The loud roar of a lion across the river woke us up in the morning. Yesterday evening the rangers have alerted us about 3 male lions walking towards the direction of the camp. But we didn’t come across any. We packed our tents in the morning and went in search of the lions near the camp in the direction of the water hole. It was an unsuccessful search.
Later on we drove towards the marsh were we saw the lion pride yesterday. On the way someone informed us that there is another male lion in the pride and is seen near to where we saw the others yesterday. So we decided to have a quick look at it before proceeding towards the Okavango delta. We could find the male lion near to where we saw the other male and the lioness yesterday. The pair was also nearby. So the day started with a good note.
There are two routes from Savuti towards North gate campsite of Moremi NP in the Okavango delta. One fork along the sand ridges and the second one along the Savuti marsh through Mababe depression. Both roads join together about 30 kms from the Mababe gate which is the entrance to the Moremi NP. Since we were already in the Savuti marsh we decided to take the route along the marsh. I had some doubts about the track conditions since it has already rained in the region but the tracks that we drove till now in the marsh was alright.
Towards the end of the Savuti marsh we almost lost track. But a ranger who came there along with the guests showed us the right direction to proceed. After a quick breakfast we proceeded toward the Mababe depression. After a while it became quite clear that the going is going to be tough. We couldn’t see any new tracks of vehicles in the route we were travelling which is clearly not a good sign to begin with. The track became more and more difficult to drive as we proceeded further. At many places there were deep muds which made the car dance around like a ballet dancer. The tough conditions were making me also tired. I tried to keep as fast as possible to keep the momentum to come out of the mud once we got dragged in them. But I was also careful not to drive too fast so as not to have any damage to the car.
Probably I was too slow, as just about 3-5 kms before where the road joins with the other road through sand ridges we got stuck in the mud. All the four tyres were deep inside the mud that when I accelerated the mud formed a layer around the tyre making it absolutely grip less. We lifted the tyres one by one using the high lift jack and stapled broken pieces of tree branches that we found around. One disadvantage (among many others) of getting stuck in a marsh is that you can hardly find any rock or tree branches around. We somehow managed to pull the car out of the mud only to be stuck again a couple of meters ahead. The car had absolutely not enough momentum to pull it out of the mud track. With the help of high lift jack, low range gear and diff lock we somehow succeeded to pull it out the second time. But it got stuck again less than a meter afterwards.
It was really frustrating. The heat, absence of any shade, working with the heavy high lift jack, the ever slippery muddy surrounding, all made us too tired to work any further. We got stuck the first time around noon and after trying 3-4 hours we gave up. More over the place we got stuck the third time was much more filled with water and mud that the two previous times. We decided to call for rescue using the satellite phone that we rented. I had a list of numbers of all campsites that we planned to stay, together with the emergency number from the car rental agency in Windhoek and also the agent in Maun (McKenzie) that we used to book the park permits. Off all the numbers that we had only McKenzie agreed to send someone to help us out. But they are coming from Maun and that means we have to wait at least a minimum of 3hrs before they come. And that only if they manage to reach us without getting stuck themselves. I took the coordinates of our location from the GPS and informed them where to find us and also the track which we took to travel from Savuti.
I told the Lady that if they don’t find us by 5 pm then we have to set up the camp here as afterwards there is no way we could travel further in the dark under these conditions. Nobody came till 6 pm and we set up our camp here. We have unloaded the entire luggage from the car to reduce the load so as to assist in pulling out the car. Now we have to put them all back before dark. We had our dinner there and pulled up the tent afterwards.
It was pure wild camping. With the car with a roof top tent sitting in the mud. I didn’t mind as it is beautiful here. There is a herd of zebras at a distance surprised by our presence in this no man’s land. The sunset was beautiful with the sky at its colourful best. We put our chairs in the bush and settled down for a beer watching the beautiful African skies. In between we heard a lioness roar from a distance. That was a bit scary as it is bush land all around us and there is no way we can see any game approaching us through the bush. Still we decided to sit there and enjoy the beauty of nature. That was the best camping experience we ever had.
In between I asked the Lady about how things are going on between us. I told her that I feel more distant to her now than how we were before. She said it is true and she felt weird when I tried to hold her hand before. I think that set the tone for the rest of the trip. It was wrong on my part to let it happen. It also surprised me as we were never “just travel buddies” as she said. We were not “just friends”, we were more than that. She knew it too. When did all that change? I don’t know! I might never know! I judged her wrong all these times. I should have stopped at being just a friend than anything else. And now I might have lost one more friend. Or was she my friend at all? Am I going to miss her? I don’t know. Only time has the answer. I think I will be slowly disappearing from her life just like I had from many other people. And for her I will end up as the “the weird guy/friend” who went to Kalahari with her once!!!
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