My future predicted by a Sangoma Part 2

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5 -12 July 2010

Continued from previous blog My future predicted by a Sangoma Part 1



Day 5 – Half day mokoro trip or fishing for tiger fish.

On day five at the delta there was a good chance that we could get very close to hippos, even though we hadn’t seen the one that had wandered around our camp the previous night. The morning was taken up by our mokoro trip, a dugout canoe. We were quite excited, because we have always wanted to experience this age old tradition of travelling on the waters of the delta. We’d heard many stories from mom and dad about their time in a mokoro and the fun they had. A slight disappointment that the mokoros weren’t made out of wood anymore, now more likely fibreglass, but it stands to reason that they want to preserve as many of the trees that are left in that area. There were three of us in a mokoro: the guy that punted the mokoro from the stern with a stick, Paul and me.

The sensation is one of utter peace. We tunnelled our way silently through the reeds and tall swamp grass. Floating here and there, were water lilies, and in the gaps between the lilies and reeds, the water, crystal clear. Such an abundance of plant life! We kept our eyes peeled for unsuspecting submerged hippos and crocodiles. Our trip continued serene and interesting, with not an animal in sight. Not even a baby croc or hippo.

After a while it gets uncomfortable sitting in the same position, but we had an interesting walk on one of the other islands. We were shown a huge elephant print, and were explained the uses of some of the plants growing in the delta – hats, eye drops and necklaces (see photos).

In the afternoon the men went fishing for tiger fish. Unfortunately very little was caught, except the nose of one of the guys in our tour group. Fortunately the hook was removed without too much hassle, but it must have been excruciating.

The sunset cruise on a smallish speedboat was very interesting as we navigated our way through the channels with impenetrable walls of papyrus on either side. These islands of papyrus drift around, channels being formed in different areas from time to time. This time we saw huge crocodiles and thankfully we were in a motorised boat so if need be we could get away quickly, but they were happy being lazy and absorbing the last rays of the sun.



Day 6 & 7 – Maun for restocking and refuelling, then to camp just outside entrance gate at Moremi Game reserve.

We had to leave the island and go back the way we came. The first few hundred meters was the same water crossing that we had done a couple of days ago. It didn’t look like the level had dropped at all. One by one we went through the water, with strict instructions: keep the engines running at all times and keep your momentum. Unfortunately very few vehicles didn’t get stuck and we were one of the few. Most of them limped out of the delta and some needed to be recovered as they dismally failed at becoming submarines.

Once again we stocked up at Maun and then headed towards Moremi, a popular wildlife park. Some of the vehicles that had struggled through the water were gasping and spluttering as they continued south to Maun. One of them couldn’t go any further and had to be left in Maun.

After Maun we stopped along the side of the road to wait for everyone to catch up and I had fun showing one of our books with photos of wild animals to some of the kids sitting in the dust. They spotted it first in our door and started chanting: Li-on….Ze-bra…. So I showed them more. It didn’t sound as if they understood any English, so I continued my English lesson. As we drove away, they waved us on with a perfectly English farewell: Bye!! Enjoy your ho-li-day in Botswana!

Camp had been set up near Southgate on the borders of Moremi game reserve. Even though this was outside Moremi, it is still quite wild. We were warned not to walk around at night on our own, when we went to the ablution blocks, as on occasion lion have been spotted there. There were a few kids in our group so the parents wisely kept them within the circle of adults but when it got dark they shoved them into their vehicle where they could sit and watch DVD’s until they fell asleep. Luckily they were exhausted, so it didn’t take them long.



Although we would spend two nights there, we would only have one day in the wilderness reserve. This is too short a time, in my opinion. There are no escape routes if you run out of time – you have to make it back to the starting point. We found the game at Moremi disappointing, apart from the elephants. It felt as if we saw more at Khama Rhino sanctuary at the start of our holiday. Perhaps it was just that we had limited time and rushed through the reserve and maybe it isn’t a fair assumption on my part.

We had three young men from our tour group with us in the car, whose vehicle was one of those that was drenched from the water crossing at the island camp northwest of Maun. Their vehicle was parked outside Southgate, because it had staggered and choked along since then, with the electronics saturated. Not even a can of WD40 would have helped. Not a good idea to enter a reserve with predators, in a vehicle that could die at any moment.

Because of all the floods as well, there were rickety makeshift bridges that we needed to cross. The bridges are made of poles, often with a couple of gaps or holes. Some were acceptable and easy to cross. Others could easily cause your vehicle to lie on its side with you submerged in water if you took the wrong line.

On one such occasion we were frantic to get back to the gate because we were well past the point of no return and it was running late. We had to continue forwards instead of backtracking to the gate because it was the shorter route. Just a hundred meters or so before, we were mock charged by an elephant bull who then decided it was too much effort to pursue these tourists in their metal box. We had reached a large expanse of water and we couldn’t see the way forwards. The men, my husband included, decided to scout the area to see where we could cross. My words to them when they returned were “Besides the odd elephants on the other side, did you know this is crocodile territory? And have you forgotten about the odd lion that could be lurking behind the long grass?

As men do, they laughed it off, but by the expressions on their faces, I don’t think the thought had crossed their minds. We managed to work our way through the water safely and by this stage a few more vehicles from our group had gathered behind us, each wanting to take their turn. Although we were safely on the other side of the water, we couldn’t continue. We had come across another obstacle. Not only were there just the odd elephant. There was a whole herd of elephants and they chose the path across the road where we had to drive. The bull, a hundred meters back, that decided to leave us alone, obviously knew the rest of his family would sort us out. We weren’t about to get between the larger matriarch and their babies. We thought it prudent to wait.

By now one of the other vehicles had made its way through the water and radioed us to ask what the hold up was. He couldn’t see past us and the trees. So we told him about the elephants. Of course in his bravado, he didn’t want to let a few elephants keep us, so he decided to go ahead because we needed to get back to the gate. He promptly squeezed past us through the veld, between trees and bushes and then abrubtly came to a standstill in front of us. He hadn’t realised how many elephants there were and reason took over. He decided to wait until the area was clear enough of elephants. Eventually we headed back to the gate but by this stage it was getting quite late and close to gate closing time. We rushed the last stretch and therefore couldn’t really see any more animals. Even if we had seen a pride of lion, we still wouldn’t have had enough time to have a decent look at them.

When we chatted to others from our group who drove through the same area but at different times, towards Xakanaxa & Third bridge, where we were, they had spotted lion and leopard in that area. Just goes to show!

That night at camp a honey badger came to visit. It was right behind our chairs! They sound so sweet and adorable, and they are, unless they are trying to get to something and you are in their way. They bulldoze their way through anything when they are on a mission to get to some food they want and their sharp teeth would leave a nasty wound. I sat quietly but fortunately he wasn’t interested in getting past us. Later when we were sleeping, however, was a different story. He knew there was food in the crates where Shorty and his team had prepared food. The badger had caused havoc to get to get the crates and ammo boxes that contained the food and had knocked them off the vehicles and bitten through the plastic.



Day 8 Convoy turns south and say goodbye.

The last morning we said our farewells to our group and decided to spend the last night in Serowe at a motel. We looked as bad as our vehicles and needed a bath or shower or both, to rinse off at least some of the dust before we headed back to civilization.

We left via Groblers bridge border post to return to South Africa. It was an unforgettable and unique trip, one that I wouldn’t have missed and that contained so many highlights. I certainly was enriched by this trip, maybe not monetarily, and the so called visions from the Sangoma were certainly true. We definitely saw mighty water and a fair amount of animals.



A couple of bits of useless information:

We were a convoy of 20 vehicles. That is too many, in my humble opinion. The last few vehicles struggle to keep up with the frontrunners. I would say 10 vehicles maximum for a convoy, and only if you are used to dealing with such a big group.

Driving in Botswana and most African countries can have its interesting moments. One must always be on the lookout for donkeys, cattle & pedestrians. Tar roads at that stage were good, but as soon as you approached the main towns and certainly in them, one had to be very alert.

Botswana has foot and mouth disease controlling points where they check vehicles and spray the wheels of the car. They also have control points for meat and dairy products. They will confiscate your juicy steaks if they find them! We were aware of these pointers, as we were warned by our tour guide.



NB. Please remember to look at the other pages of the blog containing just photos.



If you've missed part one, here's the link again: My future predicted by a Sangoma Part 1

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