Botswana & South Africa

We left Zimbabwe in an excited mood. Bungee jumping the third highest jump in the world is not just something! Plus, our rendez-vous with our Belgium friends proved to be very nice and adventurous. While they arrived from Zambia we met up in Botswana at a camp close to Kasane where elephants were widely abundant and we had our first ‘braai’ of the trip. Our own plan was to do a day-drive in Chobe after which we would head south for the salt-pans to check if it was possible to drive through. Simon and Lore had obviously made plans too, so we ended up combining them. The drive through Chobe National Park was rewarding with a troop of lions with cups at the end. As usual, we arrived at the gate after closure time. Contrary to the other parks, the complete gate quarters was deserted and hermetically closed. We had to move trees and cross side-walks to circumnavigate the barrier. Afterwards, we headed as fast as we could towards the Hunter’s road for bushcamping amidst elephants. The ‘Hunter’s Road’ is a 200 km long dirt track which takes you right on the border with Zimbabwe (literally). We decided to start half-way, right where the grass grew higher than our car. We had never imagined the variety of wild-life on insect scale. Caterpillars, hoppers, butterflies, spiders, you name it, we saw it, hitching a ride on the hood of our green friend. We arrived at Nata Elephant’s Sands Camp (after bribing the veterinary check officer with two pears to safe our tomatoes and eggplant) late in the afternoon. Simon discussed with locals for the 4th time the possibilities to cross the salt-pans. In the rainy season the salt-pans are often flooded and the few existing tracks become inaccessible. It takes about three days without rain to make it reasonably safe to traverse the largest salt pans on earth. From other tourists we learned the pans had been inaccessible for the last couple of weeks. The local, however, taking into account the two cars we were driving, figured we could do it. So 3 ‘no’s’ against 1 ‘yes’, we decided to go for it. Our next adventure, which we had half and half discarded, was about to start. We stocked up fuel, water and food in Nata and headed south. The trail led over sand-roads and mud-tracks with the white salt shimmering in the distance. At the end of the day we reached the Kubu Island, an island of granite, a holy place for the locals, a nice place for us, tourists, surrounded by a sea of salt. We drove our cars on the pans, made some pictures and decided to camp right in the middle. Rainy season in Botswana is known for its thunderstorms, so after putting up camp and having dinner, dark clouds packed and lightning was bolting all around us. So there we were, the highest point within a radius of 5 km, with a thundercloud above our heads. We folded our tent and waited in the car while killer-mosquitoes were sucking our precious blood. Oh yeah, good times. Luckily for us, the cloud above us broke apart, leaving a beautiful cloudless, starry sky (the killer-mosquitoes stayed though). The next morning the real fun started, tackling the soaked pans. Neither of us had any experience driving over salty ground, so it was all trial and error. At first we figured mud-driving would be easier and safer than crossing shallow lakes of endless water, but after we got stuck and Simon and Lore were about to, Richard investigated the lake in front of us. His conclusion: the ground which stood underwater was actually harder with the clay washed away (unlike the apparent dry soil) making it a potentially safer and easier way to get across. We had the honor of being the first to try so in we went and smoothly we got out. When we arrived on the tarmac road, south of the pans, adventure was lurking. Simon and Lore were planning on crossing the Central Kalahari Desert, while we planned on just taking the highway. The last couple of days were so much fun that we could do no other than change our plans and team up with our Belgian friends. So there we went, trying to traverse this supposedly endless sea of sand. Given all the rain of the previous weeks, we were in for a bit of a surprise. Coming in from the east we figured it would be best to camp overnight at the gate and drive over the sandy tracks cross-cutting the desert towards the west. Camping at the gate went fine and free of charge; the sandy tracks were nowhere to be found though. The Kalahari Desert is a desert only by name and, during the rainy season, it becomes more of a grassy wetlands. We firstly headed south along an old ‘dried’ riverbed where we managed to see a troop of male lions and in addition get both cars stuck on either side of the road (in this new type of terrain it also proved easier to stick to the tracks, even when flooded above the axles). With yet another lesson learned, an hour of digging and a tow from a passing South African we turned around to try our luck in the northern part of the park. This proved to be more successful as the terrain is a bit more elevated and less wet. We were less lucky with our alternator and voltage regulator, as they had decided to take a day off due to all the water entering the engine compartment. This meant that the batteries weren’t getting charged and, with the previous starting problems in mind, we were a bit unwilling to turn on the headlights and drain the batteries. So when dusk came, we still hadn’t quite made it to the other gate. Henceforth, we went for another night of bushcamp. An early morning start left us with another 70 km off-road along the northern wildlife fence. While we were still in the process of waking up, Simon and Lore spotted two leopards running into the vegetation right in front of us! After crossing the last mass of water and the electrics still leading a life of their own, it was time to say goodbye to Simon and Lore. They went up north to Maun, while our destination of the day was the border with South Africa. The Kalahari Highway has some amazing tarmac so the 900 km we had ahead of us were gone in no time. This also holds for the last windscreen wiper, which sadly could no longer withstand the desert rains that were pouring down on us during the day. After crossing the border at half past 9 in the evening we reached a tranquil campsite in Zeerust, South Africa, and had a well deserved night’s rest. The reason for our hurry was that the garage in Pretoria selling our spare parts was only open on Saturday until 1 pm, for otherwise we would have to wait until Monday, which we didn’t feel like. In southern Africa the cars are all right-hand driven, which meant our ‘new’ wiper system didn’t quite fit. We obviously only found out while trying to piece the system together at the backpackers we were staying at, but eventually managed to put one and one together and create something that worked; Africa-style. The next morning Anouk had to reverse the car with the tent still up and discovered that a rooftop tent is rather successful at tearing down a gutter (as some people say: only bring along items that can serve at least three purposes). A spare wiper system is apparently also suitable as a tent-frame-repair-kit, but all in all the tent proved fatally wounded. It was time to head for Cape Town to pick up a new one, but not before passing through Lesotho on our way to our friend Paul in Grahamstown. Lesotho is something different altogether. It is a small kingdom surrounded by South African territory situated in a mountainous terrain all above 1000m. Our car is very good at getting you places, but it is not very good at getting you there fast, especially in a terrain like this. The road was swirling over passes reaching 3100m that we chased towards Katse Dam, the largest of five massive dams that are (being) built to provide Johannesburg and Pretoria with both electricity and water. We arrived at dusk and shared our dinner with the guard at the Tourist Center who was happy to show us the ins-and-outs of the Dam, while we were hiding for yet another thunderstorm. We could stay the night for free (with hot water and showers, this is definitely recommendable) and the next day we set out over the 50 km dirt road connecting the Katse Dam with the Mohale Dam. It was probably one of the most beautiful roads we’ve taken so far, despite the rain and clouds. The burgers and beers of Grahamtown were a very welcome change. Paul showed us around at the Rhodes Univesity and the geological department, which obviously is packed with stones and fossils. After that we drove along the so-called ‘Garden Route’, a beautiful road along the southern coast of South Africa. We went to (what we think) is the southern-most point of the African continent, being Cape Agulhas. From there it was only a 250 km drive to Cape Town where we bought a new second hand massive roof top tent in an excellent state. It took us the whole next day to fix it. We borrowed a drill from a very friendly Dutch guy who happened to be on the campsite just next to us, in order to drill a couple of new holes to properly attach the tent. After dumping the old one at a drop-off we headed for Hermanus for cage diving with the famous white sharks (which was awesome!!!!). The water was freezing cold, but the jumping sharks (one hitting the cage when Anouk was in it) made it worth it. Yesterday we had a very nice dinner with Mathijs and his girlfried, the last friend to visit on our list of whom we know to live on this continent. From now we will only head north, away from the cold and back to the sun!