10 days in Joburg

Saturday 17 July to Monday 26 July

Lockdown Day 478 to 487

10 days in Joburg. We came back to get our second vaccine and see the family. We've been in Lockdown for over 16 months now so we are looking at options for traveling further afield. This time last year we had been locked down at Ximongwe with Ronel and Johan for four months. We were loving the warm winter weather, the bush, our day trips into Kruger and all our cooking. Who would have thought we'd still be locked down a year later? 

Botswana Trip July 2021Boteti River and the long way back...

Monday 12 July to Friday 16 July

Lockdown Day 473 to 477

It's not too far from Maun to Boteti River Camp. We arrived with most of the afternoon to spare; a great opportunity to rest and catch up on social media. On Tuesday we left early for a day trip into Magadigadi NP. The ferry took a little longer than usual due to quite a wind blowing us off course. The polers hadn't attached the rope across the river.

The migrating zebra were still adundant and we saw great vulture groups and lots of jackal. We followed lion spoor for some time without luck.

On Wednesday we drove across to Elephant Sands; another early arrival and a relaxing afternoon.

As usual the elephant visited all evening. 

Thursday was an earlier start with a drive down to Francistown for the PCR test. We had to stand for 2 hours in an outdoor queue! We spent the night in the Cresta Hotel in Payalape; ordering room service.

The border posts were so deserted it felt eerie. Due to all the unrest in in SA, we stopped to stock up on some food at the Spar in Vaalwater and cruised into Gauteng about 4pm.

Botswana Trip 2021: O Bona Moremi, Khwai, Botswana

Thursday 8 July to Sunday 11 July

Lockdown Day 469 to 472

And we're on the road again, heading north up to Khwai. The road to Khwai is so much better than the road into South Gate, Moremi. You pass through a few small villages and just before you get to the village of Khwai, you will see the signs to O Bona Moremi. What a superb tented camp with great staff.

We are the only guests and so we are given the honeymoon suite. Three nights in luxury.

Neil usually prefers driving himself but we are really enjoying our twice daily game drives with Mox. We bump off-road tracking leopard, wild dogs and lion. We did see the lions and wild dog with pups at the den.

We spent one day in Moremi NP,  entering at North Gate. We saw a lot of game and wonderful birds.

Next time we are really going to spend a lot more time up at Khwai. On Sunday, as we were heading out of Khwai, we bumped into Mark and Andy on the road. What a complete chance. We had communicated a week before and they had driven down from Savuti, where they had had no data or phone reception for almost a week. We went for coffee at there camp.

Mbudi Campsite has very remote sites on the river. It was great to catch up. Chatting and chatting; before we knew it it was after 2pm and we had to get going to make it to Mochaba Crossing before dark. Beauty and her team were here to welcome us back again. We settled in at the lounge, jumped onto the Wifi, opened our own wine- no alcohol sales in Bots at the moment- and I am finishing my post and catching up on admin and comms. Botswana is amazing. There are very few tourists, prices are good and life in the bush with no Covid worries is just great. I really recommend it. Just get on a plane or get in your car. It's a once in a lifetime oppurtunity. We are heading back to SA for our second jab and then we will probably return for a few weeks. Come with us. You won't regret it.

Botswana Trip : July 2021 : Drotskys Cabins, Shakawe

Monday 5 July to Wednesday 7 July

Lockdown Day 466 to 468

Maun to Shakawe takes 5 hours because the A35 has to be the worst road in Botswana, possibly in Southern Africa. It's more pothole than tar and you have to keep veering off onto the sand shoulder so you don't disappear into a gaping hole. In a Landcruiser it's do-able and we are very glad we aren't towing the caravan. This road heads out to the Mohembo border with the Namibian Caprivi. The ridiculous thing is that Bots is building a magnificent bridge over the Okavango River at Mohembo ( there's currently a ferry ) instead of repairing the road! We stayed two nights at Drotskys Cabins. This was a trip down memory lane as we had camped here over 20 years ago with a group of friends.

The new lodge is very much smarter but the old bar and campsite is unchanged.

I shared photos with the old crowd on What's App and we shared lots of stories and anecdotes about that trip. Everyone remembered the snakes. Especially Steve, who walked back to the camp in the dark without a torch, using his camera flash to check the path for snakes as he walked along. And sure enough we came across a huge snake in the path as we walked back to our cabin.

Neil took a photo of it and we identified it as a Cape Cobra on Google. Lodge manager Pete said it was only an Olive Grass Snake though, when we showed him the pics. We are both still in shock. 

We did a boat trip on the Okavango River.

The birding was great and we saw a Pels Fishing Owl. The Tiger fishing was less successful, although we did catch three big Barbel, which our guide Otto kept to eat.

Gert found the old photos of our previous boat trip. 

On Wednesday we returned to Audi Camp, Maun to overnight en route to Khwai.

Botswana Trip July 2021: Rakops River Lodge, Central Kalahari and Audi Lodge, Maun

Friday 2 July to Sunday 4 July

Lockdown Day 463 to 465

There's no self catering accommodation in the Central Kalahari NP so we opted to do a day trip from Rakops River Lodge. The lodge has self catering chalets and campsites but it's a bit run down. They do offer meals but we were happy to braai. It's a full day of driving in and out of Central Kalahari.

We had heard from quite a few other travelers that the game viewing and predator sightings haven't been that great lately so we went to check it out for ourselves. We saw mostly springbok and oryx and a family of bat-eared foxes. This helped us decide to skip Tau Pan Lodge and rather head back up to the Okavango. Back to Maun for a quick stop at Woolies and Beef Boys and on to Audi Lodge this time and a Sunday 

rest day.

The en-suite safari tents are spacious and well appointed, the outdoor lounge and pool area is very comfy and the WiFi is fast. In Tent A1 you can pick up the WiFi but the downside is the noisy party crowd is quite close by. Luckily on Saturday night their Klippies and Coke ran out before I was ready for bed. It's Sunday night and it's so quiet. That's what happens when you drink all your holiday booze on the first night in the middle of a lockdown with a ban on alcohol sales! We had a chilled day and I got to update the blog.

We cooked a delicious massaman curry and roti on the fire.

We are enjoying our wine while we still have a few bottles stashed in the cruiser.

Despite our sadness and anxiety due to the impact of Covid on so many friends and family and in so many ways, we are well and content.

Botswana Trip June 2021 - Homeward Bound or not... Sitatunga Lodge and Khama Rhino

Monday 28 June to Thursday 1 July

Lockdown Day 459 to 462

We drove out of Moremi and as soon as we picked up a data signal we got the news that South Africa has gone back to Lockdown Level 4 and that Gauteng's borders are closed. Neil and I are staying in Botswana for a few more weeks now. Denise and Natalie have to head back for work. More quick shopping in Maun and out to Sitatunga Lodge. This is another great place to overnight in Maun with chalets or camping. Their bar is still closed but I can imagine the great vibe when the campsite is full.It's sad to see these places so empty.

Tuesday's drive was a long one down to Khama Rhino Park. We are in Chalet E, the best location and with a great braai area next to our own baobab tree.

Natalie and Denise went into Serowe for PCR tests on Tuesday and we had to pop back on Wednesday to collect the printed certificates. 

On Thursday they returned to South Africa and we drove up to Rakops River Lodge. It's the 1st July. That's half of 2021 gone. Scary stuff. The good news is that South Africa has started vaccinating the over 50s.