Botswana & Caprivi Strip
To me Botswana was two things, Kalahari and Okavango Delta. Of course it is a lot more than this but that’s all I really knew what with my small brain. As we had already crossed parts of the Kalahari in both South Africa and Namibia our main priority here was the Okavango Delta. The Okavango River which is fed by many other rivers which flow down from Angola and empty themselves into the sand once a year making everything green and feeding all the flora and fauna. These waters do not reach a sea or ocean but instead feeds the life which springs from the desert.
We took the Trans Kalahari Highway from Namibia and entered Botswana. We had been warned about speed camera cops and I thought I had heeded this advice… and yet within fifteen minutes of entering the country I was caught and fined $82! Ouch! Iva too was fined but for a lesser amount as she was caught doing a slower speed, but they agreed to reduce hers even more once I cracked some jokes. After recovering from this painful and costly lesson we continued (within the limits) to Maun, which is a town that sits on the edge of the Delta. From Maun I took an hour scenic flight over the Delta. It is a lot drier this year than it usually is this time of year. It seems everything is drier than usual, drought I believe is the word. The small plane flew at 500 feet and I was able to spot a hundred or so elephants and lots of Wildebeest and Hippos and even some Crocs.
The next day Iva and I took a Mokoro, a small canoe with a poler (as in Venice) who acted as our guide and we entered the Delta for an overnight camping trip. There were Elephants, Giraffe, Hippos and Zebras roaming free everywhere and we could walk near them but only at a safe distance. Of course there are Lions and Leopards here too but apparently they stay away from humans. Thanks be to Jeebus, I am not a very fast runner... At one point we walked out of some shrub only to be confronted by an Elephant. He started trumpeting at us and flapping its ears in anger and then charged us straight on. Our panicked guide at once turned to us and shouted RUN! And we did. Our guide then stopped and tried to scare him away by clapping and shouting. The elephant darted off to the side. We made it to a Mokoro on a small stretch of water and the Elephant began to continue its run in an attempt to out-flank us but some Delta locals managed to chase him away. It was exhilarating! I know you are not supposed to get a kick out of being charged by an elephant but I certainly did... Iva, like any good tourist mid attack, took some video which just captures the beginning of the second onslaught.. It wasn’t a fully-grown Elephant but a young teen male.. Isn’t it always the way, angry young men with energy to burn off. The next day we returned to Maun via mokoro and 4X4 seeing lots of Hippo and a water Buffalo along the way, both very dangerous, the number one and two most killer animals in all of Africa.
From Maun we went north on some very deeply potholed roads and back into Namibia to what’s known as the Caprivi Strip. The thin sliver of Namibia that oddly juts out of its Northeast and connects it to Zambia. Once across the border we were once again immediately on a dirt road and in a park with wildlife around us. Zebras, Boks and Elephants darting in front of our bikes. After 12 km of this slightly rough surfaced road we took a turn off for 4 km of deep soft sand track to get to Ngepi camp. It’s really hard to negotiate the soft sand when laden down with so much weight.. Iva fell a few times but it’s all good when going so slow and you fall straight onto the sand. But the hassle was worth it. Ngepi is a campsite over-looking the Cubango River, a beautiful location with tree huts built open facing the river. But being the cheapskates that we are we opted to pitch our own tent. We set our tent next to a piece of sand that went down to the water. The kid who showed us there said that Hippos sometimes come up there from the river at night to eat the grass around the campsites. Iva didn’t hear him or believe it once I repeated this info to her but sure enough at 9 pm I heard a ‘scrunch scrunch scrunch’ as a giant mammal could be heard grazing next to our tent. I poked my head out and sure enough there she was, a giant Hippo mowing the lawn around us. Amazing!...She didn’t seem at all bothered by us and ate for half an hour before being chased off by rock throwing camp security. I didn’t get a photo, Iva was afraid taking photos might provoke her, and sure my tent is made from durable material but I doubt it could hold off a trouncing 3000 lb Hippo.
After Ngepi Camp we headed East along the Caprivi Strip and its National Park, Elephants and wildlife on the side of the road. The Zambian border was a nightmare, five different desks to pay five different agency fees, immigration, customs, road toll, insurance (even though we have a policy that covers Zambia) and something else I don’t even know what it was. Let’s just call it freedom to leave this Bureaucratic shit fee. It all took two hours and we had to pay some of it in Dollars which we did not have. We had Zambian money but they would not accept that. I got into an argument with them as to why they would not accept their own currency in their own country. Anyway we eventually got through…..