This was going to be a long day on the road, as we couldn't use the dirt roads we had to travel to Kasane via Nata. Everyone we had met had told us that we would thoroughly enjoy the drive from Nata to Kasane as the wildlife is abundant along this route. The wildlife lover inside of me was performing somersaults and cartwheels from absolute joy!
 The road from Maun to Motipi was uneventful except for the compulsory stops at the veterinary check points which by now we had become accustomed to.    
Not very long after driving through the little village of Motipi we came across a board telling us that we were now entering a wildlife area which we realised was the Makgadikgadi National Park.
Our hopes were now high that we would get to see more than donkeys, horses and cows.
Hubby came up with the idea that the first person to spot a wild animal would win a banana......................... where exactly was he going to find one?
  Obviously victory was not in my foreseeable future. Seeing these two donkeys though had me feeling very sad and angry though, the one on the left had a rope tying its two front legs together - I was furious, in my opinion this was cruel and I begged hubby to stop and cut the rope. He got me to realise though that we could not do this as we were in a different country and could not interfere. We continued driving for a while with nothing in sight when suddenly we came across on of natures' giants.    |
One can only imagine how old these majestic giants must be, imagine if they could tell us about the things they have seen!
Coming across these wonders of nature were to be the start of some amazing sights.
This was the largest herd of zebra we had ever come across.............. when we looked back after passing through them there were still hundreds crossing the road.
Wow, wow, wow! If this was just the beginning of what we would get to see what still awaited us.
After seeing the giant baobabs earlier the palm trees either side of the road up ahead seemed to be very much out of place.
What really amazed me was that there were people living amongst these beautiful animals with no walls or fences....................... truly Africa!
We eventually arrived in Nata where we stopped for lunch. My excitement was now reaching fever point, everyone we had met so far had told us that we would see an abundance of wildlife between Nata and Kasane. We had even been warned not to be on the road as darkness approached as the buck were known to come out of nowhere to cross over the road.
Lunch, fuel fill up and potty visit done we climbed back into Blue Bird to finish our last leg of the trip for the day.
Now the true Botswana experience would begin!
I made sure that my essentials ( camera and binoculars ) were on hand and warned hubby that if I missed a good shot or sighting I would feed him to the first predator I saw.
Only ten minutes after leaving Nata I was becoming impatient – surely buck and more should have been in abundance already!
These signboards had my pulse racing and I could not wait to see the real life animals these boards were warning us about.
Little did I know that disappointment was waiting for me around the next bend.................... 200km of it to be exact.
My inner wildlife fanatic was devastated and heartbroken – 200km of roadworks - thankfully not all was lost and pretty soon my IWF was happily clicking away.
Things were looking up and pretty soon hubby and I were driving into Kasane.
Kwalape Safari Lodge
Desperately in need of a bathroom and something cold to drink we arrived at our accommodation for the next two nights.
Home Sweet Home
The Pub
The Restaurant
Once we had booked in hubby desperately needed a beer and we headed off to find the pub, a cool drink or two later although fed up with being in the car we realised we need to eat and would therefore have to once again climb into Blue Bird.
How ecstatic my IWF was about to be!
This is why........................
What an amazing sighting as we were driving into town!
There they were, a whole family right on the side of the road!
Eventually I gave in to the plea in hubbys’ eyes...................... PLEASE FEED ME - off we went to find something to eat, I couldn’t let my driver waste away.
We found a KFC and then my amazing hubby found the most amazing “restaurant” on the side of the road, we pulled off, parked and got out.
Our View
We agreed that KFC had never tasted so good and a restaurant had never been so amazing.
After dinner we headed back to the car.............. and wow!
What a variety of animal prints and to top it off – poop right next to Blue Bird – it wasn’t there before.
The scenery only improved as we drove back to the lodge................
What a beautiful end to the day.
We headed back to the lodge exhausted yet exhilarated.
We ended our evening with a drink sitting beside the fire and then headed off to our tent for a very well deserved sleep.
The following morning we awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed.
We enjoyed a cup of coffee with a very unusual pair of visitors as seen above who didn’t seem to perturbed about being in such close proximity to one another.
Once done we headed off to town to get the next store done.
I think the watch out for people crossing sign should be changed......
Anyway, no time to dilly dally, there was work to be done and the sooner we got started the sooner we would be done. We were very much looking forward to the afternoon ahead as it would be the only time we would not be driving or working while in Botswana so hubby had booked us a boat trip on the Chobe River................ my IWF was jumping for joy and threatening to take off without me.
Now with it being full on winter back home we had only packed winter clothes and by the time we were done we were turning into little puddles of water, so off to find something cooler to wear, after much searching we eventually found a store that sold men’s shorts, hubby found a pair and then went off to find the fitting rooms.................
I only wish everyone could have seen the look on his face when the shop assistant showed him the “fitting rooms”.............. I know I could barely manage to stop laughing long enough to take a photo.
Shorts, t-shirt and sandals bought we headed back off to the lodge.
Hubby Cooling Down
After a change of clothes (I was still chuckling about the fitting rooms) and a cool drink it was time to head off to reception to join our fellow guests for the boat ride.
Our guide and boat driver got us all settled in and informed us that we would be heading to the customs point first before continuing our trip on the river which formed part of the Chobe National Park.
Customs / Park Entrance
Words cannot describe the next three hours, so instead I will show you ALOT of photos and a tale that could have ended in tragedy but fortunately ended with a chuckle instead.
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