Thanks for joining Marie and me! Francois Baard and Anne-Marie Baard will join us most of the way.

Let the sand be deep, and your tires soft, and your gear ratio low…and even if you are willing to give an arm and a leg, don’t feed the lions. — Lemmy of Motorhead

20190428 – Tomorrow we get our Pula…6 more days before we start traveling…

20190429 – Today is what was tomorrow, yesterday. I got my Pula from Standard Bank today. Really an easy process, although you need to wait a few days for your money. (no, you don’t have to sleep in a queue in the bank!) All you need is your passport and original registration of your vehicle. Time-wise: 2 x 10 minutes, if that long!’

On Wednesday we’ll start packing. The bakkie and 2 x 25 litre jerry cans are full. Paid R15.39 per litre, for 500 ppm. Let’s see what diesel costs in Botswana and Namibia. If less than P 10.57 it’s cheaper there.

Travelled 769 km from Knysna to Mokala (50 km south of Kimberley) today. We left at 6 am and arrived at 15.15.  All went well with average traffic. Many speed traps in SA, each town had its own camera. Many stop ’n’ go’s before and after Oudtshoorn. Diesel in Strydenburg was R16.75 per liter, ouch.

All the towns villages had a run-down look, but not too bad! Except for the roadwork areas all roads were very good

We went for a drive through Mokala, about 25 kms, saw some gemsbok, zebra, tsesebe, beautiful giraffe and excellent scenery.

PS, there was evidence of ‘good rain’ in the Karoo, with dams standing along the road. Less, but some rain in Mokala as well.

Going on a drive through Mokala now, sleeping here tonight again.

190506 Monday – We travelled only 86 km today. Good roads, even those mark for 4×4 only. The road to Die  Krans is however very stony and only for a higher vehicle. In one or two occasions a 2×4 may have had a bit of slip.

The drives are scenic. The northern part  is quite bland however; flattish, grassy with few trees and few animals. The more rocky areas in the lower 2/3 of the park is beautiful, also with more animals.

The internet is so poor it takes too long to upload one pic, so i’ll try tomorrow, again.

PS: i uploaded the above pics when we reach wifi….later….

20190507 Tuesday – 16.40 – Just arrived at Cornwall (Guest Farm?). At least we have wifi that works. This is only an overnight stop. Place is ok, but not like you can do anything here. It is basically a working farm.

Going through the border post at Bray was possibly the easiest border crossing anyone can ever make. The only question was “what is the vehicle’s registration number”. The cost was P217 (217 x 1.44 to get Rand).

190508 – Wednesday – Woke up during the night and heard it is raining…raining in the Kalahari! Special occasion.

We travelled from Southern Botswana to Ghanzi today; 594 km. Diesel, worked out to be R13.88 (R16.75 in Vryburg, RSA).

Tomorrow we travel to Maun. Only 300 km. There we need to pay for entry into the Botswana parks.

PS: I voted at LiquorStore in Ghanzi, made my X in the wine lane. Got ripped off, of course. Wine cost ‘similar’ to in SA, except that it is in Pula, and thus cost us 44% extra due to exchange rate. So our poor economic policies and corruption (resulting in the Rand being valued 66% of the Pula) make Botswana inherently more expensive than SA.

On our way to Maun soon. Have to get permits for Botswana Parks, shop, then into some real wilderness. PS: saw first old elephant dung on the road yesterday.

190509 – Thursday

We travelled well. Passed two ‘veterinary points’. As we are moving north we were just waved through. This part of Botswana is particularly dry. Angola had little rain as well and we’ll have to wait and see how much water the delta has. The river at Maun does not run, but has pools of water. We saw a turn-off to Ngami Lake that we took on our way to Maun. The lake is dry, as in the pics below show; beautiful cattle, however graze in it.

We arrived in Maun at about 1.30pm. A somewhat ‘industrial town’ with all the shops you need. Done shopping, bought blocks of ice for our cooler box, beer, etc. Bottle stores are not that common here.

We picked up a Botswanian that needed fuel and gave him a lift into Maun. A farmer, no, he did not run out of fuel, he catch a lift in for the last 30 kms, either to save money, or his vehicle may not be licensed…good idea! And ‘green’. Was nice to have had this one-on-one chats.

Tomorrow we travel to Kaziikane. From there into Moremi. Got all the ‘permits’ today. P120 per person and P50 per vehicle (R1 = P0.68).

I am sure internet will be non-existent for the next few days…Let’s see. I bought a sim card and data but ‘signal’ is ‘far and few between’.

190512 – Sunday

Just arrived back in Maun after two nights in Moremi, no internet, no blogging! Saw many animals, little water but still very scenic and worth it.

We arrived at Maun on Saturday 9th, i think. The accommodation was fine but on the edge of town, with all the dog and donkey noise one can expect, 10th and 11th we stayed at Kaziikane in two permanent tents, there is also camp space. It is community run, basic and most things just working, but it was set in a scenic area, and quiet. It has the further advantage to lie on the edge of Moremi (there is elephant dung inside the camp, e.g.) Maun stretches over a few kilometres and have all all our shops, although smaller. Maun is busy, lots of cats and taxis (Honda Jazz (types)). Most things cost probably 1.6 times its equivalent in SA.

Lots of deep sand but the Ford Ranger done well. Will keep you updated when we have WiFi somewhere. Going to Nxai pan area for two days now.

I forgot to mention, before driving Moremi we flew over the park. This was quite an experience. It is very dry and we saw only very few of the lush green vegetation and large water bodies. It rained little in the last two years. Where the Okavango Delta’s water come from, the Angolan Highlands, it also rained little. Some runoff is still expected.

PS: every day is still 30 degrees Celsius plus.

Although an aerial view is something special, you lose perspective, e.g. in the pic above, the swamps would be metres high and impenetrable for humans. E.g., see the elephants in the pic below…and we only fly at 150m above ground level.

190513 – Monday

On Saturday we drove Moremi. As i am running out of time i am only going to add pics now, and fill in details later…the day must start this side! There are places to see.

The roads outside Maun becomes gravel to Moremi, are corrugated and some sand patches. But a City Golf can drive it, but will break down sometime. In Moremi it is very sandy. In many places one can see driver’s efforts after getting stuck. We were fortunate to not have troubles. This said, it is very dry and wet times will be very different.
We saw many animals. Elephant is so abundant that you see them very often. From South Gate side there are no fences.

I’ll continue later with more of Moremi, and Nxai pans with its famous Baobabs when i have time again. Short trip to Makgadikgadi pans today from Gweta where we stayed.

OK, internet is back. We have done a lot and seen a lot…and drove a lot. Yesterday, 20190512, we went to see the Baines Baobabs at Nxai pans. Baines painted these trees in 1862 and they look very much the same today.

The road between Maun and Gweta is fair, but a stretch of about ±15 kms, before and past the Francistown turnoff have HUGE potholes.

20190513 – Monday Today we went to Makgadikgadi pans.

We drove, mainly to Tree Hill campsite. The roads are all good two-track and not sandy. We saw little game, mostly gemsbok, also elephant dung, wildebeest. Not an exiting day but still worth seeing. We saw no water at all. All the pans are dry. Lots of dry grass. The signage are very poor and some people may get lost. For some reason none of three GPSes show park roads. Our maps are also not accurate (I could see from my recorded tracks there are major shortcomings in the paper maps (Botswana Safari Guide 4 (is best of the three), Tracks4Africa and the MapStudio map)). The personnel was helpful but no one was willing to take entrance fees.

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Above pics are a typical remote camp site.

Tomorrow we travel to Nata, only about 280 kms east. PS: In the end it was only about 150 kms.

190515 – Wednesday – Yesterday we travelled to Elephant Sands 50 km north of Nata. We wanted to see the ‘Nata Bird Sanctuary’. As it is very dry we did not know if there will be water, but was not disappointed. From Nata we proceeded to Elephant Sands Lodge.

Nata is a village, but you’ll get everything you need there.

Nata Bird Sanctuary cost P100 per person and P35 for a vehicle. All can be done with 2×4 at this stage. When wet it may be a different matter. We saw ‘millions’ of flamingos, some large juveniles as well. If P100 is acceptable, do it, i quite enjoyed it.

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It also has jackal, zebra wildebeest and wilde beeste ;-). We saw many species of water birds other than flamingo; pelican, different heron, what looked like terns and geese, etc.

Then we went on to Elephant Sands. I was surprised to see elephant! Many, and close by. The area is extremely dry and the the elephants use the water hole in the middle of the camp. One get the idea that it is artificial, the way the elephants accept the humans, and they are probably habituated, but this is by no way a zoo.

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We had to braai in the campsite, not at the tents.

Today we drove to Kazungula which runs into Kasane. We are at Nxabii Cottages. Tomorrow we are shuttled to Vic falls. This cost P450 pp, and then ‘park fees’, $20, we believe. I need to stop now as drinks awaits us at Chobe Safaris Lodge.

20190516 – Thursday – Drove to Kasane yesterday afternoon to see the Chobe River from close-by – spectacular. We had a drink at Chobe Safari Lodge, on the river, and then went to see exactly where the gate is we will enter on Friday into Chobe NP. We also confirmed that we can pay at the gate. No problems there.

Kasane has all the shops you need and hundreds of stalls selling anything! and of course you can organise activities along the road or from more formal looking buildings. It seems trips to Vic Falls should be around P350; we paid P450 at our lodgings. It may be that the P350’s go in a bus or minibus and the four of us in something nicer…but we’ll see. We had problems so far with Standard Bank credit cards not connecting (is is activated to be used outside SA). It works maybe 33% of the time. We were warned to have exact cash for Zimbabwe as the change will be in their currency. They don’t except Kwacha and Namibian dollars, we hear.

The road is good tar, but the odd pot hole is appearing (one in 5 kms approximately) so you have to keep your eyes on the road. There are ‘many’ lorries on the road as well.

Yes, the DO walk on and along the tar road!

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Pics at Chobe Safari Lodge, below. The accommodation there is ± R3200 per night. Not the kind of money we want to pay. White wine per glass was P39.50, and P19 for a Coke. This is however allowing you to spend quality time overlooking the river.

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I hope all goes well through the border to Zimbabwe today; with hundreds of tourists doing it everyday it cannot be to cumbersome (I hope). We are picked up at 7 am.

190516 1604 – Thursday – There were no hassles at the border posts; you walk in, greet, get stamped in your passport, and out you go. This is from Botswana into Zimbabwe, and from Zimbabwe back into Botswana. And we paid nothing, not sure why, but thx!

It is exactly one hour from Nxabii Cottages in Kazungula where we stayed to Victoria Falls town, then a few more minutes to the falls. The road runs through a private owned reserve and the road is good. No people walking or cattle, but a few large trucks. And animals; we saw elephant, e.g. In the end we were in a mini-bus, with people from Gabarone, also on holiday. The driver / guide drove quite fast, but as i am reporting, i am alive and well! I think one could get the same service for P350 (we paid P450 each); the ‘cottages’ owner probably took a P100 cut. But the service was good, professional and on time; also picked up and dropped off at where we stay; also ‘walked through customs’ that made that experience less awkward. On the way back we dropped into Victoria Falls Hotel (see pics) that was also making me long back to 1940…

At R7000+ a night at VF Hotel it is surely a bargain?

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The Victoria Falls, as all will know, is spectacular. At a $20 entrance fee (for SADEC countries) it is a bargain. Coffee (with wifi) is $2. A leisurely walk, with many stops for pics took us 3 hours. We then walked over the bridge crossing the Zambezi river, connecting Zimbabwe and Zambia. The vendors are a pain and not easily shaken off. Copper bangles we negotiated down to about R80 each, we could buy at R33 each on our way back!

Arriving at Victoria falls (see below)

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Some Vic fall views

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Below: Views inside the ‘forest’ and around the falls, below. The bridge was built in 1902, if i remember correctly.

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Victoria Falls town is looking good; clean, well maintained.

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Visit Victoria Falls if you can.

A few general notes:

The friendliness of the locals are overstated, but be had no hostile encounters at all (we had that in Ovamboland three years back), and if we asked for help or info, everyone was helpful.

Speed cops: We travelled from Bray / Werda to Kasane so far. Around Kasane we saw to ‘radar speed traps’, and our co-travellers saw similar outside Ghanzi. Otherwise no speed cops. No one checked ‘triangles, reflective jackets, registration papers, or reflectors’.

‘Everything’ is more expensive than in SA. However, you can get everything you need in Botswana, no need to bring all from SA.

Our 68 litre (?) Romer cool box with two ±5 litre ice blocks stays COLD for 5 days. Choppies stocks these blocks (P15 – P17 each).

Tomorrow we drive into Chobe for the day from Sidudu gate, then off to Muchenje for three days of more Chobe from that side. We found the Botswana park entry / vs concession areas confusing and learn by doing. So we are going to try and reach Linyanti and Savute from Muchenje, etc, etc. I look forward to the trails along the rivers as most areas we’ve been to are very dry.

20190518 – Saturday – We only done 120 kms yesterday. The roads are ‘easy – going’ but there are just SO MUCH to see, and so may places to stop, and then sittings for minutes at a time enjoying it. At Sedudu gate you need to select going along the upper route, or the river bank route. Then back along the tar road. We turned off to the tar road, but then selected to go back to the river route and out Sedudu gate again. Most commercial viewing vehicles also do that, i.e. turning back along the river.

No maps are available so prepare well. My previously mention Botswana boekie’s map was adequate. I also use Maprika (app) to prepare a photo to navigate on. This is very helpful, although not precise, but you can always be sure where you are.

The landscapes, whether with water, or only terrestrial are always scenic.

There are may ‘large boats’ on the water for viewing. The ‘sun dower cruises cost P300 (x 1.33 for Rand) and the day trips R14 000 per person for two days. See pics below.

The roads are mostly sandy, with few stony patches. Although the sand seems ‘deep and soft’ we easily drove it in 2×4 (Continental 16″/70 x 255 at 1.2 bar). In many areas the roads are just hard sand. The roads cannot be described as good, by still easily negotiable.

I’ll add more images later as we are now on our way to Muchenje.

20190518 – 1650 – Arrived at Muchenje. Good tar road, 80 km/h speed limit, running through Chobe NP. Accommodation ( Muchenje Cottages looks fine) and in quiet area. Gweta Lodge and Nxabii Cottages was also good enough, it was however in or alongside communities with ‘dog noise’ and some people noise as well.

We went for a drive, as in pic below. This then completed it river side drive we started yesterday. We drove from Ngoma Gate to Serondela Picnic Site. Nice easy drive, some areas stony, some sandy but no problems. This western side of the river-drive is less scenic, as it is very dry with little water and fewer animals.

We saw a large variety of animals, see below.

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And lots of birds!

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The landscapes are what makes travelling special, to me…

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Above, another shame, catching anything that will fit in the gill nets.

Tomorrow we drive ‘in the direction of’ Savuti, or Linyanti, still have to decide. If we go as slow as yesterday we wont reach either! We are warned by the local reception that the ‘sand is very deep and bumpy’.

20190519 – Sunday

I am used to exaggeration, fake news, alarmists, bull-shitters, big talkers, liars, con men (and con-women), politicians, etc etc. Everything is always painted much worse than it is. I ended yesterday with ” We are warned by the local reception that the ‘sand is very deep and bumpy’.” Man…did this woman speak the truth!

We left Muchenje just before 7 am for Savuti. These are only names i heard of, looked at on maps and read about. We wanted to go and see what it was like. About 25 km on our way, we knew the rough will become “deep sand and bumpy”. Deep sand, i thought meant soft or going meters into the earth’s substrate. It may be both this, but in this case it means the ruts are deep! The ‘middelmannetjie’ is high. In many places this is not the case, but we drove many kilometres with the ‘bash-plate’ flattening out the centre of the road, and really bashing onto the sand. The danger of getting stuck was real, as could be seen by many sticks (branches) sticking out of the sides of the roads (hoping to puncture the side walls of the tires ;-((! In the end it was nice to hear my passengers get very silent. I found 2nd gear, at about 200 rpm giving me enough momentum, but still slow enough to handle the violent bucking vehicle. Unfortunately i cannot recommend people driving the road between Savuti and Linyanti…the chance of getting stuck is high and breaking your vehicle as well.

I’ll add more pics soon.

190520 – Monday

Some sign boards below…some known names, many unknown names.

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If you haven’t been to Ratanga Junction, you probably have been to some similar park. If you take the Cobra and mix it with the rubber boats that throw from side to side…this is what some of the bad sections feels like. I felt that if i go too slow (1st gear), the vehicle will lose momentum, and you don’t want to have to start moving in that sand. You steer, but the vehicle follows the ruts. Its quite nice, and i assume the passengers screamed with joy…At times, as the front suspension ‘gives’ the bull bar picked up sand, throwing it onto the bonnet and front window. This morning i started off, blowing sand out the engine compartment, and cleaning the air filter…it seemed like a cup of powdery sand came out of it. I’ll easily do this again, but with a hire vehicle. Also, we don’t have a front winch. This is probably a necessity when you get stuck here. I cannot see sand tracks (see pic below) getting you much further than a metre at a time if you get stuck in this sand.

Savuti – You can read more about Savuti elsewhere, than i can add here. The area had water when Livingstone ‘discovered’ it. Then, over time, the water disappeared for decades, then with good rains in its catchment area it floods and the ‘swamps’ may stay wet for years. Now it is dry and standing water here is unimaginable.

The area has many sparse large trees, and many more small trees and shrubs, also grass. So unless it is well grazed, you do not see much accept vegetation cover. Many areas are over grazed / browsed. Elephant is probably more seen than anything else, accept may be for rooibok. But the biomass leans heavily to elephant.

Linyanti camp lies next to the Linyanti river. It seems this river changes its name as it pass famous places (Kwando – Linyanti – Chobe). It also lies next to a swamp area and has tall trees along the river. This attracts animals in the dry season.

Tomorrow we leave Botswana for two days in the Kavango East and Zambezi region. This was formerly known as Caprivi Strip before successful decolonisation. We will probably not buy new sim cards for two days. After that we re-enter Botswana for a few days along the delta’s ‘pan handle’.

General Notes – I said earlier that maps are lacking. Since then we found booklets per park, called “-park name-” Tourist Map, like the pics below. They are quite handy. At the park gates, when they have them it is P200 each.

Regarding Gates: We entered Sidudu Gate close to Kasane and for the same area you can enter Ngoma Gate, or exit, 47 km west. You can pay at any one.

For Savuti, we entered Ghoha Gate. They wanted us to pay at Savuti Gate ± 17 km south. We left via Linyanti Gate. There was no uniformed personnel there but someone working outside let us sign in, and out. Mostly the booking in and out is very ‘informal’, i.e. the procedures are often quite different, but easy.

Below, some distances and phone numbers (from above booklet)

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Temperature is 30 degrees C, and often 35 degrees C. Nights are such that AC is mostly used. Short pants, short sleeves all the time.

20190503  – Thursday  We left Muchenje (BW) for Ngepi, outside Divundu (NA) on the 21^st.  We did not buy Namibian sim cards so had no cell phone internet. The drive was 501 kms with all the little stops and turn-offs. All good tar roads with a few stops where road works are done. The tar road often don’t have shoulders and the edges badly broken, but npt into the riding surface. Speed limit 120 km/h mostly, with 80 and 60 close to villages. No speed cops seen but quite a few other stops. These had no purpose as we are stopped, chatted to and waved through. 

There are quite a few new Park gates on this road, some with officials and police, but no money charged or hassles. We have seen some petty corruption at the Ngoma Border. There was no fees except N$ 308 road tax. We paid in Pula. When we asked how many Pula the answer was “308, same thing”, so I paid the P308 (about N$ 420) and went my merry way. So this customs guy made a nice quick N$ 112. Have the correct currency, and even the correct amount. We paid no other fees when passports got stamped.

Our accommodation at Muchenje was very nice, in a quiet setting. See pics below. It was also very well equipped. Camping is also available.

Ngepi is quite big, probably 1 km along the Kavango River. The ‘captain’ of our cruise on the river said they drop the ‘O’, as Okavango is an Ovambo word, not the correct use in the Zambezi Region.

The scenic boat trip was one of many highlights, it costs R220 per person for 1.5 hrs and is well worth it.

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We drove to Popa Falls manage by NWR. We paid R20 per person The ‘falls’ are no more than rapids, and fairly small ones! Worth seeing if you have the time. There are drinks available as well. Ngepi was probably our most expensive accommodation at about R1900 pps.  

A braai pit / slab is available, but no grids or stands to braai on; a few stones had to do. 

We bought Eland steak, the taste was good, but the price bad, at R170 / kg (R61 per person for 350gr steak). Children are ‘begging’ all along the roads in the high tourist areas (for sweets I assume). This we seldom saw in Botswana. Ngepi has wifi at reception. It works on cell phones but was too poor to use from a laptop.

The huts we are in is on the water’s edge with abundant hippo and the occasional buffalo, elephant, kudu, and rooibok visiting the opposite bank. Remains of 32 Battalion buildings are opposite the camp.

Someone at Ngepi has a sense of humour. There are many hand painted signs, below are some ‘toilet humour’. The funniest is that at one toilet the entrances are for female and male, separately, then after a short maze males and female enter the same room with a his and her’s next to each other.

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The lower prices in Namibia was quite refreshing, e.g., for the same 5 litre box of Overmeer you’ll pay P187, N$156 and in SA R165. The P187 = ±R262. These high prizes in BW go for everything, not only liquor. It is more than just exchange rate. Fuel is cheaper however, as our taxes are probably much more on fuel.

Below, typical houses between Divundu and Ngepi, along the Kavango River.

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Sitting on the edge of the Kavango River, which is probably 130 m wide here, and maybe 3-5 m deep, and water flowing faster than 1m/second, it is a huge volume of water passing on, into the Okavango Delta areas. However, the delta is dry! The vastness of the Delta and being so dry, the water must be sucked into the soil and cannot spread out into the lower reaches of the delta (my speculation).

Today we re-enter Botswana for a trip down the ‘pan handle’ of the Okavango Delta. We’ll see if our BW ‘multi entry permit’ makes life easier or cheaper. (PS: we did not have to pay again at re-entry). Then we ‘free fall’ down to RSA in two days. I hope the roads allows 100 km/h average. We have to cross a very bad potholed are again, some kms outside Maun. We heard the road is so bad as it was flooded and in that stage damaged by heavy vehicles a few years ago. Sorry China, that I thought you constructed the road poorly! We saw some Chinese building a road outside Kasane towards Zimbabwe.

At this stage we have driven just more than 4 500 kms. PS: diesel costs about R13.85 in Katima. Divundu have a working petrol station. It does have a big ‘cash & carry’ where you can buy ‘anything’. See some stats below: 4628 kms done, at 11.7 km/l and 86 hours driving (ouch).

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For those interested: Shakawe has very little to offer. But you can get fuel, booze and there are two ‘supermarkets’. Choppies not yet open, but coming. We also bought ice, no mince meat however, no ATMs. No problem, either.

We arrived at Askiesbos, on the banks of the Kavango, very nice.

20190525 – we had two wonderful nights at Askiesbos. Named such to apologise to the forest for having to remove a few trees to make the camp. We were treated so kindly, even received a freshly baked garlic bread. We can recommend staying there (± P900 per night). We went for a boat cruise, see pics below.

We left Ngepi, for Askiesbos, and drove through the Bwabwata NR ($N 70 (2 persons, 1 car)). It is suppose to be spectacular but it is extremely dry now. We left Namibia through the Muhembo border post. No hassles.

The pictures of the Kavango river is in contrast with the extreme dryness of the area. There is also major overgrazing and breakage of trees and shrubs by elephant. Botswana announced that elephant will be hunted again due to human / animal conflict. It is sad but the elephants cause major damage.

We travelled to Tsodilo Hills about 70 kms from Askiesbos. This area has significant archaeology and history. Among these are more than 4000 paintings (San and later black people), mining, and areas in stone where tools where sharpened and games played (like a board game).

We went for a 5 km guided walk with a local San women who explained the archaeology and culture to us. Well worth doing at P120 for the guide and P50 per person.

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Below: Cuttings in the stone where tools where sharpened, and ‘board-games’ played. The holes were also used to crack nuts and ground herbs in (source: the guide).

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Below: more rock paintings

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Cattle was introduced 2000 BP and is depicted. Donkeys are also painted in the supposedly 1000s years old paintings.

At Askiesbos we went on a river ride, very scenic as can be seen below.

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20190528 – We had internet connectivity for the last few days. Twice I spent some time to blog to find that it could not update (seen on the internet, and not saved). Quite disappointing as time is wasted.

Yesterday, 20190527, we drove from Stevensford Game Reserve (SGR) bordering on the Limpopo River, on the Botswana side. The accommodation was very good, with a separate kitchen and lapa to braai. They are about 20 kms off the tar road which goes to Martin’s Drift border post. SGR did not have much game that we saw but it was a pleasant experience. They have wifi, but almost no internet (connectivity) coming through.

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On Saturday 20190526 we travelled from Orapa to SGR. Orapa is a ‘closed’ mining area. So there is no town to see. We wanted to drive into the mine area to see the advertised ‘Mine Museum’ and Game Reserve. We were turned around by security.

We stayed at Makumutu Safari Lodge & Camp. We stayed in a pitched tent. The accommodation was fine but it is not tourism / conservation type accommodation. It has a restaurant, bar, etc. That evening it has ‘golfers‘ from a tournament at Orapa. No one was ‘noisy’ but vehicles were moving in and out, people talking, etc,  etc. It probably had the hottest shower (en suite) and good water pressure…always a plus for me. We ordered pizza at the restaurant, P100 and P115 each. The pizza looked very different (had a crust on the top) but tasted very nice.

I am not sure if my ‘road report’ posted. So I’ll repeat from where we left Ngepi (in Namibia). We travelled from Ngepi, on tar, but not far and it turned to gravel. Quite corrugated but not too bad.  We travelled through the Bwabwata NP. You can drive trough and don’t pay, or pay, and go along the river. No one will know, but we paid and enjoyed the river scenes. Below, Bwabwata views.

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Once again I must stress how dry it is, and the ‘water pics’ are extremely misleading of what is going on on the ground. Entering Botswana at Muhembo Border Post, it was tar again.

This tar soon became potholed and in areas are something to behold, and in other areas just testing your concentration! The road is also quite narrow in places and the edges also broken. Oncoming vehicles look like drunk drivers, swerving all over the road. This also leaves one with little possibilities when vehicles approach you. There are some stretches of 20 kms at a time with few potholes.

The ‘Panhandle’: We were under the impression that the route along the panhandle will offer much. As mentioned, we stayed at Askiesbos, which was a highlight. We also bought crocodile meat from Crocovango. This was all really worthwhile. There is very little along the west of the panhandle that makes it worth doing. We did not travel along the east of the panhandle however. So, to travel from Muchenje then along the panhandle down to Maun, like we have done, adds 1000 kms which can be better spend somewhere else. We however crossed over to Mapungubwe (where I write from now), to go into KNP that we have not seen for 20 years. We saw places we have not seen before, that is important to me.

Border posts, cops and veterinary points: All I can say is that ALL these went extremely casual with NO problems. We were never asked about meat, veg, etc. Mostly just waved through. We saw speed traps only twice (a few times around Kasane). We missed the main centers, however. Never were we asked for a fire extinguisher, triangles, ZA sticker, reflective jackets, wood, reflectors, etc etc. You may be more unlucky. You do need you VIN and engine number at border post, however, to fill into a form. My driver’s license was asked at some ‘vet posts’.

From Martin’s Drift to Swartwater the tar road is now gravel (thank the Lord ;-)). From Swartwater to Alldays the potholes are in a class of their own and the tar could rather be ripped up and graded. From about 50 kms before Alldays the road is good. Alldays has everything you need (almost). Standard Bank ATM was not working and I had to have a tire repaired (slow puncture from the Savuti/Linyanti stretch) from a roadside’ vendor’, but this all adds to the experience. It was a inside side-wall puncture and my ‘plugs’ only stopped the leak somewhat (had to pump every 2^nd day).

Yesterday (20190527) we arrived at SANParks’ Mapungubwe. We went to the interpretation centre and ‘restaurant’.  We had to pay R66 entry each for the interpretation centre. Disappointing, as we already paid entry and accommodation. It was quite informative however. The accommodation is very good, spacious, etc and as good quality as anything we stayed in. This morning we went for a drive through the park and found the tree top board walk very nice; also the confluences of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers, these are ‘must-sees’.  The landscapes are exceptionable as you’ll see in the attached pics. Both rivers are almost dry.

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We passed old SADF ‘bunkers’ and done a 4×4 drive with nice steep areas and also one or two somewhat technical areas. The ‘hill accent’ and 4wd low makes these so easy.

Tomorrow (20190529) we enter KNP at Pafuri, sleeping in Punda Maria. We’ll see areas we have been to 24 years ago.

20190530 – Yesterday we posted from outside Musina’s mall. Internet was just to poor! In such cases i type out the words in MS Word and copy and paste when there is connectivity. The photos have to be dragged in separately and it is a bit of a hit and miss, and no captions, etc etc.

We travelled from Mapungubwe to Pafuri, then to Punda Maria. The roads were quite decent. From Musina we chose to take a gravel road along the Limpopo. The road range from good so somewhat poor, but worth the effort. We saw some of ZZ2’s tomatoes growing. Musina is a big town. The ‘suburbs’ are nice the mid-town to be avoided. There is a big clean modern mall as well. I only saw Musina once, i.e. 24 years ago, so all this is news to me.

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You drive through communal land, very rural, before getting to Pafuri gate. Inside the park it is mainly Mopani veld.

Scenes at Pafuri picnic site, below. Boiling water was available from attendants, and braai facilities and toilets, etc.

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We cannot imagine how dry everything is when you see all the ‘greenness’ and puddles of water, below. And the rain season is months away.

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We saw some animals, of course.

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The Romer cool box is still doing very well. Ice we bought at Shakawe (daaayys ago) is still more than 50% volume. We do stick it in a fridge when every night, however, where we can. Most ice cost is P20, and least P10 (at Crocovango outside Shakawe, BW). We also paid P17 and P18.

Today (it is now 20190530 0252) we move down to Letaba.

PS: the roads in KNP, so far, is good, somewhat corrugated.

Internet at the tented camps in Punda Maria is OK (my phone shows H); i use it as a mobile hotspot now and it works as good as anywhere.

20190601 – 16.46 – Lots of driving in KNP. See maps below.

The pics below, where taken between Punda Maria, and Olifants Camp.

See landscapes below. I only post landscapes when there was really little to see 😉 Mostly the landscapes are way more drab than these pics

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The internet died ‘unexpectedly’ last night; will continue when / if we have internet later today.

It took time, but we saw our first lion. But just…

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Some ele-fun, below

The old rondavels we stayed in are all ‘good quality / high standard’. The pitched tents really is quite unimaginative; also not sited well (not much of a view, etc), so be careful when you save a few hundred bucks.

I got so bored, i started taking pics of birds, see below.

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And then i enjoyed landscapes (don’t be mislead by the water…it is dry…)

And then the clouds that i hoped will bring rain (out of season).

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We travelled, today, to Lower Sabie. It is much larger now and the rondavel accommodation a few 100 m’s from where we are in out tent camp. The internet is much better here.

Driving from Musina, entering Pafuri, going south in KNP, we drove almost 1000 kms, sight-seeing. We got 17.6 kms per litre at speeds lower than 50km/h. I am impressed. Tomorrow is our last full day in KNP. (20190502 – 18.29).

PS: The nights are looonnnggg. At 17.10 the sun is gone and it is getting dark, and at 6.10 you can see well enough to drive again. Gates close at 17.30 now, and open at 6.00.

20190603 – Monday – Next week this time we are back at work, Deo volente, they say. We went for a drive and was blessed by seeing five cheetah. So weird, a few cars in front of us turned off to a water hole, we decided to rather keep straight on. Within a few hundred meteres we saw the cheetah. They were on the road for 70 seconds…you either see them, or not. The same happened with the wild dogs we saw. They ran over the road and past us in a few seconds, and i could only get a few bad pics.

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And we saw some animals ;-), see below.

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This is probably the last post for now. Tommorrow we travel to Golden Gate, and Wednesday to Knysna…just less than 2000 kms.

20190606 – Thursday – We arrived home yesterday driving for about 11 hours. All went well. We are amazed with how good our roads are. From Lower Sabie there were some ‘baddish’ road before Standerton, but all the others excellent. And no animals on the road to worry about either. We stopped outside Nelspruit to buy some epiphytic orchids…expensive but i wanted them ;-)). Tuesday evening we drove from GG NP into Clarens to have dinner with a friend that specially drove from Jo’burg! (and after the meal drove back!) Nice meal, nice chat, and thx for the 12 bottles of wine Thys! Your effort is really appreciated.

We left Lower Sabie camp as the gates opened at 6 am. We saw lion twice on the trip, but only parts of lions as they were lying down or in dense vegetation. We saw buffalo in the road, still before sunrise (and misty!), and then a lion stalking them along the road. But they were aware of this lion, but was looking away , adjacent to the road. There we saw at least 4 more lions. The buffalo were staring down the lions, and the lions just waiting for a mistake.

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We arrived at home and the dogs could not believe we actually came back! See below.

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Total fuel costs were about R 11081 (i.e. ~R1.20 per kilometre for fuel only). One slow puncture. Minor damage to ‘bull-bar’ / bumper due to ‘digging into the sand’ on the Savuti / Linyanti stretch. I found the Ford to have been very reliable and easy to ride. Floating over that sand was amazing…(amazingly stupid according to my ‘co-pilot’).

General Notes: We never (except in SA) needed warm clothes. Short pants and shirt and ‘plakkies’ is fine.

No ‘corruption’. No sh!t at any border post / cops etc, etc.

No one asked for registration papers, triangles, reflective jackets, fire extinguisher, etc. We were never asked regarding meat or veg. We did however had do rinse our shoes for spread of disease. I took 50 litres extra diesel (not needed). Two extra jacks and ‘planks’ and ‘sand tracks’ (thx for lending me these, Wessel). We did not get stuck, fortunately. I took tools (spanners, sockets, pliers, screw drivers, wire, extra valves, also ‘many ropes’, D-shackles, etc.). We took a 3-point plug converter (i.e. RSA to European), …we never needed it. ‘We’ took way to much clothes. We washed what was needed in one of our ‘crates’, ‘trampling’ it while showering. It is so dry that the clothes easily dry overnight. We took an extra blanket…not necessary.

We took, and is still taking ‘Mozitec’, against Malaria, for seven days after leaving a malaria area. R927 per person (about 36 days). Medical aid paid for it. We did not have side effects. I did however had wonderful explicit dreams, and lied awake from 12.30 am to 3.30 most nights, but this is probably enjoying life. Mosquitoes were not that abundant, maybe due to it being very dry. We took, and used Peaceful Sleep; and gin and tonic. We think it worked.

PS: take a rope for a washing line. We did not, and used a nylon ‘sling’ with ratchet. Worked well, but rope and ratchet would have been better.

PS: Also, have ‘change’ in the local currency. If you don’t have ‘change’, the seller may also not have change, and this stalemate will make you walk off without your change.

I have a 160 litre (per minute?) compressor…we used that often. I deflated my tires by turning the valve out completely (for sand to 0.8 – 1, and corrugated gravel to 1.2 (this could be lower, i think)) . The compressor increased the tire pressure by 0.8 bar per minute. I.e., fast / easy.]

We found all water to be drinkable (where ever we stayed). I bought local beer, St Louis, at 3% alcohol you can enjoy it all day long.

If you have place, take a door…Botswana’s tourist accommodation rarely have doors on their toilets.

We were asked for passports, drivers license, and car license was checked. But only occasionally. We found the large majority of ‘officials’ to be very laid-back. Bordering on extreme laziness (thx god of laziness… i don’t want to encounter an ambitious custom officer).

We took a very light weight table and 2 chairs…good idea, although not needed every day. But when you did not have outside tables and chairs, these came in very handy. Also our rechargeable ‘lantern’…invaluable.

You can probably visit Europe, or New Zealand, or many other places way cheaper than doing an ‘Africa road trip’. You decide.

My wife, ombudsman on all things, say we spent more money on booze than on food. I think i done well; i only picked up 3 kgs… PS: booze is very expensive in Botswana.

Everything went better than we could ever hope for.