Self-Drive Safari in Botswana, South Africa, and Namibiab

[KaliCA]

Boteti River pics

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

Khumaga Camp, Friday, September 26

 

Elephant Day!

We were up at first light, made some coffee and tea and we were off game driving. First off, we saw three baby jackals by the Hippo pool marker. So cute and curious. Then a very young giraffe staring intently at us, many zebra, kudu and many many ellies in and out of the river, bathing and cavorting.

We had lunch under a semi-shady tree while watching ellies bathing in the river. Is there anything more entertaining?

Later, there was a small herd of ellies feeding in the water on a green patch of leaves. Then we parked in the shade of a bush and watched one Ellie and many zebra come down to drink.

The Boteti river is a nice change from the desert, with its flowing water and greenery all around. It was also fun to watch and photograph many water birds and ducks that were new to us.

At one point, we followed a game driver to look for lion at Hippo Pool, but were not lucky. We found 19 ellies, in and around the river. On the way back, we saw some vultures in trees then made gate time by 6:30. We showered and then ate dinner prepared by our friends which was salad, hamburgers, and mac and cheese.

[Peter Connan]

@@KaliCA, this report is really heating up now!

 

I read a slightly humerous but also concerning report the other day of a party of four vehicles crossing that same ferry, where the price kept getting higher for each vehicle (much higher than the figures you mention).

 

One of the guys then walked across and found that although the water was not too deep, the ferry oeperator had dug a ditch in the middle to stop vehicles driving across. He then walked across 20m up-stream, found no ditch and thus just drove across.

 

I say concerning because hither to Botswana had been one of the few southern-African countries not afflicted much by the scourge of corruption, and I do hope that they can prevent it from taking hold, as dealing with corruption really sours such a trip.

[KaliCA]

Wow, what a story! Funny and enterprising to dig a ditch under water to keep people using the ferry. When we were there, the water level seemed much too high for a crossing. You are so right, corruption does sour a trip, but when you get home, it makes for a good story to tell. I have one getting out of a fine by paying the official with cans of tuna fish, close to Kruger, in your neck of the woods.

Glad you are reading along!

[KaliCA]

Post 11. On to Nxai Pan

 

Khumaga camp to Nxai Pan NP, Saturday, September 27

 

After BR, we discovered that our tailgate latch was broken and it kept the tailgate locked so we had no access to drawers, dishes, and dry goods. So both men started working on fixing the problem and had to remove the panel, the cool box rigs as well as the spare wheel fasteners. They were finally able to unlock it and then rig it back with a wire for easy lock/unlock action.

So luckily, we did not have to return to Maun early, as we had feared at first.

We had a very late BF at camp, then packed up and headed for the hippo pool loop again. We watched two ellies go into the river, as well as small herds of wildebeest, zebra, and kudu. On top of the riverbank, there were two more ellie stops. One was with about six bulls resting in the shade of a tree, all calm and quite close.

At the jackal den we turned into the track that lead us out of this park via 23km through thick sand and many bumps to the Phudhuhudu gate. We checked out of Makgadikgadi NP at 1 pm and had a pre-made sandwich in the shade of a tree before continuing.

We then drove 10 km east on the tar road before reaching the Nxai Pan gate which was not manned. We signed in anyway, and then continued on a very sandy, corrugated track to South Campground. We felt really secure in our vehicle knowing that those new mud tires a little deflated would get us through heavy sand without problems. Botswana is just so blessed with sand!

 

Just before the office, we saw, to our great surprise, an elephant bull and then many more at the waterhole by the office. Who knew there were ellies in Nxai Pan in September?

We found NX 5 site, a nice spot close to the fortified and gated ablution block. They must have had Ellie problems breaking into water sources, so they made the new ablution block ellie proof with spikes all around it.

And there was another surprise: through some bushes, we saw an ellie drink the grey water from the septic tank. He had to go down on his knees in order for the trunk to reach far down into the tank. Quite a show.

After a snack of canned fruit cocktail and whipping cream, a favorite treat in the bush, we left camp to go find the waterhole. We sat there for half an hour without any animals showing, so we drove around for 20 minutes and this is where I learned a big lesson about patience.

Because I chose to drive around instead of waiting, (yes, it was my idea and DH indulged my wish) we missed a big black-maned lion drinking at the waterhole. Later, we saw him sitting under a tree quite far off and then he walked away, never showing his face to us. Very upsetting and frustrating to have missed the biggest Kalahari black-maned beauty yet, all because I had no patience. Lesson learned!

Then ellies came to drink and proceeded to do their spa show, while I videotaped the lion walking away into the distance.

Back at camp, DH cooked his best chicken on the Braai yet, while I made mashed potatoes with onion gravey and green peas. Very yummy.

There was no light in the BR so I took a shower by flashlight. There was no animal activity in camp other than lion roaring in the distance. Always love the sound of that and falling asleep was not easy.

 

Nxai Pan, Sunday, September 28

 

I felt I needed to redeem myself and show patience by sitting at the waterhole for as long as it took to see a predator. We got to the waterhole before sunrise and sat there and waited for hours. First, the ranger lady came to the hole and walked around it, evidently checking its water level. She then went to the pump and we heard it kick on.

Then came the parade of animals. It started with Guinea Fowl, many small birds, springbock, Impala at sunrise, springbock as well. (This is one of the few places where you can see Impala and springbock live together) I kept scanning around for cats and then, finally, I was redeemed.

Looking north, I spotted a younger male lion walking up the ellie path towards our car. A magnificent animal, all golden and clean with huge amber eyes. When he was closer I spoke to him and said, "Good morning Mister Lion". Well, this lion knew about cars, but not "talking cars", so he stared at me with huge eyes and raised eyebrows, or so it seemed, then ran back a few steps. I could not believe my stupidity.

But to my relief, he hesitated and then came back, walked behind the truck to the waterhole and started drinking. He had a beautiful face with a golden mane and the onset of some black mane. He drank for many minutes, then a small herd of wildebeest arrived, and golden boy decided to high-tail it and ran off. Twice a scaredy cat!

I was so elated to have seen such a beautiful lion at this waterhole. My patience had finally paid off.

Later, there were many ellies at the small waterhole near the office taking turns to drink and play in mud. They are so civilized taking turns and there is no shoving and pushing despite the tiny amount of water present. Very impressive.

After BF, we drove some tracks and loops and found some nice size Baobabs, good, so we don't have to especially drive out to see Baines' Baobabs. By this time, I was getting tired of driving through all that deep sand.

Before returning to camp, we went to find our friends' sighting from earlier. In the early morning, close to camp, they were met with 7 wild dogs running on the road and they followed them to their resting place. We found them easily. There were four puppies and three adults. Our first Wild Dog sighting (in the wild) this trip. There was not much activity because of the midday heat, other than panting and switching places a few times. The evening light saw us back at the waterhole and there was general game and 2 different giraffe drinking. Nice.

 

Nxai Pan to Audi Camp, Maun, Monday, September 29, Eve of Botswana Independence Day

 

We got an early start before sunrise, but no special activity at the waterhole. We went back to camp for BF, then one last sitting at the WH, then bye bye Nxai Pan you have been good to us with your ellies, wild dogs, and two lion sightings. I think two days in the dry season is enough time for Nxai Pan, mostly because there are only two pumped waterholes.

We drove back to Maun, about one hour's drive and went meat shopping at the Deli by Riley's Garage, then shopping at the Spar supermarket. It was very busy because of the up-coming holiday and it was annoying with so many people inside the small space.

After that, we checked into Audi camp again, pool, shower, then by 7:30 we went out to dinner over at Island Safari Lodge. We had chicken wings and pizza and the food made us feel bad. Reminder: do not order pizza outside of Europe, as they don't know how to make them right and the cheese is always wrong.

The wifi was free and we chatted with our kids for a while. Always good to know that everybody and everything is fine.

Had a a good night at Audi, because I shut out the annoying barking dogs with earplugs.

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

Nxai Pan pics

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

Post 12

 

 

Audi Camp Maun to Third Bridge, Moremi, Tuesday, September 30

 

We had a 7 am BF at Audi restaurant and then we were off driving on Shorobe Road to Moremi Game Reserve. Peter had reserved space at three camps well in advance and this was our second visit to Moremi. We still had the map by Veronica Rodt called "Moremi"and it shows most of the game driving tracks and also GPS waypoints. The problem is that since this map was created, Moremi has seen a lot of high water and many roads that look fine on the map are not passable in reality, because they are under water. Always ask the Rangers about flooded roads and they will mark your map with detours.

It all looked quite familiar, the buffalo fence, the left turn, the shocking state of the road.

We entered South Gate and signed in, then drove up to Xinji Lagoon and then all the way back to Black Pools, a newly opened area. This was an on-the-spot decision, but we wanted to check out this place new to us.

We were impressed with the scenery we encountered: very, very nice lagoons, date palms, and herds of zebra, wildebeest, hartebeest, and ellies, some hills and valleys. We had lunch at Hippo Pool with a few hippo for company.

Our friend got a hot tip about sleeping lions at Unyati Loop and off we were, adrenaline rushing.

We found them easily. The jumbled bunch of fur looked like three females and two young males. They were mostly sleeping, once in a while some lifted their heads and yawned, and lioness got up to change positions. Sadly, after only 20 minutes, we had to leave them in order to reach Third Bridge gate in time, as we were still far south from our campsite.

Thanks to GPS and some signs, we eventually found our way north to Third Bridge, and we made it into camp just after 6 pm.

At Third Bridge they mandate now three parties to one campsite and this is now called "sharing" not overbooking! We were sharing with two Swiss guys who let us use their hot coals for our BBQ dinner. Nice!

We had site number 5 under big sausage trees and we tried not to place the cars directly under them as I had been warned that ellies and baboons will come and feed off these trees. DH and I cooked pork chops, spaghetti, and salad. Very yummy dinner. Nevertheless, DH had stomach problems at night and needed to leave the roof tent twice at night to reach the BR. Luckily, he reported no incidents with animals during his trips.

Be aware that there are no fences in the Moremi camps. For us, this is one of its charms and attraction. For others, it may be a little disconcerting to camp in the midst of wildlife, especially at night.

 

Third Bridge, Wednesday, October 1

 

We got up early to drive the Mboma Island loop in the golden morning light. It was not productive, many tall reeds and almost no game. Disappointing.

Went back to camp for BF then drove across Third Bridge which was a challenge as the bridge was half under water. However, we made it across without incident. Then we drove to another sandy island before reaching Xhoro road and doing the Bodumatau Loop to Bodumatau Lagoon.

There we found a great BF spot along a lagoon with a lonely hippo that kept an eye on us constantly bobbing up and down. Along this loop, we encountered many Hippos, general game, and giraffe.

Our friends had come back to camp early afternoon, but could not get set up as our site had been invaded by a breeding herd of ellies who stayed around for two hours. They left many "presents" around our campsite.

Back at camp our friends made dinner, which was hamburgers and beans.

All together, the area around Third Bridge was rather disappointing for us as far as game viewing was concerned.

 

Third Bridge to Xakanaxa camp, Thursday, October 2

 

We crossed Third Bridge again, this time with our friends and it made for a nice video to record how they crossed this rickety log bridge. We chose to drive along Xhoro Road again. We had BF at our lovely spot along the lagoon, with lonely Harry Hippo. We could not find a dry crossing into the inside loop, but we found more hippo; a few of them were out of water and making their way back into the safety of the lagoon. I may have better video now that I am using a monopod to stabilize the camera.

When we reached Xakanaxa, we settled into the same spot we have had two years ago, XA 4, with our friends taking the spot further back. Both spots are right along the swampy reed area with ellie paths evident. Last time we had two ellis visits at midnight.

DH and I went game driving along Paradise Pool and it looked quite familiar with its termite mounds and many dead trees. There were sizable herds of lechwe and some king fishers, as well as a lonely ellie bull finding its way into the swamp.

Later we had fruit and whipped cream by the same pool where ellies surprised us last time. It's quite nice to have special memories about certain spots in this park.

Earlier, we had arranged to take a boat ride at 4:30 pm from a concession stand located at the beginning of the camp site. There is a second concession at the end of the campsite as well. We had asked three German tourists to join us. They were happy to come along as you pay per boat, so the more people, the lower the price per person.

The evening boat ride was quite nice, but the captain drove around more in open water and not as much in the canals as was the case during our last boat ride there. Other than birds, we did not see any animals, however, the sunset was spectacular. It was a different experience from two years ago, and now we can say that we have seen the Delta by land, air and water.

At bedtime, our friends discovered that their self-inflatable mattresses were missing and probably got lost at Third Bridge. and they were thinking of going back to Third Bridge in the morning to look for them.

We cooked a late dinner for all with chicken, potatoes in foil, and green beans and ham.

 

Xakanaxa, Friday, October 3

 

It was very quiet sleeping at Xakanaka, so we got up later than normal and had BF at the same spot as yesterday by the lagoon with Harry Hippo number 1. Harry number 2 cooperated with us later on in a different pool and did a lot of yawning, in an aggressive way, as well as pooping and lunging himself half-way out of water. This should make for some nice shots.

Luckily we got lost a little and after correcting with the help of GPS, we came by two game drive vehicles parked under a sausage tree. Why was it lucky to get lost? My DH pointed to the tree and here is the transcribed conversation:

DH, "There he is."

Me, "What? Where?"

DH, "There he is."

Me, "What do you see?"

DH, "There he is."

This shows how easy it is to lose one's mind when encountering a LEOPARD! It was a magnificent animal, (but aren't they all?) standing in the fork of the trunk looking out, breathing heavily with open mouth. We managed to get some good shots, before he went higher up and lied down in a fork. Then he got agitated and moved even higher into the tree. The vehicles left at this point, and asked us if we had seen the second leopard that walked our way. What? We missed another one?

But at least we had the one right on top of us. I could just make out his spots on the rump very high up in the sausage tree.

All of a sudden, he got spooked and came down the tree at high speed, before high-tailing it away to the other side from us. Wow, it was over so fast, but what a great sighting with some action.

Back at camp, we heard the story about the missing and then found mattresses and our friends were overjoyed at their good fortune to have found them at the ranger station in Third Bridge where a nice camper had deposited them at the ranger station. Good job, anonymous fellow camper!

The roof tents come with a 5 cm thick mattress, but for us older folks, the extra 3 cm of an self-inflatable mattress under it, gives it that added comfort.

The good news was that we did not have to cook and we had cold hamburgers and pasta salad for dinner. Had a good shower and then up to bed and falling asleep with the wind blowing across the reeds in the swamp.

[KaliCA]

Did I say I love lions? Love them, love them, love them. And Leopards... And ellies... Actually even birds. Moremi is a great spot for bird lovers. Unyati lions.

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@KaliCA

 

One gem after another!

I hadn't read your trip report until today. What a pleasure to read and to enjoy these terrific photographs.

Although I'd probably never do a self-drive that didn't lessen my enjoyment of your description of each day.

The sheer variety of photographs is impressive! You observed and photographed so much, and had a great time while doing so!

The photos above each stood out to me for various reasons. All have that certain special ‘something’ which bewitches.

Thank you so much for providing Safaritalk with such a lively trip report and great photographs!

Tom K.

[KaliCA]

Boat ride at Xakanaka.

[KaliCA]

Lots of hippo in the Xakanaka area.

[KaliCA]

Thanks Tom, for your kind words and encouragement. I have never posted a report before and it's certainly great to know that people enjoy reading along and finding pleasure in our animal shots. After having been on safari a few times, it becomes more of a challenge to find that "special something" and recording the sighting in a new, fresh, and maybe inspiring way.

So it seems that the squirrel with the melon has hit that benchmark. He seems to be saying, " Hey, I may be in the Kalahari, but I got me a MELON!"

Good to have you along and we will do the driving for you. Just sit back and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

post-47216-0-92129900-1435723137.jpg post-47216-0-57111200-1435634011.jpg post-47216-0-49121900-1435882734.jpg post-47216-0-72862000-1435426329.jpg post-47216-0-94918700-1435723729.jpg post-47216-0-76065400-1435883774.jpg post-47216-0-99501500-1435723364.jpg post-47216-0-61688100-1435961940.jpg

~ @@KaliCA

 

One gem after another!

I hadn't read your trip report until today. What a pleasure to read and to enjoy these terrific photographs.

Although I'd probably never do a self-drive that didn't lessen my enjoyment of your description of each day.

The sheer variety of photographs is impressive! You observed and photographed so much, and had a great time while doing so!

The photos above each stood out to me for various reasons. All have that certain special ‘something’ which bewitches.

Thank you so much for providing Safaritalk with such a lively trip report and great photographs!

Tom K.

 

post-47216-0-92129900-1435723137.jpg post-47216-0-57111200-1435634011.jpg post-47216-0-49121900-1435882734.jpg post-47216-0-72862000-1435426329.jpg post-47216-0-94918700-1435723729.jpg post-47216-0-76065400-1435883774.jpg post-47216-0-99501500-1435723364.jpg post-47216-0-61688100-1435961940.jpg

~ @@KaliCA

 

One gem after another!

I hadn't read your trip report until today. What a pleasure to read and to enjoy these terrific photographs.

Although I'd probably never do a self-drive that didn't lessen my enjoyment of your description of each day.

The sheer variety of photographs is impressive! You observed and photographed so much, and had a great time while doing so!

The photos above each stood out to me for various reasons. All have that certain special ‘something’ which bewitches.

Thank you so much for providing Safaritalk with such a lively trip report and great photographs!

Tom K.

[KaliCA]

Sorry, don't really understand how to quote etc. so my response needs to go below or the junk that shows up?

[penolva]

Love the memories your photographs bring back of Moremi. Only 9 weeks until we go back and your great TR helps pass the time until then. Looking forward to more! Pen

[Tom Kellie]

Sorry, don't really understand how to quote etc. so my response needs to go below or the junk that shows up?

 

~ @@KaliCA

 

What I do when quoting is to click the quote button in the lower righthand corner.

When the quoted material appears in a box, I may delete certain parts within the box so as to highlight other parts.

I also tighten the space by deleting empty lines where they appear to serve no purpose.

The tools in the toolbar facilitate making text bold, or in italics or with color.

When that's completed, I position my cursor on the lefthand side below the quote box.

In so doing, my comment will appear below the quoted text, thereby conceptually relating to what's displayed above it.

One needn't do any of that, as it's according to taste.

When I joined Safaritalk 3.5 months ago there was a shaky initial period wherein I was unable to work out how to post photos, use quotes or highlight text.

I hope that this might be of use in coming to grips with the quote function.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Love the memories your photographs bring back of Moremi. Only 9 weeks until we go back and your great TR helps pass the time until then. Looking forward to more! Pen

 

~ @@penolva

 

You're returning to Moremi?

In early September?

Great!

I hope that these weeks of waiting will be tolerable.

Tom K.