Day 19: Khumaga Campsite -> Dqua Qare Game Farm

It was a long drive today. When we started from the Khumaga Campsite the weather was not so attractive. It rained all the way in the forenoon. On the way to the park gate the only animal we came across was a lonely bull. Somehow I felt a mix of emotions. I felt like it was there to say good bye to me. I stopped the car and stayed there for a while just watching him.  I was wondering whether I will ever be able to come back to this beautiful continent. I literarily said good bye to him and moved towards Maun. Our destination was the Dqua Qare Game Farm near to Ghanzi.

While entering the outskirts of Maun I ended up paying for a speeding ticket. I had always been careful not to cross the legal speed limits in this trip though I love driving fast. Somehow I lost the concentration and ended up doing 70 kmh in a 60 kmh zone. I had to pay 300 BWP as fine. I was angry with myself afterwards for that.

We stopped at Maun to post the postcards and then proceeded towards Ghanzi. The Lady took over the wheels from Maun.  It was a pretty smooth ride without any traffic as usual. On the way we stopped at Lake Ngami about 10 km from the game farm. It is a totally undeveloped site and had been recently taken over as part of the Moremi NP. It is the only lake within Kalahari. After the recent heavy rains the water has flooded the surrounding tree ground and one could see large number of trees with their trunks immersed in water. The water had a strange orange colouration and with the water birds in it, the lake looked strangely beautiful.

We reached the Dqua Qare Game Farm in the afternoon. It is a community campsite run by the San community.  It was a really nice place with a small pool. The Lady and I immediately jumped into the pool. It was our first pool dip in the whole trip. After the long drive it was quite refreshing. Other than us there was only one other camper, a British guy travelling for 4 months from Cape Town to Kenya. He should have a lot of money I think to travel like that for 4 months in a 4x4. While he was chatting with the Lady, I have to admit that I was quite jealous. Silly I know!

In the evening after the dinner the Lady and I tried to some night photography of the stars and some macros of the moths. When we were busy adjusting the lighting to track the moths something ran over the Lady’s feet before ending up over my feet. The Lady and I jumped back and then we shone the torch to it. It was a small snake! First shocked and then nicely surprised we took some photos of it. After making sure that it is no longer near our car we tried to identify it in our insect book. But we couldn’t identify it. But that surely brought an end to our night photography!

Day 18: Khumaga Campsite

We decided to drive towards the edges of the Ntwetwe pans today. As we couldn’t spot any game near to the river it also made sense to search them inlands. The destination was the Njuca hils campsite about 40 kms from our campsite. The campsite where we are is privatised, whereas Njuca campsite belonged to the NP. The route to the campsite is supposed to be very sandy. It started raining heavily in the morning. So I thought it should be pretty much ok to drive in the sands. There is one more campsite further 10 km away from the Njuca hills campsite. It is called the Tree Island which sits right on the north western edges of the Ntwetwe pan. The ranger at the gate warned us that it will be impossible to reach there due to the rains.

We reached the Njuca campsite without any trouble. We hardly saw any animals on the way. But the landscape was amazing. 360 degrees of complete emptiness covered with dried grass. It was very quiet. There was nobody else in the campsite.  I even thought of camping there today instead of camping at the noisy neighbourhood in the Khumaga campsite. But the Lady was not so fascinated by the idea.

Later on we drove towards the Tree Island campsite. Surprisingly the roads were good. The campsite was on a small hill on the edges of the pan. Again one more amazing campsite overlooking the pans. It’s a strange feeling when you think that you are standing on the beaches overlooking the bed of superlake Makgadikgadi that existed about 100,000 years ago. To give some idea about how big the pans are, the pans covers an area equivalent to 1/3^rd of the size of Switzerland! Though we were standing on the edge of the pan I could image how it would be to stand in the middle with just the view of the pans all around you till the horizon. I don’t know how many minutes I stood there watching the emptiness. It’s a fascinating view. All I could see was a lonely gemsbok on one edge of the pan. Wonder where the rest of the herd is. I was really happy that we could drive that far today.

By the time we drove back towards the camp the rain has subsided. We stopped many times on the way to take some photos. The Lady was busy with macro shots and me busy with landscape and paparazzi photos of the Lady. We took a break at the campsite till evening. We went out again for game drive trying out new routes in the NP. We had some luck this time. We came across a baby python on the road. We noticed it only because some Gunieafowls were scrambling around it without bothering about the approaching car. Later on we came across a turtle which should be at least 50 years old, some ellie, Kudu, Impala, Steinbok on the drive. At least something is better than nothing!

Day 17: Planet Baobab -> Khumaga Campsite

Not a good start in the morning. The day started dull as I had a bad dream yesterday night. I dreamed of my father, looked very sad. I am struggling to get used to the fact that he is no more. I miss him a lot and try not to think about him. I wish if I could have spent more time with him. Especially during the times he needed me the most. I didn’t or I couldn’t and I hope he knew why. Where ever he is, I wish he is having a better life than the one he had. He deserved it!

Once we had our breakfast we started driving toward the Makgadikgadi pans. When compared to the roads in Namibia, Botswana is still in infancy. Though the main highways are good, especially the ones that was quite often used there is absolutely no sign boards at all. If you are looking for turns off the highway you are in trouble. Before driving to the pans we decided to stop at the McKenzie’s at Maun to settle our bills for the rescue. We called them in advance to see where they are located as their office is in outskirts. The bill was quite expensive – around 750 USD for the two days! But there was nothing to argue about it as they had to be paid for the service delivered even if it was inefficient. Though we communicated our location exactly on the first day itself it took two days for them due to the lack of any GPS. The owner was a nice guy and in the end I thought everything turned out fine and we are safe, so why complain unnecessarily.

We drove to the Khumaga campsite in the Makgadikgadi National Park from there. While driving in Botswana one thing that you come across quite often in the highways are the people standing on the sides of the road and requesting a lift. I am ashamed to say that we never stopped even when there were women with babies waiting in the hot sun! I always had the lame excuse in my mind that the double cab is filled with our stuffs. Though it was true almost all the time, it is also true that we could have made space, if we wanted, by shifting them to the luggage area, which we never did! I always preach about helping people in need, and I also feel good when I do that, still the truth is that I didn’t do it when I could have done. Is it the double face of me? I hope, I wish that someday I will have the courage to do what I believe in! On the other hand Botswana is no longer a poor country as it was when it got independence in the 60’s from Britain. It is currently one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a GDP or around 14000 USD, one of the highest in Africa. With a population of around 2 million I don’t understand why the government can’t provide the basic services, like transportation, for its people. The tourist already invest a high amount of money in the country through the governments “low-volume, high-value” tourism and shouldn’t be expected to compensate for the misgovernance of their rulers they selected.

The Khumaga campsite is on the south side of the Maun Nata highway. One has to cross the Boteti river to get into the national park. There is a private ferry service, to which we tried to call in advance to see if it is still operating in offseason. But the phone number was not reachable. We drove there anyway and were happy to see that the service is still there. It seems to be a family operation. The first river crossing in a ferry, that was interesting.

The Lady and I hardly talked today. We talk less and less now a days and she seems to be less interested. Whenever I ask how she is doing, I get the standard monologue “alright”, even when she seemed not so. I never knew what is wrong, probably I am wrong. But it is also true that I knew a different person before! I didn’t want to disturb her in anyway so I kept my distance.

The Makgadikgadi NP is quite different from the NP’s that we have visited so far. It is situated on the western edges of the pans. The roads were quite sandy than muddy. The campsite itself was on the western border of the park right on the banks of the Boteti river. Though one can expect high concentration of wildlife on the banks in dry season, it was not so when we came. After the rains the wildlife seemed to have vanished. We did a game drive in the afternoon. It was really disappointing. All we could see was a bull, some antelopes and some birds.

At night, after dinner we sat on our campsite drinking beer. Suddenly I saw some near our car. My first guess was that it should be hyenas. As we shone the torch light towards it, to our surprise, it was a honey badger. Not just one, but two! Honey badgers are nocturnal and very difficult to spot. And they are also famous for being fearless. They were not at all concerned by our presence and seemed to be used to the campsite and its occupants. They came back again later, scanning through our camps. That was nice. Later on we had some other little visitors. Spiders, almost 3 cm long and looking very scary. That was not nice!!!!

Day 16: Planet Baobab -> Kubu Island

We decided to do a day trip to the Kubu island today. Kubu island lies in the southwest of Sua Pan. When we were in the Third Bridge camp our neighbours Richard and Mary recommended it. Though we marked it in our list we were not so sure about it. But the more we read about it the more we became interested in going there. Moreover we didn’t have any other plans for today.

As usual I marked the necessary coordinates in my GPS. According to the maps, from the Maun – Nata highway there are two routes going south that we could take to go there. One about 24 kms before reaching Nata, and the other along the western edges of the Sua pan. The travel guide I had said that one should avoid using the route along the pan edge in the wet season as the track could become dangerously muddy. We decided to take the other route as the route along the pan edge was marked only in some of the maps that we had, making the route more suspicious.

In the morning we told the Dutch couple that we are going to the Kubu island and they could join us if they are interested. They were undecided, so I left them alone and didn’t bother about it much. Just before we were about to leave they came to us and said they would also like to join us. I thought it will be nice as the route is not supposed to be an easy one (driving to the pans is always going to be risky), and also if one of us get stuck the other could pull them out. And in this part of the world it is always safer to drive as a convoy than being alone.

The diversion towards the pans from the main highway was not easy to find as there were no signboards at all. I used the coordinates in my GPS to figure out the track. Once we found the track, which we were not so sure at all in the beginning, it was just a matter of blindly driving south. It was really a tricky and challenging one, esp for novice 4x4 drivers like us. First of all there is no designated route. We found routes all over the place mostly due the previous drivers having tried to avoid undrivable routes. The landscape changed quite often from gravel tracks, grassy routes, marsh, bush lands etc. and that too filled up with puddles. Most of the time we had to drive around to avoid suspicious puddles and then try to figure out the right route and direction ahead. Without the GPS it would have been impossible as most of the time I drove blindly in the direction shown by the GPS towards the next waypoint in the GPS.

I am sure the Dutch couple was having second thoughts after some time. When we took a break in between they came to us and asked whether we are lost. I just told them “Probably! I am not so sure, but the direction looks good”. Not so comforting answer, I know. But that was really the truth. The route was really challenging one, completely exhausting and without any signboards! From the highway the Kubu island is about 70-80 km down south. It took around 4 hrs for us to cover it. It was one hell of a ride. There were some patches of pan that we had to cover and it was so filled with water that if we were alone we would have never attempted to cross it I think. Since we were travelling in a convoy I told the Dutch couple to stop and wait till we have crossed and move only when we have completely crossed the section. I wanted to be absolutely sure that if we get stuck the other should be in a position to pull us out or vice versa.

We somehow made it to the Kubu island by noon. Once we reached there it was absolutely clear for all of us that all the risk that we have taken to reach there was worth. It was an absolutely beautiful place to be. Kubu island is an isolated granite outcrop of around 1 km long and about 10 m high. Evidence of the former lake could be found there in the form of fossil beaches of wave rounded pebble. With three sides of complete emptiness around and covered with baobabs, it has a unique beauty to it, and it was breath taking to see it. When I stood on the one of the rocks there all I could see was complete emptiness with the clouds meeting the salt pans at the horizon. I tried to walk into the pans a little bit. Within few meters the dangers were clearly evident. The ground was wet and sinking and the surface underneath the salt layer was clayey which stuck to the sandals like glue. Think about what will happen if one tries to drive through it.

We spend about an hour there and we could see the storm clouds accumulating on the route we came in. We decided to drive back before it gets converted into rains. Especially the stretches were we have to drive through the pan. But we were not so lucky. About half an hour after we stared it poured heavily. I could hardly see through the windscreen. And with water all over the place there was no clear tracks to drive into which made the trip more difficult. It was a nightmare drive as I was not sure to know whether the route I am driving into is a good or bad one. When we rode over the muddy tracks accidently the car was floating all over the place making the drive more and more risky. While trying to keep the momentum to avoid getting stuck in the mud we drove over obstacles that sounded like the car is getting broken into pieces.  Again it was a completely blind driving absolutely guided by the direction pointed by the GPS, ie. just drive north!!!! Never in my life had I driven like that before. I felt like I am participating in rallying.

While struggling to keep the car moving ahead through the rain and the mud we came across a track which was completely different from the one that we came in. We realised that it is a different route as we started seeing some rudimentary sign boards towards Kubu island. From the GPS the route ran parallel to the one that we drove before. After some time the rain stopped and the weather became clear. We started seeing the endless grassy pan on our right side. We realised that this is the second route to the Kubu island that runs through the edges of the Sua pan. Though the travel guides suggested that one should avoid this route in the wet season we found it perfectly alright for driving to the island. It was in a much better condition and lot easier to drive than the one we took to reach Kubu island.

The Dutch couple also made it along with us without any bad experiences. In the end we covered the distance to the camp in less than 3.5 hours. The onward trip took us around 4.5 hours. We were completely exhausted at the end of the day. It was a really good day, adventurous, challenging and extremely lucky. We were really glad that we decided to do the trip to the Kubu Island today.

Day 15: Baines Baobab - > Planet Baobab

The day started in a relaxed mode. We didn’t hurry up as we knew that if everything goes fine the distance that we had to cover today is not so big. The only hurdle could be covering the pan between the campsite and the Baobabs. Since the dark clouds that we say yesterday evening didn’t turn into rains, I was not expecting any trouble as long as I stick on to the tracks.

We covered the pan without any problems. We stopped at the Baines Baobabs again to take some snaps. The drive towards the gate was pretty easy. We came across only some bulls and gemsbok on the way. By noon we reached Planet Baobab which lies on the east of Nxai pan gate and about a km after Gweta. It’s a private camping are, and our first private camp spot after Victoria Falls Campsite.

When compared to the campsites we stayed in the national parks in the last days this one was a luxury. A swimming pool, a bar, restaurant, private ablution blocks, hot water, power supply and individual huts to keep our things dry, I should say that I felt a bit weird. Felt like it had been ages since I had experienced any luxury. In a way it was a good choice as it gave us time to relax and recharge our biological batteries for the next adventures ahead.

It was drizzling all the time. We planned to go and have a look at the Greens Baobab and Chapmans Baobab on the northern edge of the Ntwetwe Pan. The twin pans Ntwetwe and Sua are part of the gigantic Makgadikgadi pans with Ntwetwe on the western and Sua on the eastern side. And our campsite, Planet Baobab, was on the north western side of Ntwetwe pan. In the maps I could see a track going directly from Planet Baobab towards south through the Greens Baobab. And Chapmans Baobab was further southeast from there. I thought I could try those routes.  When I checked with the receptionist at the camp they advised against it as they said the route is not at all drivable after the rains.

With no other plans left the Lady and I decided to spend the afternoon relaxing, reading and sipping some cocktails at the bar. Our neighbours were young Dutch couples who were also on a similar road trip like us, but through much more safer routes, travelling almost though the tarred routes most of the time. Unlike us, they were on their first African trip and with no previous experience on 4x4 – like us – they decided to be on the safe side, which made sense.

I decided to invite the Lady for dinner at the restaurant. After we left Windhoek we had been cooking in our small gas stove for the last two weeks, I thought it will be nice to have a change and make use of the relaxed atmosphere. Moreover, I wanted the Lady to have some proper full meal as she has almost completely recovered from her illness by now.

It was a nice evening. The food was good and the Lady seemed to be in good spirits. For the first time in the whole trip she opened up a little bit talking about herself and the life she had back home. Just giving a glimpse of the person behind that face. Still I can see that there is a lot hidden behind that face, which she is not ready to share, and only giving vague replies to the queries. Obviously she doesn’t feel comfortable opening up to me for some reason and I guess I should respect that. Still, for whatever reason, I like this woman without doubt. I don’t want to believe that I am in love with her, as I am not good for that, and also I don’t think that she needs me. Just to cut the long sentence short, it was a nice to spend that evening with her and I have to thank her for letting me do that.

Day 14: Nxai Pan -> Baines Baobab

We had a late breakfast and by the time we packed our tents and got ready for the drive almost all the other campers had already left. One of them said that they had seen two cheetahs and a lion on the road from the gate to the camp yesterday. We never got an opportunity to see any cheetah’s on this trip. It’s my most favourite cat. It beautiful, and also has the ferocious look of a predator, fast and so agile. I hope I will be lucky this time.

We checked at the camp office for the road conditions towards Baines Baobab. We have the reservations to camp there today. But the rangers advised us against driving over there as it has rained yesterday. They said they can reorganise our reservations and give a camping slot here. The camp is situated about 500 after Baines Baobab and the route cuts across the pans. Rains means that driving through the pans will be tricky and there is a high possibility that we will be get stuck there. That was disappointing news as I really wanted to go there.

We decided to take round trips along the edges of the South camp of the Nxai pan. We came across large herds of springboks, zebras and some giraffes, but no cheetahs or lions. At some sections, especially on the western section of the Nxai pan the road was a little bit difficult to drive due to the clay. But altogether we came out safe without much trouble. I also reduced the tyre pressures to 1.2 bar in the morning to have a better grip in sandy sections. The weather stayed dry throughout. By noon it was so hot that we decided to drive back to the camp and take a break for a couple of hours. On the way we stopped at the office to check for the road situation towards Baines. The rangers again suggested against going there today.

We stopped at the camp and took rest till 3 pm. Since it was dry and hot throughout the day we decided to drive towards the Baines camp. We have to take a diversion from the main road connecting the gate to the south camp at about 18 kms from the camp and then drive east for about 12 – 14 kms to reach the Baines Baobabs. There are two routes to reach there, the right and the left forks. The direct one – the right fork - is about 12 kms, but one has to drive through the pans at some sections. That means it is not at all advisable in the wet season. The left fork is good for driving in the wet season as it leads to the baobabs without cutting any pans on the route. The only pan that one has to cross is after the Baobabs to reach the camping place. Our idea was to take the left fork and see how the road conditions are and to turn back if it gets risky at any point.

After the diversion we completely missed the left fork somehow and ended up driving in the right fork instead. After a while I got doubtful and stopped to recheck our positions in the map. We drove back again to the main road. We found the left fork and then drove towards the baobabs. On the way we came across a couple (the only people we came across the whole evening) who were camping at the Baines yesterday evening.  They said the road is fine till the baobabs and we have to be careful only on the last stretch across the pans. They advised us to stay on the tracks and never attempt to drive around the tracks.  Encouraged by the news we drove to the camp. The track was fine and we came across some lonely bulls and a couple of gemsboks. That was the first time we saw a gemsbok in this trip.  The landscape was absolutely beautiful. Though it was part of the Makgadikgadi pans the whole route was grassed over. And with the sun slowly moving toward the horizon, the light was golden making the landscape further magical.

We reached the Baobabs without any problems. The massive trees, around 7 of them on the edges of the pan, are more than 1000 years old!!  Archaeologists have found extensive remains like stone tools from the middle stone age period around this regions. They were supposed to be at least 100,000 - 120,000 years old at the time when the super lake existed and this might have been the beach at the time.

The last stretch of track to the campsite was not as easy as expected as it was a little bit wet. Since I could see some fresh tracks across, probably from the car of the couple that we came across before, we decided to proceed further. It was a challenging drive and I made a mistake by trying to drive around a small puddle on the route, though the couple has advised us to stay on the track. I was thinking that we might get stuck in the puddle. The drive around was more difficult as the car struggled to get proper grip in the clay and the surface was much more wet than the track we were driving before. Somehow we crossed the pan to the camp. The campsite is a small island in the pan and is very basic. An open space, underneath a huge baobab tree, with a long drop toilet, that’s it; and there is no water or anything else. We found only one campsite, where we also decided to stay; I was wondering where the other sites are and how to reach them. Since our camping slot was a different number, we decided to stay where we are till somebody else shows up. I was completely against driving around the island through the side of the pan searching for the other campsites.  In the middle of nowhere, far away from any kind of civilization in all 360 directions, it is the one of the best campsites we ever had.

Nobody came afterwards and we made the camp there. It drizzled a little bit in the evening and I was a little bit concerned whether it will be raining at night. That will make our return through the pan challenging tomorrow. The night with the marvellous African skies, with a millions stars, and the absolute silence, was an amazing experience. After dinner the Lady and I again tried some night photography of the skies. I was really happy to spend the time with the Lady in such a surrounding. I simply loved it!!!!

 

Day 13: Third Bridge Camp -> Nxai Pan

Before driving towards the South Gate through the 2^nd and 1^st Bridge I decided to check with the rangers at the Third Bridge Gate to check for road conditions. The rangers advised us to take the route through the Xakanaxa gate instead. The road from Xakanaxa gate to the South Gate goes right through the Mopane tongue which is around 40 kms. The Lady decided to drive. Her health has improved a lot in the last days. She has started taking antibiotics and that seemed to have worked.  Her cough is almost completely gone now. It was nice to see her healthy again.

The road was much better than we expected. On the way we came across a big bull on the side of the road. We stopped near him and the bull continued its grazing without minding our presence. It seemed to be quite relaxed. After eating on one side of the road the bull crossed the road in front of our car and started eating again on the other side. At one point it came so close to our car that it was hardly 2 m from the windows. Though it was still very calm like before I have to admit I had second thoughts about reversing the car further. That would have been stupid as any sudden noise from the engine starting would have freaked him off. It was really so close that I doubt that even a sudden movement of our hands would have put us in danger. We decided to take the risk and I told the Lady to stay where we are as for me the bull looked really relaxed. As before, like in the Savuti camp, it was just my instincts talking! Luckily nothing bad happened and it was really a wonderful experience to know that the bull didn’t consider us as a threat and accepted us in his world as how we are.  I can’t explain it, but those little little instances in life, it has a real beauty to it.

While watching the bull we saw something moving in the road. It was a snake crossing the road. It was our first snake spotting in the whole trip and if I am right it was a black mamba!! I took photos of it and have to recheck it afterwards. When the bull finally moved away from the car we started the engine and drove towards South Gate. I could see in the rear view mirror that the bull didn’t really appreciate the sudden ignition of the engine! When we reached the South Gate we stopped the car to check whether everything is ok with the car. That’s when we realised that one side of the front bumper has come off from the fixing. I somehow fixed it back again though I am no longer sure whether it will survive the rest of the journey.

Our goal was to reach Maun around 1-2 pm. We stopped at Maun to top up the fuel and the supplies. By the time we left Maun it was already close to 4 pm. We still have to cover around 135 kms before we reach the Nxai pan gate. I also bought a SIM card for the phone to call home. It has been almost 2 weeks since I called home. By the time I finished talking with my sister the credit on the card has been over. On the way to the Nxai pan gate we came across heavy rains. That’s bad news as the pans might get more clayey and more difficult to drive. We reached the Nxai pan gate in time. I decided to drive the next leg. The camp site is a further 36 km north from the gate. The track is covered with deep sand, but because of the rains before it was more comfortable to drive than expected.  

We camped at the South Camp site which is on the edges of the Nxai pan. Though they are part of the ancient salt pans, compared to the Etosha pans in Namibia or the Makgadikgadi pans the Nxai pan is completely grassed over. Due to that after the rainy season one can expect to see wildlife in the pans. It’s also New Year’s eve tonight. At night we opened our little champagne bottles that we bought at Windhoek and exchanged the formal greetings. The sky was amazing. We walked over to the pans from our camp in the darkness to watch the stars. Some rangers near to the camp saw us and warned us of ellies around. That’s a scary thought, to come across some lonely bulls in the darkness. So we didn’t hang around longer and returned to the camp. The sky, the typical African skies with the stars up to the horizon, always fascinated me. Pity that my timelapse trigger is not working.

The Lady and I tried to do some night photography of the skies. It didn’t work out well as I would have liked to have. We went to bed around 11pm. Didn’t wait for the New Year. One more New Year has gone and one more new year is waiting for us with full of surprises. I hope it is not a terrible year like the last one. I wish the last year didn’t happen at all. At least this New Year was not lonesome as usual. It was nice to spend it with the Lady. But is she happy? I really doubt it. And I don’t know why. The Lady I knew before was different. Probably because of the weird, crazy me!!!