Packed once again and now off to Cape Town for 9 days. Popped into Franschhoek on the way to arrange shipping of pictures. Went for lunch at Dornier wine estate between Stellenbosch and C T. Waterford wine estate next door so went for a tasting before lunch. Wine & chocolate tasting of two reds and a desert wine with accompanying chocolate. Lovely place.
Arrived at the cottage in the Waterkant about 4pm. Great views of Table Mountain from the roof terrace. Gourmet scrambled egg for supper.
Very relaxing day. Did the shops of Franschhoek Main Street in the morning. L&M and us bought some art each and will finalise payment and shipping in the morning. Back to the cottage for lunch and sunning ourselves around the pool in the afternoon. Botswana seems a world away now. Shame in some respects but the beautiful Wine Lands are something special. Dinner in Franschhoek in the evening.
Out for lunch at Jordan’s Winery near Stellenbosch. Beautiful position with super views. Very popular place with well in advance booking essential, which we did. Chef George Jardine. Great 3 course lunch accompanied by Jordan’s wines. Great soufflé.
Back to the cottage for a few hours and then went to dinner with Paul & Cathy at their cottage . Stuffed!!
Woke up to a beautiful morning and could now see our breathtaking view from the cottage in the light. Went shopping for provisions and booze, found a good laundry and took all our clothes from the last three weeks for cleaning. Price by the kilo. Visited the stunning winery of La Motte for a tasting, 3 whites and 4 reds and came away with three reds. Back into town for a nice lunch. Rest of the afternoon spent around the pool not having to drive anywhere. Friends of L& M’s, Paul and Cathy also staying nearby and they came for a BBQ dinner. Very jolly.
Nice breakfast at Palala Lodge. Set off at nine for Jo’burg with only a quick stop for petrol and Magnums all round. Got to Bushlore depot just before 3pm. Quick inspection of the vehicles which were covered in dust and sand still. Arrived airport in good time for our 5.00 pm flight to Cape Town. CT at 7pm and then quite a long wait to get our hire car. Arrived at our cottage in Franschhoek at 9.30pm. Another long day but we can now relax a bit as we are here for a few days
Up before dawn for our long trek back to SA today. Left at six, three hours on sand and we reached the tarmac road at nine. Had a couple of short breaks one being for ice creams. Marianne was craving a Magnum. Reached Serowe at about 1.30 and had a beer at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. Border quite quick, about 30 mins. Found the turn off for Palala Lodge, our nights stop only to realise it was 20 K’s along a gravel road into the bush. Not happy bunnies. Worth it once we arrived at about 5.30. A sanctuary by the Limpopo. Real quality and design, just what was needed after a long day.
Big sort out needed of clothes and all our gear spread around the vehicles. Nice dinner in the restaurant overlooking a well lit lake. Pity it’s only one night.
Had the usual breakfast plus the luxury of toast and marmalade. The fire pit was still so hot that we could grill some toast. Set off for Deception Valley, our last night in the Kalahari. Another baking hot day. No more rain. Arrived at lunchtime. Not much game about on the drive. We did see about 10 giraffe all huddled together under a few trees. Very bizarre sight. Spur foul, hornbill and a lot of black headed waxbills around our camp, all very friendly. Went for an evening drive but no illusive leopards or cheetahs. Irene made hummus for our starter. All the red and white gone so G&T’s and beer. Stocks lasted well. Lod confronted by a jackal in the early hours outside when nature called.
Again no rush today so chilled around the camp. Set off about 10.00 for a drive to Passarge water hole about 30 k’s away. Springbok, kudu, gemsbok, jackal and ostrich around the water hole. No cats. Yet to see leopards or cheetahs. A very windy and dusty day so had to move the vehicles about a bit in camp to shelter from the wind and also the sun. Spent afternoon reading etc in camp enjoying the view, birds, ground squirrels and a very friendly mongoose. Water(grey) seems to be holding out at the moment so we do have the luxury of a very quick shower each day. Two mornings to go.
Slouched in Sunday Pan camp until about 10.00 taking in the view and reading etc. Fairly short drive to Passarge Pan camp, about 60 k’s. This camp is halfway along the Passarge Valley. Nearest other camp is 20 k’s away so total isolation. Didn’t see a soul all day which is how you want it. Just the birds singing and the jackals screaming. Hot, so very hot and a very warm breeze which cooled us a little. Clouds building and a few rumbles of thunder, then it rained. The first we have had. Cooled off by getting soaked. Spent the rest of the day reading and watching all the ground squirrels around the camp. They act very much like meerkats standing erect on their tails. Dinner around the camp fire.
Left at 7.30 for the Kalahari. Drove into Rakops and confirmed that there was no diesel. Drove on to Mopipi, 70 k’s further down the road for fuel and then back to Rakops to enter the park. Wind storms everywhere creating lots of dust in the air and whirlwinds. Arrived Sunday Pan camp about 5pm so a long day. Passed a water hole that is near the camp. Absolute carnage, dead, half eaten and rotting animals all around. Not a pretty site. Lions all around the waterhole that looked like their bellies were full and couldn’t move anywhere. Our camp reference was cksun04, the 4 being our spot. There are only 4 spots in Sunday Pan in an area of about a square kilometre. 3 vehicles and about 10 or 12 people were occupying our place. They thought they were in 3, ha ha, which they had booked. They were entrenched but we still asked them to move to their allotted spot. Also they were too many vehicles and people for one spot. We think they had probably booked two different spots but being a long way apart decided to occupy just the one. Not in the spirit of the Kalahari where we all want to feel the isolation of this lovely wilderness.
Our site was on a hillock overlooking the plains, a very beautiful location. Got out the beers to watch the sunset. An extremely windy night, had to move the camper as an overhanging tree branch was scraping the roof. Looking forward to the “long drops” in the morning ! Dinner of BBQ steaks, sauté pots and cauliflower. Bliss.
Up at six for an early morning drive along the river as per yesterday. Not as much game about as last night but suddenly as we left the river a large pride of lion right in front of us. Daddy, mummy and cubs of various ages. Brilliant. Such a lovely site, one everybody wants to see in the bush. Back to camp for breakfast and a serious discussion re petrol. We have just found out that an important place for filling up with petrol, Rakops, before we enter the Central Kalahari for five days, hasn’t had any for the last two months. Ugh! Have we got enough to get us in and out and to the next petrol station. After calculating our expected mileage we are sure we will have enough!!
Early evening drive after spending the day in camp. So hot. Made a decision not to chance the petrol situation and to drive out of our way to Motopi to fill up tank. This means we will only have used 70 k’s of diesel before entering the park and not 290 k’s. These four and a half litre engines use a lot of fuel but we do have two 90l tanks. The often very deep sand doesn’t help consumption.
Leisurely breakfast this morning at 7.30 in the restaurant. Butty’s up early these days, normally at 6.00 am !! Off to Kumaga this morning for two days.
Filled the tanks with petrol in Maun before our drive to Kumaga Camp on the Boteti river. A bit of fun at the ferry crossing over the Boteti river witch cost 180 rand for each car, a bit pricey but no other choice. Nice shady site under the trees but at 43 degrees no real comfort. Stayed in camp until 4.30 and then did an evening drive along the river. Lots of game around the river, elephant, jackal, giraffe, wildebeest, crocodile, vultures, buck of various types. Best game in one place to date. Great sunset over the river. Arrived back in camp just as it was getting dark for a welcome G&T. Chicken kebabs with homemade sauce and sweet corn for dinner. No hose for filling the water tanks so used 5 litre water containers to tip into the tanks. Worked OK. The containers also make good pee pots for the night, boys only of course.
No more wifi now until back in SA sometime on the 5/6th November. Should have mobile network for the next two days but after that all alone in the Central Kalahari. Bye for now.
Long drive back to Maun staying at Audi Camp in en suite tents by the river. Welcome swim after we stocked up with provisions for the next 6 nights in Kumaga and the Central Kalahari. Went to the camp restaurant. Better food than Rileys although very simple.
Set off for Moremi and the Okavango at 8.30 after refuelling. About 40 k’s of tar then sand. Deflated tyres once more. So much easier and a better ride. Arrived Xakanaxa camp about 12.30.seriuosly hot about 41 degrees. Couple of guys from Switzerland asked if we would like to share a boat for a water trip and set off at 4.30 for a 2 hour trip. Skies brewing up for rain. Lots of thunder and lightning and rain in some parts. We had a little on the water. Very atmospheric light. Lots of birds, hippo and elephant. Great sunset over the water. Good trip.
Animals all around the camp, elephant, birds, buck and buffalo. We had wild dogs chasing a buck right through the camp. This was a unique sighting apparently so we were very privileged. After dark I had my head torch on, went to the back of the vehicle and oh f*** two eyes looking at me, a bloody great hippo looking at me standing 3 metres away munching the grass. Fantastic.
We were all woken at one in the morning by an elephant ransacking our metal rubbish bin it’s bum a few metres away from L&M. It had a proper metal top but it turned the whole thing upside down. Took a while to get back to sleep. Lots of night noises. Fab.
27th
Drove to 3rd Bridge and back. The most exciting event was crossing the log bridge and into the deep water. Not much game about. Chilled for the afternoon in the shade under the trees but still very hot. Watched the elephants come and go. Steaks for dinner and the two Swiss lads came over for sundowners. Marianne has ALL their details!! Quiet night.
28th
Early drive to Paradise Pools. Very pretty place with lots of birds, various game but still have not seen any cats. Back to camp for breakfast and ablutions. Hung around the camp most of the day watching the elephants that seemed to descend upon us. Went for a late afternoon drive and saw lots of birds around various pools. Chicken tonight
Last day and night at Rileys. Sat around pool most of the day. Got a bit of a problem with the external shower on Lod’s vehicle, no big deal but contacted the rep in Maun and he collected it and hope to get it back soon. Stocked up again for the next three nights in the Moremi Park. The booze cost more than the food.
This will be the last post for a while, could be 4 days but is likely to be when we return to SA.
