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The fourth blog post regarding my trip to Africa, and the first one about the last half of the trip, which took place in Botswana. The blog post starts in Namibia still, waking up in the Ngepi Camp on the banks of the Okavango River, in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip.
Wednesday, May 30th
Checked out of Ngepi Camp, and drove towards Katima Mulilo, the last significant town on the Namibian side of the border, in order to get fuel.
An elephant crossing the B8 highway a couple of hours before Katima Mulilo. I had stopped to let it pass, which gave me ample time to take a photo.
In Katima Mulilo I decided to have lunch. Primarily because I wasn’t sure how long the border crossing would take. Additionally, on the Botswanan side I was staying in a small village, in a self-catering camp. After pulling out of the fuel station in Katima Mulilo, I did notice that the asphalt on the left side (remember, southern Africa drives on the left) looked different from the right side. It had a much more reflective, newer surface, but it didn’t strike me as being wet. Every other car passed me on the right. After a good minute of driving on the left side, I saw a few markers indicating what was going on.
The road was being repaired, and the asphalt on the left side was indeed very wet. Because car wash shops aren’t as common in Africa as they might be in the Western world, I wasn’t sure if I would even find one in Katima Mulilo, or how long it would take to wash it all off. I decided to have lunch first, instead of risking going several hours without food, searching for a car wash. Obviously, I ran the risk of the asphalt drying into the paint on the side of the car. I figured the damage was already done on that point.
I drove back to the main highway through Katima Mulilo, where most petrol stations are located. This includes the one from which I got into this mess in the first place. I drove for several minutes without seeing a petrol station with a car wash. Then I decided to simply start asking some of the fuel attendants at one of the stations. They directed me to a Shell just across the street. The staff at the Shell station said they don’t offer car washes. They did however know an independent car wash further down the road, towards the city centre. I managed to locate it, and it was a typical African car wash. No automation, all of it done manually.
The workers managed to get rid of most of the asphalt, by washing it off with oil. It took them almost a full hour though. There were a few spots left, but the car looked much cleaner than it had been anyway. It had gotten dusty from driving through deserts, so a car wash was soon going to be needed regardless.
Having had the car taken care of, I continued towards the Namibia/Botswana border. The border itself is actually the Chobe River in this area, with the border posts being on opposite sides of the river, and a no-man’s land bridge across. The Namibian side was very swift, in 5 minutes I was on my way across the river. Because Botswana is trying to fight foot-and-mouth disease, you need to drive the car through a pool of a disinfectant before entering their country.
You need to step out and walk into a chemical solution too, before completing the formalities for entering Botswana. The pool for cars is not very deep, and is only meant to clean the wheels. You don’t walk into this same pool yourself, there’s a separate area for people, often a bucket or plate with a very shallow amount of the chemical. This is only supposed to clean the soles of your feet. It is no deeper than half an inch.
The actual border processing on the Botswanan side is also relatively quick, with the exception that the customs officer needed to look into the car’s fridge before allowing me to enter the country. This is again to fight the spread of disease. Any meats and produce will be confiscated. I knew this already, so I had emptied the fridge and didn’t buy more groceries in Namibia.
Finally I arrived in the village of Muchenje. It is located just a few kilometres from the border crossing, on the western edge of Botswana’s Chobe National Park, but outside the park gates. I had booked camping there, but I decided to upgrade to a cottage for a few reasons. One, I knew I would be using the car during the day, and I didn’t feel like putting the tent up and packing it all together more than once. The tent had also gotten pretty dusty, and wasn’t super comfortable.
Regardless of whether I slept in the tent or a cottage, the camp in Muchenje was self-catering. Because I had to empty the fridge for the border crossing, that left me with a problem. The nearest supermarket was in Kasane, about an hour’s drive through the Chobe National Park. I was not going to make it there and back before the park gates closed. The camp had a small selection of meats, vegetables and snacks for sale. I bought some sausages and a small bundle of veggies, but I also wanted some bread rolls, and something for breakfast. The receptionist suggested a bakery in the village, which was housed in a small building that was essentially a shed.
She had only four bread rolls left, for the price of 4 Botswana Pula. I bought all four of them, and the owner was very ecstatic about that, even though that was just the equivalent of 40 US cents. They were tasty though!
I went looking for some other groceries, but I found very little. I bought a bottle of milk at a gas station. It became time to return to the camp, as it had already gotten dark. With few other options for snacks, I got some biscuits at the camp reception. I cooked dinner, but this was quite an easy task in the cottage, which had a fully equipped kitchen.
Thursday, May 31st
I had one of the least interesting breakfasts I’ve had in a while.
It consisted of the malaria pills I was taking, a glass of milk, some biscuits, and a couple of left-over bread rolls from dinner. After breakfast I drove to Kasane, in the north-eastern tip of Botswana. It is on the opposite side of the Chobe National Park, but I used a paved highway to transit the park faster. I went to Kasane for a boat cruise on the Chobe River, which runs along Chobe National Park. As already mentioned, the river also forms the border between Namibia and Botswana.
We saw several species of animals that you wouldn’t see easily from land. Several birds, including an African Fish Eagle.
There were a couple of crocodiles as well. We came very close to one crocodile, as it was resting on shore in the sun to heat up its cold-blooded body.
We also came across one lonely old cape buffalo drinking water from the lake.
The cape buffalo is one of the most dangerous animals to face in the African wilderness. It does not hesitate to charge humans, attacking with its large, thick horns.
We saw numerous elephants, on one occasion spending a lot of time with one particular elephant that was drinking from the river. It lifted up its trunk without water once, almost as if to say hello.
There were plenty of hippos around the river too. We got very lucky to spot some that were entirely on land. Once they saw us, they all ran back into the water, where they feel safer.
Towards the end of the boat trip the guide was informed by some colleagues on land, that they were following a leopard through the bushes. We were trying to follow the reports and position ourselves as close as possible to get a view of it too. Obviously we were restricted as to how close we could get with a boat. We never saw it, and eventually returned to the jetty in Kasane. It was time for lunch, but the city of Kasane doesn’t have many independent restaurants. The jetty that was used for the boat cruise actually belonged to a lodge, so I just decided to have lunch there.
After lunch, I went to a nearby supermarket to buy some things for breakfast and a bit more food. I was actually not going to be self-catering after Muchenje anyway. However, I wanted to at least have some sandwiches in the car though, in case the car broke down in the middle of nowhere.
Having done my shopping, I set out for some self-driving across Chobe National Park. This time I was taking the scenic route, along the sand trails in 4WD conditions.
I actually drove along the river for a while, and saw a few of the same spots from the boat cruise. At one point I almost got stuck, and right in front of a guided tour vehicle. The driver gave me some tips and I managed to move out of the sand I had dug the car into. The signposting inside the national park was less than stellar. Time did start to become an issue, as I needed to leave the park before the gates closed, or I would be stuck inside.
A couple of baboons grooming eachother inside Chobe National Park.
On several occasions, the trail forked, but I generally kept driving parallel to the river to make sure I was going in the right direction.
A large group of impalas close to the riverfront (right side).
I drove through the gates 45 minutes before they would close, after having been inside the park for most of the afternoon. I returned to my cottage in Muchenje for another self-cooked dinner.
Friday, June 1st
Checked out of the camp in Muchenje, and drove south along the paved road towards Savuti, my destination for the day. After passing a string of villages, the pavement ended and became sand. It was time to make a halt, deflate the tires, and activate 4WD mode.
The conditions were very different throughout, at times you could drive a steady 50 km/h (~30 mph) for a few minutes. Then suddenly the car would slide as the sand got deeper, and you’d struggle to move at more than 10-15 km/h (~7-10mph). I even tried to get some GoPro footage of the driving conditions. Unfortunately the footage didn’t turn out useful at all.
This was one region of Africa where I was really on my own, seeing no more than two-three other vehicles over the course of several hours. After a few hours, around 9:30ish, I reached the Ghoha Gate of the Chobe National Park’s southwestern areas. Savuti is part of Chobe National Park as well. Despite the difficult roads and terrible signposting, I found it eventually. All thanks to a combination of paper maps, Google Maps and my Garmin GPS. Finding Savuti itself wasn’t as challenging as finding the correct trail into the lodge I had booked.
The Savuti area has several camps clustered within a few miles of eachother. I almost got stuck in the sand just a few hundred meters away from the lodge. After a few attempts I did spin the wheels enough to get momentum and start moving again. Checked-in at the lodge shortly past 11 AM, and had brunch after a personal, guided introduction to property. This lodge was the first of three luxury lodges that I would be visiting in Botswana. It was also nowhere near cheap. Botswana made up over 80% of my total accomodation costs, despite being just less than half of my three weeks in Africa.
Every single staff member greeted me by name. It was a very different, tight-knit and social atmosphere than other, larger camps where you’re essentially alone. The room was very nice, or at least that’s what I thought (more on that later).
The lodge had a set daily schedule which you were pretty much required to follow if you wanted to get the most out of your stay. After brunch, there was a siesta until 3:00 PM. The siesta was a nice opportunity to relax and unwind in my private room. There were also some common facilities available in the main building at the lodge, which contained among other things a library. After the siesta, “colonial high tea” would be served on the lodge’s deck overlooking the waterhole. Every guest would meet up with their respective guides around tea time, before going on an afternoon activity.
A Swiss couple had checked in at the lodge in the meantime. I would be grouped with them for an afternoon guided game drive. We saw some antelope, giraffes, elephants and a group of very sleepy lions.
At one point we heard of rumors of cheetahs. We went to the location where other guests and guides had spotted two of them. Through very thick bushes, a hundred meters away, it was possible to see something orange/brownish moving about. It was very difficult to spot any larger part of the cheetahs, and impossible to photograph them. On our way back towards camp we did return to the lions, and they were now starting to wake up as the sun was setting.
Once we returned to camp it had turned dark. We were in fact slightly late and past the official gate closing time. However, with a total of just 12 guests in the camp, the guide of our vehicle obviously radioed the camp that he would be late with three of us, and the gates remained open. Other vehicles weren’t on time either. The guide escorted us to our private rooms per camp policy after sunset. He would pick us up an hour later, to accompany us to dinner on the lodge’s waterhole deck.
After dinner and some time sitting around a bonfire, we were all escorted to our respective rooms again. When I came back to the room, I had one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had in a hotel/lodge room while traveling. Now, have a good look at the picture below. Notice where the water pitcher is located on the table. Also take a look at where the mirror is on the back wall, with a box of tissues in front of it.
I drank some water, while standing in a position where I could see the box of tissues, but not what was immediately behind it. I also couldn’t see all of the mirror. The cupboard blocked some of the view.
The ceiling fan had been turned on to cool down the room, to have a comfortable temperature at night. I noticed a tissue moving up and out of the box, then towards the back wall out of view. My immediate conclusion was that the fan had managed to blow the tissue out of the box. Then I could hear, but not see, how the tissue was scratching against the wall behind the mirror. So it wasn’t the fan that was to blame. The tissue was literally moving along the wall behind the mirror.
Perplexed, I walked over towards the mirror. Two seconds later, a rat dashed across the wall with the tissue in its mouth. It sprinted towards the ceiling, where it could access a ledge on top of the wall. This led to what was either its hideout inside the back wall, or its entrance to the building (all doors and windows were always closed to keep mosquitos out).
Behind the room was the bathroom, and while getting ready to go to bed, I noticed the rat (or for all I know, a different rat) again. It was running along the ledge on the wall, just above the shower as you see below.
There was some mesh netting between the wall and the thatched roof. It had gnawed through the net to create a pathway, leaving it unhindered access to the main room/bedroom. I didn’t get a good picture of the rat itself.
All I managed to photograph was the rat’s tail. It’s the dark line that crosses the white string just left of the smaller beam.
The rat was relatively quiet and moved across the ledge in the bathroom in just a matter of seconds, so by the time I got my camera out, it was always too late. I never saw it in the main room again. However, the fact that nothing stopped it from getting in there and the fact that it came back repeatedly (maybe for more tissues?) was very unsettling. Suffice to say I had a terrible night’s sleep.
Saturday, June 2nd
The lodge schedule called for an early wake-up to have breakfast before setting out on game drives before sunrise. Because the rat’s favorite pathway in and out of the bathroom was within arm’s reach of the shower head, I didn’t shower at all in the morning. Fortunately I had just booked a single night in Savuti at this lodge, so I was already packing my bags regardless. At breakfast it turned out I was not the only one that had unwanted visitors during the night. It would however be unfair to say I got nothing out of traveling via Savuti. I left the room in the morning and put my bags in my car. Before officially checking out, I was allowed to join the morning game drive.
That guided game drive was the most spectacular one of the entire three weeks, by far. We saw many animals, but I’ll just cut out the boring stuff and get right to it. Within two hours (half the drive), we saw lions, a leopard and a pair of cheetahs. Some people travel through Africa for weeks and might not see all three of those at all. Occasionally, private game reserves put GPS tracker collars on larger animals to spot them quicker with their guests. That is not the case anywhere in Chobe, a huge public national park. We were driving around scouting for animals when one of the other vehicles from the lodge radioed our guide. They had just seen a leopard attack an impala (antelope).
The impala was still alive, and our guide rushed over as fast as he possibly could. As we approached, dozens of vultures were sitting in surrounding trees.
They were waiting for the leopard to finish the kill and leave it behind. As we spotted the leopard, it was still wrestling with the powerless, but still living impala.
According to the other guides, the leopard was young and inexperienced. It had bit on the back of the impala’s neck. This meant it was bleeding, but still breathing. Had the leopard bit into the front of the neck, the impala would have been unable to breathe. The impala was still moving its legs. Eventually the impala had bled to death. It wasn’t fun to watch the animal die, but that’s how nature works obviously.
The leopard was continuously looking for a good bush where it could place the impala, to keep its smell somewhat concealed from hyenas, lions and vultures. The leopard seemed to have decided on a spot, and dragged the impala over there.
As the leopard disappeared from view, we went off to check on the group of lions that we saw the previous evening. The group were all in the same spot as the previous evening, and still very sleepy.
They hunt and eat during the night, and are mostly relaxing throughout the day. With no natural predators, the lion can sleep all it wants.
We continued on to an area where our guide knew there was a chance we could spot cheetahs. He was right. The sight of other vehicles pointed us in the direction of a pair of cheetahs, likely brothers. They took turns eating a baby zebra that they had killed.
When they had finished, they were licking the blood off each other’s faces, as part of a bonding ritual. They then ran off towards the same bushes where we almost saw them in the previous evening.
On the way, they crossed a pack of zebras, possibly the same pack from which they hunted down the baby. With their stomachs full, they simply walked past.
The zebras of course didn’t know this. They all huddled together to form a tight group, all while grunting out warnings to each other. The cheetahs cannot bring down large adult zebras. They will use their superior speed to split up the group and separate the babies from their mothers. It was quite tense to see the zebras closely watching the cheetahs, but nothing happened. The cheetahs weren’t hungry and simply weren’t interested in hunting.
On our way back to camp, we drove past the pack of lions once more. The male lion woke up as we arrived.
Not too far away was where the leopard had attacked the impala. It was resting behind the bushes. It was probably tired after hunting and having eaten parts of its kill.
After we returned, I had brunch at the lodge and said goodbye to everyone. Then I departed Savuti to drive further south to the city of Maun. Fortunately my guide had already pointed out some of the trails I should take, while we were on the game drives. Otherwise I would probably have gotten lost, as not every fork in the road had a sign indicating the right way. The roads were terrible and the sand slowed you down considerably until leaving the park at the Mababe Gate, then it improved slightly.
The village of Mababe.
At one point, the main gravel road was submerged in water, but a detour was anyway in place.
This confused my GPS. Frankly I had no idea where exactly I was going, just following this secondary trail in the general direction towards Maun. Eventually it linked up with the main gravel road again.
A group of elephants running across the gravel road to Maun.
Reaching the town of Shorobe was a relief, from there it was paved road the rest of the way to Maun. I re-inflated the tires and put the car back in regular, two-wheel drive. While doing all of this, I spotted a leak near the back of the car. The locals in Africa had a nice nickname for the often poor, bumpy roads – “free African body massage”. It goes without saying that I hit several bumps. Sometimes a bit harder than I wanted to, and honestly I was surprised the suspension was still intact.
Every now and then you’d drive across a pothole at speed, too late to hit the brakes, and you’d just cross your fingers that this one wouldn’t do damage. Sometimes it was painless. Sometimes you’d hear a loud thump as the undercarriage slammed against a rock or the sand. I was worried that the leak came from one of the fuel tanks. The car does have yet another extra tank, used to store water for camping purposes (showering etc.). It looked to be simply water coming out of the leak. I never used the water tank myself, so I couldn’t care less. The rental agreement included full insurance and I wasn’t the first person that had damaged the car (the leak had stopped later during the trip anyway).
About half an hour after sunset, I arrived at my hotel in the city of Maun. I would spend one night there before flying into the Okavango Delta on a small propeller aircraft. For the sake of convenience I had dinner at the hotel. I was told I could just wait in my room while it was being cooked. They would call me so I could return to the restaurant to eat it. After almost 45 minutes without a call, I walked back to the restaurant. They were still preparing the meal, but were almost done.
I prepared my bags for the morning flight transfers as I was only bringing a small carry-on sized trolley. When I booked the lodge inside the Okavango Delta that I would be going to, I was asked where I would spend the prior night. The airline was going to inform the hotel about the times of my flights. This had not happened. I knew I had a confirmed booking including the flight transfers, but I went to bed that night not knowing when I would have to be at the airport.