MICHAEL - 6th to 20th September 2010 - A Botswana Trip
posted on 2010-09-23 16:54:10
Since the first of September “Angelique” a 34-year-old Landrover Defender 109 joins our travels. The possibilities of getting stuck in sand, mud or deeper water are now nearby zero. I´m absolutely amazed about the 4x4 performance of this car.
So we decided to make a longer test drive through Botswana and Zambia. That was the plan. But plans change. When travelling with Lynette, plans change sometimes in high-speed. Travelling with Lynette and Angelique means driving with an average speed of 85 kph AND make stops at EVERY tree, rock-painting, kudu, zebra or donkey along the way (or 50 km in a completely different direction which is suddenly given by a navigation-combination of angels and gps.
We crossed the border, heading for Gaborone. Our first campsite was somehow unusual. It was located at a theme park with all the merry-go-round stuff. Nothing for me without breakfast…
Arrived in Gaborone, we climbed the local hill. Because of the view. That means Lynette ran up the hill and I followed slightly slower.
Because of the variety of things to do and see, we stayed the next night also around Gaborone in a backpacker. The attraction there was a pregnant pig, which was expected to drop during the night. It didn´t happen.
Slowly but steady we continued our way to Manyana. Bushmen-paintings and Livingstone´s tree!!!
After hugging Livingstone´s tree it was very predictable that Lynette also wanted to climb in Livingstone´s cave. What we´ve successfully done.
The footprints in Matsieng were absolutely impressive. We eventually passed the villages of Mahalapye and Palapye (and spent certainly enough time there to explore everything in detail) on our way to Nata and the salt pans.
It was very, very special for me, to celebrate my 40th birthday at Nata Lodge. I woke up in the morning, because one of the balloons with which Lynette had decorated Angelique and the campsite exploded. Birthday presents, coffee table and my Little-Lion-Angel. That was the sight I had, when crawling out of the tent. It was a wonderful day, ending with a dinner under trees at the lodge where finally Lynette, the staff and other guests were singing birthday songs. Danke Schlumpfinchen!!!
During the day we drove through the salt pans, watched the flamingos, Lynette had a mud bath (I don´t really want to know, which ingredients this flamingo-“mud” contains) and we saw a fabulous sunset over the pans.
The next day we drove about 95 km 4x4 track to Kubu Island. Home of 79 Baobab trees, in the middle of nowhere. It took quite a time till Lynette had hugged every tree, so we spent the night there, sleeping under a baobab.
Because of an interesting opportunity in South Africa we changed our route and drove back to Joburg. Along the way we stopped in Serowe, on a Sunday. Everything was closed, so we asked the local police, incarnated in the person of “Inspector Nawa” (to me his introduction sounded like “Inspector Columbo”) for support. He didn´t hesitate a second and escorted us in his police car to all sights. Especially the graves of the Royal-Family. Thanks for that special sightseeing tour, Inspector!
In Serowe we stayed at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, where we had our first off-road game drive with Angelique. And we came veeeeery close to the rhinos!
On the way back, there was suddenly a little bit too much “play” in the steering of Angelique. That means, I needed all two lanes to drive. So easy it was to discover the loose bolt, so difficult it appeared to tighten it. Exactly that spanner which I would have needed, wasn´t in our toolbox. But we discovered the local Landrover-specialist, Cedric, who fixed the problem within seconds…
No comments:
Post a Comment