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Published: September 26th 2010
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Saturday 25/7/10
Our final day on the Baz Bus and unfortunately another full day, we clambered on with a few extra bags following our recent purchases. With a quick stop in Nelspruit for lunch we arrived in Joburg for our predeparture Kumuka tour.We met our new crew Tour leader Celia, Driver Jay and Cook Henda and the fellow eighteen passengers a couple Germans, Canadians, Brits, a South African, and a shit load of Aussies. We followed the advice of our soon to be truck driver and headed to a local Portugese Restaurant with Robby, Nicole, Mark and Caz for dinner. Then retreated to the dorm ready for our early start the next day.
Sunday Day 1 of Kumuka Southern Highlights Tour
Up at 5.30am we did our best to sneak out of the dorm quietly and pack our stuff into the truck. After a truck orientation to Matilda (she was no Barbara ) we hit the buffet for breaky. Then we hit the road. Within ten minutes Henda (our cook) was desperate for a toilet stop! Not quite the start our driver was hoping for! Back on the road again. Another stop to stock up on supplies at the supermarket,
a roadside lunch stop and we pulled into Mokopane camp with just enough daylight left to erect our tent. First night Carly’s group were on cook group but Celia and Henda were happy to whip up a massive carbonara and salad themselves. We tried out the local brew St. Louis (a new favourite) and hung out with our new group. After a fantastic dinner that I unfortunately Carly couldn’t take credit for we hit the bar for a game of pool.
Monday
A super early start we scrambled out in the darkness at 4am and were glad to be experienced tent pack-a-pers already (from out previous African overland trip) on the truck by 4.30 for just a bit more sleep. It was freezing ! But the second consecutive long drive day cruised by reading, napping, chatting. Another roadside lunch (still plenty of carbonara after a first night pasta miscalculation) we arrived in Maun to Sitatunga Camp late afternoon. We took the opportunity to organise our day packs for our Okovango Delta trip and made a packed lunch for the next day whilst some went on a tour of the crocodile farm. Then it was time for Bush Gym II!
But this time under the guidance of Jay (our driver). Feeling the effects of six weeks of travelling already we powered through the deyjavu circuit in the shadows of a professional triathlete, marathon runner and the hulk! After showers and a well deserved beer we tucked into a bar meal of BBQ chicken, creamy potato and coleslaw. A few springboks later and we called it a night we another early start!
Tuesday
Breaky at the bar and we piled into safari truck with all our supplies for the next couple days. Along a sandypath to the launching point for the Okovango Delta. Each pair was greeted by their mokoro ‘poler’ for the next couple days. The mokoro is a traditional wooden canoe used for getting about the delta (one of the worlds largest's wetlands!). Nowdays a lot of the traditional mokoro’s have been replaced by fiberglass as the wooden version take around fifteen years to grow on a ‘sausage tree’ and only last around five years compared to the long lasting but expensive fiberglass. Hence we were pleasantly surprised when our poler Dutchman loaded our gear into a wooden makoro lined with grass. He set up our sleeping mats
and we kicked back in the morning sunshine taking in the serenity as ‘Dutchie’ skillfully maneuver us through the reeds. We stopped at an island for toilet stop and to admire some fresh elephant and rhino prints. Back aboard we were happy to stay dry as our fellow traditional makoro passengers were soaked through!! We the arrived to our bush camp and tucked into what was left of our packed lunch (we’d got a little hungry on the ride!)We retreated to the tent for a power nap which turned into a sleep (after too many nights with too little sleeps). We rejoined our crew in time or a short walking safari. After a short mokoro trip we arrived at island we’d stopped at earlier that day, divided into three groups and we set off under the guidance of Mr. Jacob. He stopped to point out adavak holes, prints, poo and plants. We cruised back to camp for a delicious dinner of perfectly cooked steak, garlic bread, creamy mushroom sauce and roasted butternut pumpkin washed down with some red wine.
We sat around the camp fire chatting with our polers until we realized we were the last ones up. We went
to bed secretly hoping some animals might stumble across of camp site during the night.
Wednesday
Disappointed to have no night visitors we had a quick coffee and were back aboard the mokoro’s for our morning game walk. After another short trip we arrived at a new island and returned to the groups from the day before with no more expectations than another poo and print tour. A little over half an hour into the walk we came across a small herd of zebra to the absolute delight of our fellow crew and if that wasn’t enough a huge elephant was lingering in the distance. We moved in closer genuinely gobsmaked at stumbling across an elephant as he too moved in closer, pulling down a couple tree’s for breaky. We watched the lone elephant roam across the plain as we congregated on a huge termite mound spotting another three groups all fixated on the elephant who seemed unfazed by his audience. The zebra’s a bit photo shy maintained their distance so we carried on our individual ways. Jacob then pointed out a scarily fresh lion print, we looked at each other slightly nervous as our new adventure's took pictures
and Jacob promptly lead us back tp the mokoro’s past a pile of fur (at least the lion wherever it was, wasn’t hungry!).
Back at camp we were treated to an amazing brunch of scrambled eggs, bacon, cheesy sausages, tomato, beans and toast! Stuffed! Jez decided to try his hand at poling quickly discovering it’s a lot harder then it looked. We made our way to the water hole for a very refreshing dip!
Back to camp we played cards and dried out in the sun. Another quick swim and it was beer oclock .
Then it was time for our sunset mokoro trip, we jumped aboard with our cask of red and took hundred of photo’s as our poler’s joked amongst themselves. We stopped to watch the magnificant sunset from one of the islands. Our polers raced back to camp our man Dutchie coming in a impressive second place. That evening we had another delicious meal this time beef stew and rice. The pole’sr concluded the night with some traditional song and dance.
Thursday
After breaky we packed our gear back into the mokoro for one last cruise in the delta back to the launching point to awaiting
truck. We thanked Dutchman for his excellent poling (we’d stayed dry !) and patience with all our photo’s and jammed all our gear back on the truck. After a big group photo and lots of farewells we made the journey back to Sitatunga for some unpacking, repacking, lunch and a well needed shower!
We headed into town for the rest of the group to do the flight over the delta (which we'd done last time) whilst we headed to an internet café. After battling for half an hour with the frustratingly slow internet managing to send just a solitary (I am alive email) we gave up returning to the truck entertained by Jay on the G-tar!
The others returned stoked with their flights and hit the road for the three hour journey to Planet Baobap Camp (somewhere between Maun and Kasane). It was an entertaining trip as we spotted elephants, rare rhone antelop, warthog and zebra’s along the way both reinvigorated with excitement of others seeing these amazing animals for the first time. We rolled up to Planet Baobap a very funky campsite, with cow hide seats, beer bottle chandeliers and coke can mirror frames well after dark. Being so
late we scored another bar dinner and as it turned out it was Carly’s cook group ...scored again! We tucked into the burgers and chip and chilled out in the groovy bar.
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