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

[Tom Kellie]

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.

 

~ @@KaliCA

 

Thank you so much!

Your trip report — both the commentary and the photographs — does have the comfortable feeling of being taken along on a particularly personalized guided tour.

You have the knack for laying out the details of your experience such that the reader enjoys it, as if at a windowside seat.

The price is right, and there are no insect bites or bumps in the road, as you handled all of that for us!

Tom K.

[KaliCA]

Post 13

 

Tom, thanks for you nice comments and come along, as there are no biting insects and I'm driving.

 

 

 

Xakanaxa to Khwai, Saturday, October 4

 

We took a game drive south of camp and got lost a little, so that we were late to meet our travel mates and they were a little worried. Many of the tracks marked on the Roodt map were impassable due to mud and high water, so it was hard to find a way to get to Dead Tree Island. So we never got to see that area. However, we saw plenty of giraffe in the soft morning light.

We had a late BF along a very nice pond. Next stop was hippo pool hide where we noticed the water level to be much higher than last time we were there. There were many lechwes around the pond as well some large pods of hippo in the water.

Later we had lunch under a tree taking a break from game driving. We saw what seemed like thousands of lechwes on a field of green that looked like a golf course. At one point, a hippo running out of water spooked a herd of lechwes who ran off. There was also a huge ellie bull eating dry grass very close to our car. The area along the river had a lot of good game all around and we were well entertained.

When we checked into Khwai campsite, a game driver was sharing his lion sighting close to camp and he was nice enough to drive out again to show us where to look. How nice is that? Some guides are extremely helpful to self-drivers, while others keep the goodies to themselves and for their clients.

This was a really hard-to-see lion sighting. Remember that you must bring good binoculars in order to appreciate sightings that are far off or obscured by brush. On and off we saw glimpses of two females, three cubs and one sub-adult male, walking through tall golden grass, the cubs chasing each other, the females watching alertly.

At one point a few zebra walked right in front of the sleeping lions and only one female paid it any attention at all.

We waited a long time for them to move around more, but not much happened, so we left the spot after sunset and made it back to MK 1, the first site in the complex, andsadly, not one along the river. There were baboon barking around our site and feeding in one of the trees nearby.

It was our turn to cook and we had sausages for dinner with rice, creamed corn, and salad. Also, I had the pleasure of cleaning out the blood that had leaked from meat packages into our cool box. Yuck and double yuck, but some housekeeping needs to happen even on a camping trip.

After my shower, DH came to the ablutions with a flashlight and to accompany me back to our site, just in case, as I have had an ellie encounter last time at Khwai after dark. How thoughtful was that?

Many people take their shower during the day in order to avoid walking from campsite to the shower block after dark.

I had a good-night sleep, except early morning I heard a baboon baby cry and somehow, this made it into my dreams and gave me a nightmare.

 

Khwai River, Sunday, October 5

 

We woke up well rested, although I was woken up a few times during the night by hyena whining and an ellie trumpeting loudly. Later, in the ablution block, I heard a girl talk about a hyena stealing their gas connector in the next site over. Is that what I had heard?

As you have found out by now, it is not easy sleeping in the bush, separated from nature only by a canvass tent. There are so many noises that one can't place and some people start to worry about, what if....

Also, early morning is a very noisy time as many birds start to chirp, screech, or coo, long before sunrise. So, I recommend that if you really need to sleep, bring along some ear plugs and you will get your zzzzzzzzzs.

We started our game driving past the outer ablution block and kept on taking the left turns, all the way up past the Mataba lodge on the other side. Later in the afternoon, we turned around and did the same tracks again going back, taking all the right turns. It was quite easy navigating along the Khwai river. Also, game along the river was very, very productive and we only saw ONE other car all day long. Khwai is now a favorite game driving spot for us.

These are the sightings from this day:

6 ground horn bills grazing

2 crocs

20 buffalo

18 Ellies crossing the river and taking mud and dust baths

2 ellies sloshing into river

Hippo mother with baby out of water

Hippo eating grass at river bank

(Lunch was had very late: 3:30) because of

A mad Ellie

2 lionesses close to a hide where babies were said to be

Herd of waterbuck with 2 stags.

8 giraffe

 

Highlights: while driving, DH spotted one lioness walking downhill through golden grass and then another one getting up and hiding behind a termite hill, out of sight. So we drove along a track to find her and there she was sitting very alert and eyeballing us with those amber eyes. After a few minutes, she got up and more or less followed the other one down the hill. Both disappeared into tall grass, then bushes, then into a tree island.

We were wondering if those two were hunting as their were Impala running away, and whether they are the same two lionesses we saw yesterday with the youngsters. A guide had told us about a sighting of the three cubs in the vicinity of the hide across the river and the lionesses were surely walking into that direction. So maybe those two were the mothers of the cubs? just guessing.

I do a lot of guessing of what's going on with animal behavior and I'm quite certain that many times I'm projecting and humanizing their behavior. Don't we all do that? Then again, how can we help it, since we are only human and this is our experience?

 

Back at camp, while preparing food in the semi-darkness, our friend exclaimed, "Oh look, a dog!" but it was a spotted hyena walking into our campsite, past our fire pit and out the other end. You just never know who might come visit.

None of the camps in Moremi are fenced so you have to be vigilant and alert when moving around camp and cooking. We always wear headlamps and our Hilux had an excellent built-in light on its side. Our friends' car did not have such a light and we all missed the extra illumination after dark. Having unfenced camps adds an element of excitement and adventure to the camping experience.

 

Moremi to Audi Camp, Monday, October 6

 

As I crawled out of the roof tent, DH reported seeing a lone wild dog running through our campsite when he was on his way to the ablutions. Sorry, but this sleepy head missed it. Again, expect the occasional wild animal running around your camp. Remember, that we are the visitors and we are invading their territory.

We left early to go back to Black Pools where we had seen so many herds of game before. Our friends wanted to spend all day in Maun shopping, so we were going to meet up again at Audi Camp.

We drove down to South Gate along the straight-as-an-arrow cut road, turned right into the Third Bridge road and turned left into the Black Pool road. We had BF at the picnic site where a giraffe greeted us while browsing around the sausage trees and where two hours later, someone saw a leopard!

Many sausage trees to hide in. We saw herds of wildebeest and zebra, hippos and a breeding herd of many many ellies on the road. We had to be patient and waited until they finally moved. Ellies always have the right of way.

Then there was another amazing ellie sighting by a pool where two separate breeding herds with many little ones came to drink and did their mud and spa thing. There is something so special and almost religious in the way a herd approaches water with that spring in their step, outstretched trunk and body language of anticipation. Very emotional to watch and both me and DH had tears of joy in our eyes as they reached the water. We had a great vantage point across the lagoon, from which to observe all the playing in the mud, the spraying, the lying down and swooshing the head around, the drinking with glee, the warm interaction between mothers and calves....

On the way to Hippo Pool, a nice man told us about seven sleeping lions under a bush. Some people are just so friendly!!

Sure enough, we found them without a hitch. Question remains, would we have found them on our own as well? It's fair to assume that the lions were the same ones as from our first trip to Black Pools as the Unyati Loop was really close by. How big is a pride's territory anyway?

 

By twelve noon, we had to leave and made our way to South Gate, signed out, and went to Riley's Garage to refuel, bought some dinner at the Spar where we ran into our friends who were shopping there as well. Back at Audi Camp, we got our same tent again, I swam in the pool, while DH downloaded pics and videos. Then we both took showers, did some laundry and BBQed some steak outside on the Braai station during sunset. Nice and quiet. No company tonight, as our friends went to eat at Audi camp restaurant.

[ReiseBeate]

CaliCa,

 

what absolutely beautiful pictures! And what interesting stories!

What a great trip.

I feel enviousness.

 

Beate

[KaliCA]

Thanks, Beate, good to have you come along.

 

Anybody know what kind of big birds those are? Had just one shirt glimpse before they were gone.

[KaliCA]

"I'm watching you, and you have no idea!"

[KaliCA]

Post 14

 

Khwai campsite number 1.

[KaliCA]

Most times during our trip, we wound take tea along in a thermal mug, have a few rusks or cookies and then around 9 am, find a nice spot along a game driving track to have a bigger breakfast. We have had BF with lions, zebras, hippos, ellies, giraffe etc and it's a thrill every time.

Here we are close to Harry Hippo's pond.

 

[KaliCA]

More pics from around Khwai.

 

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

Back to Black Pools

 

[KaliCA]

Could we have seen theses lions without a tip?

[Peter Connan]

@@KaliCA, your mystery birds are Wattled Cranes.

 

Love the LBR photo, great timing!

Edited July 5, 2015 by Peter Connan

[Sverker]

Thank you, CaliCA, for a great trip report!

 

Question: you started the trip in Namibia, not in Botswana or South Africa - why?

 

[KaliCA]

Peter, thanks for the bird ID. Learned something new. Never seen those cranes before or after

 

 

@ Sverker. The reason we started in Windhoek is because we wanted to end with Etosha and Brandberg, and not pay extra for a one-way rental. Also, KTP is close to Namibia. I found a great provider in Windhoek and the price per day for a Hilux 4x4 was fantastic.

Maun and JB prices tend to be much higher per diem.

Conceivably, you could start and end in Maun, but there are a lot fewer choices for car rental providers.

[KaliCA]

Post 15

 

Audi Camp to Nunda Lodge, Namibia, Tuesday, October 7

 

Today is our last day in Botswana and we have a long driving day ahead of us in order to reach Namibia. We had BF at Audi, then left Maun to undertake the drive up the panhandle to reach Nunda Lodge in Namibia before dark. We made a brief stop at Ngami Lake to see the seasonal fishing and met a local man who had battery problems with his boat. Bad luck, but we could not help him.

According to the guide book, there is not much to see along the way, so we drove up the panhandle to the border without stopping. At the border, we bought some baskets and crafts before leaving Botswana. We crossed into Namibia, after having completed some paperwork at both border stations.

I have good memories from our first visit in 2012 to Mahango NP in the Caprivi Strip and I wanted to repeat the experience. This park lies right at the border between Botswana and Namibia. There is a drive-through road and there is a river front game viewing road.

We turned right into the riverfront road of Mahango NP in order to game drive up to Nunda Lodge. We saw some sable antelope far far away together with zebra. Further up were baboons, vervet monkeys, hippos, and elephants as well as impala and warthogs.

At 5 pm we left Mahango Park and checked into Nunda Lodge, my favorite lodge so far in Southern Africa. Our friends preferred to have dinner at the lodge, while we had dinner at campsite number 6, not quite riverfront, but nice. Hippos were snorting in the river and it was great seeing the setting sun reflected in the river with birds flying across the fading light.

 

Nunda Lodge and Mahango NP, Wednesday, October 8

 

We had a late BF together with our friends and then drove about 10 km south back to Mahango NP.

We went out game driving along the river, but were dismayed to find many access spots blocked by logs. So there were only a few spots where we had a good view of the floodplain where all the game hangs out. We did see hippo and ellies as well as impala, baboon, and warthogs, and even Nyla antelope with a baby.

The highlight was spotting a majestic black sable as well as six roan antelope. Those were the two species we had wanted to see in this park. In addition, there were a male and female ostrich with their brood. Very cute.

 

The waterhole, some 10 km inland, yielded some close up ellie encounters with drinking and spa action. The riverfront was not too busy, but there were lechwes, buffalo, hippo, and ellies.

I like the small park, but DH is not too fond of it, because of limited river access and thus less photographic opportunity. If you come to Mahango from Etosha and before visiting Botswana, it will give you a taste and prelude of wet Botswana, as you will see hippo, crocs, buffalo, and lechwes, animals that are not present in the desert setting of Etosha.

We had fruit and whipping cream at the last pull-out stop, then went back to camp for pool and resting time. Later, we went out again for sunset and golden light time. Then we had an elaborate schnitzel dinner at Nunda Lodge as well as chatting time with our kids through the lodge's wifi.

The owner of the lodge said it was 42 degrees C today and Namibians call October the "suicide month"as it gets so hot and humid along the Okavango River. There are several lodges situated below Poppa Falls. We returned to Nunda Lodge for their pool, their lovely garden, the riverfront camping, as well as for the hospitality of the owner. They also have bungalows and a small gift shop and offer boat tours on the river where two years ago we saw lots of Hippo and crocs. Highly recommended.

 

Nunda Lodge to Bushbaby lodge, Thursday, October 9

 

We left Nunda with our cool box not having worked all night. Oh no! Warm yogurt and cheese. Even though our car has a dual battery system to keep the cool box running at night, it had somehow malfunctioned.

(When renting a car equipped with a cool box, always ask if there is a dual battery system. We were clueless about that on our first trip and every evening and all through the night when the car was not running and we had no power point, the food in the cool box would warm up and only cool down again, once we drove off. Not healthy for meat and dairy. This is especially important during dry season in Botswana).

The Caprivi drive was mostly uneventful, except that we visited a small patch of farming plots using drip irrigation. (DH's former business), saw Angola on the other side of the river, and stopped at a school, talked to the principal and gave him some pencils for his students. The students in their blue uniforms watched us curiously and asked some questions. Problem is that when I asked him what the school needs, he said,"We have everything, except clean water for our students." Oops, pencils won't fix that. Wrong gift!

We did some grocery shopping at the Spar in Grootfontein. We had decided that from now on each party would buy their own food as our friends thought it got too complicated with sharing. So each party shopped for themselves this time and it was much easier that way.

We got to Bushbaby lodge and started our stay with more souvenir buying at their gift shop and then, to our delight, we were upgraded from a tent to a bungalow under trees and moved in. It was a nice place, except that the room smelled heavily of reeds and varnish.

In the evening, we noticed our friend talking to a woman on the porch, and it turned out to be their friend from their town who is a geologist for Kombat copper mine. How nice for them that she came from the mine about an hour's drive away to visit with them at Bushbaby Lodge!

We introduced ourselves and all of us then drove up to the lodge restaurant located high up on a hill and right away noticed rhino at the waterhole surrounded by cows. How odd!

We met three local Namibians, all employees at the mine and we had a lively dinner at BBL with very interesting company. We learned a lot about cattle raising, farming, racial tensions, living with wildlife etc. The woman arranged for us to go visit the copper mine the next morning. We had a good nights' sleep at our little bungalow and we were looking forward to visit the mine in the morning.

 

Bushbaby Lodge to Namutoni, Etosha, Friday, October 10

 

There was a nice BF included with our stay at the lodge and sadly, rather than enjoying the grand view from the balcony, we had to move inside because of the cold wind. We left BBL to go find the world famous meteorite that our new Namibian friends had recommended we go see. After about 30 min. driving, we found the meteor site (small entrance fee) where we stood on top of the biggest piece of metal in the world from outer space. Cool!

The sign nearby read in English and in German: "Watch out for falling Meteorites". Yeah right!

After that, we found Kombat town which is where the copper mine is located as well. It's a compound with everything the mining employees need: housing, a store, a school, healthcare, gym. A small village which sadly lay dormant as the company was looking for a 5 million dollar investment to have the mine produce copper once again. Too bad we forgot our check book at home!

The three miners were expecting us and gave us a nice tour of the mine which has not been in operation for six years, but is kept up by our new friends.

We also saw a green/yellow chameleon, a first for us and found some copper ore containing rocks around the premises. The three people were extremely nice to us and gave us an informative tour about tunnels, shafts, huge cranes and other very impressive equipment.

After that enjoyable and out of the ordinary visit, we were off to Tsumeb, (another mining town) had lunch at the park, did more souvenir shopping at a Crafts store, before heading north and signing in at Namutoni for a six day visit in Etosha park.

We were assigned campsites next to each other. After a short break, we went game driving around Fisher Pan, no luck, until just before sunset, we saw two spotted hyena at Klein Otevi. One was running away and the other one was lying by the waterhole while many giraffe came very reluctantly down to drink. We also saw an ellie in the last golden sunset light.

DH made hamburgers on the fire. We ate two and the other two that we were saving for lunch were cooling off by the grill station. All of a sudden a sly jackal appeared and started eating the burgers through the grill master grid. It all happened so fast, we were too stunned to defend our food. So we let him have the rest of it as well. Oh well, there went lunch.

After dinner, we made our way to the lit up water hole and through the binos, I could make out big and small lions coming and going in the back of it. There was roaring and snarling going on as well. Might there be a kill in the back of the waterhole?

[KaliCA]

Namibia, Mahango NP, Okavango River floodplain

 

Last craft store before you cross into Namibia.

 

[KaliCA]

[KaliCA]

The only roan and sable antelope we found in Mahango NP, Namibia.

[KaliCA]

Nunda Lodge, a favorite stop-over, oasis along the river.

 

[KaliCA]

Bushbaby Lodge, convenient stop-over from the Caprivi to Etosha.

[KaliCA]

Scenic driving in Namibia.

[KaliCA]

Etosha NP, Namibia

[KaliCA]

[Marks]

Well I've certainly had my work cut out for me in catching up, as this thread has expanded!

The bateleurs in post #26 are some of the best I've seen.

Love the elephant at Nxai Pan and the windswept kudu in post #60.

You have a knack for catching silhouetted birds against the sun!

 

 

 

Haha, what an expression!

The lioness mid-stretch in post #86 is another funny one.

 

Glad you were not struck by a meteorite.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Marks