Blogs from Botswana, Africa - page 62

Our last full day in Swakopmund was spent on the township tour. We visited a witch doctor, an artist, the chief of the local tribe, a local pub, ate traditional food including worms (which weren't too bad!) and some children performed a traditional dance for us. That evening we went to a really nice restaurant on the beach. The next morning we began our drive up to Etosha National park. On the way we stopped at a seal colony where there were literally thousands of seals as far as the eye could see. They live at the seal colony all year around and visitors can get right up close to them. The place regrettably stank of seals but it was awesome to just be among so many of them. We spent most of the day driving, ... read more

Dodging the constant barrage of goats, cows, donkeys, dogs and people on the road was a gentle reminder that we had arrived within the boarders of Botswana. A couple of days of relaxed riding brought us to Maun, a good base for exploring the Okavango Delta, set in the southern region of this 'World wonder'. Trips into the delta on a makoro (dug out canoe) turned out to be ridiculously expensive for our budget, so foot-power was the name of the game on our exploration missions in and around the local area. It's always great to get off the beaten track, which usually involves walking anyway. One such exploration brought us to a local football (soccer) match. Easy to find as you could hear the music and see the rising dust off the pitch in ... read more

Spent the last 3 days (7th to 9th) in the delta.. had so much anticipation to go into the delta.. especially after watching a documentary on lions eating elephants in the okavango delta on somebody's ipod.. well.. i think if you want a more exciting safari.. don't do it by mokoro (dug-out canoes).. probably fly into the inner delta and do some game drives from there.. The mokoro CRUISE started on 7th.. we took a transfer truck from Camp Sitatunga.. after an hour's drive, we arrive at the delta where numerous mokoros await our arrival to take us into the delta.. the mokoros are basically poled along the shallow depth of the delta.. max 2 passengers.. so you and another person sit in the narrow mokoro.. and your poler stands behind to pole the canoe.. the ... read more

northeast Botswana I'm sure I've been this dusty before, but I don't really remember when. Last year's rainy season never arrived, and northeastern Botswana is in the grips of a 30 year drought. The wetland area is shrunk, and low water levels severely limit traditional poling areas, so we never got to this particular form of travel. The thin veneer of grass and soil holding the underlying sand is nearly gone in places. Still, the countryside is beautiful, and our seven day backcountry trip is one of the highlights of our travels. Animals are only somewhat restricted from their historic ranges, as the natural areas are extensive and even cross international boundaries. We started out in Maun and traveled through Moreme Park to Chobe Park and Kasane, and finished with a boat trip along the Chobe ... read more

Hi Friends, Sorry for the space between my blogs, but though there has been lots going on, sometimes it's just difficult to come up with ways of describing things. So, for the last month, you could say we have reached phase two of our adventure. Phase one, or the settling phase, took quite a while. Getting everything organized, the house, the car, the utilities marched along at African time. Phase two we will call the getting comfortable stage. Anj is in full swing at her work as her last blog showed. She has completed a marketing plan for the charger and presented her findings to the board. Now she is busy setting up plans and appointments to sell the product worldwide. A trip to Kenya is in the works for July and she may even be ... read more