So, where we left we were stranded in Zambia for the night as we managed to miss our ferry crossing to Botswana. We had planned to get up early the next day to skip the queue for the ferry but after hitting the snooze button more than a couple of times that idea failed to materialise but we did eventually manage to haul ourselves off to the Kazungula ferry. This was probably the finniest morning of the trip. Whilst waiting for the ferry there were guys at the border trying to sell us their goods. We had decided before hand to totally play their ‘game’ with them and it proved to be a great decision. We bartered for everything and Hans, in particular, proved to be an absolute master at driving a hard bargain. One minute we were set against buying anything and the next minute I looked and Hans had bought so much junk! He even continued to bargain on the ferry, telling guys exactly what he wanted and exactly what he didn’t want and more often than not he got what he wanted in his typically hilarious fashion!
Once we had finally returned to Botswana we filled up our tank, and our wallets, and headed into Chobe National Park, just a few kilometres west of Kasane. Pretty much immediately we saw some hippos wallowing in the river and of course the ever present boks which were everywhere, as they seem to be on every safari! As we drove along the stunning waterfront it soon became apparent as to why we had hired a car with 4x4 capabilities. I had my first 4x4 experience driving along a sand track and then discovering that a fallen tree was actually blocking the track so I had to perform a ‘3 point’ turn through some pretty deep sand which was certainly interesting. I was really glad that I could be the driver on the safari as I had been a passenger on previous two occasions in Kenya so it was good to have a different perspective of things. As we drove we saw elephants, giraffe, buffalos and more hippos which was really cool. Our original plan was to camp in Chobe but we soon discovered that the map which we had paid for was outdated and the campsites we were planning on staying at were no longer operating and we were told that the road to the next campsite was too flooded for us to pass so we would have to stay the night once again in Kasane.
After a quick glimpse of Namibia from across the river we made our way back into town to set up camp. Hans attempted to pay off his Botswanan speeding fine only to discover that they didn’t have the correct books and much to his delight he found out that they probably wouldn’t follow it up if he didn’t pay it…what a police system! We camped in exactly the same place we had the night of the hippo and yet again our friend was living right beside us and making plenty of noise. We braaid and set up a wood fire under the stars and just chilled out. We chatted to our guard, Gabriel, who told us stories of how lions had come into the village and how to avoid a buffalo…hide basically! He also told us that it was easy to dodge a hippo, all you have to do is run in a zig-zag direction but I still wouldn’t fancy my chances.
We left Kasane the next morning under the cover of darkness as we had a very long drive to Maun and the Okavango Delta in the North West of the country. The Okavango delta is an area which, in the rainy season, is completely covered in water and vegetation and is extremely diverse in wildlife (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okavango_delta). Maun is the main town for tourists visiting the delta to base themselves but it isn’t a particularly tourist friendly place as we struggled to navigate our way through the different streets and roads and when we finally got on the right road we discovered that we actually had to go back the way we came to pick up a piece of paper to enter the park! So after backtracking and stopping to play with some kids on the side of the road with our balloons we eventually entered Moremi Game Reserve on the eastern side of the delta. We only had a couple of hours left before sundown so we decided to take a quick trip away from the campsite to see what we could see. What we didn’t expect was flooding on the road every 200m! The car almost got stuck on a number of occasions and after about 45 minutes of driving we came across an elderly couple whose engine had failed because they had taken in too much water. We agreed to help tow them back to the camp which was certainly a mission as our car had struggled through some of the ‘puddles’ by itself, never mind with another car on the back. We thought we were in big trouble whenever the car broke off the tow rope in the middle of one of the water holes but rather miraculously their engine managed to start whilst in the water only to fail again once they got out. We were also reversing the car back into one of the holes when we suddenly realised we were about to go into a swamp on the left hand side from which there would have been no getting out!
Two cars successfully back at camp we showered and cooked and welcomed some very interesting visitors. While we were sitting eating our dinner we noticed something rummaging around the bin and when we shone the light on it we discovered that it was a hyena. Now these aren’t you’re average dog, they’re big, but they don’t like light so we were able to keep them at bay. Although, whilst I was talking to a Dutch camper I heard a sound behind me and when I turned around there was a hyena up on our table and it grabbed something. I rushed over to see what it had taken and noticed that rather bizarrely it had taken our cutlery box. Hans quickly set off after the hyena with his flashlight and his infamous pepper spray and somehow managed to retrieve the pepper spray from the thief. The camp wasn’t fenced so any animals were welcome to wander in and during the night we heard lions not so far away!
The following morning we set out on a game drive to ‘Third Bridge’ in search of lions. On the way I got taught a lesson in 4x4 driving as I managed to get our car stuck in the mud at the bottom of one of the water holes but thankfully with a little bit of throttle and a little bit of man power at the back, we managed to push the car out. It was a very chaotic experience, especially when we heard the glug, glug, glug noise signifying that our engine was taking in water! Still running though we continued to splash our way through the park and soon found ourselves on a vast expanse of delta landscape. Taking tracks that were off the prescribed road was fun and that was how we came across our lions! We saw two male lions and two female lions just lazing around in the long grass. A camera crew prevented us from getting any closer to the pride but rather incredibly we were out walking around and on the roof of our car a matter of mere metres from where the lions were lying! The lions had based themselves beside a rather large waterhole which was home to a rather large family of hippos, somewhere between 15-20. The hippos were so noisy and were also so close…some of them were swimming VERY close to the shore where we were parked but were incredible to see in their natural environment.
On returning to camp we realised just how dirty our car had got from driving through the mud. What was once a sparkling clean car was now a rather interesting shade of brown! Nevertheless we began our homeward journey. This involved a quick stop in Maun to pick up groceries and where Hans bargained for all he was worth to get a couple of house music CD’s much to the delight of the rest of us! That night we set up camp in the middle of the savannah. We simply took a short track off the main road and just pitched up our tents in the wilderness. It was such a surreal experience but at the same time it also felt oddly normal. Since when did camping in the African wilderness, with no protection from two legged or four legged invaders, with a Swede, a German and an American become normal? Since I arrived in South Africa and quickly discovered that here you just go with the flow and so everything becomes normal!
The next morning we awoke and drove through the Kalahari desert which certainly was not as I expected. I expected sand, I mean that’s what’s supposed to be in a desert, right? Well there was no sand but it was very, very vast. The journey that day, like the landscape, would have been unremarkable were it not for Hans picking up his third speeding fine! The rest of us were all sleeping when we felt the car slowing down to a stop and we thought we were going to have to go through another vetinary check point but we quickly realised that the reason for our stopping was a speed gun. Hans now being the pro at handling these situations pleaded with the officer to give him a student discount and, after much banter, he succeeded. He even got to use the speed gun on the next cars that were coming through. The funniest part about it was that Hans had been driving slower than Sebastian and I all day but he still managed to be the one who got a ticket!
We crossed back into SA that evening and stayed with a friend of Veronica’s in Rustenburg, the base for England at this year’s world cup. We feasted on our remaining pasta and sauce and went to bed extremely stuffed! The next morning we left our car off at the airport and picked up our new car which was to take us back to ‘the port’. Eleven hours of driving, two near road accidents, and a party KFC later we were back in Port Elizabeth. I think we were all glad to be back after our trip but we had such an incredible time on our adventures and saw so many incredible things. There are many things which I even failed to mention in these blogs but if I were to talk about everything that happened we would be here for a very very long time. So back to ‘normal’ life now! Sorry for the delay in the third part of the trilogy but I’ve been rather busy as you will discover in my next blog …
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