Botswana
Our border crossing from South Africa, where we picked up our truck for safari, to Botswana went smoothly. We had pretty short wait times and could even pay for our entry fee into Botswana
with a credit card. All the agents on the South Africa side and Botswana side were happy and smiling. What a treat compared to customs and immigration in and out of other countries. The
entry into Botswana was nice because you cross a one way bridge over a beautiful river so it feels like you have officially changed lands.
The drive was peaceful and low stress, which was a smooth transition for driving on the opposite side of the road and car. The highway was an open and well paved with long stretches between
gas stations. Our GPS referred to paved as tar. Which was awesome to hear because when she said "turn on to 4wd main track" you knew you were in for a treat.
The occasional large town would have great grocery stores and gas stations, but a liquor store was about impossible to find. The surroundings were mostly sand and desert with tons of game
reserves, safari lodges, and sanctuaries along the way. Also, there were no shortage of donkeys roaming about...so many donkeys.
Our first night in Botswana we stayed in Khama Rhino Sanctuary near Serowe. We had a great time exploring the sanctuary. We saw so many animals for the first time in Africa, so it made this
portion of the trip all the more exciting. The animals we saw included: giraffe eating dinner, wildebeest standing in the roadway after a blind curve, white rhino covered in mud , warthog
digging up the ground, kudu and impala everywhere, and zebra traveling in large groups. To travel through the sanctuary was dusty and sandy with bush overhanging the trail in the less traveled
areas. The map we brought from the reception was crap, so thankfully or GPS had the trails on it. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure we would still be driving out in the bush somewhere.
Camping at Khama felt like our first night on safari. We enjoyed the sunset as we came into our site, #6, for the night. Once the sun was down the stars were amazing. We had wildlife pay a
visit, luckily nothing that wanted human for dinner. It was dark but they appeared to be deer like, maybe a bushbuck. We also had to put up with the moths, which we lovingly named 'bird moths'
because they were huge. They seemed to love whiskey and coke and ruined 3 drinks with their wing dust from doing the back stroke in our cups. Really didn't help my already slightly irrational
fear of moths.
Next we camped multiple days near Mababe at Dijara Camp. It was an amazing experience! The drive in was rough and rugged (4wd main track), even by Colorado standards. It was a long way from
pavement, but so worth it! As we arrived, the host showed us to our campsite, #12. As we pulled up and hopped out of the truck, he said "ooh, look, you already have visitors" pointing at the
hippos about 25 feet behind our site. As the mild shock of 'we aren't in Kansas anymore' set in, I heard him say something about "they won't bother you. They like to be in the water during
the day and possibly graze your site at night. Just don't get near them in the water." No problem! We enjoyed listening to the Hippopotamus groan and grumble as they ate and chatted with their
buddies throughout the day. They would eat the grass growing on the water's edge by taking large mouth fulls, ripping and pulling big chunks of earth with it. We were warned of the elephants that
will come very close to camp but don't usually come in and the mischievous monkeys that love to rearrange anything you leave out in camp.
Brian was great at pissing off the elephants in the area. They seemed to be a cranky and irritable animal. Brian was taking photos from a good distance away and the elephant decided he was done with said photo shoot. The elephant puffed his ears up, shook his head, locked eyes with Brian and started on a collision course. Brian quickly moved next to the truck to appear larger and the bully decided to move on. I was doing laundry at the time so he came to see what I was up to. I joined Brian at the truck, I surely didn't need clean laundry that bad.
The monkeys the host mentioned must have been code for hyena... We had a freaking hyena walk into camp after dark and try to assert himself. We had just read the visitor's log that day and someone was referring to, Naughty, the hyena that come into their messy camp. We were sitting, eating at the campfire. We had the plates we were eating off of and the pot with seconds in it. I had done all the other dishes while dinner cooked. Our camp was clean. Brian said "I think there is something in camp." Pointing with his light, as my headlamp went the same direction we saw his rounded, yet fuzzy ear. Then his sturdy, well fed body appeared. To our feet we went. It was less than 10 feet from us. We started yelling trying to scare it off. Brian asked me to put the pot away, as he stood guard, so the hyena wouldn't eat our dinner and then us next. I happily obliged. Yelling and slamming the doors on the truck only made him slink away about 30 feet. Finally, after honking the truck's horn he left his alone. About thirty minutes later we heard another campsite a few miles away shouting and honking. Sounded like he was making the rounds that night.
Another random Dijara experience included the "what the hell" birds. I swear to you that the birds in the area were saying this phrase on repeat, especially at dusk. I believe it was actually
some sort of dove. Or maybe a mild mental break down.
The reception area of Dijara also offered great wildlife viewing. It had a cozy deck overlooking a river. It made for a relaxing place to journal and enjoyable place for animals to feed.
The ablutions were slightly unusual, but perfect. The bathroom were constructed out of logs for posts and green nylon wrapped around to create walls. Inside the flush toilet was off set to the
opening, so no one could easily see you (you know, out in the middle of no where). Even more concealed was a bucket shower. You fill the bucket with water then use the pulley system to lift it to
a shower head height. Attached to the bottom is a shower head with a valve that controls the gravity fed water. The water was cool, but the sun was hot so it all worked out. You had to be sure
the shower mat was in place because the floor was sand held in place with mesh. The faucet for dishes or hand washing was gravity fed from a large green container. The color and texture of the
water made it obvious that it wasn't potable.
If the wildlife, relaxation, and unique ablutions aren't enough to sell you on this place, then maybe the sunsets will convince you. Every night the sky would change from purple, to pink, then to orange with the trees silhouetted on the horizon. Seriously, you must go!
Inside Moremi Game Reserve the rangers were great. They made great suggestions of drives. They suggested driving to the hippo pools and then driving along the river. Most of the drive was hard and with lots of bush. The spar trails were more overgrown and had softer sand, but really provided you with a sense of being on an "African Safari". I would only suggest the spar trails if you have a great GPS and a fairly capable vehicle. At the hippos pools, we ate lunch near two crocodiles. By near, I mean a good distance, but they are crocs. They definitely knew we were there and they kept an eye on us the whole time. We saw many animals including cape buffalo, monkeys, mongoose, ostrich, zebra, and giraffe. We really loved this part of the safari. We would go back to Moremi again.
We also drove through Chobe National Park. It was our route across Botswana toward the Zimbabwe country line. We started in Mababe and made our way to Kasane, Botswana. We were hoping to be able
to camp in the park, but Brian's research found it to be way outside of our budget. Unfortunately, it seemed this park really only wanted to cater to the wealthy. It seemed many would fly into
the airport in the park, then be taken to their camp (some were upward of $500/night) in a safari touring truck where there were manmade waterholes. We did see animals at the start of our
drive, but as the landscape became more dry it made the lodges watering holes the easy option for the wildlife. We could not go to the watering holes as they were private resorts. If we had
more time, I think the ancient rock painting would have been nice to see. Or maybe we will hit the lottery and stay in the park next time.
The drive through Chobe felt remote and quickly began to look like sand dunes. The drive was long, hot, and dry. The sand became deep, thick, and washboarded. We were thankful to have the option
of 4 low and lockers on occasion. It was exhausting, but pretty in its own right.
Once in Kasane we chose to camp at Thebe River Camping. It was located on the river. The camping was reasonably priced, maybe some of the cheapest this far. We had intermittent Wi-Fi in the
restaurant/bar. Our family at least knew we were alive. The employees, locals, and visitors from elsewhere were all super nice. The food was good and the drinks were cold. I ordered the chicken
special, having no idea what might show up. It was great! Basically, it was chicken breast rolled up and filled with peppers and onions and covered in BBQ sauce. It was served on a potato cake
and a side of steamed veggies. Brian loved his pizza after about a week of camping. He did not love the local beer, but my whiskey was poured in a fair fashion.
Bonus to this location was the proximity to the prison. Yes, you heard me right! We heard this very loud noise and commotion outside the campground walls, it was the prisoner escape alarm and the
apprehension of the prisoner. All the regulars at the bar just laughed because apparently this was commonplace and most prisoners come back every night because they ate better in prison then on
their own.
We loved Botswana! I would go back in a heartbeat. The landscape was beautiful, people were kind, and wildlife was plentiful. Botswana is often seen as one of the most stable countries in Africa,
so for this reason I believe it created an environment where the people were happy and prospered. Everyone should visit Botswana, if they haven't yet!