Author: Butty

Highlight, Irene up at 5.30 only to find a Hippo right beside the camper munching the grass. Straight back inside. About as close as we have been to Hippo.

We have now travelled the furthest north that we intend. Now it’s South West to Etosha National Park. Left Hakusembe Lodge at 10.00 only to have to return to give the ablution key back. Went into Rundu to shop at Shoprite in the Mall. Got all we wanted.

11.30 before we were on the road to Etosha a 5 hour at least drive. Temperature topped 40 degrees today. Non eventful journey except for two things. We had to navigate a vet fence check. No meat aloud north to south. We hid some in the back so not in the fridge. All ok. Number two we were stopped by police at a speed trap, we were not speeding but he stopped us because we didn’t have our headlights on. Didn’t know we had to. Luckily he let us off a £25 fine and a long trip back of about 40 k’s to pay it. I said I was tired and he said we were old. Great. Arrived camp at 17.30 tired. Ate in the camp resto. Very good.

Hot today. Chilled around pool. Sandwich lunch and chips. Tinned chilli and rice, cheese and biscuits, red vino, for dins. Hippos in river but no sign of crocs. Irene more chilled.

Angola 100 metres across the river. River not that deep as no rains from Angola yet to top up the Delta. Saw two people crossing from Namibia to Angolan side, they come over to do shopping. Small village opposite where people come down to do there washing and ablutions. Nice Lodge ,pool and grounds. Long drive tomorrow to Etosha National Park.

Left Shametu Lodge at 9.30 and headed along the B8 towards Rundu our next stop , about 230 K’s. Decided to go off road along a really good sand road that tracks the Kavango River and the Angola border on the opposite bank.Lots of small villages and of course schools along the way. It’s so interesting how the Rural Namibians live. Cattle, goats and chickens but no sign of agriculture or independent cultivation. Mainly thatched rondavels and what look like stock pens and shelters.

Came off the sand roads and back onto the B8. Went into Rundu town to see where the shopping is. Found the “Mall”. Apparently Rundu is a fast developing town. Filled up with diesel, a mere £150.00. SA is the most expensive then Namibia and then Botswan a lot cheaper. Thanks Mr Trump. Checked into Hakusembe Lodge Campsite, another Gondwana Collection venue. Again nice Lodge and camp with “en suite”

Sat around pool rest of afternoon. Noodles and sauce, then cheese and bics in camp. Kavango river right in front of us. Irene a bit jittery, thinks a hippo or crocs might be about. No fence.

Went to see the Popa Falls just up the road. Not enough water to make it worthwhile.

From there went to the Mahango Core Area of the Bwabwata National Park. Gravel road that sort of runs along the Ockavango River. This is one of the smallest parks in Namibia and a bit bare of wildlife this time of year owing to lack of water. Saw Hippo, Impala, Lechwe, Bateleur, Zebra and various water foul.Back to camp about 2.30 and sat around the pool watching the many birds. Rumbles of thunder but we were dry. Camp dinner tonight. Very warm ,max 33 degrees which for us is cool. Getting hotter again I think later in week.

Left Livingstone Camp about 10.00 Some cloud cover again so a little cooler first thing. Hit the main road to Divundu after about 20 minutes the B8 through the Caprivi Strip. This is an east/west corridor of land for 200 Km’s between Angola and Botswana. It is a designated conservation and wildlife corridor so all animal’s can migrate freely. It is actually now called the Bwabwata National Park and is split into three core areas. Although wildlife can roam freely we didn’t see anything on our trip through. Our stop for the next two nights is Shametu Lodge Campsite. Lovely camping spot with private facilities and a super lodge looking over the Okavango River which flows into the Delta. Lodge for a beer and then the heaven’s opened for an hour with T & L. First major rain we have ever had on any of our previous trips. Should be expected though as it is the start of the rainy season. Temperature dropped dramatically and now feels really cool. Ate in the Lodge tonight, set menu. Main course was Hake and was ok. Still cool.

Some cloud cover today and a little cooler after the rain about 34 degrees max down from the average 39 degrees. Went to the Mdumu National Park about 30 k’s north of Livingston Camp. Great trip along the Kwando River. Lots of hippos, crocs , birds and Cicadas.This is the least visited of all the National Parks apparently, maybe it’s location. Had to deflate tyres as deep sand a lot of the way. Saw three other self drivers all day and they were a group. Highlight was seeing Bee Eaters making nests in burrows on the sandy banks of the river. Came across a very large bull elephant on the road in front of us. I didn’t like the look of his movements so backed up a bit. Waited for him to move into the bush a bit and gingerly moved forward. Stopped for Irene to take a photo which was a rear end when suddenly he turned around , started flapping the ears, not a good sign and started a sort of charge. Foot hard on the accelerator and we were out of there and he backed off. Glad I kept the engine going which quite often we don’t when taking photos.

Back to camp about 16.30. BBQ again

Left Chobe Camp about 10ish and headed for Katimo Millilo where we did some shopping at Midel. Because of the Foot and Mouth problem the meat shelves including chicken were empty. Bought some borewors to make do for a couple of days. Looks like it’s pasta and tinned products from now onwards. Didn’t realise the F&M was such a problem but that is why all our meat and dairy products were confiscated at the border. This is going to be a continuing problem as we head south because as we understand it there will road blocks to check on out fridge and its contents. We have to keep all supermarket receipts as proof of purchase in Namibia. Good and very quiet road to Livingstone Camp. Checked in , camp number 3. Camp is about 10 k’s off the main road on sand. Very remote and unfenced. Private site with own ablutions again overlooking the savanna. Few animals wandering about. Mainly Impala and Waterbuck. Lots of birds.

After checking in and because we had time decided to spend rest of the day in the Rupara National Park about 20 k’s away. Saw very little until we eventually hit the river, about an hours drive. Elephants and Hippos only. This area is a wetland but the combination of lack of rain last year or so and the end of the dry season there is no water.

Back to camp. BBQ Wors and hot vegie rice. No light pollution, solar lighting only, no mobile network or WiFi. Off grid is brilliant. Sound of Hyenas in the night including thunder, lighting and rain, our first.

Lazy day at the camp around the pool once breakfast sorted and of course more handwashing. Now up to date again.

Very nice lodge and campsite which is part of the “Gondwana Collection “ who offer up market and less up market lodges, all of which are of quality including the camping option. Generally they offer only a few camping sites within the lodge, in our case four but we have full use of the lodge and its facilities. This is the best camping we have experienced, it’s a bit more expensive but well worth it. We are staying at a few more in their collection later. Identifying a few more birds on the site. At dawn the bird song was really noisy. We are overlooking the Chobe Flood Plain but not a lot of water this time of year until the rains come around Dec/ Jan so not a lot of animals to see from the pool or deck. Ate in , tomato and pomegranate seed salad and tuna and lots more goodies in wraps.

Frogs have just started their nightly croaking , I assume they are frogs but could be toads, must find out.

One of the very nice lady staff gave us a lunchtime snack of nuts, crisps, cheese biscuits and biltong “on the house”. Very welcome.

All our fellow campers and those staying at the Lodges are in the main German. Not surprising I suppose considering the history. I think the next few camps will be busier than we are used too but hey ho!!

Chobe National Park Waterfront today.

Arrived at the gate at 10.00 paid our Park fees of about £20.00 and off we set for the day. Fairly deep sandy roads so glad I deflated the tyres at Kubu Lodge. Chobe renowned for its huge numbers of elephants and we saw hundreds of them. We also saw a huge heard of buffalo,probably 500 or so all going in a line to somewhere. Astonishingly we came across a small group of lions and her cub shading under a tree,on our first day. Great.

Lots of birds to try and identify , giraffe, zebra, impala and baboons ticked off. Good day.

Left park about 15.00 having travelled one end to the other. A turn right at the Park exit and it is only a few k’s to the border of Namibia which we had to cross for our next 2 night stop at Chobe River Lodge. Took about an hour having to cope with the sour faced, grumpy and rude officials, also at the expense of about £85 each for our visa. It does last three months though !! Arrived at Chobe Camp which is only a few K’s from the border at 16 30. Lovely lodge, pool and campsites which there are only four. Private ablutions, the best we have ever had. All out meat and dairy products were confiscated at the border, stupidly we hadn’t checked on the latest regs. Eating at the Lodge tonight. Nice three course buffet @ 450 rand pp , approximately £20 pp excl wine. Tooth pics still required. Now have to stagger back to camp.

Stuffed after our three course buffet, not used to the amount of food.

I suppose we in Europe should be pleased at the outcome of the mid terms. That’s enough of politics, we are on holiday.

Left Nata Lodge at 10.00 for our 4 hour or so drive to the far north of Botswana. Lots of roadworks due to the reconstruction of the highway from Francistown to Kasanee. Not too bad , a lot better than Francistown to Nata.

Arrived Kasagne at about 14.30 filled up with diesel, it’s cheaper in Botswana. ,about £1.27 per litre. Went to Spa in Kasane to top up on some food, bottled water and vino.

Went to our camp venue for the night, Kubu Lodge Camp. Camp ok and for the first time ever WiFi at the camp. Unbelievably , the first. Normally have to go to the lodge reception. Parked up and it was so hot went for a beer at the Lodge which overlooks the Chobe River. Very pleasant. Warthogs roaming around the garden. Some form of marinated steak for dins and Irene’s cold salad from night before. All ok. Red.

It’s bloody hot now even at 20.30 having just eaten. Temperature topped 41 degrees today at about 15.30 when filling up with diesel. OK in the car with aircon but not so good otherwise. We are surviving!! Very pleasant now at 20.30 sitting out under the stars. It’s hotter in the camper when we retire until the early hours.We do have some road noise. Up early tomorrow as we have a long slow day (watching animals) in the Chobe Waterfront National Park and then crossing into Namibia for our next 2 night stay. There are a lot of small birds in the canopy but difficult to identify. “Merlin Birds App” not working too well.

Finished hand washing and now caught up on cleaning all our you know what’s. Makeshift washing line strung between trees. Very quick drying in this heat.

Another day relaxing around pool doing the same as yesterday. Ham sandwich and bottle of water for lunch. BBQ Borewors and Irene’s special rice , onion, courgettes and garlic hot side dish. Pinotage our favourite. Into big animal territory tomorrow. Chobe National Park

No driving today, total so far about 900 k’s. About 300 k’s to go to Chobe National Park in Northern Botswana.

A bit of cloud cover today so just a little cooler. Did some clothes washing before heading for the pool. Booked our guided trip at 16.30 to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans and the Nata Bird Sanctuary. Sat around the pool most of the day watching, listening and photographing all the birds around the gardens. Left the lodge at16.30 for our 3 hour trip to the pans. Good rains last year so lots of water , 3 years ago when we were here there was none that we could access. Guide took us to areas around the pan that we were not allowed to go to last time on our own. Lots of lesser and greater Flamingos, great white Pelicans (from afar), Korhaan, lbj’s, Ostrich, Blue Wildebeest and Black Back Jackel etc. Returned about 19.15 and went straight to restaurant for dins.Spicy chicken livers to share and Both had chicken schnitzel for mains. Customary Pinotage. Great no cooking for us, luxury!!

Left Khama Rhino Sanctuary at 10.00 am for our 3 night stay at Nata Lodge Camping. Road to Francistown good and made good progress.

From Francistown to our stay at Nata was 180 Km’s of road reconstruction, definitely needed but health and safety not in the dictionary, so dangerous, saw one overturned truck. Converting an old dilapidated single lane road to Kasane to dual carriageway. A huge project.Topped up with diesel, our only stop, not as if there was any other place to stop. Arrived at 15.30 in 39 degrees. Checked in and went for a beer in the lodge. Sat around the pool.Grilled steak and salad for dins.

Hot hot but cooling off a bit at 9pm when composing Blog.

Two days now with no driving. 😀🍺

Sunny and max today was 37 degrees

Left Big Fig at 9.30 ish for Botswana border crossing at Martins Drift.

As usual literally miles of trucks waiting to cross the border. Spoke to one guy and he had been a week in the queue. Bizarre.

Crossing took us an hour.

On our way by 10.30 to Palapye where we needed to stock up for the next 4/5 days. Went to “Shopright” , OK supermarket and got most of what we needed including a small mirror for Irene ( make up ) and some Botswana Pula from an ATM.

Then made our way to second night stop at Sergaigai farm Travelled 10 k’s on gravel and sand only to find the farm gate closed and to ring a number which only went to answer phone. UGH. ! So dilemma. One possibility to carry on north to a stop at a camp we have used before or stop at a much closer site that we have used before

Phoned both but no answer so opted for the closer one “Khama Rhino Sanctuary “ a larger and very nice “real bush” site. Lots of birds making a real racket. Not that busy so got a nice pitch easily. Not the best of starts but now listening to all the night sounds under the stars. Cold chicken and salad plus a glass of red of course.

Long day to Nata Bird Sanctuary camp tomorrow A three night stop to relax a bit around their pool.

Sunny and warm 26 degrees

J&C took us to pick up camper at 8am at Midrand.

Formalities etc done by 11.45 and on our way to first night stop near Botswana border.

Made a hash of Nat Nav so arrived at Big Fig Oasis Camp at 18.00 about an hour later than expected. BBQ chicken and salad with a bottle of Pinotage. Only people camping, nice grass site with electric. Long day 400 KM’s driving. 32 degrees on arrival but cooled a bit when sun went down. Very pleasant.