch of ice each evening and keep it in a small cooler box so that I don't need to open the freezer every now and then; it works well. Day 9 (Ihaha to Savuti) We drive from Ihaha to Savuti via the cutline route (22km from Kachikau take the road right to Linyanti); the drive is an absolute pleasure and a breeze. The road is in fantastic condition. We speak to some foreigners at Ghoca gate and they took the other (traditional / straight) road, which they said was extremely sandy. Approximately 20km from Savuti there is a fork in the road to the Savuti airstrip; I take the road via the airstrip, which was a very easy road. We never got stuck since we deflated the tyres to 1,5 bar. Day 10,11 and 12 (Savuti) We are allocated a reserve campsite which is fine because it is walking distance (50m) to the ablutions. We nearly die of the heat (and flies and mosquitos). Actually the mosquitoes was only an irritation on night 2, the flies were very bad, mostly only at sunrise. There is a generator (in the ablution area) that is running the whole day but it is actually quite quiet, so it did not bother us even though we were on a camp site very close to the ablution block. There is a tap in our campsite and our kids just love this oversupply of water! We even put up a small inflatable pool (note to greenies: it only takes about 50 liters and there is a river 60m away). The game viewing in Savuti is a little on the quite/disappointing side (the last time I was there 3

6 years ago there was plentiful action at Pump Pan, which is now totally deserted) but we do eventually find an amazing sight of all kinds of waterbirds on the east side of the marsh. In any case, it is amazing to see a river flowing through the Savuti area and there is always a mystical atmosphere there. I start to make plans to replenish my ice supply by filling a few of those ice bags and putting them in the freezer of the SKL lodge which is now in the campsite (near the gate). After a day and a half these ice bags are still not frozen, such is the heat in Savuti (and the generator is switched off at night). Another day or two later the Engel freezes it eventually. I help a Dutch couple whose split charging system stopped working due to a faulty solenoid switch; I bypass the solenoid switch and leave them with clear instructions (and a spanner) to undo the bypass when they are not driving. Photos: kids plying with water in Savuti and old waterhole at Pump Pan 6 Photos: waterbirds on Savuti marsh Photos: Savuti campsite and Savuti channel

7 7 Day 12 (Savuti to Khwai) This road is terrible to say the least with a million holes which makes it difficult when pulling a caravan. The 70km from Savuti to the Mababe gates takes us approximately 3 hours. From Mababe gate to Khwai is an easy drive. It was fantastic to see the Khwai river after a few hours driving though very barren land. I was surprised to see that the main road from Savuti to Khwai does not go via the river anymore so I guess Magothlo campsite can't be too busy; it seems to be a bit of a detour to Magotho. There is one compulsory water crossing which isn't too deep (just above tyre height). This crossing is a kilometer North of Khwai village. We heard that there was a local kid that was selling advice at P5 to tell you where to cross (but we did not see the kid); I would have paid him with a smile if I found him there. Such ingenuity and I don't like crocs! Photo: walking the water with stick and Leatherman Photos: Bridge over the river Khwai View from vehicle before river crossing, daunting!

8 8 Day 13 and 14 (Khwai) We settle on campsite MK7 whilst being very worried about the recent attack by a hyaena (or leopard) on a young tourist in Khwai, so we are extra careful. Our daughters are very small (6 &10) so they have to be inside the caravan from sunset onwards. It is hellishly hot inside the caravan (and outside) as this is now October! We only see hyena (in camp) very late at night after everyone is asleep. A Leopard also walks through camp during the small hours of the night. The monkeys are a little irritating but not too much. We see a very tame leopard right next to the road and we sit and watch it for 20 minutes before is scurries off when another vehicle comes charging down the track. We meet a SAcan at Khwai whose Ford F250 broke down near Xakanaxa due to deep water; he then rented a Hilux in Maun but this Hilux's tow hook broke off near Khwai; he then got a game viewer vehicle from the rental company. Wow, two vehicle breakdowns in one trip! Photo: Leopard right next to the road

9 9 Photo: Khwai Campsite and inside caravan Day 15 (Khwai to Francistown)

10 The drive from Khwai to Maun takes nearly three hours; there is a detour road between Khwai and South Gate where the going is a bit slow due to twists, turns and bumps. At the vet fence we are again accosted with the question "do we have any fruit or vegetables?"; nothing is asked about meat! We see a funky new mini shopping centre on the outskirts of Maun; it is called Motsana. The first 100km tar road out of Maun (towards Nata) is very bumpy and one can see that the lifetime of this road is near it's end. At the vet fences they are very relaxed and just ask "what do you have in your fridge" and after saying "cold drinks", they let you go. We obviously stop for our customary swim and lunch at Nata Lodge, just lovely. We are tempted to stay over (in a family room for P860) but we press on to Woodlands Stopover where we got a booking of the last available campsite (on a reserve campsite the size of half a caravan). The campsite is terribly noisy (bikers and their kids) and hugely expensive (P393 for our family). We decide to rather treat ourselves to a room, away from the campsite (at P840). Photo: Motsana centre, Maun and tent side of the caravan 10 Day 16 (Francistown to Pretoria) We have breakfast at the Wimpy in Francistown but they dont seem to follow the Wimpy recipes, hygiene rules or supplier protocols. We can hardly finish our food. We take a drive via Selebi-Phikwe to see what the town looks like these days (we lived there from 1999 to 2003). Not much has changed in 10 years. The border crossing takes 15 minutes (it is Saturday noon) and no official says anything about my stash of nice Mopani wood on the back of the caravan. We decide to drive via Ellisras (when we went up we went past Mokopane, which is a very good road) which was a mistake as there is massive road works between Vaalwater and Modimolle (Nylstroom). We arrive safely home being very thankful that nothing serious went wrong.

11 11 Top 11 things learned: 1. Don't go in Sept / Oct as it is just too damn hot. 2. Second spare tyre comes in very handy (we had three tyre problems) 3. The standard Coleman coolboxes don't work very well in 40 degrees, one needs something stronger / more tight sealing. I am going to invest in a more professional coolbox (I use a coolbox to keep salads cold; I feed it with an ice brick once a day) 4. Engel fridges are still very very reliable and work very well at extreme temperatures. One just needs to be clever with the power usage. My freezer was never set colder than "setting 2" (coldest setting is 5); I kept the temperature between 0 and -3 which is cold enough to keep meat and ice frozen. Anything more than that is wasting power. 5. Be Mobile (cellular network) has the widest coverage. Vodacom only has roaming agreements with Mascom and Orange but their coverage is poor. Forget about roaming, just get a Be Mobile simcard at the first possible shop. E.g. at Elephant Sands and Khwai it is only Be Mobile that has signal. 6. Monkeys (and to a lessor extent baboons) were a problem in Ihaha but not a problem in Savuti like the old days (In Khwai the monkeys were present but fortunately not so mischievous). 7. Savuti had the most mosquitoes. A friend recently explained to me (after I said I have hardly seen any mosquitoes in Chobe and Moremi during all my visits there): "that it is exactly this mosquitoes that you don't see (the Anopheles ones) that you should be worried about". So, I paid more attention this time and I did see many of those small dangerous mosquitoes! 8. The sky in northern Botswana during this time of the year is a bit hazy and a solar panel does not work at 100% (further South the meter indicated a higher charge) 9. I rationed the family with light usage in order to preserve power for the freezer. When we got back I did a test to see how much power a large LED strip uses (I left the strip on for 8 hours and then looked at the meter to see how much power it lost; it lost NOTHING in 8 hours!) 10. You can pay everywhere with your Visa card, even in Savuti (they your card details to head office via a sat phone!). ATM's are also plentiful. You can also buy fuel with your Visa card (and they don't add a surcharge like some SA fuel stations do) 11. Kasane's water is drinkable but taste ever so slightly like chemicals. Savuti has the most delicious water. Khwai's water has a brown tint to it.