Zimbabwe to Nata to Maun & Trying to Get My Dad Back to Australia

There were two routes we could have taken to get to Nata. The first one involved retracing our steps and going back to Kasane. The second was to drive further south through Zimbabwe and to go through a national park. Keen to see more of the country we chose the latter, which involved long gravel roads.

The drive was decent, and we only stopped once on the Zimbabwe side because two cars full of tourists had come to a halt in the middle of the road and gotten out of their car to see and hold a chameleon. We had no idea how they had managed to see the small creature from the car, but I felt quite bad for it as it got passed around from person to person. We later realised that it was not quite that difficult to spot, as we later  drove past a small turtle.

Chobe National Park & Bungee Jumping and Helicopter Rides at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

We woke up early Wednesday morning to get to Chobe and begin looking for animals. There was no queue at the park gate, and soon enough we were in (with no map). Our early wake up was wasted however, and it soon became obvious we would not be seeing all that much. With trying to spot animals its all about luck and about being in the right place at the right time. We had no such thing.

For the rest of the morning we spotted a few giraffe, some monkeys, kudu, lots of impala and lots of safari vehicles filled with tourists. It was a bit disappointing, especially as I had been building Chobe up and expecting it to be as good as Kruger. I guess it just wasn’t our day.

In the afternoon we headed back to our accommodation in Kasane to meet a man who was going to help us get through to Zimbabwe the following day. For Zim we would both need to buy visas for $30usd each, and pay $105usd to bring the car in – third party insurance, a car fee and, wait for it, a carbon tax. I couldn’t help but laugh at the last one, a $15usd carbon tax for all foreign vehicles entering Zimbabwe??

The man never showed up however and we waited around 1.5 hours before deciding that we would just attempt to get through by ourselves the following day. How difficult could it be?

Namibia to Botswana along the Caprivi Strip: Look Out For Elephants (& Police Checks)

Departed Ngepi Camp at around 8am and headed along the Caprivi Strip back to Botswana. The drive the whole way to Botswana was along the one highway, on a road on very good condition. In comparison to Botswana, there is a concerted effort to fix up potholes on the road, and every 10km or so there is a bench and bin on the side of the road for you to pull over. We can only say good things about the quality of Namibian roads. 

The highway went through a National Park, and there were several signs warning you about elephants, but no animals, except for cows and goats, were to be seen. There was a bit traffic, and quite a few tourists on the road. As we were passing by a small town however there was a small incident. In general a lot of the countries in southern Africa tend to have a lot of police roadblocks. I haven’t had many issues with these except a few times in Mozambique where I got asked for my passport. However because I’ve been using public transport I haven’t had to think much about them. My dad accidentally drove past one as we were on the Caprivi Strip however, and nearly got booked for ignoring a police order.  To be fair there had been no one actually there until a guy came running out. The only reason he didn’t have to pay a fine though is because we didn’t have the $1000N/1000rand fine on us. The police officer let him go though when we showed that we only had about $100N on us (I was half expecting him to take the $100N but we got to keep it).

Elephant Encounters & Searching for Lions at Mahango Game Reserve

Although we went across a border from Botswana to Namibia, we are still on Botswana/South Africa time because we are on the Caprivi Strip, which is a strip of land just above Botswana and to the east of Namibia. My phone changed over to Namibia time, which is an hour behind, so when I thought I woke up early at 5am this morning, it was really 6am. Anyways, it was still really early.

It took us an hour to get ready, put the tents down and have some breakfast before departing for the Mahongo Game Reserve. This was our first bit of seeing wild animals on this trip, and my dad’s first time seeing any in Africa, so it was a bit exciting. We pulled in at reception, paid $90N (90rand/$9aud) for a permit for the day, and drove in.  There were 2 loops you could go on, one which ran by the river front and the other by an artificial waterhole, and was partially 4x4 only. We spent the day doing both several time, as the park was quite small.

A Morning Boat Crash in Botswana and an Evening in Namibia

(our route for the day, driving from Botswana into Namibia into the bit of land known as the "caprivi strip"

On our last morning at Nxamaseri lodge, we were taken out on one last boat ride to search for some elephants. They apparently can be spotted about 1 hour and 30 minutes away, so we woke up early and were off by 7am. No elephants were to be found however, but the benefit of being up so early was that the birdlife was quite active. We saw flocks of birds swoop up and down and it was quite magical.

From Maun to Nxamaseri: Botswana

Our first official day in Botswana. My first nights sleep wasn’t the most comfortable, I kept waking up to donkey noises and my tent shook whenever the occupant next door moved or climbed down to go to the bathroom … but it was ok. Woke up at 6:45am, and after some breakfast and figuring out how to pack up the tents again (requires a lot of moving around), we set off at 9am for our next camp on the Okavango Delta. Half the vehicles in the camp had already packed up and left by this point, but we weren’t in too much of a rush yet.

We were heading to Nxamaseri island lodge ie. the most expensive accommodation for the trip. Getting there wasn’t too difficult, just had to follow the highway for a while, which was bitumen most of the trip. Apart from a few potholes in some sections, it wasn’t a bad journey and was a good 350km. Stopped for lunch on the side of the road and at close to 3pm we were near the turn off for the island lodge.

A Self-Drive Tour Around Botswana for Mid-Sem Break

Hello Botswana! (And hello to my blog again, it’s been a while ….).

After 7 weeks of uni, several stressful assignments, late nights at library and lots of procrastinating, it was time for the mid-semester break to begin! What is planned? A 10 day self-drive tour around Botswana (and partly Namibia and Zimbabwe) with my dad! After spending a couple of days with him in Johannesburg, we traded in the BMW hire car (BMW cause no Toyota Corollas were available), and caught a flight to Maun, Botswana.