Africa 1987 Chapter V

May-June 1987

Once again, we traveled by train from Johannesburg to Nelspruit, arriving right on time at 5:00am. The couple who we were traveling to Botswana with, Gordon and Anne, collected us at the station and brought us to their home on Henshall Street. We had all kinds of errands to complete and we were surprised to get it all done. Gordon was a 25 year old Afrikaner fireman/paramedic and Anne a 23 year old bank teller. This was Gordon’s dream trip and by day’s end we had an inkling of his character beneath his gregarious, easy going nature. We had some doubts that we would get along.

It was departure day and the Landrover was all packed up and we set off a few minutes before 8:00am. Shortly thereafter, we came to a complete stop as we had run out of gas. The day went smoother after that, stopping in Petersburg, then we arrived at the Botswana border and camped at the frontier as the crossing was closed for the day. The Landrover was set up with a mattress inside and we were happy to sleep in our tent. Gordon chatted up an immigration officer and he offered us a place to bathe, in an unused  border post house, and we took turns after dinner. It felt like we were in the set of a Louis Buñuel film; sitting in a hot bath in a well furnished home, but no one was home and the phone rang and rang and rang.

The intrusive search by Botswana  officials that Gordon feared never took place and we waltzed into Botswana. Sheila and I felt relieved to leave apartheid behind and we were happy to be back in black Africa. Gordon pointed out a Botswana woman walking by the roadside carrying a large basket on her head. He said “All blacks have squashed brains from toting things on their heads and that is why they are all so stupid”. The vegetation had changed  to semi desert  as we stopped in Palapye where I changed money at  Barclays and Gordon bought a pair of trousers. When we reached Francistown, we had a discussion about where to stay. The campground charged 5 Pula a head. Gordon and Anne were concerned about money so we all agreed to free camp, outside of town. That evening, while cattle roamed in the dark and we sat around the campfire, Gordon expounded on his military experience in Angola and how much he enjoyed shooting up blacks. Later, he told us, that if South African civil war were  ever to take place he would kill a lot of blacks to save the country.

The Botswana trip felt like it really began on the outskirts of Francistown. We set off on a dirt road south of the Makgadikgadi Pans and the land become drier and more desolate to reach the Orapa diamond mine before lunch. The pans themselves were a white crusty surface as far as the eye could see with the occasional sand twisters blowing by. We didn’t have a permit to visit the mine, so we transited through the western gate to reach the interesting village of Mopipi. 

The desert village of Mopipi was a scattering of small smooth mud huts complete with conical thatched roofs, a general store  with saloon, a tiny gas station, a water tap surrounded by 6 thirsty donkeys and Mr Doo’s house. First things first, we fueled at the hand pumped Shell station. The roof rack on the Landrover needed some work and Mr Doo, the fix-it man was the ticket. He had a scrap yard of old cars and junk enclosed by a fence and fancy gate. Mr Doo didn’t have a generator so we all marched off to the saloon to borrow the generator that was in use to keep the beer cold. Once Mr Doo started to weld, I sat in the bar and chatted with a local teacher. He tried to sell me some cattle, set me up with a woman and promised that he would help me procure a work permit. Come to Botswana boy! We seemed to have created quite a stir in Mopipi and folks came around to greet us. A few women wore the traditional Victorian style dresses, with multicoloured patched skirts and puffy long sleeve blouses. They wore head scarves with bows above their foreheads.

From Mopipi, we headed northwest on a dusty track, passing tiny villages, desert twisters, to reach the government town of Rakops. A Scandinavian volunteer worker told us about an alternate route to Maun so headed east and we skirted the Pans, passing the village of Toramoja. We continued to sunset and camped in the desert scrub, enjoying one of the many campfires of the trip. Then a pair of headlights pierced the darkness and a white Toyota Hilux pulled up to our camp in the barren wilderness. Out stepped Boysi, a very drunk local, who was completely lost. He and his equally drunk female companion left after some time. He drove around in circles before disappearing into the darkness.

We surmised that we had taken the wrong track and returned to Toramoja the following morning. We bought a pack of smokes for Gordon and a local pointed  us in the right direction. The sandy track was as straight as an arrow, for as far as the eye could see with dry prickly grass. We drove through the pans, encountering ostrich, a few springbok herds and brush (ground) squirrels. The pans gave way to sand , the northern reaches of the Kalahari, the land of great thirst. We struggled through the deep sand in low gear 4WD, stopping from time to time to allow the engine to cool. On we continued until we reached the dry Boteti River. We stopped at a safari camp where two locals were looking for a lift. We took them aboard to be sure of the route. We continued on sandy tracks for several hours until we reached the main gravel Francistown-Maun road. Our speed picked up to 80km/hr and large trucks passed us leaving immense clouds of dust behind them. We reached Maun in the afternoon; it offered a dusty collection of government buildings, a few very basic provision stores and a campground for 4 Pula each. We appreciated the hot showers and the opportunity to wash our dust covered clothes in a sink. We learned that the water was late and would normally have reached Maun this time of year.  Each year, water from the Angolan rains flow south through the Okavango then disappear into the vast Northern Kalahari.

One of Gordon's pals, Gregg, had left a couple of canoes up at one of the Okavango lodges and we made inquiries as to the camp's location, had some emergency welding performed on the Landrover canopy and purchased additional food items before setting out towards Qhaaxhwa Camp some 320kms away. Many people fly into the Okavango delta, but Qhaaxhwa is far up the delta where water flows all year round. The roads were poor, the vegetation sparse and we encountered a number of ostriches along the way; sometimes they ran just ahead of the vehicle, at 40kmh. We reached the village of Etsa-6 at nightfall and we camped along the road that night. 

A lodge employee had been sent to meet us and early the next morning, he guided us across the green flats that border the swamps to Qhaaxhua Camp. Peter Comely greeted us to the camp along the Taokhe River and we loaded our gear and food from the Landrover into a runabout boat and we were whisked upstream through papyrus channels, past crocodiles to a lagoon where our swamp experience began. We hired a single poler/guide and I opted to do the hard work, rather than forking over another 20 Pula/day. We split the cost of the poler/guide, Sinas, who was slow in coming. We left the lagoon after 3:00pm. The water was deep enough to paddle, downstream down narrow channels surrounded by papyrus plants a metre and half above the water. It was fast moving water and it often required quick moves to maneuver  through the many channel bends. There was little solid ground but we reached an island and established a camp in dense vegetation. Sinas cleared the area and gathered wood for a fire. After dinner, we savoured the sounds of hippo grunting, crickets and tinkling sounds of bell frogs. We had arrived in the Okavango Delta.

On the second day, we continued downstream through fast moving channels. Gordon bagged his first tiger fish and we enjoyed a cool morning dip in a shallow pool. Soon after, the terrain changed and I put away the crude paddle and took out the pole. We were in the swamps proper with water depth averaging about 1 metre and the papyrus gave way to reeds. On the edge of the reeds, we encountered several lechwe herds. The sound of their hooves running through the water sounded like something between applause and a train. Lechwe seemed gregarious in nature, sometimes playful but they were difficult to approach. It was a long day and we all welcomed our camp for the night.  We had purchased some bream from local fishermen and had them for dinner.  Gordon and I went out with Sinas for a cruise in the darkness in search of crocodile. The reeds and mosquitoes were thick but Gordon's powerful light provided no views of crocodiles and we returned to camp after 45 minutes. Crickets and bell frogs may have drowned out the sound of mosquitoes in camp, but they were there alright.

Sinas spoke but a few words of English. He and Gordon could communicate better in Zulu, but we were never really sure what each day would bring.. on Day 3 , he rushed us out of camp and we wondered if another long day was in store for us. We continued south through lily pads and more reeds. By midday, we reached a wide open grassland and a large herd of buffalo. We camped nearby on a small island, bordering the small plain; half grass and half swamp, an Okavango version of the Serengeti. We could see herds of lechwe, buffalo and even wildebeest. We also saw tsesessbe antelope with their long front legs and shorter back legs, very similar to the topi. We all opted to laze about in the afternoon and catch up on laundry after the week of continuous travel from Nelspruit. We enjoyed a spaghetti dinner followed by custard and fruit cocktail. A lion roared in the darkness, lechwe thundered through water and a herd of buffalo trod through the reeds. That evening, a buffalo coughed close to the camp and chaos ensued; "Gordon, get me up a tree!". Cape buffalo are dangerous and Gordon helped out by pushing Anne up a tree. She managed to climb one metre off the ground and no more. We had to suppress our laughter. Then she clambered up a termite mound. Sinas light a branch from the campfire, we followed behind him, and he scared off the errant buffalo. We all settled down to bed. Anne didn’t sleep well and Sinas kept the campfire going all night. 

We had a beautiful sunrise on Day 4, and while we had a quick, early breakfast , we could hear the whooping of hyenas. We poled the canoes to the shores of Wetsa Island for a walk and we were immediately rewarded with a leopard sighting. It was walking between two islands and when we put ashore, we marvelled at fresh leopard, lion and lechwe spoor (tracks). We walked the shoreline for views of a large herds of lechwe, buffalo and a wildebeest herd of 25 in the distance. We broke camp after lunch and began a leisurely return towards Qhaaxhwa camp. We swam in a shallow pool. We were wary of crocodiles and Sinas felt that hippos were of greater concern.  

By Day 5, I was developing proficiency at poling. Jicanas or Lilly hoppers would make way for us. There were grey lories (go away birds) and the few bees nests we spotted were mostly claimed by local people, as indicated by knotted reeds tied to the tree trunk. Black and white saddle bill storks with flashy red beaks and matching red knees waded the shallows. The crowd favourite animal was the tiny bell frog that clung to reed tops. At night their magical tinkling sounded like mobiles of glass moving in the wind. 

After we made camp, Sinas led us by canoe to a bushman hamlet that had a few round huts, each with a fence circling it. A couple of young boys tended to the cattle and goats. A woman was breast feeding a young child while she watched over a fire that was smoking the catch of the day (fish). A grey haired man wearing tattered clothes smiled and warmly shook our hands. An older woman sat by his side. We inquired about buying one of the chickens running around, but we were advised to come back the next morning.

We returned to the village the next morning and a chicken was for sale. Gordon was keen eating chicken even at the relatively steep price of 6 Pula. We poled back to the campsite of the first night. Chicken was on the menu and Anne cooked up a beautiful stew, except that the scrawny chicken was tough as leather. There had been a steady bickering going on between Gordon and Anne. On the next morning Gordon started up again, complaining about the oatmeal  without milk and not enough sugar. That triggered a reaction from Sheila who laced into him. It was over quickly and Gordon apologized. Sheila stewed on for a couple of days and Gordon smartened up and acted a little more mature for a while. We paddled upstream to Qhaaxha Camp under a truce flag on Day 7. Gordon had run out of smokes and we all had our fill of the swamps. We bought some wonderful baskets at the camp and loaded up the Landrover once again. The swamp trip had been very enjoyable and we hadn’t encountered any other tourists. 

The return drive to Maun was uneventful, other than the dust and ostriches running along the track. Once again, we stayed at the Island Safari Camp, where we showered and laundered. In the morning, we bought groceries and refueled to set off at midday for Moremi. The sandy track passed by clusters of round huts where villagers sometimes sold baskets. As the afternoon light began to wane and there was more vegetation, wildlife became increasingly abundant including giraffe, impala and several small herds of elephants. Gordon disclosed that they once had an unnerving elephant experience in Kruger when a jumbo chased off their car. We pressed on to reach the Moremi South Gate before closing. Park fees were 10 Pula each for a week and 2 Pula each for camping each night. There were three other people at the South Gate campground that night. There were two toilets, a shower and a water tap, but it had a feeling of being in the wild. Baboons ran through the camp and hyenas howled  as it went dark. 

From the South Gate, we made our way north through very dry forest and as the morning progressed, more open areas, occasional water holes, and intermittent woodland. Impala were prolific living in herds of females with a single dominant male (we saw one such group of a hundred) and male bachelor herds (one of 25 sighted). The female Impala are particularly attractive; brown with black tipped ears, black around the eyes and noses. Their black hooves are complemented by a band of white that at first glance look like they are wearing black shoes with white socks. At times, when they jump up, they appear to stay airborne for a fraction of a second longer than one would think gravity allows. We came across several small groupings of kudu with distinctive white stripes on their backs. Giraffe were seen wherever acacia trees are present. We also had views of ostrich, zebra and tsessebe. 

Third Bridge is a relatively popular campground and we enjoyed quick, cool swims, followed by laundry duty at the basic campground. We then set out for a game drive around Mboma Island. We found game to be relatively scarce as much if had apparently shifted over to the Okavango during the dry season. Nonetheless, it was a scenic drive with impala, giraffe, tssessebe and zebra spotted along the way. Although elephants had visited the Third Bridge  campground the night before, we hadn’t seen any of the giants in Moremi Reserve to that point, but that was soon to change. 

After a fairly uneventful morning drive to Xakanaxa, I spotted an elephant herd about 100m off the road. We halted and I jumped off the Landrover roof and walked quickly and quietly in the direction of the herd. I stopped about 30 metres away and climbed a tree for a better look. The elephants continued in my direction and became aware of my presence. They were somewhat perplexed as the crosswind didn’t help and they closed ranks. It took them and me some time to settle down. The calves sat down at their mother’s feet until the danger would pass; a stalemate. There were 12 elephants in all including two older cows and two very young calves. The calves would sometimes suckle and they all took intermittent dust baths by exhaling clouds of dust from their trunks. All the while, the elephants surrounded the two little ones. 

About an hour into my escapade, the Landrover moved along the road for shade and that seemed to indicate to the herd that the danger had moved on. The herd began to move and a young mother with calf started to feed on the bushes directly below me. She stopped and raised her trunk upwards, a metre from my trembling feet. I almost soiled my pants. She backed off, the herd moved off and I clambered down to the ground. What an experience. I latter learned that Gordon was equally nervous, fearing the elephants would attack the vehicle.

After lunch, we cooled off in the swimming hole at Third Bridge. In the late afternoon, I went for a solo walk to a shona (waterhole) some 3km away. I came across impala herds and warthogs. It was a memorable day, topped off by a spaghetti dinner.

It was time to leave Third Bridge and move on to the North Gate, some 48km on. It was a pleasant drive through light forest, at times like a tree graveyard, victims of hungry elephants. We passed by a solitary bull elephant, a pair of honey badgers scurrying through the winter leaves, a large zebra herd, blue wildebeest resting under trees and countless impala. At one stage we watched two members of an impala bachelor herd jousting, then a male kudu, and the normal assortment of warthogs , big and small. We came across a herd of 8 giraffe with two inquisitive youngsters that would have been less than a year old. 

We were tight on fuel to reach Kasane, and that meant curtailing game drives. We really enjoyed Moremi as it felt wild, following sandy tracks and we encountered few other visitors (3-4 vehicles a day).  Although Gordon acted immaturely, everything had calmed down and it was holding steady. We spent the afternoon in camp. Squirrels scurried through our campsite. Red billed hornbills visited us looking for food. A troop of baboons passed nearby. Gordon was concerned about the hyenas and said that they will drag and tear apart anything, and instructed us to put the tables and chairs away at night when we went to bed. We ignored him.  A solitary bull elephant arrived to feed when it was dark. He was about 25 metres from us and was unperturbed by the spotlight that we shone on him. Later, we could hear the hyenas visiting the trash dump and circling our tent but they did not run off with any chairs.

The day started like the others. I arose first and got the fire going and put the water on for coffee. Anne groggily got ouy of the Landrover while Sheila put away our sleeping gear and tent. Gordon stayed in bed. Anne brought him his coffee and I began to cook the oatmeal. Gordon emerged from the Landrover and washed his face. We ate breakfast and put things away. Gordon jumped up on top of the Landrover and I passed gear up to him. It was a routine Moremi morning. 

We passed through the Moremi gate and stopped by the Kwai River Lodge to make inquiries about fuel and to our surprise, the manager greeted us and kindly obliged by selling us 20 litres of petrol for 20 Pula. We passed some game, mostly giraffe and impala before reaching the desolate Chobe Park gate. As we approached Savuti, game became increasingly common including ambassador birds, impala, three herds of blue wildebeest (all standing in the shade of trees) and a herd of five young giraffe. The relative greenery was a change from the arid Mahabe depression. As we entered Savuti campground we encountered an elephant on the road next to the ablution block. Gordon immediately reversed the vehicle and wanted to find a campsite away from the beast. Sheila said; "There is no escaping this peaceful creature. Everywhere is his home." Sheila and I got out to have a look around and allow Gordon to settle down and decide on a campsite. We strolled over to the jumbo for a better look but he started to walk in our direction. Sheila took shelter in the ablution building and I climbed a tree. The elephant was feeding and shaking the acacia trees for seeds. He straddled trees between his tusks, raised his trunk and shook the trees so that the large seed pods fell to the ground. Then he searched the ground for the elephant delicacies (they had a strong taste of garlic). The elephant moved closer to me and fortunately, my trees was without seed pods, so the jumbo sauntered by right below me. Sheila yelled to me; "Don't jump on him!". In all, we counted 6 elephants in the campground. Gordon had settled down and we made camp close to the ablution block. 

After lunch with the hornbills and friendly grouse, I set off to watch the elephants. Two were still wandering the campground. They went from acacia tree to acacia tree harvesting the seed pods. At one point, one of the elephants headed towards our campsite and Anne & Gordon jumped into the Landrover as it passed a few metres from them. At this point, Gordon was terror stricken.  In the late afternoon, we made the first of a number of visits to the Savuti water hole, 4km away from camp. The park authorities had taken to pumping water into the old water hole through the long standing drought. Elephants drink every day, so they were the main attraction at the hole; there were a dozen bull elephants and a herd of impala taking water on our arrival. The impala were quite nervous, cautiously approaching the water, then suddenly jumping away. The water level was two feet below the ledge, but that was no problem for the elephants who drew as much as 10 litres of water in their drunks, spraying it in their mouths with very little water lost in the transition. They would spend 15 minutes filling up their empty tanks, after which they sprayed themselves with the muddy water and then they moved over to a sandy area to dust themselves in the same manner. A lone hippo lay sleeping in the middle of the pool added the final touch to the wonderful sight.

We heard that there were lions in the area, apparently 9 or 10. Another Landrover lead us to a pride where 4 lazy but healthy looking lions (two of each sex) slept in the bush. In the evening, we heard lion roars and honey badgers roamed the camp. Gordon insisted that everything was put away; "hyenas eat anything". We spent two nights at Savuti camp and Gordon became a nervous wreck. On the first night, he told Anne that they must take turns guarding the camp and they stayed up till 2:00am until finally Anne said "grow up" and went to sleep. 

We slept without incident in the tent. I arose at 5:50am, stoked the fire and prepared coffee. We set off in the Landrover at 6:15am towards the waterhole. It was a cool start to the day and the waterhole was relatively quiet with just two elephant and a herd of impala. We pressed on and were lucky enough to watch a lion waking on open ground. He had dry blood on its face and its front legs and then he disappeared into the bush. Judging by its swollen belly, he would have slept well that day. Three bat eared foxes scurried past, then a silver backed jackal. We returned to camp for a lumpy mealie meal (maize) porridge for breakfast.

An elephant arrived at camp and it headed towards the other end of the campground. We followed on foot and by the time we caught up, he had already uplifted a tent, torn open a suitcase and had stepped on a metal container, containing foodstuffs. He then delicately lifted a small fold-up table to access another metal box. We watched him apply pressure on the box with his front foot and crush the container. He seemed to enjoy the sugar and creamer. The elephant, known as Louie, was known as a notorious camp raider. After the job was done, Louie placed a foot on a twenty litre plastic water container, to crack it so he got a drink before moving on. The baboons descended onto the scene for leftovers. Louie then headed in the direction of our campsite, and we made all kinds of noise and he veered off into the bush. 

We were back at the waterhole that afternoon. It was relatively quiet with a single shy giraffe, a kudu in the bushes, impala in presence and a couple of bull elephants standing around. Then another vehicle arrived, and rather than parking by us, the driver parked on the other side of the parking area. This caused confusion with approaching elephants that were forced to walk between the two vehicles. Twelve elephants arrived while we were there and they were somewhat agitated by the situation and some came close to our vehicle. When two elephants approached us, Gordon lost his cool and started up the Landrover and started to drive towards the elephants. This was aggressive behaviour in an otherwise peaceful place. Sheila & I were sitting on the roof, and pounded on the roof and convinced him to stop. The elephants calmed down and walked by the vehicle to access the waterhole. Gordon, then opted to leave as; "I've had enough of sitting in shit". 

We had chili on burnt mealie for dinner.  I woke up at around midnight and got up for a pee. Gordon shouted to me "two elephants!". I heard some noise a fair distance in the bush and went back to sleep. Apparently, Gordon didn't fall asleep till 2:00am, for fear of elephants in the camp.

We got off to a late start the next day, breaking camp at 9:00am. We passed by the waterhole where there were two shy giraffe and an impala herd. We stopped to watch the giraffe attempt to drink water that was about 2 feet  below the lip of the waterhole. It looked around first and then slowly stretched its front legs, then a bit more, but its neck just wasn't long enough and after several tries, it gave up and the giraffe moved on. I counted 14 oxpecker birds on one of the giraffe. We also moved on, heading north past rocky outcrops and dry woodland. The road improved when we left the game reserve and we saw cows, villages, people and then a man waved us down. He was a policeman who hauled me into the station for riding in a dangerous position, as I was still sitting on the roof. The fine would have been 25 Pula, but after some talk and apology, I was permitted to leave without paying a fine. 

We entered Chobe National Park and soon after came across a concentration of vultures covering an elephant carcass. It was a gruesome sight with its head mutilated and the tusks were gone, victim of poaching. Gordon exclaimed "Good, one less!".  The game increased; a group of roan antelope stampeded in front of us, a kudu fled from the river, a crocodile slipped into the water. We had arrived at the Chobe River, which was quite a sight after after so much dry. We were in the midst of a four year drought. In earlier times, Savuti and Savuti Marsh was a green oasis, but no longer. We had reached Serondela Campsite and we were greeted by elephants. Gordon said "Just my luck. they should shoot the pests." But it was quite a sight; a herd of 8 elephants including a pregnant matriarch and two 2-year old's. They were munching on the grass just below our campsite and they allowed us to approach on foot to within 20 feet. Amazing. Then Gordon, pulled out a slingshot and fired at an elephant. He wished that he had a gun. He was getting to be too much for us. 

We all spent a few relaxing days at Serondela and went into nearby Kasane (about 15km) for food and fuel. We took the normal game drives with plenty of animals going to and from the river. We saw a puku, an antelope endemic to Chobe. We went fishing a couple of times with Pat, a white Rhodesian. We didn't catch any tiger fish but bream were relatively easy to catch and were delicious cooked with batter.  The elephants kept us on our toes in the afternoons. Inside the campground, the baboons were true nuisance. If you turned your back for an instant, they could be in your vehicle, stealing food. The camp was also crawling with banded mongoose that were also opportunistic feeders, but it was hard to get upset with the cute little things. One camper left camp for the day and stored the coolers in their tent. The baboons were the first to move in and then the mongoose over ran the tent once the baboons had left. We tried to keep our distance from Gordon, but campfire talk sometimes turned the wrong way. One night, Gordon said that they should poison the reservoirs in the (black) townships. We were getting to the stage where we were going to pull the plug and abort the remainder of the trip.  

One morning, we were driving to the Nogatsa waterhole along a sandy track and Gordon didn't stop for a large branch laying on the track and soon after the engine temperature gauge registered high. The branch had punctured the radiator. We limped into Kasane and Gordon bought a rebuilt radiator that fit his vehicle. This gave Gordon the excuse that he was looking for and he and Anne decided to go home on paved roads because he wasn't sure how reliable the radiator was.  We all knew that they simply wanted to go home. We agreeably settled up the finances, including paying our share of fuel to get them home. On our last night together, we had cape buffalo meat for dinner. The parks staff were allowed one buffalo per month, and while they were butchering it, one of the staff offered the four of us a large chunk and it made a tasty, tender stew that night.

Gordon and Anne headed south and we elected to stay at the Serondela camp. In the afternoon, the elephants returned and we climbed up a tree that overlooked the river and we watched three herds come down to drink. What a sight to watch over 60 elephants. On this particular day, the herd was uneasy and we later discovered that a tourist was on foot nearby (we were downwind). The drama unfolded over an hour and half, with the the second herd walking directly under our tree. A group of eight vacationing guys inviting us for dinner at the camp. It was all uplifting after our time with Gordon. We ate roast chicken, drank beer, sang songs and laughed a bunch. The group gave us a lift to the Zimbabwe border at Kazungula (near Kasane) where our journey north began.