Blogs from Botswana, Africa

Arrived at the Kasane border early morning where our temperature was taken checking for covid then to immigration firstly the zambian then across the floor to Botswanan immigration. Baboons and mongeese everywhere In the carpark. After finding our tour vehicle we head to the chobe River for the first leg of our safari. The river is still full and fast flowing in the distance on the other river bank Namibia. The river is dark peaty covered in weed perfect for hiding crocs. Boarding the boat with a few other passengers we head off down stream within minutes a water monitor is spotted on an overhanging tree, kingfishers dive for fish the river and its Bank bustling with wildlife. Further down river mighty elephants are abundant along with hippo, buffaloes and many crocodile my wildlife count for ... read more

I had been to Botswana before, during my first ever backpacking trip when I was 21 and travelled from Nairobi down to Cape Town over three months. On that occasion, in 2001, I crossed over from Zambia and visited Chobe National Park before continuing into Zimbabwe. I remember that Botswana was quiet, relatively affluent, and full of wildlife. I discovered 22 years later that thankfully it hasn’t changed much. Although, if I had visited Gaborone back then I might now be telling you that it had changed a lot. The country, and Gaborone especially, have been developing rapidly, which has driven a construction boom. Therefore, construction materials are needed, especially sand – the most mined mineral in the world. And where does the sand come from? Often from ephemeral river systems (they flow only once or ... read more

AFRICA THE SUN GOES DOWN After two days in the guesthouse, we packed the Big Red bus and headed into the Namib desert. Towering red sand dunes dwarfed us. Six Rings, our new campground, was named for the Sesriem Canyon. This gorge was purported to be six whips deep, the number of thongs needed for the settlers to get water out of the pools of water in the canyon, thus the name Six Rings. After lunch, we began to climb one of the enormous dunes to capture spectacular photos of the sunset. The sunset walk proved to be too strenuous for me. Everyone scurried up the dune except me. I dragged myself up. I was alone. There was no trail, just a view of the top of the dune. I picked a path that looked the ... read more

I have to admit, we may not jump continents every quarter anymore, but I'm still solid late with my blogging. Travel is a state of mind...and when it's not easy to cross oceans, you always have some cool places to visit closer to home. I was fortunate enough to visit Victoria Falls area close to ten years ago...but Tanya hasn't done it yet. Last time, it was an in and out short trip mainly to the Falls. So today, the priority is actually about Chobe National Park in Botswana...a first for both of us! Covid means less flights in the region. British Airways is back to Victoria Falls from Joburg....but that's it. Airlink fly all over the place, but in small planes. The reality of it...once your expected flight on Airlink is slightly full...the price of ... read more

The bumpy (wet) road to the Okavango, but boy was it worth it We woke up at our wild camp to the most amazing sunrise over the salt flats and made our way back to the main road and headed into Maun which is the gateway to the Okavango Delta. We stopped for a good lunch and a re-stock of provisions and fuel and made our way toward the Delta. The road degraded quickly into really bad corrugations that slowed us down and shook the car to kingdom come. Eventually we made the gate to the Okavango and we went in. The first thing to note is that it is very woody and the second thing is that there are ENORMOUS puddles up to ½ a metre deep everywhere and the water is brown or grey ... read more

Beste meelezers: wij zijn alweer thuis, hier het slot van onze mooie reis. Intussen heb ik overal foto's bijgezet. Er staan ook al 2 filmpjes in: Kijk in blog 2 naar ons helikopteravontuur. Volgende filmpjes gaan de komende tijd komen. Kijk dus nog eens een keertje. Wij hebben genoten, ik hoop jullie ook van onze verhalen en foto's! DINSDAG 01-10-2019 19e Vakantiedag Vandaag gaan we dit park weer verlaten. De nacht was wat onrustig: deels door het nog herbeleven van de middag, deels door het geluid van de onafhankelijkheidsfeesten, er was tot 7.00 uur muziek uit het dorp te horen! Eerst maar koffie, sap en een pannenkoek, boeltje opruimen, afwasje doen en dan zijn we reisvaardig. Uitgezwaaid door onze Zuid-Afrikaanse helpers gaan we op weg. Bij de gate van het Makgadikgadi ... read more